Kaiser Richmond Pre-op

[Guest sodapop]

Ash yes skype it! xoxo my sleeve bff!

Okay so how much did you guys eat though?? I LOVE LOVE LOVE taco bells refried Beans. As soon I get the okay I am driving over there! LOL....Could you eat the whole portion???? It says 1/2 cup I am scared to eat that much. ha ha. Eat THAT much. 1/2 a cup! I laugh still at this cause it's too much!

Ohh yeah! Ali I can use your ricotta bake! Okay I just got excited.

[Guest sodapop]

Ohh and thanks to my heather too-for letting everyone know what was happening to April!!!! xoxox couldnt

forget my Heather!

[Ali2010 1]

I pretty much could eat all the refried beans...lol In the beginning I would have them put some extra red sauce in to make them a little more runny but I didn't have a problem eating it all. On busy days I would eat the Wendy's small Chili, having that for lunch now...lol. There is not many Beans so it always went down fine for me.

Hope your getting rest after the hospital run....

[MamaAsh 1]

Ohhh yes Taco Bell Beans and Wendy's Chili lol, Staples for sure!!!!

[Guest sodapop]

Thanks Ali-that did take a lot outta me..I think I have been feeling so great lately that I thought I was fine but I have been sleeping all day! lol..It took us almost 3 hours to drive home and we stopped a few times but still REALLY longggg and tired!

Yay! for beans! I am gonna have them tonight for sure! Taco bell here I come. I will tell you how that goes Ali and Ash!

Off for another nap after the hospital run.......lol...

[tamra. 6]

Feels so good to be home!!!

I am so glad its cooling down out here, I was not loving the summer weather at all!

Heading to the park with my daughter and her little friend, have a good evening friends

[skiingj 0]

Chrissy - For Purees I had some Soup but mostly chicken and ground beef pureed with gravy, mayo or broth. It was by far the worst stage for me.

I hope April is doing well!

[Guest sodapop]

Thanks Ali-that did take a lot outta me..I think I have been feeling so great lately that I thought I was fine but I have been sleeping all day! lol..It took us almost 3 hours to drive home and we stopped a few times but still REALLY longggg and tired!

Yay! for beans! I am gonna have them tonight for sure! Taco bell here I come. I will tell you how that goes Ali and Ash!:thumbup:

Thanks John..Ohh great the worst stage?? here I am all excited..but it does sound yuck "puree" meat with mayo! ick.

I must say I had my "first sleeve no-no" I ate cottage cheese outta the container and ate till I was full cause I was being so lazy. OOPS! Now I have a tummy ache. OMG-I must say the sleeve DOES STOP YOU FROM EATING! It rocks!

Off for another nap after the hospital run.......lol...and my tummy ache..I learned my lesson: MEASURE!!!

[tamra. 6]

I have to come admit my newest addictions:

BLUE CHEESE

CREAM cheese ON A RICE CAKE.

sigh....LOL

[smilin_apple 0]

Hello All!!!

Let me start of by saying thank you to everyone for the well wishes...it means a lot to me to have so many wonderful people around who care! I still don't feel like I am 100% better but I am hoping to be there soon.

It was great to have Chrissy come drive all the way out there to keep me company and to make sure that I was okay even though she didn't have to, I really appreciate the support. And then to have Donna who happen to be in Dr. Alami's office that day run into Chrissy and come to my room and to wait for me to get out of my procedure to make sure I was okay is just so speacial. It really means a lot to me to know that you both were there for me.

I haven't had one PB episode since 2 weeks prior to my slight unfill on June 22nd. I went in on June 22nd since I was on my way out of the state and just felt like I had been slightly too tight for the last 7 months or so. Every time I stressed out or started my cycle I became too tight to get anything other than Soup down. That was obviously why I didn't loose more than I did at that point so I decided to get .5 cc's taken out. When Paul took out the .5 cc I felt this awful pain around my band (not my port) that I had never felt before. But I was in such a hurry and so excited to go see my best friend James in South Carolina graduate from Basic Training (who I hadn't seen in over 2 months) that I decided to try and ignore the pain and just rush off to my flight that was leaving in an hour from then.

After having a few conversations with Chrissy and others about what had happened I promised them that I would get checked out when I returned to San Francisco the next week.

On Monday June 28th I arrived at the SSF Airport at approx. 11:30 and called Kaiser. After speaking with Susan (head nurse) she advised me to come in and wait to be squeezed in to see Dr. Alami around 2:30. When the doctor came in I explained what had happened the prior week and that even though I have felt pretty good eating the prior week until; then; that I still have felt some slight discomfort when the food passed through the band area into my stomach. It wasn't a stuck feeling it was more of a bad irritation. I was also feeling some acid reflux which I never felt before so he decided to get and Upper GI (with the camera) and also do the barium with flouro to make sure there wasn't a slip. The flouro seemed to be okay and he called Sac to schedule me for the camera procedure to make sure there was no erosion of the band into my stomach.

He decided before he was going to send me home that he wanted to take out some more Fluid to make sure that the camera procedure was easier. When he attempted to pull out some more fluid I immediately felt that same pain again that I felt the week before but this time it made me cry it hurt so bad. I don't even get the numbing stuff when I do fills or unfills because I have such a high tolerance for any kind of pain. This pain was definitely something I have NEVER felt before the last week. When he saw the pain he immediately said he was admitting me into to the hospital.

