jc2008

I was banded on Dec 18th. On the morning of Jan 1st i had a huge pain (ie worst i have ever felt) in my left side. It was so bad i had to rush to the bed and i could not physically get up again. Hubby said 'gas pain' but I didnt quite think so. It got slowly better throughout the day, then happened again that afternoon. Was talking to my doc on the phone all day and he did suggest at one time that maybe i should go to the ER where he could see me, but i decided to wait until the next day (non-holiday). On Jan 2nd i went into my doctors office and the doc that saw me thought it was my gallbladder since it was on my left side and my port and stuff was on the right side. I went in and had xrays, ultrasounds and blood drawn, and then i guess they realized it was an infection in my stomach from my band. So that nite my doc came in, told me it was an infection, and that we were going to surgery to remove the band in an hour. He said i would not be able to have another band. I have tried to get clarification on what exactly happened to me, all my doc says is that my body rejected the lap band and gave me an infection. They did not culture the band, i asked if they were going to, and before the surgery they said they were, then afterwards they said they didnt culture it.. My doc is offering to do a sleeve or bypass free of charge since the band failed, but I am just not up to having another surgery after that scare. I am self pay, and i need to go in there next week and talk to him about all that happened. I am basically out 13.5k + the cost of the hospital stay of the removal. I feel like to have an infection that was that big within 2 weeks of getting the band in could have been a result of germs during surgery or something besides the fact of my body rejecting the band.. Anyone else had this happen? I really am wondering if i have any legal grounds to try to recoup what i paid for surgery...

Just a little update, but i went to see my doctor again today. I am 41lbs down from when i first had the band in in december (of course it was taken out 2 weeks later cuz of the infection). But he gave me a check in full for ALL the hospital costs from the first surgery... Now with the band + the removal i am out a total of a few hundred dollars only. Was afraid that i would be out the 7k of hospital fees. so relieved this is all over now.

well saw my doc again today and am actually VERY RELIEVED.. He told me to bring all the bills I am getting for the removal surgery i had to him and he will take care of them.. He also is giving me a full refund of the money i paid him for the original surgery and is calling the hospital to try to get back as much as possible from them for the original surgery too (hopefully i will just have to pay cost there). So i should only be out a couple thousand instead of 13k+removal surgery fees. A load off my mind really.. Was scared it was going to be a big legal hassle but he seems to really want to set this right. Apparently in 5 years and doing 4-5 bands a week i am only the second person to lose my band like this (within the first few weeks of installing it). I guess concentrating on the financial aspect of all this mess made me not concetrate on the fact that i had a HUGE infection in my abdominal cavity.. I guess im just lucky it hurt like hell so I knew something was wrong and the doc got in there early enough to clean it all out..

Yeah im wondering if the ibuprofen might have messed me up. But the nurse practioner KNEW i was going to take it for my knee after my one week appointment.. She should have said something if it could cause a hole.. Anyways, going to talk to the doctor on thurs to see if he can help get some of the removal surgery bills taken care of. He is a part owner in the surgery suite where i had the operation and removal done at, so i know he can, just need him to help a bit so i dont have 4-5k of new bills to deal with...

I go in to talk to him on the 31st. I just found out i had a severe herniated disc in my back which has a greater than 50% chance of requiring surgery, so i might be in for surgery on that (blah yuck). So i definitely wont be taking him up on the offer of a new surgery. I just wonder how to ask: hey can i have my money back? and wonder what he will say.. My mother has lots of lawyer friends, and one will take up my case if the doctor doesnt give us a satisfactory resolution. I mean, 14k for a band i only kept for 2 weeks + the bills of the surgery for removal is gonna be like another 4k or so...

On Jan 1st i had SEVERE pain on my right side that had me crippled to the point of not being able to get out of bed. IT just came upon me suddenly, no warning. It got better throughout the day but happened again that night with the same intensity. Kept in touch with my doctor during the day, since the office was closed and went in the next day for an appointent. After the morning appt, i was sent to the surgery suite to have some basic tests done, cuz they thought it was my gallbladder, but by that evening i was admitted to the hospital and by 8pm that nite the doctor had taken me back to surgery (almost 2 weeks to the day of me getting the band) and removed it due to an infection/abscess.. I still dont know much about what happened to me, everytime the doctor tried to talk to me i could just cry. I cannot have another band he says, and i had an infection which had made a hole in my stomach and that this has a VERY minute chance of happening.. I go to get my stiches out on thursday and hopefully learn more about what happened to me. You dont just get an infection out of the blue i wouldnt think. I am also cash pay so its hurting a bit more than just my emotions at the moment... My mother and my sister have both done great with the band over the past 3 years. I guess it just wasnt ment to be for me.

Apparently, they didnt culture the band when they took it out. So there is no way to tell if it was the dr or hospital's fault (fishy huh?). I am spending my time trying to feel better from the second operation, and will go see my doctor again in 3 weeks to discuss doing another type of surgery (sleeve or bypass). He hasnt mentioned anything about a refund, instead he is offering me the other surgeries for free and will work with the surgical suite to get the hospitalization part down to cost for any new surgery.. I am not sure what i will do. The band seemed like the best option for me, as it was reversable. I am not so sure how open i would be to a permenant operation..

The doctor said the sleeve or bypass was still a possibility, just not another band with the infection i had. Right now, after having surgery twice in two weeks, thinking about having ANOTHER more serious, non reversable surgery makes me very scared. He did mention when i was in the hospital that he would do either one for me, but i was all drugged up and in no mood to talk. I get to see him again tommorrow to get my stiches out, so i guess will talk more then.

