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I am a RN have been for 27yrs, I have had a long term epidural port a cath that I self medicated 3 times a day for 2 years but only with the the permission and understadning of my treating Doctor, i now have an intrathecal pump implanted, icould refill that, i am capable but there s no need to take the risk (small though it may be) as it only requires refll every 8 weeks or so. I have also trained many others to access portacaths, use sterile techinque etc when it is part of my job. Being an RN or MD is not free reign to work out side our usual area of practice for convenience- that would be utter madness. there is a saying that has been around for a long time- the Doctor who treats himself has a fool for a patient. I think we could extend this to include RN's too. Unless it is something that is part of your regular treatment plan with your Dr. In my situation it was a long term chronic situation and would not have been practical to attend Dr's rooms or hospital 3 times per day ( 8 hrly) for an indefinite period. Since being banded, twce I have blocked to the pont of esophageal bleeding and not being able to swallow saliva. On both occasions my surgeon was out of town and the staff at the major teaching hospital were not happy to mess with the gastric band port. I was gven Iv fluids, a bowl to spit and supportive care until they could access a baratric surgeon to do the unfill ( 24 hours and 48 hours later). Not ideal but overall low risk. Would I have let an experienced RN or surgeon access the port in the ED usng the rght equipment, yes but I respect them for not messing with somethng they did not feel qualified to do. Had things gotten worse eg supportive care not eased the situation I am sure they would have re evluated the rsk and reconsidered doing the unfll rather than waiting. The only way you should mess with your own port is with the complete permission and co operation of you treating surgeon with the correct equipment and techinque- then only for unfill never for fill. Cost per fill should not be the deciding factor, agaiin that is an issue to dscuss wth your surgeon. ths is going to be a very long term relationship with your treatng Doctor- trust is essential part of that.

Ihave never been ashamed to tell people about the band but I know of others have been told that they have taken the easy way out by having WLS. that the band allows people to take short cuts and not work out the head stuff that leads to obesity- now we know none of that is true but if you come across tothers who have bad experiences you may hold off on who you told. It is impleied that the only reason for weght loss is an artificail restraint that stops you cheating. we know that the band is only a tool. t helps me distinguish from physical hunger to head hunger but most of this is still pure hard work. I actually gained weight even with the band for a while so it is no magic bullet. for me due to ms the usual rules dd not work so I had to work out how to use my tool. As for this women, I read the artcle in the magazine and if she felt t necessary to ignore the fact she was banded, I can only assume it is because of negative comments. even other overweight people can be really unkind with comments about wls- I have heard comments like the only real way is weight watchers, it has worked for the person half a dozen times, they miss the pont that if it really worked t work work once and you would be able to basically maintain the loss, not yo yo. these days when I am asked how I am managing to lose weight, i say calore counting/measuring/journalling, support from others in the MO range all helped by the band. the band is not the only reason. For me it s all of the above. band alone, lke pate alone will not work. I use a small plate but I do not carry it around like a securiy blanket. Maybe she was hoping to capitalize on a the situation by writing a book lke the lady who said she lost all her weight by walking around the hills hoist in the back yard. She has become a very successful weight loss motivator with her story Paulie, you asked about the PB, it is a productive burp, like a regurgitation or babies spit up when food has gotten abit stuck or f you have eaten one mouthful or so too much, sometimes jsut eaten too quickly! everyone one s different and as long as you learn by experience you will not have many of them becuae you learn from what lead to them. Just part of learning to work the band

Well I have not checked in here much recently, I am still struggling with the ms at the moment. The vertigo has been a right royla pain the the butt and has been making me really queasy. I was referred back to my neurologist to supposedly for a course of methylprednsolone but I found out tonight that he is away for the next couple of weeks and they have made an appointment for the 31st of April! not much help when I am having a flare now, and now I can't even talk to my gp about this until next week. I am having real problems with focus/ depth perception, my bladder problems have gone from nuisance to down right embaressing and I keep gettng painful spasms in my leg. now in the past couple of days I am having short periods when I am gagging on fluids- I have had some swallowing problems in the past but never to the point of gagging on ordinary fluids- the vertigo and that both scare me. the gagging because I feel like I am choking when it happens and the vertigo because it is so sever when it happens! it has persisted for at least a few hours each day for over 3-4 weeks now and although not gettng worse, it is not any better. they gave me stemetil and serc but neither has helped at all. it s havng a real impact on uni, work and just day to day life. I was hoping that maybe the methylpred may improve things a bit but I worry that it may be getting to the pont that this falre has been happening for too long, particularly if i can't get in to see the neuro. Now thats it is friday evening, I do not know wether to tough it out for the weekend and see gp on monday or front up at A&E to see if they can refer me to an alternate neuro- I am jsut so tired of feelling nauseated, today I ended up throwing up in the back of a taxi when a bout hit, i am getting too scaqred to go out! What would you guys do??

