The Draining Of The Lap-Band

So on Friday when we parted I was being discharged from the hospital and on my way to see Dr Hottie. If you missed Friday’s post just click to read it, it will only take a minute. That way you won’t feel like you’re sitting down to watch a movie or show and the first fifteen minutes have gone by and you don’t know who’s who.
The ride from the hospital to Dr Hottie’s office was torturous. Every bump in the road felt like I was being attacked in the ribs, side and back. I wasn’t even able to put the seat belt on. I arrived at Dr Hottie’s office mid-afternoon. The office there is usually on the busy side and there’s almost always a wait. I went to sit in the waiting room, and the woman that runs the front office told me I looked like hell and escorted me back into one of the exam rooms to lay down. A few minutes later the doc came in. I explained everything that had been going on and what had transpired. He did not agree with the lung surgeon’s opinion that the Lap band had gotten too tight and caused what had happened. This left me in a weird situation, since I liked and respected both of the doctors. In reality, it didn’t really matter, because it had been agreed upon by the two of them that my Lap band would be drained, or emptied. So unfill it was. Everyone involved agreed that moving forward things would have to be done very slowly.
An unfill is very similar to a fill (adjustment). A needle is inserted into the port on your stomach. Instead of putting in a little fluid, for an unfill they remove fluid. Everything is done by the amount of “feel” and “resistance” the doctor feels. So the Lap band was emptied. I was now basically where I’d been when I had the Lap band surgery in April 2009 – with an empty band. (When you first have surgery your band is empty.) I was told to follow the original eating protocol and return in two weeks for my first fill. At that moment I was in a position combined of the three elements in the Windows shutdown screen – Stand by, Turn off and Restart. I figured things could only get better from here. I had no idea of what the next portion of the journey would be like.
More tomorrow.