My last appointment at the beginning of November left me with a decision. Adjustment or no adjustment? I had horrible heartburn and feared that an adjustment would put more pressure on my stomach and make the heartburn even worse. I chose to fore go the adjustment. The heartburn has cleared up and I have refilled my Protonix prescription for just these occasions. That way if the heartburn creeps up I don't have to suffer. I take one as needed. I also weighed the fact that I didn't want to be tight at Thanksgiving. Not that I wanted to eat a lot but I didn't want to be running to the bathroom because I was stuck.
The downside to not getting the adjustment is I had no restriction what so ever. I was always told that for something to become a habit you need to do it continuously for 21 days. Then it becomes the new norm. Really? Because I think if I have been doing a habit for 20+ years, I don't think 21 days will change that. It will take much longer especially if it is a deep rooted habit. Now don't get me wrong, some habits can be changed in a short time period. I gave up soft drinks cold turkey and never looked back. I think I was successful because I found something else that I liked just as much if not better that replaced it. Vitamin Water Zero, rise flavor. But really, I don't think there is an adequate substitute for eating that would make changing your eating habits that easy. So having said that, I found that even though for over 6 months I have consistently eaten smaller meals and only 3 meals a day, when I didn't get the fill, it was easy to fall back into my old habits and eat larger meals and more often. Snacking was easy when there wasn't any restriction and because there was no restriction I was hungry more often.
The result of all this? I only lost 1 lb in a month. It was very disheartening yet at the same time I was glad it was a loss and not a gain. I feel a little like I have lost a month since I didn't lose as much as I usually do. I can see how I easily slip back into the old habits of eating more. That scares me a lot. I wonder if I will ever be able to eat without the help of the band. It is worrisome to know that I don't have control even after all this time. It also reaffirms my decision to have the surgery because I would have never done what I have so far without the surgery. Thank you my lovely lap band.
More not so good news, my BP was up. My doctor cut my medicines way down and as a result my BP has crept up but in the last month had jumped back up. 133/88. Looks like I may have to get higher dosages.
More not so good news, AGAIN. I paid cash for my surgery so my insurance doesn't cover anything related to the surgery. My office visit is covered but they charge $100 for the adjustment. I may be paying $100 a month for adjustments if I need them that often. It's funny how when I was within my 6 months of free adjustments they told me to come back every 4 weeks. Now that I am paying cash for the adjustments they told me that I can come back every 2 weeks if I feel I am not getting the restriction I need. Well of course you would. They never offered that before other than to say if you need us or feel the adjustment isn't enough give us a call but this time they specifically said I could get fills every 2 weeks. Sorry, I don't have an extra $100 every two weeks.
Well I got my adjustment and now have 5.8 in my band. I am hoping to change a few things and hopefully this next month will be more successful.
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