My 9 Hour ER Visit

Could not stand the pain last week so I drove myself to the ER. I went in for abdominal pain.

They drew blood and a urine test, then hooked me up to an IV for dehydration. Now this is over a span of 9 hours, mind you. The doctor recommended I do a CT scan of my belly. Check out in detail of what may be going on with my lapband that is causing pain. Now, this causes a major concern for me because I am allergic to contrast dye. Red flag for me. Tons of back and forth between one doctor to the next and then a radiologist finally allowed me to get one done. BUT then I had to have a standard X-ray to see if there was any Barium fluid from my Upper GI X-ray the day before. My oh my. THey then gave me some allergy medicines to help prevent any reaction to the contrast dye. At the end of 2 sets of X-rays and the CT Scan I now know my lapband has caused my esophagus to swell where it is attached.

Pain in my entire abdomen and my lower back is caused by a single area of swelling. It has now been a total of 3 weeks. The pain is less as I took it upon myself to read a bit online about what others have gone through. Some stated to do a soft foods or liquid diet to help the irritation go down. So that is what I have been doing since Friday. I'm 3 days in to soft foods and protein shakes. (I really don't know how I lasted so long before not eating in Pre-Op). This will get me through till my July appointment with the GI Surgeon... Which is another 2 weeks away!

Weight : 217

Sitting and waiting in pain

Yep, that’s right... Pain. I feel like my lapband May have slipped? Im not really sure though. I feel like the more I read online the more confused I am getting.

I had met with my new surgeon at the end of May. His attempt to do a fill was unsuccessful. I was okay for a week. No pain, could eat more with less restriction. A week after seeing him the pain began. It fluctuated through the day, couldn’t lay on my left side, port pain & swelling. I had even called in to get an appointment since the pain was so bad. The earliest appointment is July 9th. I’m pissed about how long away it is to get in. So sitting in pain for 3 weeks isn’t fun for anyone. I even had a nurse relay information about my pain to the dr. she said take pain meds. And if it’s gets worse to go the ER.

During my waiting period  I had a standard X-ray 2 weeks ago & this week I had an upper GI X-ray. You know, when you swallow the thick liquid and they record it going through your throat - stomach.  Nasty. But was able to watch part of the monitor to see what was going on. Clearly I was looking at the port and loop around my stomach. It wasn’t clear enough to see if it was in done or out of place.

Not cool waiting. Sigh

Weight : 222.2