B-52

First, there are no foods I cannot eat...but there are foods that give my band more trouble than others....so to make life easier (and safer) I avoid them.... Plus, as it turns out, the foods I choose to alleviate from my diet, are not that healthy or nutritious in the first place...so I come out way ahead either way People without the band avoid similar foods also... For instance...Pizza...what am I missing out on? Globs of cheese don't cut it, not to mention pizza crust (dough) Cake, doughnuts, pastries, pie, bagels, and just about any bread, etc, etc....again, I'm ahead of the game here... Red meat...have not had red meat in over 2 years, and all my Dr.'s love me for it!! They have been advocating this way before I had WLS.... So I basically cut out Red Meat, Wheat products (gluten) and dairy products...as a direct result of the band, but IMO it is a healthy lifestyle. There are a few other things also...anything deep fried...chicken, fish, whatever...too crunchy..so I'm missing out on all that oil (fat) I quess...probably one of the reasons my arteries are now clear... White rice is another one...

There was a time I could not carry groceries into the house without getting short of breath and having to stop and rest..... Back to heart Stents...I would say that having the stent placed would make an individual READY for surgery, having taken care of the problems...as opposed to facing surgery before identifying the problem and taking care of it....

I have one artery that was occluded in 2 places and they put in one long stent as opposed to 2 smaller ones. I have another artery that is/was 100% blocked, resulting in a damaged necrotic area of the heart muscle....it went un detected and miraculously the blocked artery compensated on it's own and grew branches ...bu the damaged heart muscle will never re-generate.... That was 1-2 years before my Lap band Surgery...THAT and the fact I had other co morbidities only reinforced the fact that my health was seriously in decline and I needed to loose weight or I would not be on this earth very much longer.... Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) is a direct result of high cholesterol, and other body fats floating in the bloodstream clogging and restricting blood-flow...causing heart attacks, strokes, and other severe circulatory problems (infections, amputations) The best treatment for this is to loose weight, get one's eating habits totally under control....I was told that this is what I must do or ELSE!!! Problem was, I could not loose weight on my own...I have tried and FAILED 100's of time over the last 30 years....the ONLY thing, and my LAST RESORT was to have corrective surgery, altering the WAY I eat, the AMOUNT I eat, and WHAT I eat....something the band does for me, and something I cannot do on my own... My lap band surgery was completed close to 3 years now...I have lost ALL MY EXCESS weight, my blood work has been 100% normal for 2 years now....I'm close to 62 years old and run 5 miles a day, plus lift weights....I play softball and can perform like someone half my age.... I go through "Nuclear Stress Tests" every 12 months, and I perform splendidly...My cardiologist says I am one of HIS success stories, although the credit should go to my bariatric center..... So, should someone with Stents consider Lap Band surgery??? Do you have a better alternative??? Do you want to continue following your current path of treatment??? Like my PCP told me when recommending the surgery, loose 75 lbs and this will ALL GO AWAY!!! HE WAS 100% CORRECT!!! It is no exaggeration when I say Lap band not only CHANGED my life, it SAVED my life.... I'm reminded of the passage "It's the sick that need a Physician"

More accurate is Body Fat %....determine your body fat %, then how much of that % is above the normal range, then convert the % of Body fat to pounds and that would be the amount of weight you need to loose..... According to BMI's, etc, I am still considered overweight based on my Height ans weight....BUT according to the Total Body Analysis, my Body Fat% is withing the "FIT" Range, bordering on "Athletic" BMI Charts say I need to loose another 10 lbs....Body Fat % says there is not 10lbs available....other than loosing muscle mass, and that would be an extremely unhealthy process...... Many people on this website complain about loosing that last 10 lbs, etc...they should determine if that last 10 lbs is really excess fat or not....

I fly all the time....I drink Gin & tonics before, during and after.....never a problem...

I'm a old man a few months shy of 62 years old.....I understand the motivation - competition thing very well...except in my case it is every time a young fit/athletic young woman in tight spandex starts running on the treadmill next to me, I step up up the pace and refuse to stop until she does.... I don't care if they realize it or not! And I have gotten some very good runs in, not paying attention to the distance or time...

Rice is one of the foods I have not =been able to eat since my 2nd fill almost 3 years ago....so no matter how much I may crave it...one swallow and the craving is quickly replaced with something else....thus forever solving that head hunger issue! It's that way for many other things also.

I have found with the band, from my experience, that you can set goals and that's a good thing... BUT this is not a diet where you can turn it on or off, start or stop when you feel like it...this is SURGERY and because of that fact my lifestyle has changed forever...in other words, the way I eat and what I eat and how much I eat will forever be changed..... MY Dr. explained to me that, with that in mind, plus throw in normal physical activity...my body will stop loosing when It feels like it wants to stop loosing... I was fat because I ate abnormally, now that I am eating, etc, as a normal person once again, my body will also return to a normal condition (weight) which I can say it has done....way beyond the goals that I set for myself..... I have not gained or list any weight in well over a year now,...my body reaching that point of balance...equilibrium...from normal eating and physical activity....unlike the abnormal eating habits, and laziness I used to exhibit. Of course, if you're dieting, then like any other diet you can choose to stop - cheat..at any time...thus failing like I have done with 100's of diets I have attempted over the last 35 years.....

