I was overfilled from my first fill. I was PB'ing every day and just taking that for granted. I then started coughing when I was sleeping, so I got unfilled and stopped coughing. Then I get filled again. and started coughing again. The coughing was from food moving up my esophagus, which I didn't realize was an issue (you would have thought the doctor who I was getting my fills and unfills from would have been concerned, wouldn't you?). Anyway, I started coughing so much at night I couldn't sleep. I ended up at a different doctor, a surgeon, who had me do a barium swallow and told me that my esophagus had stretched to twice the normal size and that I would have to the band removed. I went back down to Dr. Ortiz's office and the endoscope verified and I had it removed.
So, what I learned was 1) PB'ing every day is bad 2) Coughing while sleeping is bad 3) Not having good follow-up care with an experienced professional is bad
Even though it was an ordeal, especially the months on end not sleeping, I know if I do right by my band, it will do right by me.
-Michele