Bunny Bandsters - April '09, MASTER THREAD #1

[JayTee562 1]

Thank you KMCD I didn't actually like the picture once I saw it but used it anyway.

Sorry to hear about your family's loss I know it has to hurt to see you daughter grieving. What would we do without those partners to support us particulary at times like this? I thank God for mine all the time.

[JayTee562 1]

Well had my last dinner here in Baltimore I fly out at the BC of dawn tomorrow. I had the crap Soup I told Kirk that my bowl of soup probably had more calories than his whole broiled seafood platter. I did sneak a couple of bites of his crabcake, I couldn't leave town without trying a fmous G&M Crabcake it had big pieces of lump crab and was very good. Being bad didn't stop there after getting back to the hotel we at outside and sipped on a (small) bourbon on the rocks.

[PharmaGirl 0]

Hi everyone,

KMCD - sorry to hear of your family's loss. As JT says, it is great that you have a supportive partner and that you've been able to rally as a family to support your daughter.

I'm feeling extra appreciative of partners at the moment so everyone, please give that other half a great big kiss tonight.

Thanks everyone - JT, BG, jersey girl (yes, you do look good in your photo - do you have any before's and after's to see the change?), KMCD, hopeful and vegas girl - for your kind thoughts for Lisa.

Here's the latest update on Lisa - it was wishful thinking that Lisa would get better after the drainage of the abscesses. They ended up doing a laparoscopy on Saturday - they washed the abscesses and found infection around the band so Lisa is now a former bandster - yes, they removed the band (and she's decided she's never taking the risk of getting another one - I don't blame her).

This morning she phoned from the hospital to say she actually feels like getting out of bed for a shower so I'm on my way to help her - hopefully this time she really will have turned the corner.

For those who are interested in specifics they isolated the bug Streptococcus milleri from the infection around the band and in the abscesses - this is a bug usually found in the gastrointestinal tract so it indicates that somewhere along the line the barrier between gut and the abdominal cavity was broken allowing the bug through. The question is where and how? She hadn't had any procedures except for a fill.

Found another case report with a similar complication but this woman had had her band for two years and only got infected after a colonscopy that involved removal of a polyp (which led to a breaching of the barrier between gut and abdominal cavity). The recommendation in that published case report is that, in patients with intra-abdominal foreign bodies such as gastric bands, antibiotic prophylaxis (ie, preventative course of antibiotics) should be considered if endoscopic polypectomy (i.e., removal of polyps from the colon) or other potentially contaminating procedures are performed, in order to prevent dissemination or translocation

of intestinal bacteria. I know, on the basis of this, that I'll be having a preventative course of antibiotics each time I need a scope and dental procedures, etc. I would recommend that everyone else consider this too - according to all the specialists we've seen over the last 10 days, the risk of an infection travelling to the foreign body (the band) should there be any breaching of the barrier between gut and abdominal cavity is high.

Lots of love to all

Lili

[JayTee562 1]

OK PG you asked for it let me see if I can attach these in one post. Blue shirt is April of last year a year before my surgery, striped shirt is last August. and the red shirt is 7/16 just over 3 months after surgery.

[Jenfs5 19]

Hey everyone, sorry I have been MIA for a while. Life just gets in the way...LOL.

Lili: Wow, I am sorry to hear about Lisa. Even though she had to have her band taken out, if that is what it will take to maker her heathly again than of course it was the best decision. As far as how and when she got it. Well since the gastro intestinal tract goes from mouth to anus and when they put the band in they stitch it to your stomach. I would guess that might be a good chance of when it happened. Best wishes to her and I hope she gets well enough to come home soon.

JayTee: Wow your new pic is great, you can really see the weight loss in your face (and the rest of your body when you look at the rest of the pics..LOL) Congrats and keep up the great work. It is kinda funny that you came to Baltimore. That is where I am from originally, but now I live on the eastern shore of MD. But I have been to Louisville a few times too. My brother lived down there after he got out of the service and now his ex wife and kids live over in scottsburg IN.... LOL Small world huh?

KMCD: Sorry to hear about the loss in the family. It is good that you have a partner that has been so helpful.

I go for another fill this Wed. I found out at my last support group meeting that I was right and I have been eating too much. So now I cant wait for a fill so hopefully I cannot. And my doctor stopped by the lab (where I work in the hospital) today to see how I was after I had the Cat Scan. He told me that yeah my port had moved way up and that at my appt on Wed we can talk about moving it back down. I told him ok but I did not want him to cut me again...LOL. It is prob my own fault that it moved. Prob from me climbing all those stairs and getting on all those waterslides 8 days post op..... :smile:

[jerseygirl518 3]

OK PG you asked for it let me see if I can attach these in one post. Blue shirt is April of last year a year before my surgery, striped shirt is last August. and the red shirt is 7/16 just over 3 months after surgery.

JT. You look amazing. The difference is huge. (pun intended)

[kittygirl 0]

I've been away for a while, also. I was banded on April 23, I believe the same day as BG. I did OK for a while but developed a bad bacterial infection (c. diff) after my first fill. It took them a while to diagnose it, and I ended up with two visits to the ER b/c of dehydration and related issues. A round of antibiotics took care of it once they IDed it, but it came back, more virulent than ever, this past weekend. Now I'm back on the antibiotics. INow I'm weak again.

