I'm in hell...band too tight

[lizzie_07 0]

Well, since I'm in complete agoney and cannot do a thing about it I figured I'd write on here.

I just drove 1 1/2 hours for my 4th fill giving me a total of 7.2cc in my band. On the drive home I was hiccupping for at least 30 mins. Ever since I keep getting a stuck feeling combined with an awful pain in my chest that is almost unbearable (even though I've had nothing to eat or drink). I had to pull over 3 times to throw up during the ride home. All that is coming up is the spit that obviously can't get through my band. I've had to try to not swallow my spit in order to prevent myself from throwing up even more.

So here's where it gets fun...the nurse who did my fill is at work now and cannot defill me until the morning. My aunt is a nurse and is willing to do it but i cannot find any places that sell or even have the proper needle. I called emergeny and they said I can wait there and MAYBE someone will be willing to do it, but she cannot say for sure that anyone will be willing because they are unfamiliar with the band (I had my surgery a 2 hour flight away). So I could wait 5 or more hours in emerg for nothing.

Anyway, It's my own fault because I told her to put extra saline in and she put in what she thought would be ok since I had almost no restriction. Little tip, DON'T DO THAT. I hope none of you ever go through this because it is such a horrible feeling.

I'm done venting... =)

12 more hours and my fill nurse will be off work....it's going to be a long night

[Sades 4]

You poor thing Lizzie, what a disaster. I can't believe you have to wait so long to get a defill. Keep us posted.

[lizzie_07 0]

Yeah it's been brutal. Interestingly enough, while typing that message that pain in my chest disappeared. I'm still terrified to swallow my spit though because that seems to trigger my having to throw up. Now I completely understand what other people who were too tight were writing about.

[Sades 4]

I would suggest you go to your hospital and tell them you need to get some fluids into you intaveniously so that you don't dehydrate.

[Momto1plus1 0]

Oh gosh I'm so sorry to hear that you are in pain. I think that I would call the doctor's office back or head to the ER.

[lizzie_07 0]

I'm in Canada and frankly, I'd be waiting a good 5 hours or more to get those fluids into me. I know you're probably right but I'm gonna try to sip on some Water now...we'll see how it goes. I haven't been throwing up the last few hours because I've spit out everything so thats probably keeping me slightly more hydrated, although I haven't had anything to drink all day.

[lindata 1]

That sucks! I've heard elsewhere if you go to the hospital and ask for a chemo nurse to do an unfill they know how to do it. I'm not exactly sure what chemo nurses do but apparently know how to put fills in and unfills, etc.

Linda

[lizzie_07 0]

Hey Wendy - no doctors here are familiar with the lapband unfortunately. And the surgeon who did my surgery is in Toronto, I'm in Halifax. 8 more hours and I'll get to see my fill nurse though..yey =) I'm trying to decide how much I should get taken out. I want to get enough out but not so much that I lose restriction.

[lizzie_07 0]

Linda - my aunt said she had no problem doing it for me because it was just a port, but for whatever reason the nurse in the ER couldn't guarantee me anyone would do the defill for me. She said she wouldn't. My aunt is here visiting from vancouver so she hasn't been successful trying to get the proper needle from the hospital (she happens to be visiting my grandmother in the hospital right now who is having a very rough night)

[steph_co 9]

Yikes. That sounds awful. I'm really sorry to hear that - I'd be freaking out. Looks like it's nearly time for your nurse to be off work. I have no idea how your nurse does your fills, but you can find a good level of restriction by drinking some Water and seeing if it goes through. For instance, on my first fill she tried to up me to 5 cc and water wouldn't go through, so she backed off .5 cc and I could drink water just fine. Make sure you drink some water before you leave and wait about 5 mins or more to make SURE. That's scary. Hope you're doing better this morning and that you're on your way to being able to drink water!

[HarleyNana 10]

Elizabeth, just be sure your aunt doesn't hit the tube, I'm sure she's experienced, but that's always a possibility. My first year of fills was without flouro, fortunately, I didn't have a lot the first year and have only had one under flouro, which is the only way to go for me.

I remember after one fill, I couldn't keep Water down, and my doctor did a slight unfill before I left his office. He always had me wait a few minutes and sip some Water before I left.

So sorry you have so far to travel, yikes! Have you tried crushed ice?

[DonHoll1 0]

Did you get an un-fill yet? Sorry you are having this problem. Give us an up date. Donna

[lizzie_07 0]

Hey thanks for the concern everyone. When I got the initial fill I did drink Water and it went down fine it seemed. It wasn't until about 30 mins later that I got the hiccups and then another 30 mins until I started to throw up. Mind you, I could tell there was a different, slightly uncomfortable feeling right away but I though that was the band doing it's thing finally! lol

I'll give you an update:

I didn't sleep all night. The pain in my chest came back when I attempted to sip some Water and had to throw up multiple times. The pain seemed to increase in intensity as the night went on. When I finally got to the fill nurse (my aunt didn't end up doing it because we couldn't get the proper needle) the pain was unbearable. I felt like I couldn't breathe and was going to throw up again. Anyway, she brought me down to 6.6cc from 7.2cc and I tried to drink water. That didn't go so well and I threw up. So she did as you mentioned, Steph, and got me to drink water as she removed or added saline. It seemed like max saline that i could have without feeling like the water was stuck was 5.6cc.

Before I even got my 4th fill I had 6cc, so I feel like I've gone backwards. She told me that because of the irritation to my stomach I will feel more restricted even though it's less saline. My stomach is in so much pain still. I was hoping that would go away but clearly the band has irritated it a lot. It hurts when I drink, swallow, even breathe really. Sucks. So I'll be on liquids for a while until this pain goes away. I can't imagine the pain I would experience if I attempted to eat something solid, or even mushy. I had a pretty smoothe recovery from this surgery and this pain is MUCH worse than anything I ever experienced after the surgery.

[JosieK 120]

hi lizzie,

early on...i did a similar thing and went on vacation......never did it again. thanks for sharing your story.

[Sades 4]

Glad to hear you got it sorted Lizzie. It must be hard feeling the way you do but as you say if you have liquids for a few days it should ease it. Look on the bright side, you might actually get some more weight off in the next few days. I suggest that next time you have a fill to stay in the area for a few hours, go shopping or whatever, just in case it happens again. Anyway, take care.