Went to see Wendy at the Weightloss Surgery Group today.
What an inspiration. The managing director, Michelle, has had a band and lost over 12 stone and another lady there who worked on the team had lost 13 stone. There are more too, but these are the ones I met. Wendy the nurse is lovely. She totally knows what she is doing and the treatment I received could definitely be called After Care.
I arrived a little early for my appointment and was shown in to see Michelle. It was in the lift up there, I met a lady who worked there (cant remember her name) who had lost 13 stone, and then I met Michelle. I talked me through my story, most of which we had already discussed on the phone, and then she gave me some details and reassured me that the band works. period. She discussed area where they would accept a patient, and where they would not, but above all it was my commitment to working with their advice that would eventually get me the results I crave.
Then Michelle introduced me to Wendy, a bariatric nurse, and she took some more information... things like what had happened with my band, when my re-surgery was done and how much fluid I thought there was in there first off. I told her that for the first month or so after my operation I was still trying to make the band confirm to MY eating habits rather than accept that i had to change, but that for the past 3 weeks I had been trying my utmost to toe the line and in the last 2 weeks I haven't been sick or had pain at all.
She looked over my food diary that I had kept for the last week and asked me why I was eating mostly soft foods...
I hadn't considered them to be so, but i can kind of see her point now. Anyway, the cals were fine and she was not bothered about anything untoward. She then asked me if she put a chicken and salad sandwich infront of me now, how much would I be able to eat. I said that if it was with 2 slices bread then half that because its dry. She wanted to know which foods made me have bad reactions etc. Then she asked if I had restriction. I told her yes, I did have, but it doesn't really show as long as I chew my food well and its wet-ish. She also asked me if I could eat more after I had finished, and I said that 95% time I finish whats on my plate and stop there because there IS no more, not because I cant eat any more, so I am kind of self restricting.
So she decided that she was going to put in 1.2ml, but she was going to do it over 2 weeks. She said she would give me 0.6mls today, and then the other 0.6ml in 2 weeks time at no extra cost.
This was to err on the side of caution and get a good idea of things and how I react to fills, especially as it was after my 2nd fill back in May that my port blew out and I was obviously nervous about that.
So I laid on the bed and she showed me the needle in the package with the hole in the side. She placed 0.6mls into the syringe and then started to feel for the port. I had my hands raised over my head, and then she asked me to do a leg lift like in the gym so that the heels were just off the bed and then she located it fine. This all took much longer than its ever done before. Then she said "Look at the angle of the needle. I will write down that your port is slightly on its side so that I remember in future, but I just wanted to show you that too so you know as well." And it was indeed a little bit weird. Not vertical, but slightly lying down and to the left a little.
So then she pushed the 0.6 mls home and I thought that was it. But then she said "Now I am going to check the total fluid..." and carefully withdrew the liquid. "I am doing it ever so slowly and then releasing the syringe to check for the slight suction that should be there" which is was and that apparently means that there are no leaks and stuff. She pulled the syringe to maximum and there was exactly 5.1mls in my band. WOW. I felt a bit weird and funny when she put it back in, but I just lay there for a few minutes. There was no bleeding from the wound or anything like that and everything was done.
She filled out a card with my weight on it (110.6kg on Sunday 13th January at 4:45pm) and then how much she had put in, and how much was in the band in total.
Then there was more talking and showing me stuff and a model and spare bands to show what she had put in and show the difference etc. Then I went to see the dietitian. She is called Hala, and she is lovely too. She looked over my diet sheet and wasn't too bothered either, and then asked me to keep a record of all my food until I see her next time and when I eat that food as she said that was really telling.
So all in all, a very enjoyable and reassuring time. I felt in VERY safe hands with people who know what they are doing, who have experienced the operation first hand and gone through the process. It was truly worth the £100.
Today's food:
3 smoked salmon slices
mash
green beans
minced beef and gravy
1 square of 70% chocolate
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