Sarah C

I had my surgery done in 2007. I went to a couple of support groups (only one there) and a few doctors appointments, but haven't been in since 2008. Even with fills I have zero restriction. Can eat 4 slices of pizza no problem. I started exercising, but the port is really uncomfortable. Lately I've had extreme tightness around my upper stomach when I breathe, and I can't seem to get a good breath, especially at night. I just want this thing out of me. I've been reading through the forums, but have found a lot of conflicting information on having the band removed. Some people say it's riskier because of adhesion, some say not because there's no internal healing. Since it's an out patient procedure, it doesn't seem to be as severe as having it put in. Some people say there's more pain, some less. What're the risks? Please, I really really don't like the idea of having something in me anymore. I keep having nightmares and panic attacks. Absolutely no talking me out of it. This thing is coming out, so I really just need words of comfort right now.

Just got my notice that everything will be going through insurance, so I'm a very happy lady right now.

Ok, so I had my surgery on Tuesday. Waking up was awful, cause I honestly had no idea where I was, but after tenish minutes I was feeling better. No pain, but my mouth was terribly dry. I got ice chips to help with that. Eventually they moved me to a room. My roommate was horrible of course She could reach the heat and at one point had it up to 105 in the room. They actually moved her bed away and locked the thermostat so she couldn't get at it. She also wouldn't turn her tv off at night, but a little volume battle with the static station and she finally decided that no noise was better than the static (I just pretended I was at the beach). Getting up was much easier (thank god cause I had the same issue as before where the nurses take an hour to respond). In the morning I was a bit sore, but that was mainly my shoulder from the gas. I walked around a bunch and only had some trouble cause I was so tired from the pain meds and not sleeping. For Breakfast I had a biscuit, a glass of milk, and two slices of bacon (I'm such a good Jew, right?) and eventually started releasing gas (the most excited I've been about a fart in a while. For lunch I had half a bowl of this cream of chicken stuff and a piece of broccoli. I left the hospital around 12. Once home I felt so much better. Slept for a while and I was even able to roll over onto my side. I only took a pain pill when the dog woke me up in the middle of the night. I haven't gotten up yet, but I was able to sit up easily with no pain, and the pain pill has probably long wore off. Right now the only thing that hurts is my back from laying down so much and the cuts in my stomach. They tried to use the same ones (some are a bit bigger, but they only used four this time instead of five). I'm breathing much better than I was before the surgery, so I do think my breathing issues were caused by the band, and I haven't had any chest pains at all. I actually feel well enough to go back to work, but don't trust myself to drive yet. Am definitely going back on Monday. It's time to get up now. I have to study for my GREs and I think I'm going to make some cantaloupe sorbet. It was definitely worth it to have the band taken out. I did notice that I didn't feel full after dinner last night (but I only had a piece of chicken and two large ravioli) so I'm definitely gonna have to watch my portions, and once I feel up to it, I'm gonna get a gym membership. I just feel like I can move on now.

I hope you've been feeling better. If not, definitely go see the doctor. My surgery is tomorrow. (I'm having my gallbladder out too, so I won't be able to accurately comment on the amount of pain and recovery involved in the procedure) I'll let you know if it was worth it.

I had an endoscopy. I'd suggest seeing a gastroenterologist. The bloating, gas, and ulcers are a common issue for people with the band, so I don't know why the doctor would have told you it's not related. I'd say listen to your body. There're some people that the band works wonders for, and others that it doesn't. I know when I decided to have it out, I wasn't going to let anyone talk me out of it. Perhaps try seeing someone else first, see if medication helps, and if you don't feel any better and truly want it out, tell, don't ask. You're not a failure. You tried the band, and it didn't work for you.

So, I got a call this morning from another doctor's secretary. She apologized over and over again for all the trouble that I had had and said that she would be handling my case from now on. I don't know if that means the previous woman got in trouble and was removed, or if she was so embarrassed/angry that she requested to be removed from all further proceedings on my behalf. Either way, I'm done dealing with her. Had my physical today and everything looks perfect except for the fact that my gallbladder has stopped functioning. I spoke with the x-ray tech for a little while, because she had thought about getting the lapb and in and wanted to know a little more about my experience. I said that it works for some people, I just wasn't one of them. Apparently I am the 5th person to come through patient first in the past 6 months needing a pre-op physical for lap band removal. (I am the only one doing a joint band-gallbladder removal though). The doctor was so nice though. She looked surprised when she saw my forms and stated that I wasn't that big (I'm 260, but I carry it well.) As I was leaving she told me I was a beautiful girl. Everyone was really nice (although I was the guiny pig for an intern drawing blood for the first time. She only had to stick me twice, so I guess she did well. I've totally gotten over my fear of needles in the past couple of months.)

