Slipped and Removed

Aug 07, 2009

Following a slip revision on 6/16, I have been slowly refilling.  Got a fill on 7/27 and was doing fine with a slight restriction (4cc in my 9cc Realize).  Thursday 7/30, I was eating breakfast and only half way through felt very tight so I stopped eating and commented to my wife that the last fill was really kicking in and I was just going to take soup for lunch.  Only ate about a half cup of soup and felt tight again so I stopped.  At 2:00 I left work feeling very uncomfortable and I was calling 911 from home at 3:30. 

I had to wait in the ER until 11:00PM before a surgeon was available to decompress the band.  This was the longest most painful time I ever experienced.  They were giving me morphine and it didn't touch the pain.  Got admitted and spent all weekend on Dilaudid. 

On Monday my band was removed and I got home on Tuesday afternoon.  The surgeon said there was no good tissue to put stitches in so he couldn't reposition the band. 

So here I am after researching the VSG for a year, being denied by insurance because it is "experimental" and settling for the band.  I was never excited about having an implant and all the adjustments.  Because I was determined to put my diabetes into remission, I worked the band as best I could and was very successful, but after three surgeries, I'm full of scars and on my own again with plain old diet and exercise.

I just hope and pray that the good habits that I developed with my band will carry me through and I can continue down the road I'm on now.

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