I have had this bathroom scale for the past year and it has watched me go from high 200s to 320 and now that i have lost 14lbs, i stepped on it this morning and i heard something crack and now it says i weight 272 no matter what i do.. That is about 30lbs under what i weight atm so its a nice scale, but not accurate. Just kind of ironic i break my scale the week after i have surgery to actually do something to make my weight go DOWN instead of up

I have been having problems with the side of my knee, finally went to the doctor yesterday and she told me to take 600mg of ibuprofen every 6-8 hours until i go see the orthopedic doctor on wednesday. Now, since i started this regime, i havent felt full at ALL.. you think that all this ibuprofen to make the swelling in my leg go down has made my stomach swelling go back down to normal so i have like 0 restriction? I am still keeping my portions small, but the full feeling is DEFINITELy not there anymore at all.

The link to the Protein shakes/soups I use is in my signature (i recommend the chicken Soup, chocolate and vanilla, can add sugar free pudding to vanilla for different flavors like banana or pistachio). As to the original topic, I was on jenny craig when i was in junior high (gaa i been overweight ALL my life). I managed to lose 60lbs on it which i kept off until my junior year of high school. It comes back, thats the point, unless you make some really serious changes or stay on the program forever and ever.

Yeah, i knew i was gonna lose restriction before my first fill when i healed. Just thought it ironic that i lost restriction the day i started the ibuprofen regime for my knee. Ahh well, i go in for my first fill on the 22nd.

Last time i did a #2 was monday (the day before my surgery). I did clear liquids/protein shakes tues/wed/thurs and for past 3 days i have been doing yogurt/pudding as well. Err, when should i do a #2? I took some milk of mag tonite, the lowest dose, and nothing happened. I am not dehydrated cuz my urine looks fine, just no other stuff yet?

Yikes, you are trying to get 100 in a day? Im suppose to go for 40-60 a day. I can do the 40 by drinking 3-4 of my Protein shakes/soups ( PrescriptFit shakes and Soups ) If i double up 2 scoops at Breakfast and 2 scoops at lunch and a sensible dinner then the skakes definitely cover my protein and dinner is just bonus protein. 100 seems like it would be too much for me to try at this point.

Well just an update. I went to my post op checkup on Wednesday 26th (was banded on the 18th). And she told me to take the full dose of milk of mag that nite, and again in the morning if nothing happened. Well i was able to manage to go that nite and have gone once a morning since then. Not very impressive, but its something. (hope that wasnt tmi). I didnt have an explosiojn or anything.

Let me know how it goes Cerrin. I am nervous about Beans after spending a week trying to get all the gas out of me. Are beans going to be ok? And check the calories on those premade omelets. If you use one slice of 2% borden slice cheese (50cal) and one egg + a little milk (100 cal) and cook it in a skillet that doesnt need to be buttered its only 150cal total for the omelet. How many calories are in a premade omelet?

I thnk my favorite right now is cheese omelet. Scrambled eggs are considered soft mushie food by my doctor. So one egg + one piece of 2% cheese

I think my xmas went ok. It was my second day of soft foods. I ate a little of the mock souffle that was served at Breakfast (mixture of milk/bread/cheese/salt/pepper), but not much at all compared to what i normally would have had if i hadnt been banded. Oh and i ate a cookie.. ok so it was a SOFT cookie, but i know that was bad.. Other than that i managed to eat some oatmeal + Protein shake and chicken broth. How did everyone else do today? PS I go in for my first doctor's appointment tommorrow for my post-op checkup and hopefully have a new updated weight for my ticker. All my scales in my house are looking very promising in their predictions

According to my diet i can have oatmeal and scrambled eggs 1 week after surgery (ie mushy food). The doctor actually said he used to have mashed potatoes on this list but too many people abused them and didnt lose weight cuz of eating only mashed potatoes all the time. I am 8 days from my sugery now and can have foods such as oatmeal, scrambled eggs, cottage cheese and such.. Yes i had one serving of mashed potatoes but only one ! and i dont plan to have more.

I have my post op appointment today, and i still havent done a #2, I tried milk of magnesia like 2 days ago, and took the minimum dosage and nothing happened. I called the office on xmas eve and the doctor on call said it was probably due to the liquid diet + pain meds i was on. Will see what todo about this today at my appt though.

I would call the doctor, especially since you heard a sound, then new stuff started to happen to you (ie food getting stuck.)

Heh, we have had cakes and cookies and cheesecake and all sorts of stuff around the house all week. None of that bothered me. Now when my mom had cornbread stuffing at dinner last nite, THAT Bothered me... But oh well, can have some at thanksgiving i guess..

Yeah, no baths here either., but they did tell me to shower and pat the area with Water (no rubbing the area). then pat dry. Had to do this 3 days in a row just to get all the pink stuff off my stomach they used to sterilize me with.

Well I am a little over 48 hours with the band (got it tuesday afternoon), and i still feel pretty crappola.. Today i had the mother of all burps, and altho burping hurt like hell, i felt a lot better afterwards. Had to get some nausea medicine called in for me tho cuz i kept feel like i was gonna puke. But i havent yet! The inscision sites are fine, its just all my other insides that dont feel right yet :/ And im getting a bit tired of sleeping on my back, but sleeping on my side just isnt happening :/ On the BRIGHT side (yes after all my whining), i am very glad the operation itself is over with, and am very proud with myself for going through with it. I just hope i don't drive my hubby crazy in the meantime. He stayed hom the past 2 days to take care of me, so he been getting majority of my whining directed at him

I watched my mother and sister get the band 3 years ago, and thought i didnt need that, i could control my weight. That and i didn't have insurance to pay for it anyways. After trying my best for the past 3 years to at least stay the same, i actually GAINEd weight and I knew i had to do something.. Talked ot my hubby, took out a personal loan and went to the doctor. The pricetag to be thin for me is priceless. IF this works and keeps the weight off, its worth every penny and more.