Hi everyone, nice to meet a few new names too- Paulie, I know you said you originally did not want to do the support group thing, I am glad you are at least trying this. I did not want to be heavly involved with support groups, I thought I may make me focus too much on this part of life but I had a number of years of problems post band due to other medical problems and I really felt like a failure- after all the message we hear is that wls must work if we do the right thing, when I did and i did not work I felt really miserable and it has been through the support of other bandsters that I have been able to sort the issues out and be more successfult in the past 4-5 months than in the previous 5-6 yrs!. I do not go to a support group but hope to change that soon, in the meantime I sue this and another message board and would not trade them in for millions!- I hope you find t to be a positive experence too!

they think the lesions responsible are in the brainstem but I have lesion scattered everywhere- when they saw my mri they were really surprsed I did not have many problems- I don't think the mri's mean much other than confirming the disease- one lesion can be enough to make life tough for someone if it is in the wrong place while close to 40 like i have can cause mnimal problems. do worry that I may be crossingover to secondary progressve though but I will not raise the issue unless my Doc does as you don ot qualify for betaferon on the pbs if you have secondary progressve yet the research is promising- I will continue with the betaferon as long as possible. The vertigo is the symptom that led to diagnosis for me, it is not common and luckily for me it usually only happens when I am really tired and last 24 - 48 hours - his time it has been less severe but has been there most days for 2 weeks now- it is makeing life tough- I can live with the muscle spasms, bladder probs,fatigue etc but i really do not what to have to deal with vertigo permanentl- the only benefit s that my weight loss has picked up - because I feel so queasy most of the time btw I love your new tcker

As I said before Susannah, am not sure if I would have been quite so qucik to go on them if it were not for the fact that I already had significant disability prior to ms- fear of losing my independance is really strong! I know we do not know what will happen with ms but I just felt I was behind the 8 ball a bit from the start. Having sad that after reading a lot of the latest research I am confidnet that there is reason to believe that the meds can reduce the frequency of relapses. I am still struggling at the moment. the Vertigo keeps coming back. in the past it has lasted about 1 to 2 days are a time- this time I have had it for about 10 days- it eases off but does not go and i am really feeling queasy tonight. At the moment the steroids don't seem to have made a big difference ( aolthough i guess we cna't be sure that things would not have been worse without them). the anti nausea meds jsut don't seem to help and feeling dizzy and sicl all the time is awful- i am not sure what to do about t- I can't sleep as when I close my eyes the room spins. I would welcome any suggestions

the first thing I was going to say was that it sounds like you are too tight, i know it does not seem to make sense but being too tight does lead to inadequate weightloss- been there done that. go back see you fill doctor, see you dietcian for an update- at least temporaily go back to weighing and measuring all foods etc, follow the band rules, jounral everything you eat- the back to basic approach for a while helps make you more aware of where your problems are, what time of day even- then if needed the dietiican can halep you I am born again bandster- had gained weight ++, faced losing band, was unflled of months then even beforehaving a re fll I went back to basis starting losng weght, now have Fluid in band and have lost around 67 pounds since nov 06

mY problems last sunday coincided with an ms flare- I was eventually unfilled. surgeon apologized for the delay in treatment- he did not get the message I was in ed but he said his registrar did and he could not understand why she did not do the unfill that night instead of wasting the hsoptal bed etc!! I have had 4 mls put back now and I am struggling a little but it is more ms related stuff than directly band. the Ms has affected swallow and has made me very dizzy and nauseated bu fnally after one week, it has eased- thats why he ok'd the refill friday arvo. I am on fluids only all weekend, high dose steroids for the ms - not fantastic but much better than this time last weekend!!

You may jsut have a bit of restrcton from swelling post surgery. a lot of what you describe is a bit like what you can feel if you have eaten a bit to much etc. at the moment it is possible you are getting this feeling jsut because it is early days and you have swelling- Others get what is sometimes called a soft stop, the hard stop is when you know you have overdone things as you pb, slime, have golf ball sensation in gullet. the soft stop is where you are close to your limit and the next bte ors so would be too much. I get a strange sensation at the base of my breast bone, sometimes I have a few soft burps- for me these are a sign I have either had too much last meal or I may be a bit swollen from a previous meal gone a bit too far. For me, if I have a problem breakfast time, I will have problems for the next 1 to 2 meals- I go back one stage eg from normal to mushy for the next 1 to 2 meals or until no more funny sensations. I don't think you are doing anything wrong, just learnng how things work and feel. when something feels a bit odd, slow down for the next meal or 2 then try again- see if things impove- if they do its likely you have discovered a soft stop for you- they are actually very handing- much better than getting stuck!!

