Pages

Monday, January 9, 2012

Band Complications? I'll keep you posted. . .

I hope you all are enjoying your New Year!

Y'all, I am going to Weight Watchers, but not actually DOING it (as in, not tracking or counting).  Ha!  I think we can all see where the problem might be.  That said, I'm down my Christmas weight and weighing in right 159'ish, which is not the low-low of 155 I've seen, but also right in the same wheel house as the last four months.

I see my band doctor tomorrow.  Actually, I was sitting in his exam room Thursday after a two-hour wait (his office is so overbooked every.single.time) when he was called into an emergency surgery. . . and I didn't actually get to see him. I mean, I couldn't be upset-- emergencies happen.  But when they tried to reschedule me for two weeks from that day because they were booked solid in the meantime, I gave them bitch brow and said they could fit me in on Tuesday, thank you very much.  I mean, it's not like I don't wait for hours even when I have an appointment months in advance, so it's no difference to me and I really don't care if it creates an overbook for them.  They OBVIOUSLY don't have a problem with that. Besides, I really do need to be seen and I haven't seen him since September.

At the end of November, I had a really sharp bad pain in my left chest area- about where the underwire of my bra hits. (of course, a week after I cancelled my November appt and rebooked for last Thursday, their first available appointment).  It went away after a few hours (after I stupidly didn't go to the ER), but then it came back here and there, less sharply  and more nagging and uncomfortable, until it really geared up last week to a pretty constant low-grade  state.  So when I was at his office on Thursday, I thought I'd finally get some answers as I've been assuming it's my band.  My self-diagnosis is reflux that doesn't feel like reflux, but of course I'm terrified it's erosion. Well, it kind of got worse Thursday and Friday after my appointment-interuptus, so I decided to FINALLY go to urgent care.  The urgent care doc was concerned about a blood clot in my lungs, as the pain I was experiencing was consistent with that and I have a genetic risk for developing them, but as a lapband patient himself (same surgeon, too), he also suspected it was my band.  He had a similar pain after losing his first chunk of weight and was told it was because the fat padding of the stomach had gone down and the band was now rubbing on other things internally-- he suggested a slight unfill might help. (ACK!  I need a fill, not an unfill!).  So anyway, today I had a CT scan to rule out the lung clot (came back clean, btw), and they did an abdomen scan as well.  They said everything was normal, so I'm interested to see what band-doc says tomorrow.

I just hope and pray it isn't anything major with my band.  I NEED my band.  I can deal with the discomfort of the pain if I know it isn't a sign of something serious, but I also don't want to ignore something that could potentially get worse.

Anyway, I'll let you know how it goes once I have the semblance of an answer.

8 comments:

  1. Hope the news is only good news. Don't be afraid of an unfill for a week or so if that is what he suggests. It sometimes helps reposition things. I don't know what I'd do if I had to lose the band. I know the weight would come back and that scares the crap out of me. Good luck.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hope the news good news!! I'm with Sandy though...an unfit is no biggie! But I am with you on the fact that I could not live with out this thing. I know I would gain gain gain!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I totally hear you on your pain and worry. A lot of us went through this as well. For some like me (so far), the pain seemed to eventually pass. Others had to have their Gallbladder removed, etc.

    Luckily for me, after tests, everything looked fine. So after they removed fluid, everything was much better! But better that, than to have it escalate into a much worse problem down the line...

    And now, I would like to apologize upfront about this...but "I Tagged You"!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I had a similar pain a few months back. They suspected it was my gall bladder but couldn't find anything. It went away and hasn't been back. I hope it isn't anything serious! Please keep us posted.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Whew! So glad that the lung clot was ruled out. I hope that it isn't anything serious. Listen to your doc though. One time I thought I was too loose, but it turns out I was too tight and the doc figured it out. One he gave me an itty bitty defill, I was good again!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Fingers crossed hun! Let us know what happens! xxx

    ReplyDelete
  7. I hope it's not your band. I'm glad it wasn't a blood clot. Keep us posted.

    ReplyDelete