Well, after making & cancelling 2 fill apointments over the last few months I, finally got my butt down to Dr O's in TJ and got a fill. It was a very relaxed atmosphere and I was talking to the nutritionist and another pt when Dr Ortiz came out, sat down and started visiting with us. We of course peppered him w/ questions and he asked us about our experiences.

One of the the things he said that really shocked me was he said he doesn't think aspirin is a problem and that the band is outside the stomack so NSAIDS don't affect it. Honestly, it never made sense to me that medicines would make the band slip but it's something taken as gospel on this forum. I'm not suggesting that anyone start taking NSAIDS, or not follow their docs advice, I'm just letting you know a very experienced surgeon doesn't agree with this. And he said he's working on a paper about erosion. I'm going to email him about when and where we could all read this.

So anyway, after about 45 minutes of a very nice visit, Dr O looks at me and says, "So! You ready for your fill?" I thought Dr Martinez does the fills so I didn't realize Dr O was just shooting the breeze with us for the heck of it while waiting for me. Kinda cool to have such a relaxed and friendly doc. Can you IMAGINE a doctor in the US sitting in his waiting room visiting w/ patients???

Anyway had the fill (2cc) and while sitting there in the waiting room sipping Water to make sure the fill wasn't too much after my phone rang and I picked it up to be informed by my secretary (one of only 4 people close to me--none of them my parents who knows about my banding) that my father went to the ER that morning and was now in the CCU at Hoag Hospital. Pauline (my sec) is the only one who didn't just think I was taking the day off for fun. So here I am 3 hours from the hospital in OC... and my only sibling is in Hawaii on his Honeymoon.

So that was a loooooooong taxi ride to the Amtrak station and the longest train ride you can imagine. I had to call & leave a msg in CCU for my mom that I'd gone down to San Diego for the day and would be at the hospital in a few hours. Sitting on the train I ended up calling the High School and asking them to tell my 17-yr old to go over and sit in the ICU w/ his grandmother. I really didn't want my mom to be alone.

Anyway, Pop has an embolism in his arterial artery down in his gut. They are still deciding if he need to have the "long" (5-6 hours) surgery versus the "SHORT" surgery (3 hours). He's 78 so any surgery is of course serious. The good part (if there is such a thing) is that my parents were leaving Wednesday (day after tommorow!) for a 12 day trip to CHINA! Thank God this happened before they left.

Believe me I would be eating every thing in sight if that were an option. It is not. The last thing I need is to deal w/ a PB or some band-related problem when I have to be up for whatever is ahead.

Sorry for rambling. Not feeling too coherent right now--but full of nervous energy. I'm going back to the hospital now. Send your good thoughts and prayers this way.

Thanks for being there guys!

THANK YOU EVERYONE! You're the best!

My father is doing well. After not letting him eat or drink for 3 days they finally operated yesterday. It's really a pretty cool operation. The reason it took so long to have it (I finally found out) was because all the info from the CT scans had to be processed into 3-d, sent to this company that custom makes these shunts to fit exactly, and then the device had to be shipped to the hospital. It's the abdominal aorta--about 8" long. The doctor said that normally this artery is about 2.5 centimenters in diameter and it's likely to rupture when it's twice that. My father's was 7.5, so it was just a matter of time. *Whew* thank God they didn't get to China!

He'll probably be in the hospital a few more days and then on the road to recovery.

I'm not liking this phase of my midlife. When your parents are in their 70's everything's serious!

Glad to hear your dad did well, hugs to you both.