Hi What I can see si where the TGA has approved the use of betaferon for the use in ms in "clinically isolated syndrome" Bascally und the orignal pbs rules you could only get betaferon if you had confirmed ms and the offcial diagnostc guidelines said you needed to have had 2 definite attacks in a space of about 2 years characterized by a certain number and type of lesions on mri. All this delayed diagnosis and potental use of betaferon. They have recognized a state called clinical isolated sydnrome where the one attack of ms looks really quite defininte and there is "proof" of previous dmage on scans- it looks like that this will be enough to get you betaferon now. Some studies have indicated that these meds are best used as early as possible to prevent accumulation of inflammatory changes but the old guidelnes for the TGA and pbs made that impossible- my Doctor told some white lies to get my the betaferaon as I had had one 100% definite attack, plus evidence on mri of old attacks but techincally to get betaferon I was supposed to wait unitl the next attack- we fibbed a bit, now we would not have too. They used to say no need to take the meds until you have signifcant probs, but current research says that its best to consider them before you have significant issues- the whole pont is to reduce disability. Sorry if that is rambly and lots of errors, I am having a flareup at them moment and it is affecting my vision, co ordination, speech. my swallowing has gotten worse so I was unflled last weekend- no have small refill. I am now on steroids too to see if we can get this to settle a bit quicker- this is my second attack in 6 months but before that I had not had an attack for 2 yrs- my last attack was pretty mild so I am hoping this one settles quickly too

I had 3 mls in the band and he added another 3 on friday, its a swedish band and I think from memory it has a 9ml capacity. He did not tell me how much he was putting in unitl after the event- i proabably would have asked hime to only put in 1.5ml. O h well, no real harm done, jsut a frustrating uncomfy weekend. the bigger issus is that I took up a hospital bed for the weekedn because no one felt comfortable accessing the port. Not sure if it was fear on the Dr's part or politics ( one dr not wanting to mess with anothers patient) I will have a chat to surgeon about it when I see him. Not sure how long he will make me wait for a refill

Hi Bronnie. Gald to hear you are doing well even if abit uncomfortable. as for the soluble panadiene- not sure if it exists but the lquid pain stop that was mentioned in another post is similar i think. Ask your pharmacist. You may be ok with tablets cut into small chunks. Sorry I did not check in before this but I spent the weekend in hospital myself with band issues- Ihad to be unfilled completely, the top up i had on friday obstructed me completely and it was 37 celcius- I dehydrated badly- then they could not find anyone to unfill me so it was iv fluids only until they got hold of someone who was confident in accessing the port. Lesson learnt- never have an aggressive fll on a firday arvo before a holiday weekend! Dionne my typical days eating break fast sanitarium up and go drink or sloppy porridge lunch baked Beans (the tiny cans) 1 to 2 cruskits (sometimes) dinner 75grams cooked minced chicken or turkey cooked with zucchini, onion, mushroom, capcicum with a sauc made from sweet chil sauce, plum suace and Water total volum would be a about a cup snack( occasionally)- individual tub of peaches or purreed apple etc

my understanding is that we are more likely to have it covered if we go to a recontructive plastc surgeon rather than a cosmetic surgeon- I am sure that I will need the apronectomy at the very least - I already have quite a droop forming at losing around 34kg. I think I will need a thigh reduction too if I want to get an effective prosthetic limb- I am confident that would be covered as it is medically necessary. I am also making a point of discussing skinfold irritations etc with my gp so that there is documentation to say there is a medical need. previously I self treated. I don't hink we have as much of a problem as our US comrades but I think there is a distinction between what is purely cosmetic and what is recontrucve and medically warrented

At least the nerves will gone by now anyway- hope she's feeling ok!!

Good Luck Bronnie, i did not forget you! see you in band land!