Also, during the first bout with the diarrhea, I called my surgeon's office to see if they could offer any thoughts. The nurse practitioner I talked to (after a 5 hour wait for callback) said 2 things that bothered me: 1) that people who have the lapband procedure do not develop lactose intolerance - that's only people who have gastric bypass. I know from this forum that that's not true 2) about the diarrhea I was having, she said it couldn't be related to the lapband. I never suggested that it was, but that statement made me think they're just covering their backsides, and makes me think their first priority may not be my health. I hope I'm wrong.

I needed to vent about all of that, and I'm grateful to have a place to do it. I'm going for a fill tomorrow, and will try to discuss these issues with the surgeon. That won't be easy, as he's hard to slow down long enough to ask anything.:thumbup:

Reading about Lisa's experience makes me feel lucky. What an ordeal she has had. Hope she continues to improve - she's lucky to have you Lili.

Now, on to happier things. JT, I didn't recognize your Avatar, and started reading the post, realized it was you, and had to look again. Same with BG. You look like different people. I suspect that you feel as great as you look.

So happy to be a part of the Bunny Brigade......

[doodlebug11 0]

Hey B_G, where are you ? We miss you !!! I'm going thru DT's from not reading your blogs and posts !!! Hope every thing is o.k. with you and your just really busy. Take care

[Band_Groupie 3]

DB- I'm back...thanks for missing me...two new blogs today on my 'comedy of errors' getting ready for the big graduation party...had me in the weeds for a couple of weeks, but everything went great...and more importantly, IT's OVER LOL!!!

Lili- Hope that Lisa is back to normal by now, I've been thinking of her often. Is there anyway you can give me the link for the case report you found (I have to go back in for a colonoscopy in 4 years and I know I'll forget this by then if I don't file it with my medical stuff...if I want the doc to give me the antibiotics)?

KMCD- Hope your daughter is coping with the loss and I'm sure she's thankful for all the support.

Jenfs5- Hope your new fill is doing the trick!

kittygirl- So sorry to hear about the infection...from the fill? Wow! I hope the new antibiotics will wipe it out and you're feeling better soon! No fun at all to be feeling weak for all this time! I hope your doc is taking more precautions to make you comfortable with future fills.

Hope everyone is doing well and life stops kicking us in the rear...maybe it's to make us appreciate the good things even more. Love to all -BG

[PharmaGirl 0]

Hi everyone,

BG - it's great to have you back. I too have missed your blogs and posts. I've attached a copy of the case report for you. As it says, consideration should be given to a course of antibiotics as a preventative measure should a person with a band need to undergo a potentially contaminating procedure. This doesn't mean that the antibiotics are always going to be necessary if you have a colonoscopy but if there's a chance they will be cauterizing polyps etc, then it becomes more important. The risk of this type of infection is low but probably a wise move to raise the question about whether antibiotic prophylaxis is a good idea with the doctor before any procedures.

Lisa's doing a bit better each day and she is certainly a lot better than she has been over the last two weeks. She is walking around the ward a bit now and is able to shower herself but she tires still easily and doesn't have a lot of energy. This may be because she's not eating properly - she still gets nausea (and occassionally vomits) after she tries to eat - her stomach is probably still a bit inflamed after removal of the band. Our surgeon (who we think is just the best) says her appetite will be back with a vengenance soon enough! Everyone is working toward a tentative discharge date of Sat 1 Aug.

Ciao for now

Lili

Case report - strep milleri & band.pdf

[jerseygirl518 3]

So glad to hear Lisa is doing better. Please take care of yourself while you are taking care of her. Hugs!!!

[kaner 0]

Greetings Bandsters! Sorry I haven't checked in for almost a month. I've hit such a plateau, I can hardly stand it. I keep going in for fills, but I still don't feel a lick of restriction, and I haven't been as disciplined in what I eat, nor have I been getting much exercise. All of that to say, I need a swift kick in the butt to get back on track! I hope that those of you who have had medical or emotional traumas these last few weeks will experience newfound hope and healing. For those who are cruising right along, more power to you! It helps keep the rest of us motivated.

Rock on!

[JayTee562 1]

Glad to see you back kaner need you here to keep me motivated.

[lindasqd51 0]

god finally someone else whose not feeling restricted. I've got 9cc in my 12cc bad.

Linda

[doodlebug11 0]

Kaner, sorry to hear about the plateau !! I have found that coming back here has really helped me to stay on track! When I do feel like I'm going to cheat, I think in the back of my mind, I'm going to have to weigh in on Friday and I don't want to have to tell everyone that I had a gain !! I know that one day I will have a gain but right now this is what is working for me! We all need each other to make it to where we want to go!! When one of us starts to get bogged down, the rest of us have to help them get back on track !! And we don't know if you don't tell us. So hang in there, get your mind back where you were when we first started this and come on back as often as you can !! I have been in for 2 fills so far and both times the Dr. asked me if I had a good support system and ,of course, I said yes and told him about you guys ! He said good, so by that I'm thinking it is very important to have a good support sytem !!! DB

Edited August 1, 2009 by doodlebug11