I will be gone for a while.

SPEBSQSAlady · April 3, 2008

Last Friday I got food stuck. I was out of town and progressively got sicker and sicker, vomiting almost nonstop by the drive home Sunday. Sunday night I called the Dr. and he said to come in first thing Monday morning. I had vomited the large part of the stomach up through the band and was in effect, reversing my stomach inside itself. He did emergency surgery Monday and removed the band :bolt:. I go into his office tomorrow to have the drain bag removed and he said it would be a minimum of 6 months before I can have the band replaced. That means insurance approval and all that stuff again. Oh Boy! I was so happy with the band and it was truly helping me lose weight and get more healthy. I am going to try my hardest to maintain my weight loss and reband in 6 months. It is not something that I would not consider. I feel the band is the most helpful tool I have every had the opportunity to have. I don't know the reason for this outcome, but hey, :eek: SH** :eek: happens, and it usually happens to me. I know I can be strong :thumbs_up:and with God's help overcome this and carry on.

Thank you to everyone out there for the great support we all receive on this website. It sure helped me make the decision to have the original surgery and I know you will all be there to help me out when I am ready to go again.

Thanks

Txchloe · April 4, 2008

I know that must have been scary. :thumbup:

Use these 6 mos to take care of yourself and let your stomach heal. I'll bet that a lot of the things you have learned since 8/07 will stick with you and you'll do better than you think without the band. You've got a great jumpstart on the weight loss, just keep up that momentum.

As you can see I also used Dr. Smith. Were you happy with the way he handled your emergency situation, and was he able to determine why this happened to you?

Good luck.

christasha · April 4, 2008

I'm so sorry to hear of your troubles . . . hopefully you heal quickly and are able get back on our band wagon real soon! Take care!

Chris

favorite · April 4, 2008

that's really a bad break. i'm so sorry for you. but i have an idea. there is a guy on here that is not banded but he is losing weight by "piggy backing his wives band". maybe in these in between months you can try to eat the way you did when you had the band by pretending it is there.

SPEBSQSAlady · April 4, 2008

Thank you to everyone. I am sure I will visit here often.

Jack: I was at an SPEBSQSA convention when this all happened. Maybe if I had been home I would not have gotten as bad, but boy I sure had a good time while there. They are a bunch of fun loving guys and siginificant others. My hubby has been a member for 42 years.

I also had to do the 6 month pre-diet, so I KNOW I can do it again and maintain the way I have been eating.

Went to the Dr. on Monday and Suzie took me in immediately for a deflate. When she saw the pics, she called Dr. Slicko in and they knew I needed surgery right away. She called Dr. Smith and he was there within 1/2 hour. She immediately started an IV to rehydrate me and pushed in some Vitamins and pain reliever also. She sat with me and comforted me most of the time I was there. She was never out of the room more than 5 minutes at a time. As soon as Dr. Smith arrived, he kept checking on me every 5 minutes or so also, and had me admitted through Emergency within an hour. I thought that was pretty good considering how slow hospitals can be at times.

I was pretty much on pain meds (drugs can be a good thing sometimes) :smile: and have not really had a good conversation with Dr. Smith as to "why" yet, or any long term damage, but hope too today.

Well, folks, I am off to the Dr. to see if he can remove the drain this morning. I will post back after that visit.

SPEBSQSAlady · April 24, 2008

Things went from bad to worse. The drain was removed, but after a few days I had developed a hematoma (blood clot) which my body would not absorb. After a week Dr. Smith cut a 4 inch hole in my tummy and removed the hematoma. Now I have been going in daily to have the hole packed with sterile gauze as it has to heal from the inside out. They are telling me it will be at least another week of packing before it has healed enough not to pack any more. It also oozes continously so I have a huge bandage on my tummy to protect it. BUT, the good news is that I have been without a band for 3.5 weeks and am still retaining my weight loss. Still eating correctly so that is a good thing. Good lessons learned. Dr. Smith still is not willing to make a committment of if I can get another band. We will wait and see after I am healed. Thanks to everyone for your concern.

yvonneb3 · April 28, 2008

I am so sorry you went thru all this, take care and keep the faith. You know what the band can do, just try to heal yourself so you can get rebanded. Stay positive Lady!:biggrin2:

tammygirl · May 3, 2008

Lady,

I am sorry to hear of your complications but so glad you have such a responsive medical team. I wish you well in your recovery.

SPEBSQSAlady · July 2, 2008

Well, after 12 weeks the incision is finally healed, after daily packing with gauze. I have not lost anymore, but am holding. Now the next step is another appointment with Dr. Smith to see if I can have the band replaced. We shall see what happens. Thanks to everyone for your kind words.

SPEBSQSAlady · August 19, 2008

HEY, HEY, HEY, got approval from the insurance company yesterday to have the band replaced. Scheduled for Sept 15th. Oh man, now I can be nervous over another surgery. I have gained back about 2 pounds in 4 1/2 months, so not too bad. Can't wait to get back on the "Band-wagon".

MyTurn · August 20, 2008

Wow!! What a testimony to the band. After all that you're still going back to it. Good for you. I'm sorry you had to go through so much. Thank you for sharing your story, it's nice to hear from people with a great focus on the prize.