Bad News......:(

Hi all...this is a really hard post for me to write and I've been avoiding doing it. As you know I went to the Dr. yesterday for another unfill and he suggested we do a barium swallow. I was happy he suggested it and so I went to another section of the hospital to do that and then went back up to his office and he said the x-rays are difficult to read but it looks like I have a pretty bad slip :(

I questioned the fact that I don't have any pain, that I just complain of the acid reflux that has actually been worse in the past and this is just a little annoying. I said "Doesn't a slip hurt real bad?" He said "Not necessarily". I also explained that I can eat and drink (not a whole lot, but about what a bandster should, i think) and he said that some is going through the slip. I honestly don't know how long it has been like this. I mean I went on a cruise for goodness sake and gained a little while on it. I did have some tight moments but they subsided.

Anyway getting to even worse news. I asked what do we do and he said that we need to do surgery again to replace (and I'm contemplating removing it). I told him that i have heard of people taking the fluid out and it can fix itself. He said we can do that and it will buy us time, but it will most likely slip again.

Even worse, worse news. When I choose this doctor, one of the things that appealed to me was that I was told that he is a Bliss Doctor and all cash pay patients are covered for one year for complications related to the band. My one year is up on the 18th of Jan, so I'm thinking this should be covered under the Bliss insurance. When I mentioned it, he kind of danced around the subject and then said it is usually for only 90 days and then that someone in his office had embezzled money from him back then and dropped the ball somewhere. He is going to have someone check on it an call me, he said to give them a day or two. I'm so pissed off, I'm not holding my breath on the Bliss thing.

I'm a cash pay patient and just can't afford another operation and if I replace it and put it higher on my stomach, I'm worried it will happen again and then I'll need yet another operation in a year that I can't afford or do.

We took all the fluid out and I feel fine, No acid reflux last night, but I felt it wanting to happen. It is better, but I fear that it will slip further and I'll be in pain and tight again without anything to take out. I haven't eaten anything. I asked about my diet now and he just said to go to protein drinks so I don't gain the weight back. I know I can't live on protein drinks, but I'm going to do them for now and if I must eat something, I will eat something mushie so that maybe the band will have a better chance at going back into place.

It doesn't feel like anything has moved yet. It feels looser but the same position.

Anyway, I'll keep you posted when things change. If anyone else has gone through a similar thing, please contact me, I'd love to hear from you.