Saturday, July 11, 2009

Second Fill/Adjustment

On Thursday I had my second fill. I was a lot less nervous about going in this time. I was a little worried about my weight loss because I have been steady at the 30 pound loss for a few weeks now. I jumped on the scale as usual and the nurse was pleasantly surprised by my weight loss which was a relief to me. I was beginning to think that I was losing at a slower rate then I should be. Blood pressure was fine so that was good, not that I was worried about it this time. She asked me how things have been going and I proudly let her know that I have had NO issues with eating, seriously not one. I have had no PB’s……
*** side note*** I finally found out what a PB is: it stands for “Productive Burp” I guess they call it that because that is exactly what happens… you burp and it produces what you just ate… YUCK!
My nurse still seemed surprise that this hasn’t happened yet and again reminded me that the tighter the band gets the more common it will happen. I am still on my mission to prove her wrong! Unfortunately I forgot my food diary on the counter so I didn’t have it with me. The nurse seemed more concerned about it then the Dr did. She let me know that as long as I was losing it could slide this time but to be sure to bring it next time. I think to myself “why so the Dr can flip through it not even reading it?” But I will do as I am told. I was really curious about if I was on track as far as weight loss goes so I asked my nurse if I was where they wanted me to be in regards to what I have lost so far. She told me that I was exactly what they would hope for. The goal is to lose between 4-8 pounds a month and I am exactly in that range. She also told me that she was surprised I lost anything after the first fill because a lot of people do plateau on the first one. I can relate since I have been at the same weight for a few weeks now but luckily I lost enough up front to make up for the recent lag. I have to admit that I am sure I could have lost more but my workouts have seemed to be dying off. I just haven’t been able to get back into a good routine yet. I tried doing more stuff outside and at home so I wouldn’t be stuck in the gym on nice days but I have found that I am not very good at staying consistent with that. So I guess it is back to the gym for me. The Dr came in next and shot me up full of saline. I felt that crazy gurgling feeling again… so weird; I don’t think I will get used to this. He then gave me some very sad news. He is moving to Portland at the end of August. At first I was happy for him because it sounded like a great deal for him but then it hit me… Wait a second; I get all my appointments free for the first year. I asked him if the new doctor I will need to go to will honor that and he said I don’t think so you will have to pay for your adjustments. What the *@#%!!! He played it off that he was doing “the right thing” by not making his patients pay for the first year but when we all know that he has to include that money in the price we pay up front. I left the office thoroughly annoyed that I will now have to come up with more money and find another doctor. It is definitely worth all the trouble to be able to lead a healthy life but seriously come on! At least I have one more free appointment with him before he moves. And with any luck this next fill will be perfect where I will only need to eat three small meals a day and not feel hungry between meals. If I get to that “sweet spot” as I have heard so many people call it, I won’t have to go in for another fill so quickly. I can really feel a difference this time with the band it definitely feels tighter then the last time