So, time to wipe the brow, cause it's all good.
I drove to SD on Sunday, went over the border Monday morning, and by 9:30 a.m. I was on the table with the fluroscope and he said it definitely had NOT slipped. However, there was so much inflamation around the band and through my esophogus that it was a darn good thing I came in when I did. If I had let it go on like that for another few weeks I most definitely would have caused the kind of damage that only surgery can fix. He told me the safest course of action was to do a complete unfill and wait 4 weeks before coming back. At that point we're going to see how the inflamation is and if I even want want a partial refill or not. He also prescribed me a liquid diet for the next week and Maalox, which is nothing. I'm a liquid diet blackbelt at this point.
So...whew. The very last thing I wanted was to have to get it removed because it would put me in the kind of debt that I would never be able to emerge from, so that's a good thing. And really, since the final "big" fill, I would say that 1/3 of the time I was angry about the band and atypically grouchy because I would vomit and then for the next few days my emotions would run away from me because of lack of food, and 2/3 of the time I was so pleased with the effects it was having on my life. I've learned not to let the grouchiness get me down. Yes, I was in a lot of pain more often than neccessary, but looking back at it now it, if that is part of the price I pay to lose weight and get healthy, then I'm willing to pay it.
But the big news is that I didn't slip the band, which, after reading all the online forum posts, I was feeling pretty confident that I hadn't, but it was still a relief to hear the words come out of his mouth. I'm not too happy about having to go back again in a month, but I am also gonna look at this as a time to really test myself and see if the behavior changes can stick even without the band being full. I really hope they do, I'm gonna keep it simple and not put too much pressure on myself, but we'll see if I even need to get the fill put back in or not. I am NOT giving up on this final push of 30 lbs to get to my goal weight, no matter what happens with the band *grip on diet is so tight that knuckles turn white*
Thanks so very much to everyone who replied, you gave me untold comfort and I really appreciate you being here when I needed someone to talk to. Thanks for sticking up for me there too, Smiley...you are correct, I was being too vague when I said "all the time." I know for a fact that I haven't lost 115 lbs by purging through my lap-band, but instead by using that lapband as a tool for all the healthy habits I want in my life. Now, for 3 weeks (after the 1 week liquid diet) while I have absolutely no fill, we'll see how well those habits hold up. *I'm chanting to myself that they Will hold up, they will they will they WILL!* :-)
Thanks again!