Let's rewind.
Back to that time when I seriously thought that I had broke my Lap-Band.
I had been cruising along for over a year with 7.3 ccs in my Lap-Band.
I could eat anything.
Bread. Yep.
Pasta. Yep.
Anything.
Just not in huge quantities.
My hunger was under control.
It. Was. Awesome.
Food would get stuck or "PB" (food coming back up) maybe once every 2 or 3 months.
Then my food choices got STUPID over the holidays: Cookies, cake, treats, etc.
Then came new years day 2015.
And EVERYTHING changed.
My honey and I went on a weekend getaway to San Francisco: Ice skating, Shopping, Theater Shows, Food, etc!
Here's what went down:
Jan 1 -- We started the weekend by going to the Trampoline park in SF. We jumped and jumped and jumped. Great exercise and so fun! Nifty socks included.
Jan 2 -- Major PB lunch. Again a bad PB at Dinner. Bad food choices by me. Liquids going down fine though. There was a constant middle of my back pain and the really bad heartburn began. This was such a NEW experience for me. My Lap-Band had never caused me such pain. My constant thought: Did I break my Lap-Band by jumping on the trampolines? Seriously. WTF.
Jan 3 --Our fun weekend was over and we headed home. I called my surgeon for an emergency unfill that week.
Jan 5 -- Major unfill of my Lap-Band at bariatric surgeon's office: 3.5 ccs! Now there was less fill in my band than when my band was put in at surgery in October 2009.
Jan 5 onwards - heartburn and some pain with most all food choices. Liquids going down fine.
Jan 21 -- Barium swallow. The barium swallow doctor and the tech assistant guy in the room kept saying "Looks good" and "be careful, you'll gain weight with a band that loose" They even had me swallow a barium pill (HUGE PILL!) And that pill went down no problem.
Jan 28 -- Appointment with Bariatric surgeon for the official verdict on the barium swallow. He said it looked OK. I did not want a fill. He didn't want to do a fill. Still having slight pain and some heartburn occasionally. He said some scary words to me: "You don't want to lose your band" and we ended the appointment with "Let's see how it goes at this fill level".
March 5 -- The last time I had heartburn.
March 5 onwards -- No pain when eating. No heartburn for awhile now. Uh oh! I can now eat more. I am getting hungry after about 2 hours with my usual small portions. The scale is going up. I'm HUNGRY! Called bariatric surgeon for fill appointment.
March 26 -- Appointment with bariatric surgeon. 1.5 cc fill.
March 26 onwards -- Hunger is GONE. Scale has gone down a few pounds. Still no pain. Still no heartburn.
So here we are: April 4. Today.
These past three months have taught me:
He then smiled calmly down at me and replied with,"You've already won."
That brings me to my last learning lesson: Perspective
Back to that time when I seriously thought that I had broke my Lap-Band.
I had been cruising along for over a year with 7.3 ccs in my Lap-Band.
I could eat anything.
Bread. Yep.
Pasta. Yep.
Anything.
Just not in huge quantities.
My hunger was under control.
It. Was. Awesome.
Food would get stuck or "PB" (food coming back up) maybe once every 2 or 3 months.
Then my food choices got STUPID over the holidays: Cookies, cake, treats, etc.
Then came new years day 2015.
And EVERYTHING changed.
My honey and I went on a weekend getaway to San Francisco: Ice skating, Shopping, Theater Shows, Food, etc!
Here's what went down:
Jan 1 -- We started the weekend by going to the Trampoline park in SF. We jumped and jumped and jumped. Great exercise and so fun! Nifty socks included.
Jan 2 -- Major PB lunch. Again a bad PB at Dinner. Bad food choices by me. Liquids going down fine though. There was a constant middle of my back pain and the really bad heartburn began. This was such a NEW experience for me. My Lap-Band had never caused me such pain. My constant thought: Did I break my Lap-Band by jumping on the trampolines? Seriously. WTF.
Jan 3 --Our fun weekend was over and we headed home. I called my surgeon for an emergency unfill that week.
Jan 5 -- Major unfill of my Lap-Band at bariatric surgeon's office: 3.5 ccs! Now there was less fill in my band than when my band was put in at surgery in October 2009.
Jan 5 onwards - heartburn and some pain with most all food choices. Liquids going down fine.
Jan 21 -- Barium swallow. The barium swallow doctor and the tech assistant guy in the room kept saying "Looks good" and "be careful, you'll gain weight with a band that loose" They even had me swallow a barium pill (HUGE PILL!) And that pill went down no problem.
Jan 28 -- Appointment with Bariatric surgeon for the official verdict on the barium swallow. He said it looked OK. I did not want a fill. He didn't want to do a fill. Still having slight pain and some heartburn occasionally. He said some scary words to me: "You don't want to lose your band" and we ended the appointment with "Let's see how it goes at this fill level".
March 5 -- The last time I had heartburn.
March 5 onwards -- No pain when eating. No heartburn for awhile now. Uh oh! I can now eat more. I am getting hungry after about 2 hours with my usual small portions. The scale is going up. I'm HUNGRY! Called bariatric surgeon for fill appointment.
March 26 -- Appointment with bariatric surgeon. 1.5 cc fill.
March 26 onwards -- Hunger is GONE. Scale has gone down a few pounds. Still no pain. Still no heartburn.
So here we are: April 4. Today.
These past three months have taught me:
- I can't take my band for granted. I need to make good food choices.
- If and when my Lap-Band is removed (a silicone device has a limited lifespan) I hope the good folks over at Apollo Endosurgery are still manufacturing Lap-Bands so I can get a band replacement. I don't think I could ever revise to a bypass or sleeve. Not my thing.
- Hunger is still scary.
- And NO, I didn't jump my band broken.
He then smiled calmly down at me and replied with,"You've already won."
That brings me to my last learning lesson: Perspective
Thanks for sharing! Your posts really help me stay on track :)
ReplyDeleteI was so sure I had broken my band by trampolining: I was SO sore in the tummy: turns out I had just basically bruised myself from landing on the port (doing tummy flips) so many times!
ReplyDeleteI was under the impression no-one in the US had a band- thought it was all bypass and sleeve. I'm coming up to my one year bandiversary soon. I've lost 33.2kg (73.2lb) so your blog is inspirational.
Cheers
-Jen (from Melbourne Aus)
Great summary of the last few months. I hope that everything stabilizes and you stay pain free. Take care.
ReplyDeleteGlad it was nothing major!
ReplyDeleteLord, I didn't know where this story was going and I was going to be so selfishly pissed if something had happened and you hadn't sent me a text or called me. So...no verdict though on WHY it was acting up? Do you think just bc you really irritated it with your PB's? Weird. You and I are in the same boat about when these little guys have to come out, not converting to another surgery. I am pretty sure we could make it...but it WOULD be different since it's been so long since we were "normal"...
ReplyDeleteOoh! I fully bruised my port side heaps doing sit ups with a 5kg weight and couldn't eat for like a week. I thought I'd broken my band too! It's so scary!
ReplyDelete