After about 2 weeks, I knew the first fill wasn't enough and went back to Dr. H to be topped off. Thinking it would once again be a simple, painless process, I was not nervous at all. Oh how wrong I was! I once again hopped on the table, hands behind my head, and took a deep breath. But instead of a quick pinch I felt a stabbing pain. Ouch! Dr. H had missed my port and hit the side of it. After much poking around, about 10 sticks on my stomach, and a little bit of a local anesthetic to numb the area, I still had no fill. Only a bunch of bloody puncture marks on my abdomen. The doctor was unable to access my port and wanted to send me to radiology to have them access the port under fluoroscopy, which is basically a big x-ray machine that they can use to visualize things inside.
Turns out I was somewhat of a novelty in radiology. I have to say it doesn't inspire much confidence knowing I'm only the second lapband patient the doctor had worked with! So I got to be the guinea pig with lots of techs standing around to watch how it was done. The doctor put on his big lead-lined gloves and turns on the machine. Well lookie there, my port is sitting on its side instead of flush against the muscle. No wonder Dr. H couldn't access it! After much painful pushing and maneuvering, the radiologist was able to get my port positioned right and put in my fill.
But, the bigger issue was that my port was flipped. If the port isn't set right, it's nearly impossible to access for a fill, as I'd just learned. So now it was time to figure out what we were going to do about it. I was able to eat pretty much anything, including all those unhealthy foods that got me into trouble in the first place. I was frustrated because I wasn't losing weight and the band wasn't working and I was beginning to get depressed. I'd paid a lot of money for this weight loss tool, and I wasn't losing weight! There is nothing worse than feeling like a failure when you've gone to such extreme measures to be a success. I had to get the port fixed so I could finally get the proper amount of restriction, but I decided to put that on the back burner until after the New Year.
I knew that I didn't want to get any more fills for awhile, even if the latest one hadn't done anything, due to an upcoming vacation and the holidays. I had heard horror stories about people's bands tightening up with air travel and did not want to be stuck in Disney World unable to eat anything and puking up whatever I put in my mouth. So even though I wasn't feeling any additional restriction after the latest fill, I put the problem to the back of my mind and just focused on enjoying my vacation and the holiday season. And even though I didn't feel much restriction, the band was obviously working at least a bit, because I came home from vacation 2 pounds lighter! Not bad considering I wasn't eating all that great! But, after that, I stopped losing weight, and even managed to gain 5 pounds over the holidays! Once New Year's hit, I was in for quite a wakeup call. It was time to get serious, get my port fixed, and start losing again. 2007 is going to be my year to shine! And maybe even get to goal weight!
