Rottenbeauty

So, I went to get my band unfilled a bit because I couldn't eat anything and it was just horrible. The doctor (whom I intensely dislike) took me down for what he told me was a Barrium swallow and then told me I had a 'very severe slippage'. He then put the needle in the empty my band, but he didn't give me any local the way the other doctor used to and he had difficulty finding it. So he kept pushing it around and it hurt so much I started crying, it was just horrible. It's been two days and my stomach is still sore from it. He told me that I would need private health cover because even though my operation and band replacement was free, the hospital stay could be very expensive. My mother used to work in a private hospital and thought this sounded strange as they are only about $400 a night. My mother called the SIOS clinic and they told her that I would actually have to pay for the whole thing. The new band (that apparently is better than my old band), the surgery, the anaesthetic etc etc all over again which would cost me about $8000 dollars. My parents had mortgaged their house to come up with the $15000 for the surgery so my dad was not happy to hear about it. He called Dr Layani who is the French doctor who did my surgery in Sydney, he now just works in Queensland. The doctor was shocked that they were talking about cost as it is not the way they do things in his surgery. So in he end, it may be cheaper for me to fly to Queensland to get the surgery than to drive 30 minutes around the corner . . . Anyway, after my dad called them threatening legal action (he was very mad), Dr Layani's surgery called the SIOS and I had to go back to see a new doctor. This new doctor now tells me that I may not actually have a slippage as what I had before to determine this was not a proper swallow . . . he also said that he meant no offense to the doctor who had performed it but, 'he's not a surgeon'. I will now be dealing directly with this new Dr Taylor who used to work with Dr Layani . . . I'm very cautious with him, but I suppose we'll see how it all goes . . .

I started having problems straight away, though not with the band itself. The shoulder pain that some people experience for 2 weeks afterwards plagued me horribly for 9 months. The doctors denied it being anything to do with the surgery . . . but it wasn't there before, it's a symptom and it was there right after . . . I'm no mathematical genius, but I can figure out the probability on that one. The band basically wasn't working. I could eat as much as I could before. We got it tightened and I could still eat a big plate, tightened again, same thing with the occasional PB. We went for another tighten and when I had a sip of Water I vomited it back up, so he loosened it slightly. Now, there weren't as many clinics around when I had this, the nearest one being 4-5 hours away and me being . . . 16 by that time. I couldn't eat. Or at least, it was rare. What was common however is for me to vomit at least 16 times during a meal. Then I started vomiting at night, while I was asleep. Last night, for example, I ate a few hours before going to bed, and in me pre-bedtime ritual I actually forced myself to vomit up some food that I could feel stuck, to hopefully avoid it later on. No such luck. I woke up at 6 this morning, choking and swallowing my own foul tasting vomit. I go to the bathroom and vomit up black liquid. I don't know why it's always black, but it is. Time and stomach acid have made it taste . . . like I just dissolved some painkillers . . . it tastes chemical and rancid. There is a plus side, I was 109 kg (239 lbs) and am now 69 KG (151 Lbs). I've still got more to go. I now live in Sydney and am going to my fill doctor on the earliest appointment, which is the 3rd of October. I hope that I can find a happy medium or being full, but not vomiting all the time. I've been banded for 4 years, since I was 15.

I don't take any medication for it. I think the only solution is to get it loosened up. This has been going on, with the constant PB and the black vomit for 2 years, I don't think another week will hurt, or so I hope.

It's hard to tell. It mostly seems PB, but sometimes it seems more like actual vomit. The problem is also, that liquid can also make me vomit. Having a cop of broth makes me vomit. It seems almost like my lapband has 'moods' sometimes it would let me eat doughy pizza, but other times won't allow me to drink Water or eat Soup. And I definately can't drink anything before I go to bed, even if I'm incredibly thirsty.

I wouldn't know if mine is a slip. I haven't been to the clinic on about 2 years.

I'm seeing a doctor about it on October the 3rd. I can put up with vomiting 16 times through a meal, but not waking up at night vomiting. Hideous. The last time I was filled he filled it to a point he wasn't even quite comfortable with. Lookng back on it, I kinda feel like I Guinea Pig.

I understand. I have been getting that for . . . roughly two years. Waking up in the middle of the night with vomit. Sometimes it's fine, regular vomit I can deal with. It's when i wake up, vomiting up some vague residue of food which a whole heap of stomach acid. It burns and tastes . . . it tastes like a crushed up pain killer. Not something you want to taste. Horrible.

Wow. Have you had any fills?

Hi, I'm new here, and I'm sorry if this has been posted before. I was just wondering what bad side-affects people may have had? Is there any other place I should have posted this. Excuse my newb-ness.

One thing i will mention is the weighing of yourself. Don't beat yourself up about the weight, focus on being healthy. I don't even own a pair of scales. The only time I weight myself is when I go see me mother. About once a month, once every 2 months. Focusing on that is only going to make you disappointed in yourself, which you really don't need.

I honestly found the puree stage of the diet to be much harder. In the liquid stage I had next to no appetite . . . in the puree stage, my appetite made a vengeful reappearance. I actually cracked on the last day of the puree and had a solid dinner. It was like heaven, I swear.