Rockin' it Out!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Friday, 11/6, Fluoroscopy

I think I'll try and get a few different posts in today since I had a different activity, with photos, on Saturday and Sunday as well.  So, before I have to leave for dance class (for the kiddo)... here it is!

Friday I went to the hospital for my fluoro.  I was going to have a couple things looked at and possibly a fill.  So the NP comes in with me and they get me all set against the table, standing up.  The radiologist took a few pictures to make sure she was lined up properly and once I was we looked at my insides... it was much like Catherine's photo on her blog actually... you can see it here.  The NP explained that my band was in the right place and at the right angle.  She pointed to my port and my upper and lower stomach(s?).  I breathed a small sigh of relief just knowing my band was where it should be.

Then they handed me that cup of stuff.  Thick... white... fruity-tasting... not bad at all!  I told them it was almost good and they all snapped their heads and said "NO ONE has ever said THAT!"  LOL Leave that to me, I guess.  It's not what I want to be drinking on a daily basis but it was NOT what I expected at all.  So anyways... the contrast (barium) wasn't bad.  I took some into my mouth and when the radiologist told me to, I swallowed.  Then we all watched on the screen and saw it go down.  Here's what it was like... WHOOSH!  LOL.  Yeah... so the NP was like, "you need a fill."  My response was, "ya think?"  There was no reflux (another thing she was checking for) which is great and I just need a bit more help getting my stoma smaller.

So then she proceeds to try to give me a fill while standing so they don't have to lower the bed back down (remember, I'm leaning against the bed, standing up).  I raised my arms above my head and she went at it.  The pricks don't hurt me at all so I don't ever get lidocaine.  The scraping against my plastic port is what drives me up the wall.  She missed... and I started to get clammy instantly.  I was sweating and gritting my teeth.  The radiologist was asking me if I was ok over and over.  The NP then decided to try it laying down after all but the rad. didn't want to let me off the bed for fear of me passing out so she lowered the bed with me on it!  FUN!  I said, "Whee, this must be what space camp is like!"  LMAO, wtf, Tiff??

So I'm laying down and she restabs me to try to hit the port again and again no dice.  One more stab and still no dice.  She was talking about paging the surgeon at that point but the rad. took a picture and the NP was able to see where the needle was in comparison to my port and she made it in!  She gave me a small fill and then, with needle still in, they stood me back up.  They handed me the cup and watched it go down again.  WHOOSH!  Now, I'm not a rad. or an NP so I couldn't really tell wtf it was supposed to look like.  This is liquid after all.  So she says, you need a bit more and added some more.  Again, swallow, whoosh, repeat.  This time however she said it looked good and we pulled the needle out and it was over.  She explained what she saw though was that it went in, hung up above the band a moment and then went through... just what you want to see.  So off I went after they insisted I sit down and breathe a bit.  I explained I was fine and it was just the grinding, bone-scraping feeling inside that I hate.  She said she understood since it is a part of me now.

Anyways, sorry if that was long-winded.  I wanted to outline what happens in case someone else needs/wants to get one.  Not scary at all, not any more painful than a normal fill.

So moral of the story:  I'm 6 mos out of surgery and I still might need a few more fills.  I'm perfectly normal!  It's ok if I go overfull a bit.  You don't actually ever know what's in your band because even if you pull it all out at each fill you can't ever get it ALL out.  I could have gotten a sub-cutaneous fill at some point and my fill count could be off.. you just never know.

So that's it, ladies!  No problems/complications for me! (yet.. knock on wood)

8 comments:

  1. awesome! Keep us up to date on the "restriction!" Hopefully you will have some this time!!!

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  2. That is good to hear and you sound positive and upbeat! Have you noticed a change in your restriction yet?

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  3. I'm so glad that it seemed to be a pretty painless process! I'm also 6 months out and am STILL waiting to get that good restriction everyone loves. I have my 6th fill on Monday, so fingers are crossed!

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  4. I think I might have a bit more restriction, yes.. enough? I don't think so... I think I'm going to call and schedule a fill just to have the appt there since it is hard to get in.

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  5. I'm glad that everything went well and you got the good news you were hoping for!

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  6. Far out lol that sounded um... interesting but on the up side, good to know everything is where it should be.

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  7. Thanks for the informative post. It helps a lot to know what to expect if ever. Isnt' it exciting to think you might be close to where you need to be fill wise?

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