pati-o

Here's my pitiful list: !. I can swallow a whole piece of cooked spaghetti and then pull it back out. (Ick, I know!) 2. I can pee standing up. Again, Ick! I know.... I went to too many parties that didn't have bathrooms when I was a young adult. The things one will do when they're drunk! 3. I've driven more brand spankin' NEW cars then anyone I know. (My parents owned a ford Dealership and I learned to drive at 9 yrs old) 4. I can spit, let it drop and almost hit the floor and pull it back in. Ick again right? 5. I can wiggle the tip of my nose side to side. Oh God, my list is getting grosser, but hey, I kinda like the Samantha from Bewitched thing. 6. I can make my lips look like a horses. Yes, I have no talents. 7. On a brighter note..... I have the uterus made by michelin. I could carry quadruplets 3 weeks past their due date and still end up having to be induced! 8. I'm the only person in the world who would sell her husband for one kiss from Darius Rucker! gotta LOVE that man!

Dr.Mark Pleatman in Bloomfield Hills,MI. does fills for Pts. banded outside of the U.S. I have had two fills total, he did both of them. His office staff are great, he's very nice and very professional. (I wish I had him place my band!!)

I desperately need help to learn how to put photos on posts- I have barium swallow pictures that I need to post for advice. thanks , pati

My fill Dr. is out of town until May 1st. I emailed Dr. Kuris coordinator, these are my upper gi pictures from this morning, I have constant burning in my throat, and weird chest pain. Any advice?? thanks,pati [ATTACH][ATTACH][/ATTACH][/ATTACH]

Kathy and Ann Marie, I showed these films to my endo dr. Kathy, you are right, the narrow area is the gastro-esophageal valve/junction. He said the pouch looked perfect and so did the band. He said that he thought I wasted my money by having this test, but I'm glad I did it anyway, because now I know. My nurse practitioner put me on another 30days of nexium along with zantac 150mg twice a day and I feel like a new woman. NO REFLUX at all anymore. I am able to eat again without any problems. Dr. Pleatman was out of town, but his office was so nice and called me to check on me to make sure I was ok. Everyone has been great, thank you all for your advice and for giving me input.

thank you everyone for replying. I feel better since you've all looked at my xrays and given me input. I can't believe how weird my band has been this weekend, I was able to eat- different stuff. Potatoes, pork and green beans for dinner with zero discomfort. I took it easy all weekend until tonight. I'm wondering if I was super swollen. But I still am afraid that this band has slipped. I'm calling for my appt. with the Dr. first thing in the morning. thanks!

thanks wheetsin for putting the pics on there:) Anwyn, I am in Michigan- I was banded in Mexico, so 99% of all Drs. treat me like I have the plague and wont touch me. I have regrets about not checking further into local Drs in the first place. too late now. I am definately too tight, the top picture shows the barium sitting above my band and not going through. It took a full 60 seconds before it started really going through. I really, really hope that this is all it is. I'm scared to death that it has slipped. What I don't understand is how it suddenly got this tight, I haven't had a fill since july. I did however have dry, stringy ribs and olives with thick chewy skins on new years eve, and it's gone downhill since then. Time will tell. The crappy thing about all of this- I work in a surgical unit. I saw at least 15 surgeons yesterday and I knew that not one of them could do a darn thing to help me..... so frustrating.

My mom has been on Byetta since October and has lost 40+ lbs. She has type 2 diabetes. It makes her so queasy that nothing looks appealing to her, she barely eats. It's working for her diabetes and weight loss, but I don't know how she can walk around all day and feel so ill:(

HI, I was having the same problems. I had an endo last monday which showed esophageal erosion, esophagitis, gastritis and vocal cord irritation and inflammation. I saw the Dr who did my endo yesterday, he has me on Nexium 40mg twice a day. HOLY COW! does that stuff help. He told me that I am just someone who produces too much acid, and that my band is not the culprit. My endo Dr. consulted with a band Dr for advice before he saw me for a follow up. I'd ask for an endo. it's better to look have someone look directly at the area that is giving you problems and get a definate answer then to speculate and try to guess what the problem is. I tried gaviscon, prevacid,pepcid, maalox,tums, rolaids, you name it, nothing worked. I was worried constantly that something was terribly wrong with my band-now I know and have a huge sense of relief.

