cookiebaby

My friend works at a medical office and was talking about the procedure to a nurse. The nurse said I should be careful because my band could explode if I ate too much. Is she nuts? I've never heard of this - it doesn't stretch that much. I can see the upper stomach stretching but the band exploding?

I found out this morning that I need to have my band removed. I have too much acid reflux. Most of the time it gets better with weight loss but the band was just making it worse. I'm going to have gastric bypass and doc said I wouldn't have any more acid reflux. Little nervous but ready to not have such stomach pain.

Try to make this as short as possible. My last fill was just too much and I was throwing up every day and miserable so after two weeks (waited to see if it would loosen up a little) I started calling my doctor's office. After two more weeks, it finally came to the point that I had to go to the ER and that was also a HUGE fiasco with the staff of my dr's office. Because of their final mistake (not faxing orders for an upper GI and closing down the office for the day), my doctor came to see me in radiology when they called him and he removed 2ccs of my fill. I thought that would be the end of the story but NOOOOOO. My doc ended up doing a scope because of some pain and found out I had severe inflammation in my esophagus (maybe from a month of throwing up?) and had to take all the fill out of my band. Now, I have to be restriction free for a month and then go see the doctor again. I can't help but feel that if it were not for the staff of his office, I would not have had all these problems. After he took out the liquid today, I was supposed to go into his office and see the nurse. I just called them from the road and said I couldn't go in there because the last two times my blood pressure jumped to stroke level because I was so upset about what had happened. The new doc told me that he didn't even know if the band would work for me and talked about moving it or removing it. When my regular doc came in, he was reassuring and told me he had no reason to believe that they couldn't fill me back up. He said that would start happening in two weeks but that changed since Monday. I'm supposed to talk to a friend of friend about the lap band. I can't honestly recommend it or my doctor right now. Don't get me wrong - my doctor is the absolute best but some of the staff have made my life literally a living hell. Whas should I tell the woman? Anyone had any of these problems?

We don't have our doctor's information. I supposed I could google it wait outside his house but stalking is illegal and there is even worse health care in jail. I've tried telling him about the problems a little bit but it mostly doesn't seem like he's listening or just not acknowleding it. When I see him in the office in four weeks, I'm going to write down the problems and hand it to him or at least make sure he listens. Sure, I could find a lawyer that might love this case but then exactly who would fill me/unfill me, care for me, operate if necessary? NO ONE in this area is that answer. It may be a large city but bariatric surgeons are a very small group and I have to assume they communicate a lot. Besides, I just want things to improve - not make enemies. I couldn't deal with that stress right now.

I tried to give the short version but I know you guys don't know I'm reasonably intelligent and will work on something until I get resulst. You may not want to read all this but it's 6 a.m. and I can't sleep. I'm sure I've left out some details but this is about as close as I can come. After two weeks, I realized things were'n't improving enough (my band had loosened or whatever it does before) It's a little bit of a blur as to exact details (apparently, I was severely dehydrated) but I honestly called the office 2-3 time a day most days of the week. Most often I had to leave messages and wait for return calls that didn't come for a couple of days. Yes, I left messages with multiple people and kept trying to call back daily. I had hope at one point because the nurse said I could get into see the doctor very soon but then she transferred me to the scheduler. No answer and no way to get back to the nurse. Waited for her to call me back the next day and again the cycle began in the afternoon. It was a Wednesday when I actually staged my sit in at the hospital. You do know that even if you go to the ER, it does not mean that your doctor will see you or even speak with the ER doctor, right? I learned that. After finding out I was dehydrated and had a bladder infection and having Fluid in an IV and meds, they told me there was nothing else I could do. They had paged my doc several times. During the lovely stay, I was also on the phone to my office. At one point when I got a real person, and I was crying, I asked where the nurse was. I was told she was in pre-op class. I told them they needed to get me some help because I was certain that they didn't want an hysterical crying woman to walk into their class. I won't bore you with all the details of the calls. Eventually, the ER said I would have to leave because they had done all they could and my doctor would see me in the office. Really, when? They couldn't get rid of me that easily - went to the doctor's office and repeated my earlier statement that I wasn't leaving until I got some help or at least an appointment. They were shocked - what was I doing there, I was supposed to be admitted to the hospital. Did I leave against medical advice? (not the first stupid question of the day by far) If I left AMA would I be standing here? I had the choice of going back and waiting in line again to be admitted or to see the new doc (that I had never met) tomorrow. At first, they had me convinced to come back and then I decided to be admitted because then my real doc would see me that night. I went back to the ER to be admitted and they told me that they could not admit me because they had no medical reason. My doctor should have admitted me directly. Another 45 minutes worth of phone calls and I found out that no one would admit me. I was calmed down with the promise of an upper GI that day. However, as I mentioned earlier, they didn't fax the orders and left the office for the night and that led to the string of events where my doctor finally came over and took out 2ccs. It amazes me that people saw me in the waiting room of my doctor's office having a crying fit and no one even asked what was wrong? I know people don't want to be nosey but these were pre-op patients and there were minutes when I was calm enough to speak. No, they were excited about their liquid diets and their surgery dates. I bet I was like that too and should have asked hung out in the fill room a few times to hear what could happen first. When it's all said and done, I probably would do it again because even if I could have lost more weight on a regular diet, I wold eventually just gain it back. That may be happening all too soon since I have no fill right now.

