As you probably know if you are looking at my page, I had my surgery in June 2006 in Houston, TX. I am 15 lbs from goal, feeling great, have not had a single problem besides one unfill when I was too tight awhile back. I have had this same fill (I was at abt 1.8 ccs) for a whole month and have been totally fine.

Well, Friday morning I woke up for work and tried to drink my morning hot tea as I do every day. I drank three sips and was massively uncomfortable, and suddenly it came RIGHT BACK UP. So, I thought, Maybe I am swollen, and decided to try some liquid tylenol. Same thing. I went to work nervous, but tried not to think about it. Throughout the day, I tried to drink water, to no avail - I had horrible burning and pain whenever I tried to drink! So, I called my brother (a bariatric surgeon), and he said to call the surgeon here in Columbus that i had been seeing for fills (Dr. Bradley Needleman). I called Dr. Needleman's office, and the nurse said he was out but that I should head to the ER.

At the ER, I spent 4 hours in the waiting room. Finally they take me back and seem clueless, don't even know what a band is. So, I tell them, I need an Upper GI and a bag of fluids, and ibuprofin or tylenol for the swelling, and a surgeon that can remove my fill with a 20 gauge Huber needle. They look at me like I'm crazy. Eventually i go to get the upper GI, and the radiologist is like, Hmmm, i haven't used this machine in awhile. Then he tells me to "take a big gulp" of the contrast. Helloooo, I cant even take a big gulp NORMALLY, how am I going to do it now? So, I did, he sees the band is correctly in place but very narrow and lots of reflux. Ten minutes later (longest I could hold it down), all that nasty contrast came right back up. YECHHHHH. Another 4 hours waiting (my bed was in the hallway, btw, not a room), and no one has talked to me or helped me. No surgeon, no ER attending, nothing. I ask to disconnect my IV, leave AMA, and cry myself to sleep at home. My wonderful father (also a bariatric surgeon, though he specializes in RNY) called the director of the bariatric surgery program at Ohio State, who said that the on call surgeon who knows how to do fills would see me on Saturday when I come back to the ER, and that he would be able to help me.

Saturday morning I am still unable to take a sip of hot tea without major discomfort. I call the on-call surgeon, and I then arrive at the ER AGAIN. This time I wait only 1.5 hours before I go back, and I actually get a room. The surgeon comes an hour later - meanwhile, I have asked 3 times to be given fluids since i have not had anything to eat or drink in more than 30 hours, but they won't do it until the surgeon sees me. The surgeon says he has worked with Dr. Needleman and "helped' with fills - meaning he likely has never done it. This guy stuck me over 6 times trying to get at my port to take my fill out. It hurt like hell, and he clearly didn't know what he was doing. The guy tells me he thinks maybe the port is twisted or broken, but REFUSES to do it under fluoro - I have no idea why. It is now 4pm, another 4 hours at the ER. He tells me he will admit me until Monday so I can get fluids, and then the other surgeon will come and see me and I may need surgery. I call my dad, who says, GET ON A PLANE TO HOUSTON RIGHT NOW. I call the airlines and use all my miles to fly home. At 4pm I have them disconnect my IV and leave AMA yet again, and by 5:30pm I am on a plane. No food or drink for 48 hours, but I did manage to get half a bag of fluids at the hospital, and my dad made them give me Toradol to see if it would help the swelling.

I get off the plane at 7:45 pm, and my dad drives me straight to his hospital. My brother is waiting for me. He takes me right to the fluoro machine, marvels at the million pokes and brusie on my port, and uses the fluoro to access my port in, yes, ONE try. He takes all the fluid out, gives me a glass of water, and I drank it down with ease, and then another. It took my brother less than 5 minutes to accomplish what took the Ohio State Idiots more than 12 hours to NOT accomplish.

I am BEYOND pissed off. I cannot believe that Ohio State, which has a specialty center in bariatric surgery, did not have a single person that was trained in doing a fill/unfill on call. It amazes me, and is compeltely irresponsible. I am shocked at the incompetence in that hospital, the poor way that I was treated (i haven't even gotten into that here), and the poor training of the medical professionals. I am shocked that my surgeon here was unavailable and had NO ONE to manage an emergency with one of his patients. I am SO THANKFUL to have such an amazing father and brother that were here to be of help to me, as they are to all of their patients. My brother told me he had a patient on Friday afternoon who had the same problem - she came in to the office, he unfilled her, and she was gone in less than 30 minutes.

One interesting side note... TLC is filming a 13 episode reality show about my amazing dad and brother surgeons and their bariatric surgery practice. It will start airng in June (and I will keep you all updated of course!!!). They were around taping for all of this drama, so they were there, and it will likely be on TV this summer! Pretty crazy.

