Hi Everyone, I'm finally back and up to speed. I had my surgery on May 20 and everything went well according to the doctor, I was able to go home the same day. The problem arose when I began vomiting that evening..the next day was the weekend, fortunately my doctor returned my call, said it was due to swelling and set a appointment for a barium swallow...everything was swollen shut and I was unable to keep anything down including my saliva. They wound up putting a feeding tube down my nose and through the blockage for several days, (Horrible!), took it out on Friday things seemed fine on the drive back (2 hrs) but by evening was again unable to keep anything down. Wound up driving myself to the emergency room for dehydration that evening and again back to the emergency room a day later again for dehydration. The doctor kept saying to be patient that the swelling would go down. After 2nd trip to the emergency and still sick to the stomach they prescribed in home IV drip to make sure I didn't dehydrate, Seven Days! The first thing that stayed down was tums! Which eliminated the residual sickness. Wierd thing was I was never naseous. From the ten days off work that was planned, I was off two full weeks plus by the third week, on portable IV's could only work partial days so was off more like three weeks. My boss was beginning to wonder if they needed to hire someone else. Instead she paid me for sick leave the entire time I was off, I'm still employed and the band and I are getting along fairly well. I'm finally on real food but chew everything to death! I consume about 1/2 cup each meal six times per day and am feeling well. Through all of this I dropped about 34 pounds. I think I'm going to be fairly conservative about fills though! I'm really curious how common this kind of swelling is though. My Doctor said that I was the first patient that they had that this had happened to. ???? (What a wierd way to be special!)

http://lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=7743

I believe Kathy (the best me) also had some major swelling, but her's was due to an unfortunate Jello incident.

My DH was in the hospital for 5 days because of swelling. He was also a very special case because his BMI was so high it was meaningless -- 89. He weighed 600 pounds when his band was placed.

I think someone else recently had a really bad swelling thing from a fill. I think it was Nykee.

Yeah, ain't it grand to be special?

So very glad you are better and belatedly, welcome to Bandlandia

Thank you for your responses. It seemed like such a wierd thing and I was so sick I was beginning to really panic before it was over.

All of the research I did didn't prepare me for what happened. I am so happy I am well now and everything is working properly. I think that I do have restriction on my sixth week out so I really don't think I'm going to need my first fill for a while. I'll have to talk to my doctor.

Do any of you ladies notice more restriction around your period? Yesterday and today I am having some trouble with things I havn't had problems with. ??

yup, Lots of women have reported greater restriction around TOM. Of course, my period hasn't stopped since March...

Yep, Vinesqueen is right, your post is sounding a bit too familiar to me!!! Here are links to my little saga, just in case anything that was written helps you, and I'm glad to see katerzz posted her link...

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=6216

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=6339

I have been banded for 12 weeks and still dont' have my first fill! It's scheduled for next week though. Good luck!

I had a scary experience too, but it was my own fault. I took a bite of solid food when I was supposed to be on liquids, I got so swollen I thought I was dying. What a horrifying experience it was for me, I know how scared you probably were. I was scared I was going to die trying to be thinner. I couldn't even keep my own saliva down, and was getting so dehydrated. I have never been so thirsty in my life. I had to go to the emergency room and get an IV, get Ct scans, x rays, It cost me $12,000 for that emergency room visit. So this band really has cost me about $20,000, lots of money to pay out of pocket. It was a rough week and a half for me. This board was so helpful, they babied me through my ordeal and gave me tons of helpful advice. The great thing was I lost about 23 lbs that first month, but it was hard way to lose it. I'm so glad that you are doing well and that your boss was so good to you. And follow your instinct with your fills, stay on liquids a couple of days after a fill and then gradually move up, maybe your just really sensitive. Well good luck and I'm so happy you are well.