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I don't know what to do Im having complications



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I have been over weight since I was 6 years old. As a child my mother said I had unusual eating habits. I remember always feeling hungry. My mother tried to limit my food intake, and mostly provided healthy choices for our family to eat (she did not starve us we still had treats). I do not remember but I was told I would sneak food and hide it. I was mildly over weight up until I moved out of my parents house. At that point my weight sky rocketed to 289 lbs because of poor meal choices, and stayed that way for a few years. I decided to try to loose weight and did loose 55 lbs on my own, but then I became pregnant with my first child. I had a stressful pregnancy and did not gain any weight because of extreme morning sickness (Hyperemesis Gravidarum). I weighed 192 after giving birth. I was able to keep the weight off while I nursed, but after 6 months I started gaining.I started looking for options because I was scared of gaining all my weight back.
I went to see my surgeon in October of 2007. When I expressed my wishes to have more children in the future I was told that the Lap-Band would be my best surgical option. I had the surgery July 23rd 2008. I had no issues getting approved because I had two sources of insurance so I was able to get all but $250 worth of testing and counseling covered. My weight on the day of surgery was around 226 lbs. I had a hiatal hernia repair at the same time as the Lap-band surgery. I had normal recovery and lost weight at a healthy pace.
By my wedding day 10/25/2009 I was down to 152 lbs. I had not been that weight since I was 14 years old. I had also lost my premium insurance coverage and was receiving state added insurance.I became pregnant with my second child in December, and again suffered from extreme morning sickness. I was medicated with Zofran by mouth and still got sick daily. Because I continued to gain weight my insurance would not cover any other attempt to stop me from getting sick. When I was about 4 months pregnant I started noticing pain that came and went from my stomach area. Surgeon told me everything looked normal and I had my band deflated every month to allow me to eat comfortably and ease my morning sickness which lasted till I was almost 7 months pregnant. when I was about 7 months along I had a very bad stomach flu and at one point I vomited black. I swear I felt something give, and I started to notice more discomfort and very bad heart burn. The Surgeon said everything looked good. I was induced two weeks before my due date because of extreme discomfort. I had a healthy baby but fractured my tail bone during delivery because of the position of the baby during delivery. I weighed 235 lbs after I delivered.
I started to have my band tightened one month after I gave birth, but as the band became tighter my heart burn got worse and I started to feel more discomfort. My surgeon had me get an x-ray but told me everything was still okay. I had not even made it close to my original fill when the discomfort became so overwhelming that i had to get my band loosened. I felt my surgeon was not listening so I went and got a second opinion. The new surgeon scoped my stomach and told me there was an issue with my band and that I had another hernia. I took my report to my surgeon and showed him and he became extremely furious. He yelled at me. Told me that the other doctor did not know anything and that the xray showed nothing was wrong. The other doctor was not a specialist like he was and I should not listen to anyone but him. He prescribed me meds for my extreme heart burn and had me try adjustments again. At that point I became pregnant with my third child and went to him to tell him I needed a deflation I was uncomfortable and now pregnant. I expressed my need to have a scope done by him after the birth of my baby. His response was that every issue I had was all in my head. I lost control of my diet and I had to seek counseling before he would put any Fluid back in my band. He told me he completely emptied my band, and to come back to him after I completed my counseling (that my insurance does not cover) and he would then be able to help me. I felt like he turned his back on me.
My third pregnancy was my worst. The Extreme morning sickness was so bad I was on a Zofran medication pump for about 6 weeks. I had morning sickness till I was about 6 months pregnant. At 7 months I started becoming uncomfortable because of the size of my baby. By 8 months I was in excruciating pain. My third child was my biggest, and had caused damage to my back and right SI joint. I was induced on my due date and my large baby was born with low sugar and had to be admitted to the special care unit for two days. She is healthy now but I suffer from pain.
I have gone to see another surgeon who had tried three times to do an adjustment. When she tried to find the port she had to stab me at least 15 times before she found the port each time. (I lost count) I am feel pain in my stomach from time to time, and every time I try to get my band tightened I can not eat solids. but yet I can eat more then I should be able to eat in one setting. There is something wrong with my Lap-Band. I don't know what to do. I am always uncomfortable. I was fine before I had my babies. I am not thinking about having my band removed, and would like to get the Sleeve. I don't know what to do.

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goodness you have been through it ! I would ask your new surgeon if they can do a barium xray to check if he/she feels all is ok , and rule out slip etc , it sounds like you also need your port area checked out as it should not be that difficult to find it and do a fill , the amount of attempts they have does not sound at all right to me . I know port areas are in different places [ mine is covered by base of bra ] but accessing it should be pretty straight forward , hope things get sorted for you , keep in touch x

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Wow! So sorry you have endured such complications. I would suggest you seek another bariatric doctor and have him/her to give you a barium swallow test. I'm no doctor but it sounds like your band has possibly slipped.

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Wow! That's awful! Your poor woman! I think any surgeon who doesn't want you to get a second opinion may be hiding something. Go somewhere else, please! I've read a lot of people talk about vomiting up something black, don't know what it is, but it can't be a good thing. Take care of yourself, especially with those 3 babies need you. ;-(

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    • LeighaTR

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      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
    • Doughgurl

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      · 2 replies
      1. Selina333

        I'm so happy for you! You are about to change your life. I was so glad to get the sleeve done in Dec. I didn't have feelings of regret overall. And I'm down almost 60 lbs. I do feel a little sad at restaurants. I can barely eat half a kid's meal. I get adults meals often because kid ones don't have the same offerings at times. Then I feel obligated to eat on that until it's gone and that can be days. So the restaurant thing isn't great for me. All the rest is fine by me! I love feeling full with very little. I do wish I could drink when eating. And will sip at the end. Just a strong habit to stop. But I'm working on it! You will do fine! Just keep focused on your desire to be different. Not better or worse. But different. I am happy both ways but my low back doesn't like me that heavy. So I listened (also my feet!). LOL! Update us on your journey! I'm not far from you. I'm in Houston. Good luck and I hope it all goes smoothly! Would love to see pics of the town you go to for this. I've never been there. Neat you will be traveling for this! Enjoy the journey. Take it one day at a time. Sometimes a few hours at a time. Follow all recommendations as best you can. 💗

      2. Doughgurl

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
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