WASaBubbleButt

MrsD... My band is empty. There is 0.4cc in there now but that is just for the tubing, the band itself IS empty. Yep, I've lost. The upside to all this is that I am at 50% goal! :nervous

I'm really undecided on the whole thing regarding removing my band. At first I had mentally prepared that this was a necessary procedure, meaning to have it removed. But then hubby got in on this and for a lot of reasons I don't want to go into, I seriously need to respect his opinion. So now I'm not sure what I'll do. I *want* it removed but I for a lot of reasons I need to consider my husband's thinking. I may just go through the motions to please him then get the stupid thing taken out. You have to understand, I drink 2-3 Protein shakes at room temp daily. If I can I drink a bottle of Pedialyte. That's it. Daily I fight to maintain appropriate labs (appropriate levels of sodium, potassium, protein, etc.) I've pretty much had my fill of being banded. While I am still verrrry pro-band, maybe it's just not for me. Throat tightness... I wake up that way. I have a forever lump in my throat. I'm tired of that too.

$7800 + $250 airfare.

Hey you guys... At least the bad stuff is behind us now. Life is good, gotta see the positives! Look to the future and all that good stuff, right?

Betsy... I swear by Bounty brand paper towels! LOL

Yes, I just have 0.4cc in for the tubing but the band is empty. Endoscopy shows duodinitis and a lot of esophageal irritation due to barfing. However, I just had a pretty bad episode of barfing blood so it was from that. I can't do solids or cold liquids. I have to drink Protein shakes and Water at room temp. (Gahhhh)

No, I saw my doc two weeks after being banded for barfing but the fill was at 6 weeks.

Surgeon is very experienced, he's done about 1300 of them. Early on another surgeon saw band placement and said it was perfect. My surgeon said if he put a bigger band in then I would never have the restriction needed. See why I am so frustrated? That's why the only option I can see is to have it removed.

Did you accidentally kick her really hard?

I don't recall any hurtful words due to my weight, I don't know maybe they say 'em behind my back. But I did have one issue that still sticks in my mind like it was last night. I had a horrible horrible night the evening before this situation happened. I had been in the hospital, my arms were bruised, I looked bad, admittedly. I went to see a friend of mine. She was the secretary for the fire fighter's union. I really needed to speak with her. I walked in and the receptionist - not having a clue who I was or what was going on stopped me and told me that I certainly looked like a mess, then she proceeded to ask if I always look this way. I apologized for my appearance and explained that my house burned down 12 hours ago and my choice of clothing was limited. Thankfully the man standing behind her knew me. He stopped her dead in her tracks and explained he was on that call (he was, he was the captain for that crew), I didn't HAVE any other clothes. He took her to his office and they had a chat. Needless to say, they let my friend have the day off and we went clothing shopping. I am not sure who was more embarrassed, me or the receptionist.

LOL!! I absolutely LOVE your attitude~

Actually in old threads I've found a handfull of other people that had the same problems as me. However, they never came back to tell of the final outcome.

Sliming is when your stomach is trying to get food to pass through your stoma. If it get stuck and won't go your body produces really super thick saliva to make it slide through. When it doesn't work you PB and it comes out in thick ropes. It's truly disgusting but part of being banded. It's gross but amazingly, not as bad as it sounds. LOL

Thx. Dr. C is one of the people I was considering to remove the band. I didn't go into a lot of detail with him, just mostly that I wanted it removed. The other one is Ortiz in Mexico.

The fill was my fault, not the docs. I have to take TOTAL responsibility for that one. Two weeks after being banded I went back to him and we talked for a long time. He basically told me it was all in my head. A barium swallow showed everything to be fine so I believed him that it was all in my head. When I had the pre-scheduled appt I didn't want to look like a total nut job (considering I think he thinks I am anyway) and being a newbie didn't realize how bad a fill would be. So I went ahead and got a very small fill. It was horrible, just horrible. Got an unfill and all was good. I was at least back to full liquids vs. barfing spit. I haven't actually been to another doc. I've been talking to a couple via email and I was just going to have the band removed. If it is perfect on a barium swallow what else could they even do? Other than to remove it? I do have a question for others, when you are tight do you also have a feeling that there is a lump in your throat?

Oh, another one that annoys me is when people should say "well" and they say "good" instead. That apple went down good, vs. that apple went down well. Honestly, I don't know if there is a rule about that one but it makes me crazy. Just like the word "anywayzzz" sends chills up my spine.

Ohhhh, I'm guilty of the above! I have this theory! (LOL) You see, I've been in medicine for over 20 years and for over 20 years I've been writing in abbreviations. (It's a secret language so patients don't know what we are writing about. Heh...) I've been writing in abbreviations for so long I forgot basic basic basic grammar rules. It makes me crazy to write out paragraphs, I have to stop and think about the rules. Also, I am around people with poor grammar and I hear it day after day. I am one to pick up with others say repeatedly. I recently purchased a book to go over those rules again. I read it while I'm treadmilling. (Treadmilling, my own personal word because I'm fairly sure I made it up.)

Sometimes they don't fill the band with saline during surgery but air instead. They don't actually fill the "band" but they fill the tubing. (Think of a straw and suck all the air out of it) When the air is replaced with saline it "appears" the fill has gone away. In reality, it's just air being replaced with saline.

I've been trying to think of a non insulting sig line that makes it clear but I am not tactful enough to come up with anything.

That one is the one I was going to post but decided to see if anyone else did first.

Thank you SO much for posting this! I have been looking for just such a website.

Laurend... You are correct, some people are soooo swollen from surgery that they cannot fathom losing weight right now. They swell and in reality it is Water weight.

BTW, count calories. You can get a Protein size piece of meat for 20 calories or you can suck in a protein size of fat. It's a choice. What will yours be? If you need 3K of calories to hang on to your weight many people will find a way to maintain their 3K of calories. If you are seriously finding that you consume 1K calories daily and you continue to gain, then you have a medical problem.

I am at 50% goal weight. Something I have learned. One week you lose pounds and the next week you lose inches. Just measure and count. You are losing and you don't realize it. Now, there are people who cheat and they don't lose an ounce. But for those that do as the diet challenges, you WILL lose. It is your guess if it will be pounds or inches.

LOL!!!! Do we know this via experience??? ;o))))))))))