That night they put me on clear fluids only until midnight and then nothing after midnight so I could have the procedure the next day. At 11:30 the next morning they took me to do the procedure. They put me half under to where I wouldn't remember much if anything and proceeded to put the camera down my esophagus. Dr. Alami was in there for the procedure so he could see for himself.

Afterwards he came in and told me that it doesn't look eroded at all and that he wanted to leave out the fluid that he removed for the next month to let any possible swelling or irritation heal by itself and then bring me back next month to start filling it back up again (at this point I am at approx. 4 cc's down from 6.5) at first this seemed like a great idea but then it hit me. No erosion (GREAT!) but what is the problem (why all this pain) I have NEVER felt this before! Also I was upset because anytime I have had such little fluid before I have gained weight so all I could think was that I was going to put on 20lbs in the next month! I know it was a crappy and negative attitude to have but I was just feeling stressed and slightly defeated and just needed to get through it in my own way.

Now I am not feeling so defeated but I am still having pain. I'm not going to lie; the pain DOES scare me. But I am trying to not let it take over me. I have pain when I eat or drink anything...now I can admit that the pain is not enough to stop me in my tracks when I am eating but I do notice that it is there and it hurts where my band is not at my port site. As for the port pain; I have felt some pulling sensations around my port itself (kind of like when it was healing when I first had surgery done). I do feel the pain that is around my band clear into my back.

I am keeping in touch with my doctor by emails and I am letting him know what type of pain I am feeling. As well as eating very soft foods to try and let any possible swelling heal itself.

Again let me thank everyone who wrote such special messages to me and who kept me in your prayers during this time... please continue to pray for me. I will keep you all updated as often as I can.

[Ali2010 1]

April, I am so glad you wrote your story and I am very sorry for the pain you are having. Prayers for you will continue and it sounds like the doc is working at getting you figured out. Stay strong and keep pushing Kaiser to heal you. Keep posting updates.

Blessings and hugs...

[Guest sodapop]

Of course I would come there silly! Duhhh....I would be there in a second like you have been there for me! Cause I LOVE YOU! :tt1: I WON'T LET YOU GAIN!!!! We have some bike riding to do! Your bike misses you! :frown:

[MoniqueD 8]

Hello Everyone!!!!

April-Glad you posted your story for all to know exactly what you are going through. I'll be praying for you....

Okay so, I injured my achillies tendon on Tuesday!!!! I am in so much pain. I did it walking/jogging on the treadmill at the gym. I have been going to the gym everyday. I have 5 out of 7 days in my pedometer where I have walked over 12,000 steps. I was feeling pretty damn proud of myself. I have never worked-out so much in my life. I did take a rest yesterday thinking it would be okay and that I just needed to stay off of it. Well,.... I went back to the gym today and hit my ALL TIME record of 5.30 miles...I was on the treadmill for 80 minutes... I did a combination of walking and jogging. I was feeling myself..... Then, I got off and sat in the sauna for 20 minutes. When I went to stand...I almost fell. I was in so much pain. I came home and iced it and later called my chiropracter's office for an immediate visit. I went in and had it examined. He did this stimulator thingy, an ultrasound, laser therapy and then a minipulation massage that I must say....hurt like hell. Hopefully, after a few weeks of treatment and rest...it heals on its own. If it doesn't improve, he said I will need a MRI to make sure it isn't torn. If it is torn, it may self-repair or even worse...it may need surgery. The whole time I'm thinking past the pain...thinking, "Now how am I going to exercise and lose these stubborn pounds????" I know...I need to focus on rehab. I am just so motivated to exercise right now I can't afford to lose my momentum....

I hope all are well.....

[MoniqueD 8]

BTW, I have changed my goal weight to 165lbs..... I just can't see myself at 150lbs.

[swrktp 1]

Great to hear you doing ok April!! Keep us updated. Last time I got swollen I had the pain when eating and drinking for a couple weeks. Just felt sore when anything touched it.............I used Carafate during that time to help calm things down. Did you get some of that?? Feel better soon and check in when you can.

Mo:

Ouch!! I took a spin class once and felt great until I got off the bike and could not stand. Besides hurtin it was embarrassing to go down in the middle of the gym!! LOL I pulled some muscle in my thigh and hobbled for a month.........Sounds like you were on a serious exercise roll!! Hope you heal quick!!

Well today was a good food day. I got so busy at work I didn't eat much.

Talked to Robin and that went well. She said if I don't want a fill I can come in or I don't have to. But I want to talk to the doctor. She did tell me that with the band if you eat to much or took fast you can get esphagal spasms.......and that can make you breathless but it shouldn't last for days just until the food goes down

Saw the respiratiory therapist today. I am healthy as a horse obviously!! Nothing wrong. Panic and stress is the final word. :-P They showed me how to breath into a paperbag (it really works) and how to use bio feedback and exhaling to stop the breathing problems if they ever start again. Really like the therapist I saw talked to me for about an hour about my band before we did the test and the RULES...............and the sleeve!! He sorta made me rethink the sleeve a bit...........good positive appointment with him.