Thank you for the words of understanding and support. I've only had one person try to talk me out of the surgery. Just wanted to update you on the secretary situation. I went in today to have my pre op physical. I set this up on Wednesday and was told by the secretary that she would send the info over. Stupid me, I didn't check to make sure she had sent it, so when I showed up and was told they didn't have the papers and that they couldn't do anything that day, I was pissed., I wrote a very professional e-mail telling her that I was turned away and had to reschedule, and just as a memory refresher here's the doctor and fax. I ended with: Please send this information first thing Monday morning. I don't like having my time wasted. I then CCed her boss and the doctor. She also sent me an e-mail asking for my HIDA scan, telling me I never sent it in. Well, in response I forwarded the message I received from the doctor a week earlier giving me the results of the scan (an e-mail she was CCed on and thus should have known that I already sent the information in.) I just said that per her request I had it resent and to confirm that the fax was received. I again CCed in her boss and the doctor.

I sure hope it does I am getting my gallbladder out at the same time, so perhaps they'll use that as an excuse to run it through insurance. I know when I saw the doctor before confirming that the gallbladder had to come out, he said he'd bill it through insurance. That would be really helpful.

Yeah, the nurse practitioner asked me a few questions and filled out the forms for me. Now the practice's website has all the information on what you'll need and allows you to print the forms out, but at the time I got my band I never even knew that this was a requirement. I did know how my life would change afterward (diet wise) but don't feel as if I was properly informed of the long term health risks.

What a stupid woman. I called in the morning and very politely said "I just wanted to confirm that you had the correct number, since I didn't hear from you yesterday." She replied: That's because I didn't call, and hung up on me. I called back at 1 and spoke with another doctor's secretary. I told that secretary to please leave a message for T, because she was being very unreasonable and petty, and I know that calling her directly will just cause her to play with my health more, but perhaps if one of her coworkers knew what was going on, she'd be embarrassed into action. Well, 6 minutes later she calls me and we get my surgery set up in less than 5 minutes. Wow, 5 minutes. Yeah, I believe the amount of time she spent on the phone over the past 6 days telling me how busy she was and how she couldn't speak with me added up to more than the amount of time needed to get this going.

I'm hoping mine will go through insurance. I'm having it out the same time as my gallbladder (which is covered). I have terrible reflux and the ability of my stomach to empty has been damaged. I can't take any medications to help it either because I seem to have reactions to every medication the specialist has put me on (fainted once, hives once, throat closed with one, threw up after another.) I didn't have to pay to put it in, so I don't know how much it could cost if it doesn't go through insurance.

So, apparently the band has damaged my stomach's ability to empty which is messing with my small intestines. Besides that, my gallbladder is infected and has caused my pancreas to swell which is creating other problems. The surgeon wants to get both my lap band and gallbladder out by the end of this month, but his secretary is being a real b**** about things. I've been trying to schedule an appointment since last Thursday. Everyday I get the same thing: I'm catching up on work. I have your file in my hands and will call you. It's getting to be really annoying, considering I've been having anxiety issues about the band. I feel as if she's trying to show me who's in charge, but that really isn't funny when my health is on the line. She told me yesterday that she had to take care of a patient with an emergency. Really? What would you call my situation. I can't breathe and am in constant pain and you've been putting off speaking to me for three business days? The doctor actually e-mailed me on Sunday to ask why I hadn't scheduled yet. She told me to stop calling. On Thursday I called once in the morning to inform her of the situation, and once in the afternoon to give her my work number since I was no longer at home. Is that too much? I don't think so. I'm just getting more and more anxious. On top of that, the doctor knows about a personal issue I have and wanted to get me into surgery the week before April 7th (when I have to testify at a murder trial) so I wouldn't have to take anymore time off of work than I had to. Now the week before April 7th is coming up, and this woman is only making things harder on herself by putting me off. How am I supposed to deal with someone like this? I'm pretty sure that if I don't hear from her today, I'm just gonna drive down there tomorrow and do this in person.

I never spoke with a psychologist before getting the band.