I Got Spooked

Hi everyone. The whole Acid Reflux thing came back again last night and this morning I was miserable trying to get down my morning protein drink. My throat was sore and the first several sips hurt, like a rawness in the bottom of my band area. I decided to read up on Acid Reflux on LBT and everyone who talked about the Acid Reflux thing also seemed to be too tight and ended up having their band slip just like Mindy had said. I was spooked after reading LBT and decided to call my doctor again since the Reflux was bad last night and most of the earlier part of today even though I've been taking the medication he suggested. So I called Dr. Owens to go over everything again and said that I think I should come in and have a little bit taken out. He said to come on in and he would take some out. As I sit in the office waiting for him to come in, I was thinking how much I think he should take out. Since my last fill was .5cc and it was the difference between not being quite tight enough and too tight I thought do they do like .25cc?? I've never heard someone take out .25cc and would it be enough. Why is the band so difficult for me??? I want to figure it out, but I'm thinking there is no figuring it out. It's fickle. So Dr. O says he wants to take everything out then have me sit up and drink while he fills me so he can figure out where I'm supposed to be. Okay, why don't we do this every time??? So I sit up with this needle sticking out of my stomach (I heard a lot of people talk about doing this, but I've yet to experience this) and I'm chugging water as he's filling me, I'm saying OK now it's like a funnel, it's slowing and now it's bubbling and gurgling. So he stops there takes a little out and does it again. I asked how much he ended up taking out and he said 1.5cc. WHAT?????

So, I was bummed about how much he took out. I kind of feel like I just took 10 huge steps backwards, but he told me to see how I feel with this. He said since water slows down, food should too. He also said to come back if I feel it's too loose even if it's 3 days from now. And we just do fills again until I get to a comfortable level. I'm beginning to think I don't know what a comfortable fill is and somewhat sad that it tightens up so much on me. I am relieved that I'm not too tight because I do think if I continued the way I was, that I would end up with a slip after reading the postings on LBT.

Anyway, that's where I am now and actually I'm grateful that I feel better and I'll start again from square 3 (well it's not exactly square 1 or 2, so I'm going with 3).

I need to get a scale and start weighing my food. I need to make smart choices and work with my band. I think I expect it to work for me, but it's with me.

Thanks for listening.