Way to go Goanna! Its good when people start noticing isn't it! 5.5kg loss in 5 weeks is a good loss, you must be pleased - its almost a stone in the "old weights"- at this rate you will soon fnd your belly button

Hey Susannah Sorry to hear about your flipped port- non of us wants any complications. Surgery to re adjust your port would usually be considered a minor procedure, a problem that is generally easily fixed. If you have to have a complication this is probably one of the "better" ones. It may settle down itself- I have an electronic medication pump that gives me medication directly to my spinal fluid- the main part of the pump is located in my abdomen ( in one of my spare tyres), it is about the size of a hockey puck and gets filled through a built in port every 6 weeks or so- For some time they had problems filling it as it seemed to move every time I went- these days it seems stable, it seems that some fibrous tissue has formed around it. THe added bonus is that as I am losing weight they have less trouble findng the port ( the actual port on my pump is less the 1 cm)- So just because its as slippery as a bar of soap now does not mean it will always be a problem. As for the therabands, you can buy them on line easily and quite cheaply, but I got mine from Rebel sports Wharehouse Bronnie- still thinking of you! enjoy that starbucks, take lots of mags ( do you like crosswords etc- they are good distracton!). I stayed in overnight post op for the one night, had the barium swallow the following morning then went home- I probably would have managed at home the first night but I live alone and have other medical probs so the one night was a precaution- I think it was a good idea, it reduces some of your worry knowing you have staff available IF you need it.

Can't help with personal experience and I can understand your worry particularly after what you have been through with your father. There are lots of things it could be so try not to jump to the worst conclusions. Just try to take a deep breath and take one step at a time?? Are they going to do any other tests, eg thyroid function, needle biopsy etc- unitl they finish doing the assessments you do not know what you are dealing with and while I understand that is scarey ( been there!!), it really is best to cross your bridges as you come to them- don't rush ahead!!

Dionne if you have not had any fill yet you may be able to eat what seems like larger amounts, once the post op sweling goes down and before your first fill you do not have true restrction. Just concentrate on eating slowly, and try to take note of when you don't feel hungry anymore. We all struggle with getting used to whether the desire for the next bite is because we are truly hungry or becaue we want it or think we need it. They say that it takes about 20 mnutes for the brain to register the full feeling from your stomach so just eat really slowly- even that take practice, take small bites and really savor every mouthful- even a small meal will easily take 20 mins. For me I found that if I ate to the point of feeling full it was often one mouthful too much, so now I try to concentrate on when I no longer actually feel hungry- but even now that sometimes has been wanting that next bite, its getting easire to realise what is hunger and what is head hunger. Bronnie I understand your nerves, try to focus on all the positives that are heading your way. there is only a slight difference in being excited and being nervous, maybe if you can see this as the potential for so much positive change it might make it easier to be excited rather than nervous. TIme will go quickly

Susannah I use the theraband resistance bands for excercse and I love them! Just make sure that you get an excercse guide to show you how to use them- its important that your joints are in the right position etc. I got a set of three different resistance strengths made by the company theraband - I think the set of 3 was $35 I have a dodgy shoulder so I also got a shoulder pulley that hooks over a door, they are used in rehab and provide a good safe way to start above shoulder level excercises. At the moment I am waiting to see a rehab specalist physio to help me work out a safe routine but in the meantime the resistance bands are great. I do also do simple excercises with small hands weight ( arm curls etc)- I got some for $2 a piece from GO LO! My biggest excercise achivement is I have actually be taking a few steps!! I ordered a device called a knee scooter that had imported from the US ( they don't sell them here), it allows me to kneel on the end of my stump to walk since I cannot get a prosthesis- After being completely wheelchair bound for over five years I can now do laps of the lounge room. takes me 1 hour to do 20 laps ( each lap is 3.5 metres)- I do one lap and sit etc. Not real practical walking as it takes to much concentration but it certainly is a workout!

I would encourage you to try to contact your surgeon by phone or email if possible in the first instance- can you access a nutrionist locally for some support and guidance too- if not, see if your surgeon can suggest one that may be prepared to support you via email etc. I am not able to tolerate solids in the morning then gradually losen over the day- some people find a warm drink just before trying to eat losens them up a bit too You are rght that eating the soft foods can lead to higher calorie choices, I think it is important for your surgeon to ascertain whether you are too tight or not. In the meantime, just because you eat soft foods, does not mean they have to be high calorie choices- ground chicken, turkey, or flaked fish with vegetables that are cooked til soft and moistened with low fat sauce and gravy are softish and not high calorie. Sweet stuff can be pureed fruit like applesauce without sugar etc, low fat yoghurt etc. I have swallowing issues from ms that developed after being banded, and i have to eat soft foods- and I did gain weight. Now I calorie count and journal everything, weigh and measure everything and I have lost 67 pounds since last nov and I am wheelchair dependant( that is after 5yrs of not only not losing, but gaining weight!) So that brings me to your last question- can you lose weight after this lenght of time- my oath you can! I call nov 06 my born again bandeversary. THe first thing you nned to do is to get back incontact with you surgeon and nutrionist for an assessment. You are in a difficult situation but that does not make it impossible. It may take more effort on your part but believe me it makes the success all the better when you get it. lastly get as much support from the boards as you can, this definately works better when you have support but it needs to be professional support as well as peer support. In this day an age you should still be able to have electronic support from a surgeon supplemented by the occasional office visit- Good luck

