Hi Friends-

Feeling a little discouraged today and need to feel some love. I haven't shared with many here, but I have been having lots of problems since having my infected port removed at the end of December:think . Although I relish in the compliments of how good I look and how well I am doing with my weight loss, I have been too embarrassed to admit to my friends here that I am vomiting a minimum of 2-6 times per day!!! :help: Yes, I KNOW I'm too tight.:bananadoggywow: But I feel helpless in that I can't just go into the office like others and get a slight unfill in 5 minutes. I can keep liquids down and depending on the time of day, the food, and whatever unknown factors my fickle little band decides on....Generally I can't keep much more than 2-3 bites down at a time.

I was perfectly restricted (thank God) with my last fill just 2 weeks before the port had to come out. But since the port removal, for some unknown reason...I have been even tighter. My wonderful doc has been very surprised at this, since there should have been a small amount of fill loss when he had to clamp and cap off the portless end of the band and hide it in my abdominal cavity. So now we are almost in May, and over the past 4 months...I have been experiencing worsening signs of being too tight....with no further fills!!! I have lost more weight, which should have made the band losen...not tighten!!!

The acid reflux started in January and has worsened and worsened. I made an initial call to the office early on and asked for some Nexium. It worked well at first, but then not anymore. I never called the office back to let them know the agony I was going through because I knew what the answer was.....YET ANOTHER SURGERY because I was too tight!!! I have always thought....."ooh big deal" for people who mention they have acid reflux. But let me tell you, for those of you who have never experienced it...thank your lucky stars!! Mine is now so bad that I am sleeping with my head elevated on 4-5 pillows every night, and still waking up choking on mouthfulls of stomach acid and literally GASPING for air! This morning I finally had enough when I woke up and VIOLENTLY vomited mouthfuls of pure acid immediatley after waking (having not even eaten anything for 8 hours prior).

When I finally got the nerve to call my doc this morning and let them know what was going on, they stressed the urgency of me being seen and got me in to see the doc within 2 hours. He had a good old fashion talk with me and let me know how worried he was about my band, especially if this continued. He all along has felt so bad for all of my complications...not only does he say it, but I can see it in his face. The plan right now is that he is going to have his nurse call the facilities he works with to see what if anything we can do to get the costs down. And he is waiving his normal surgical fees all together (which unfortunately the majority of the cost is anesthesia and facility charges). Problem is.....I know this is a necessary step...but spending more money on this band is just so difficult for us right now. My husband has been so incredibly supportive, but I can tell even he is getting frustrated.

Now here's my problem.....Problem mostly comes from being self pay and not having any more money to blow on this experience. The total cost of the original surgery topped out over $17,000.....then add in the cost of an unexpected hospital stay related to an accidental 'knicking of an artery' during my first fill resulting in internal bleeding topping out over $13,000........luckily the removal of the port was covered by my insurance since due to the massive infection it was deemed 'medically necessary'.....Now add in the cost of approximately $5,000 more to have the port put back in. I guess the real kicker of the whole things is that the infection could happen all over again...no guarantees. So we are talking costs now totaling in excess of $30,000...with no guaranteed end in sight.:tired

So friends...what should I do?? Try to wait it out and go against his advice until I can someday truly afford it?...thus gambling with the possibility of slippage, erosion, Barrett's esophogus, or even esophogeal cancer.....Be on liquids and mushies the rest of my life.... okay...okay...you're right I think I already know the answer:faint:

Thanks for letting me vent. Love you all!

Thanks guys for the prayers....they seemed to have helped. I talked to the office today, and they have made lots of calls and waived their cost and got the amount down from over $5,000 to $1800!! I'm slotted for Friday, May 12th. It's my 3rd surgery, so maybe this time is the charm (so they say). I'll let you know how it goes, and thanks for all the prayers and encouraging words. Love you guys!

Robyn

Your in my prayers!!

Robyn I am so glad things are working for you in this instance. Please let us know how things go. M

Hi Guys!

Had my surgery to put my port back in this am. Everything went really well. I actually was able to drink Soup this pm without being in excrutiating pain. I had forgotten what it was like to actually eat without pain, nausea, and vomiting.

I'm pretty groggy from the pain meds right now, but wanted to let you all know it went well. Thanks for your prayers....now let's just pray that there is no port infection this time around.

Love you guys!

Robyn

Duplicate post

Fingers crossed for quick and complete healing this time, Robyn!!! :hug:

oh no! I just posted on the 'other' thread - wishing you a well recovery.

So glad to find that you had already checked in.

Ok, so now you can take a deep breath and pick-up where you left off! What a wonderful reason to smile about! :biggrin1:

Robyn, so glad you taken care of this and you're on your way to recovering! It must feel great to eat "normally." I hope your sleeping "normally" as well!

Shawn

Robyn, Some how I missed this thread but I have not been doing much posting either lately. I am glad to hear that you had your surgery and you

are doing good so far. I have had you in my prayers since we talked last and put you on our prayer chain also.

Robyn, I was just thinking of you today. I am glad everything went well. You are in my thoughts and prayers! (((((((((((((hugs))))))))))))

Heyas Robyn, I'm so glad to hear the surgery went without any problems. I'm believing that this time around there will be no infection. It's amazing what you've endured and the success you've had so far. Keep us posted!

*hugs*

Thanks for all the well wishes guys! You all are so great.... Just going to take it a day at a time, taking extra special care of the incisions. They are looking a little red to me already, but hopefully that is just due to swelling from the surgery. I'll check back in and let you guys know how it is going.

Robyn

You are in my prayers robyn