Thank you everyone:) I don't really know what all of these problems are from. Since I work in the dept. where I had the scope, I was able to talk to the girls that were in the room and saw the test as it was being performed. They told me that the bottom of my stomach was very irritated with areas of inflammation, and that my esophagus looked "raw". The biopsy results came back and I do not have Barretts (a permanant change in the type of cells that line the esophagus as far as I understand. people with Barretts have a higher chance of developing esophageal cancer, so they are watched very closely with scopes every year). The Dr. who did my test is not a band Dr. just a general surgeon, but I am very comfortable with him, he is even willing to do fills and unfills, but only if it is absolutely necessary. I go back to the dr. on the 31st to discuss my results (even though I know what the pathology results are-thanks to having the right "connections" I am anxoius to see what he has to say. I may be heading off to see Dr. Pleatman for a little unfill, since I've felt that this fill may have been a tad bit too tight since I got it last july. thanks again!

I had an endo today. I have some heartburn at night, not much, and I thought it was caused by my tylenol PM. The endo showed gastritis, esophagitis, esophageal erosion and inflammed and irritated vocal cords. I am now on Nexium 40mg twice a day and have to get another endo in 1 month. The good news, my band looks good. THank god!!

Here are my thoughts- however simplistic they may seem. After reading your post, it appears to me that (pre-banding) you had your life mapped out. Live until your fourties, then die. Now that you've lost the weight and can't sabotage yourself in the quest for being thin, you have NO idea what to do with your life. You're most likely NOT going to die in your 40's, so that's shot to hell. You aren't going to reach your goal then make a 180 and gain it all back. Seems to me that you're just unsure of how to really LIVE. It also seems that you've always looked at weight loss as a sure failure. Not so this time around. I understand the restlessness....Not only do I feel that I can no longer be obsessed with being HUGE, I'm sending my baby off to school this fall and have to start another chapter in my life that doesn't involve little kids at home. One thing is for sure, the possibilities are endless if we're willing to take the time to explore them. Pati

Last year while vacationing with some friends whos children are VERY well behaved, my friend and I were sitting on the sofa in our hotel room chatting and catching each other up on the past couple of years when my three year old walks up to my friend and uses one nostril as a gun to shoot a cocoa puff directly at her... How horrifying! Oh and I work in a hospital in an Outpatient/endo dept. We've been called in to remove MANY different things. Christmas ornaments, aerosol cans, a vase once, and the latest- the little metal top thingie from a lava lamp. SICK people!

oh God, I WAS trying to avoid this site but I just HAVE to add my two cents of info. I don't know where you're all from, but here in Michigan we call the FUPA a "fat rabbit" don't know why. Oh and at our house my hubby calls his Johnson his "stick" and by sons call theirs "Mr. Peepers". My daugters call all girl pieces/parts the "tootie" . Mine is a hoo-ha also. SO, if you're all lucky tonight and get a doo-da in your hoo-ha, then consider it a great night. (that's when the "O" fairy comes to visit!~) Glad there are some others like me out there.....don't know what that means exactly, but I'm glad just the same!!! Oh, and Lisa..... do the ben wa balls work???????? What happens if you lose one???

Cheryl, You may want to check into Dr Pleatmans costs. He has a package price that includes fills and followups for 2 years post-op and the package is a GREAT price. I have had him do all of my fills, I think he is a very skilled Dr. and he and his office are great to work with. I went to Dr Kuri, have had no problems, but when I add the cost for his surgery,airfare and follow ups that I've already had with Dr Pleatman, the package deal price with Dr. P is much, much better. Oh, and I'm from Michigan, near Kazoo. I'm 13 monthes out and have lost 58lbs. I can't say enough good things about the way I feel now. No more aches and pains and I love how I look now. Pati

Ok, I'll admit it. I have been obsessed with the thoughts that I'm eroded, or that I have a slipped band, or a flipped port, or an infection or pouch dilitation or any number of things that I've read here. I'm one of the ones who emailed Dr. Pleatman about whether I should have an endo or not. This is crazy! Every twinge and ache I get makes me paranoid. I feel like the people must have felt during the cold war- always afraid the bomb is going to drop. This is how it is for me- I have a band. It "appears" to be working properly. I DO have reflux, and thankfully I work in an outpatient surgery dept. with some excellent drs. and I'm taking the advice of one I spoke with today. I'm cutting out the caffiene, greasy and spicy food. I'm going to drink more Water and treat the reflux for what it is- reflux. And not treat it as if I have a damaged band. If the reflux doesn't go away with dietary changes, then I'll try a med of some sort. If that doesn't work then I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I agree with Dr. Pleatman- if there is a problem, then I have time to sort it out when and IF the time comes. If I were told today that I had 60 days left with this band- I could work with it and get as many lbs. (or ounces-whatever it may come to) until the day came that I had to say goodbye to my band, or I could sit around and worry, fret, stew and storm for the entire 60 days and not take advantage of the time I had left with it. I'm choosing to live like I have the time to use it.........I may get hate mail for my attitude. That's ok. I can't sit and worry about this anymore. This site used to be a place for me to go for reference and advice. Now I feel like it's just to find the evidence for everyone that ever disagreed with me about getting my band to say "HA! I told you so!"

