It took singer/songwriter Justin Llamas more than four years to get the proper diagnosis for a disease that hampered his voice. A proven surgery was performed and he was ready to tackle his many endeavors with renewed vigor… until he discovered his was a rare case when the surgery did not work.
The surgery, called the LINX Reflux Management System, put a small band of magnetized beads at the base of the esophagus to keep it tight and keep the acid reflux down. The idea is the magnet expands as you eat and allows food to go down. “I felt OK for the first three days after surgery and then I started throwing up a lot and hiccupping non-stop,” he relayed. He had already set up a three-hour set for his band, Flying Kites, and he wasn’t going to let that opportunity go.
“I was trying to sing while hiccupping. It was so embarrassing and will definitely go down as one of my toughest shows,” Llamas laughed. “I was holding a plastic cup on stage and acted like I was drinking out of the cup. I was actually repeatedly throwing up in it.” He persevered through the show with some help from a singer friend. “I knew he would be at the show, so I called him a few hours before the show and told him to be ready to sing. After that, he ended up joining the band!”
He hoped the surgery was an end to a 4½ -year battle, but it wasn’t. “Right after the performance, my mom took me to the hospital and I stayed there for eight days, non-stop hiccupping and throwing up,” Llamas recalled. “Then they cut me back open, but the doctor said he couldn’t even put in another device and had to take the original one out. Now I am back to square one.”