For dinner, almost anything goes. It starts over every day. I know some of it has to do with sinus drainage but what explains the rest?

I just had an endoscopy today. Thought it would be a breeze (like the ones I've had before) but they did biopsies and I was in tons of pain and sick most of the day. I remember he said there was some scaring. Then, went for upper GI. I go back to the doc on Monday afternoon. I'm a little nervous. I was supposed to have a fill on Thursday but he sounded like that wasn't going to happen. All sorts of scenarios are going through my head. Especially since the office said that he normally doesn't see people for 7-10 days after the procedure. He definitely wanted to see me next week. Oh well, need to stop thinking about it because worrying will make more stomach acid and that's the last thing I need.

I saw Ruby (the lady that has her own reality show about losing weight) in an interview talking about how her palate has changed since she was doing the pre-made food program. She says she craves fish. I also have noticed the same thing. When I go to a restaurant, I order fish because that's what I want, not because that is what is the most healthy. I literally want fish every day. Most of my cravings are for healthy things. I won't talk about chocolate, though - that will never go away.

I have 7 ccs in an 11 cc Realize Band - just thinking I should have gotten 1/2 or 3/4 last time instead of one.

Since my last fill, things have been pretty tough. I can barely take my morning medicine. Nothing but liquids pretty much of the day. I managed some yogurt over an hour period and it gurgled until I thought I'd go insane. I usually get sick at dinner. Tonight is the test - trying to just eat a little solid food - if it won't go then I think I need to get a little out? I just can't decide if I should try to wait it out and see if things get better. I am not getting my Protein but I am managing enough liquid. I know I can drink Protein drinks but I don't want that to be my life. Any suggestions?

I was filled two weeks ago yesterday. I'm assuming that is enough time for the swelling to go down. I wake up at a normal time in the morning - say 8:30 but cannot eat anything near solid until about 12 hours later. That is NOT a healthy way to live and not how I want to live either. Even before this last fill, I had trouble at breakfast and lunch. Just wish they told us this was a possibility BEFORE hand.

My gynecologist said that quick weight loss messes with your hormones and that is probably normal.

Doesn't your doctorate program provide insurance? I'm also looking into going back to get mine and they pay for tuition, pay a stipend and give insurance. Even if they don't provide it, maybe it would be available? I would just hate to go without insurance in any case. I really don't think your insurance that you have now would pay to have your band removed just because you want to - I think there would have to be a bunch of medical documentation.

I have a 20 year old son because of mixing birth control pills with antibiotics. Better safe than sorry. For the record, I'm not sorry, though.

It is simply because I was vertical. I've done some experiments. I am always very restricted in the morning - barely can get my meds down and they gurgle for an hour. lunch is pretty tough too and dinner is easier. Tried lying down in the afternoon for just an hour and sure enough, I cannot eat dinner. Okay, now figure out why being vertical makes the band so tight. Does it flatten out or something?

Oh my gosh - I'm laughing so hard at myself I can hardly type. Of course, that's what I meant - having a blonde moment. Boy, I've been having a lot of those lately. Glad you knew what I meant.

Okay, stab in the dark. Maybe if she lost the weight super quickly, it takes a while for her body to adjust. Does that make any sense at all? Things need to tighten up a bit? I agree - just tell her congratulations, that's great, blah blah blah. You can also say "you look different" because you really thought she was different - even though it wasn't exactly the different she was looking for.

I think I am there but there is nothing really "sweet" about it. I'm still just trying to get used to it and tired of not being able to drink in the morning. Don't get me wrong - I do not regret one moment of this. I feel better than I have in years.

Wow, that is fantastic. That is my next goal but I'm about 17 pounds away from it right now. I am so excited for you!!!! Great job.

Mine is very bad in the morning. I can barely drink water and I've gotten sick on milk. My friend suggested it may have something to do with being horizontal at night and vertical during the day. I'm starting to think that has something to do with it because I was sick one day about a week ago and took a three hour nap - dinner was then impossible. I don't know exactly what the band looks like but could it smoosh a little while we are lying down? I know I wasn't dehydrated because I'm very careful with that part.

I understand it is a process and some people grieve. I've said to myself that I do miss food but then I realize I can still go have fun at restaurants with my friends and do almost everything I've done before but with some changes. Once you go through the process and learn some tricks to make it work with your lifestyle, you will come to terms. For me, it was getting off all three of my diabetes medicines. If I miss eating something, I think about how much healthier I am now and how much healthier I will be a month, six months, a year from now.

Wow, your doctor is going to let you remove it after only one month? I'm surprised they aren't trying a few things first. Will insurance pay for this?

If you stretch your pouch, they have to take out fluid from the band so your stomach falls back down - kind of like starting over again if I explained this the right way.

Exactly what I thought. Sounds crazy to me.

I think it is a learning process. I threw up a lot after this last fill and then I got the hang of when I was full and when I should stop. I always chew chew chew but it happens sometimes until you get used to it.