I'm supposedly gonna' live to the ripe ole' age of 96, except I don't want to live past 95. Thats the age that my grandma lost her marbles- she couldn't tell the difference between a toothbrush and a tennis racket.

Maybe I'm being paranoid, maybe I'm having sympathy symptoms. But my port area is very tender and has twingy sharp pains and burns/stings at times. My 14lb doggy did step right on it one night while I was laying in bed, but that was about 2 weeks ago. I also had a MAJOR pb about 3 weeks ago followed by a week of terrible heartburn, that is gone for the most part, but I'm scared that something is wrong. I emailed my follow-up/fill Dr. but he never wrote me back. Any advice or ideas what this could be?

Ah-ha! I think I may have figured some of this out- today I was grocery shopping and my cart was full to the top with really heavy stuff (canned goods sale) and it was hard to push and turn. By the time I was ready to leave the store my port was burning like crazy! I strongly suspect that what the pain was is my stitches pulling in the abdominal muscle. (I'm still going to the Dr. wednesday)

clevergrrly, I'm not the slightest bit offended, as a matter of fact, I wondered the same thing- it does happen when I eat more then I probably should. I am going to see a dr on wednesday and hopefully will schedule an endo for the following week. I'm wondering if I have pouch dilitation too. I'm by no means a model bandster. I don't drink sodas or carbonated drinks (not even one since banding) and I rarely take NSAIDS, but I do have PB's more then I should, and when I do have them I don't follow with a day of liquids. I can definately say that if anything is wrong with my band, it is all my fault.

thanks Lisa, I always look for your advice here on LBT and appreciate it! My trip to Mexico was a one time deal, I will not be going back for any reason, it wasn't that it was a horrible trip, things were fine, but I live in michigan and if I have to have this little bugger removed I'm going to Dr. Pleatman:) I don't have any redness,swelling or leakage. I'll keep my eye on it. I'm just wishing that next wednesday would hurry up and get here-I want this endo scheduled asap, I'm paranoid. I still have great restriction, I have that gurgly "empty the funnel" sound, so that makes me feel better, and the heartburn is only when I eat to late at night. I wonder too what a pulled port stitch may feel like? Hmmm...Oh, and not only is the twingy feeling near my port, it's on the opposite side of my belly. Of course I get all of these weird thoughts like "what if it's infected and the pus is spreading under the fat and across the top of the muscle to the other side of my belly?" OMG... I'm Harriet Hypochondriac. I need to quit reading these erosion posts!

My port site is where my pain/burning is. I would describe it as a twin-gy, burning, it's not constant. I wonder if I have irritated where a stitch is attached to the muscle? That doesn't explain why it hurts after I eat. I wonder if I am SO focused on these erosion posts that I am noticing something that is really NOTHING....I think I fit the profile of a serial hypochondriac!!

Thanks for the advice everyone. I have made an appt with a surgeon for 2/8/06 for a pre-eval for an endo then an upper gi if that goes well. And this burning stinging feeling is definately worse if I eat. No one has ever told me before that this could happen. I work in an OPS/Endo dept and have shown some of my endo co-workers what the pics look like when the pt has an eroded band, so they can be on the lookout. I will show my surgeon the pics too (he is not a band surgeon, but a dr that I trust very much to do my scope). thanks everyone.

Count me in this group. NO way was I going to skip out on a yummy drink now and then. I'm a total dufus though- I thought I'd change from wine coolers to Mikes Hard Lemonade to avoid the carbonation monster. It wasn't until I read the LABEL that I realized that those are carbonated too. Sheesh, I think Cheri and I are twins......... I just look at a glass bottle (any form of alcohol included) and I'm preggers!