MUst admit my experience with MS society was very different but we are in different states too, the staff i dealt and still deal with focus on the positives and are very quick to say that there is no reason to assume that ms will progress to the point of severe disability. I do remember having some of the same thoughts and feelings when I became wheelchair dependant, which was almost a decade before the ms was diagnosed ( totally different health issue). I have had medical professionals who are very quick to blame every little health issue on the ms rather than checking to see if there is another issue and I am very quick to ask them to justify there thoughts -amazing how things cahnge when you make them think a bit. As for the stuff with my supervisor- yes it was really bad, the annoying thing is that I did not tell her about the ms, she found out through office talk that started as well meaning support from friends. the organisation i work for has been very good about supporting me in the past but this one indivdual, a person in a position of authority made some major assumptions that would have made her look really bad so she then did what ever she could to make her story look true. The hardest thing was her trying to allege that I had such severe cognitive problems from the ms, that I had no insight into my problems ( funny how only shortly before this when she did not know about the ms, she gave me a glowing annual appraisal). It was the message that my brain was so damaged i could not trust my own assessment that hurt the most. Thankfully the neuropsych assessment cleared me of problems other than some stress related issues that the tester put down to the way my supervisor was riding me. I still have to deal with this person. The advocate from the ms societys employment branch was very helpful with dealing with the HR dept, She was able to politely tell them when they were making really big, dumb assumptions about ms

HI Danielle Its natural to have doubts, it is a big decision- for me it was the right one. Ask any questions you need to and remember that you will get both positive and negative answers so remember to do some research v pubmed or similar as well. As for non supportive ex and the judgement of others, the band can be an effective tool but it is only part of losing the weight- it is not a miracle and is most certainly not the easy way out. No one has the right to judge you until they have walked a mile in your shoes. They should be glad that you are trying to take control of a difficult situation even if they don't agree with your choice personally. Some people can feel threatened by your choice to make positive changes to your life too, others will comment out of fear and ignorance. For all these reasons and more, many bandsters chose not to tell others that they have had this surgery, at least unitl further down the track. My approach was to do all the research i needed to and not to hide the fact I was being banded- it was not something that was up for discussion. I kept any doubts I had to one or 2 most trusted friends and got them to go through the lap band info with me. the pre op support group meetings are great too, because you can talk directly to people who understand your fears, take your partner along too- it may change his attitude.

Hi susannah ( and everyone else of course!) it is normal to make "mistakes" at this stage in fact most of them are not mistakes really, more a case of having to work out how you and your band are interacting- the rules are a good guide but we are all different so jsut go slowly and carefully at each change. As for the fact that you can only eat 1/2 cup of mushies at this stage, sounds like you still have some natural restriction. Could be from swelling post surgery still beng present. You will notice that this feeling gets less but can be slower for some than others- I have heard of people who have not had any fill until almost a year post op and done well! As you lose weight you will lose internal fat around the stomach so this will make the band looser. I can understand the anxiety about progressing to solids but I would suggest you use an approach similar to introducing a baby/toddler to solids, don't make rapid changes- do it gradually. make the mushies less mushy eventauly graduating to solid. I have to do this after my fills or I run into problems quickly. After my last fill it took me about 10 days to get back to my normal diet. If you hit a problem, go back a step for the next meal or two then try again. it might seem slow but it works for me Bronnie- 6 more sleeps to go! Yay

Hi Tasha I started with a total of 210pounds to lose (bmi 60.4), I have lost 63 pounds since november my bmi has dropped by 10. I am losing steadily at the moment ( between 2-3 pounds per week) and I am happy with this- I have virtually no physical activity as I am wheelchair dependant. I have read some US surgeons sites that state lap band s not suitable for people with higher BMI, the procedure is more challenging for the surgeon sometimes with higher bmi but the research from here in Aus and outside US suggests lapband is a reasonable option for higher bmi individual simply because the surgery itself has less risk. I have seen lots of good results posted for people who started at over 300 pounds and higher. Do your own research, look for articles on databases such as pubmed etc. remember that lap band or SAGB surgery has been used in Aus, europe and Mexico since the mid 90's so you can find some good long term research results ( it has only be approved in US since 2001 i believe)