Such a relief! I was fortunate to come across the details of Dr Kai Rabenstein and his lovely wife Jaci online [fillprovider.net] Jaci has a gastric band and Dr Kai (an anaesthetist) trained to provide gastric band adjustments; between them, they provide numerous services for pre and post op bariatric patients and (oh joy!!) one of those is gastric band fills and aspirations. As they both work full time they run their clinics mostly at weekends which is perfect for me.
Dr Kai, very generously, agreed to see me at 10am this morning (Sunday) and I was very impressed with both his and Jaci's knowledge, understanding, compassion and sensitivity concerning band issues.
Dr Kai spent time assessing what I had in my band already, and considering how much to remove. I very much appreciated his concern to get things right for me with regard to getting me out of the red zone (imperative) but without pushing me a long way away from the green zone.
Dr Kai removed all of the removable saline from my band and I was able to drink (the heavenly glass of very cold water Jaci had brought) easily. Bliss. He then put all but 1.25ml back into the band. I could still drink :). He put another 0.25ml back in (meaning I had 1ml less than when I had arrived); drinking caused gurgling and I could feel that the water was 'pooling' above the band.
Dr Kai and Jaci involved me in a conversation about what would be the best amount to remove. We went with 1.25ml out of the band. I had 5ml in there and now have 3.75ml.
It was a breath of fresh air to meet practitioners so well informed. My experience of some (possibly all) of the 'fill nurses' at THG has been that their knowledge about how the band works, and good band nutrition, is patchy at best. Kai and Jaci have a clear understanding of all things band :)
Indeed Dr Kai explained to me the physiology behind - when I am in the 'green zone' - my band being tighter in a morning. I have always wondered why that is. In short: whist we sleep water, that has gathered in the lower part of the body during the day, is redistributed throughout the body causing the stomach to become slightly 'plumper' with water overnight - resulting in a narrowing of the passage into the stomach where the band is placed . As the day progresses gravity pulls the water into the lower body again - effectively loosening the band......
Jaci and Dr Kai are very much involved in trying to improve access to bariatric surgery and are keen to provide support and advice and support to bandits / bandsters struggling with their band.
If you are within travelling distance of Hastings (where they live) I thoroughly recommend them to you. Even if you are too far from them to visit if you need advice / support you might consider a telephone or Skype consultation and their website fillprovider.net, is very informative and an excellent read for anyone considering a gastric band and for those of us already banded.
Although it is a 4.5hr round trip for me I will, almost certainly, be using Dr Kai and Jaci in future.
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