TBaker

I had my lap band placed on April 28, 2008 by Dr. Teng in Las Vegas, NV who also removed a tumor in my lower stomach and repaired a hernia in my chest. I thought Dr. Teng was strict but wonderful and very informative and wish I could still see him but he is 2300 miles away

I've only had 2 fills total (total loss 68lbs) and have been maintaining my weight since my last fill which was close to 3 years ago with no restriction. I moved across country and like so many others have had a run of bad luck economically which now looks to be turning around for me.

This past January (2011) I had pnuemonia (thanks to my kids bringing it home) which in turn has caused some issues that I am unsure if it's lapband related or perhaps I managed to rupture that hernia via coughing. Around Easter I was unable to eat or drink for almost a week which scared me badly and as badly as I knew I needed to go to the ER I was unable to get in there. When I did finally go I was already back to eating and drinking again so the visit was in vain and led to no discovery as the ER felt it was not emergent. My only real complaint right now is this awful acid reflux which has me thinking it's the hernia more than anything else because I used to get this same reflux prior to it being repaired. I am also choking randomly on air which was something else that happened before the hernia repair/lapband too. I really do not know which one (hernia or lap band) and am simply speculating.

Needless to say, my scare has made me much more aware that I need to stop procrastinating and find a Dr.. Which is the ONLY reason I am here. I know only my family here in Jax and no one knows anything about Lap Band so I have resorted to forums to reach out to those familiar.

Besides that on a personal level I am somewhat engaged. LOL I know that doesn't make sense but I am in the middle of a divorce and felt it tacky to be sporting a ring from a new man when still technically married to another. So I refer to my honey as my fiance at times and boyfriend at others because there really isn't a title for in between. He works seasonally as a landscaper so at times his employment is hit or miss (weather, customers, materials, etc dependent) while mine is meant to be steady (at least for the next year as I am contracted). So while our luck is up I don't want to waste anymore time. I would rather find a physician pay the larger fees now while I can and should our luck turn know that all I need to come up with is the office visits which shouldn't be too hard.

My goal is to lose about 35-45 more pounds (maintaining my will power is becoming harder and harder without restriction) which is second to finding out about this stupid acid reflux that is waking me up in the middle of the night killing me.

Hopefully I stated everything "correctly" as I seem to have been unable to on another board which led to alot of speculation and drama.