I am feeling great now. I have been eating and drinking fine all day, no pain, no soreness (except around the port where I was poked 100 times!). We have no idea what caused all of this, but I will probably keep the band empty and let myself heal for a few weeks. I also need to find a new surgeon here in Columbus to do my fills -not a chance in hell I'll go back to Needlman.

FOR THE RECORD: This may have been the weekend from hell, but I would absolutely never regret getting this band - it has changed my life and I cherish it greatly. It was a mess of a weekend, but more because of the lack of proper care than because of my precious band!

Happy New Year y'all!

Things are going well here! My 6 month band-iversary passed and I didn't even notice! I am down 45 lbs from my highest weight and feel great! Officiallly in a size 4 in several brands (including ann taylor) - craziness! Still a size 6 in my favorite pants, which are from Express - but their clothes seem like they're made for high school students so I don't take it too hard :)

I went to visit family in friends in Texas again for New Year's and it was great to show off. Shopping for a new year's eve outfit was also fun, of course.

My restriction level is kinda funny these days. I have been having days where I'm so tight that I can hardly swallow cold liquids, but by the end of the day I've loosened up a bit and can eat a few bites of solid protein (usually chicken or tuna). In Austin I ate lots of my faaaavorite foods, including tex mex, but it was awesome to realize that I can't gorge on everything and feel guilty - I ate small amounts, was totally satisfied, and didn't feel an ounce of guilt for eating queso (my favorite) and enchiladas. I even got to have some of my favorite ice cream (Amy's). Of course, ice cream is easy to go down so I have to be careful there :) Overall, though, I enjoyed my friends, family, and food all weekend and arrived back weighing in at the same weight as when I left - phew!

I've been thinking a lot about how the band has changed me lately. I really think that I am a much happier person. I wake up confident! I do, however, think about my appearance 100 times more than I did pre-band. I think that it was a psychological block before - I didn't think about how I looked because it was SO depressing to me, and it wasn't worth making an effort. Now, I spend so much more time getting dressed, always wear jewelry and makeup and do my hair, etc. I don't know if this is necessarily a "good" thing, but it's just something I've noticed. My mom likes it!

So that's about all for now. I know i need to update more! It's been good to see some more publicity about the band (i.e., Today Show). I really think it should start being done more on people that were my size (a "lightweight") - what an amazing preventative measure. I am so thankful to have had it done when I did, and even think about what it would have been like to have had this tool even earlier in my life - I feel that it has saved me from a lot of heartache.

This weekend I went shopping to find a dress to wear in my friend's wedding the weekend after Thanksgiving. Only requirements: long (floor length), and black. Well, i went shopping and found this beautiful one, and OMG, I tried on the size 6 and it fits me just perfectly! I cannot believe it. It is this matte jersey material that is clingy, and goodness, I wouldn't have worn that for a million bucks pre-band!

One other NSV:

Now, when I weigh myself on those Dr scales, I don't have to move the big weight over to the 150! I can stay at the 100 lb and add on with the smaller weight! Do you know what I mean? How fabulous - I can't remember the last time I was able to do that!

Here's something kind of funny though. I have seriously major scale anxiety before going to the doctor! I weigh myself almost every day or every other day at home, and yet I always have this weird fear that when I weigh myself at the doctor's office I will realize my scale has been wrong all this time, or that I miraculously gained 10 lbs or something. It's so bizarre, and yet I have this anxiety EVERY time I step on a scale at a doctor's office, even though last time I got a "Bravo" from the nurse at my primary care dr's office!

Finally, my plateau has broken!  I had weighed from 151.5 to 153.5 for the last 5 weeks or so, and it has been driving me crazy!  My calories have been steadily below about 1200, and while I haven't been exercising like I should be, I have been working on just moving/walking more during the day.  Finally, I stepped on the scale and saw 148.5!!!  Since then it's been between 147.5 and 149 for the last couple of days, but boy does it feel good to see it move again!
I am getting another fill one week from today and am looking forward to that.  I have definitely noticed that I've been hungrier lately and able to eat more.   
A couple NSV's... First, I am *almost* in a regular size 6.  My size 8s are pretty baggy, and I actually have two pairs of pants that are 6 that fit well - kind of depends on the brand.  I base my expectations on my favorite Express pants, and the 8s are a little loose, but the 6s are still too snug.
Second, my mom sent me a box of jeans that she no longer wears, or bought and decided she didn't like.  My mom is teeny to me - I've always been jealous of her physique.  Well, three pairs of the jeans fit me perfectly!  One pair needs another 5 lbs before I can wear them comfortably.  Amazing!
I'm going home for Thanksgiving in two weeks.  I am hoping to be down another 5 lbs so I can say I've lost over 40 lbs since surgery, but that's asking a lot in two weeks, I know, especially since things have been so slow lately.
And now, Officially: My BMI is NORMAL!!!!!
That's all for now!