I have found the complete opposite!!! The more weight I lost, the more self confident and happy I became...I honestly feel I started to make more friends, and noticed that people wanted to be around me more..... The more I realized this the better my self image became...and became even more extroverted than before if that is even possible. I'll now strike up conversations with strangers....it's contagious. When I was fat I must have been miserable... But thanks to the band, it has changed my life in ore ways than returning to a normal weight and body build.

Thanks...I see my Dr. only once a year now...next visit I'll be sure to ask him to pull it all out and measure it....I don't feel as if I need a fill, but I would like to keep it at it's optimum... Yes pregnancy will change a woman's body, I understand that....but my concern was the reason why the band would change...people talk about traveling, going to parties, holiday dinners, vacations, etc, etc, and it has been my experience that these circumstances, events may change from day to day, but the band remains constant...it does not change just because I'm on a cruise for instance.... I am interested in the fact that for 4 years everything was just fine, the band was working and did it's job, then after all those years feel a fill is needed.... Something I have yet to experience...so it's simply something I need to learn and be aware of....

It would be my guess, you may be drinking it too fast...too much at one time...keep it to small sips to let the liquid pass through the band into your stomach....least that's what I need to do at times.... you're probably swollen and irritated from the surgery.... Also I have learned not to consume anything close to bedtime....for various reasons....I prefer to lay horizontal with a empty pouch.

Coming up on 3 years and there are certain foods I will not eat because they can cause pain...no matter how well I chew....

My Dr. does not do the fluroscope.... I'm curious, if your band was working for all these years, what would make it not work now? I ask because I have not had a fill in over 2-1/2 years...and I feel my band is optimally set - adjusted, and feel I will never need another fill....as long as I don't have a leak, or some medical issues....and providing I follow certain "maintenance" things..... can the Fluid in the band dissipate with time and need to be replenished?? Something I need to ask my Dr. next time I see him....interesting.

Why do you feel it is important that you eat? Just asking....

No, for me it was not that easy...immediately after a fill I would feel the results for a few days...then the swelling/irritation would go down and things would return to a different state.....if it stays...then great....but if it subsides, at least you are getting a taste, tease, of what the band will actually do for you... My last fill was way over the top, some would have run back to get some fluid taken out....it was hard to get anything down for about 2 weeks, but then the swelling subsided into a good steady state...that was over 2 years ago and I am still enjoying the results, with a little routine maintenance on my part...

Did they explain WHY they pumped 10cc's into you all at once? Was his the Dr. or a Nurse..or the cleaning lady who stayed at the Holiday Inn last night.

Speaking for myself...the green zone has taken away my appetite all together....I just do not feel the desire to eat, or have an interest in food.... The best way it was explained to me is that the band is telling my brain that I am full - satisfied..even though physically I do not feel full...but it is entirely mental....thus there is not the desire to continue eating....my brain is telling me I have no need to. It's like thanksgiving dinner where you cannot possibly eat one more thing....but physically I do not feel it...just mental. I have never felt that "Full" feeling that others describe.... Everyone will have their own experiences to share with being in the Green Zone.

I don't...and I take some large ones....but then I know my band, and what I can and cannot do....

Yes...it is an endotracheal tube that is inserted through your vocal cords using a laryngoscope and a balloon is inflated....cough lozenges usually soothe it if there is irritation. Very Normal......should only last a day, maybe 2

Passaic Cty.....I go to the Passaic Cty Elks Cerbral Palsy Center once week for clinics....but I live down in Southern Monmouth County.... I travel throughout the state to different hospitals and treatment centers - schools...

If I had the choice, I would ask it to be as far around the side as possible....as opposed to dead center for all the world to see as if it were some kind of large "Tumor" I've contemplated asking to have mine relocated....

Are you saying they denied you because you GAINED WEIGHT? That's ridiculous...that's why we need the WLS because we cannot, or have a very difficult time loosing weight any other way.... When I went through this phase, 2 things I remember...I was looked at on a different scale and a different set of criteria because of the co morbidites....they actually made it easier to get the approval....even my PCP knew this and it was the main reason he referred me...my health issues....and bleak prognosis...which only loosing weight and changing lifestyle would cure. 2nd...the 6 month required medical supervised diet, in my case, had nothing to do with loosing weight.....it was to show, as part of my record signed off by a physician, along with charts, grafts, and weekly progress notes, that I did make a sincere effort to loose weight and FAILED! Thereby proving that surgery was the last, and perhaps only resort for me to loose weight and re-gain my health. And sure enough, just as I did in every other diet I have ever took part in, I started out great, then eventually leveled off, then reversed and failed...I lost weight, but by the time the program was over I was steadily gaining it all back.... Next thing you know Insurance Companies will start denying people because they will argue... "See? You CAN loose weight on your own...you don't need surgical intervention" My...how the rules have changed.....the girls in my office deal with insurance submissions all day...and thy have gotten very good at it....it takes a lot of documentation, and you need to get past their first line of defense which is usually minimum wage staff who know nothing about medical issues but are trained to spot "Red Flags"..certain words..and kick the claims back without even looking at the entire picture... You know Insurance companies consider "Bathing" a "Luxury" and "Not Medically Necessary?" But this is what your Surgeons office does every day....deals with the ridiculous with appeals...."The squeaky wheel gets the oil"

Well it is definitely something to be aware of...I have gotten to know my band pretty well by now, and the slightest "Quirk" makes me jumpy....the best I can do is give it a good rest at regular intervals....

Too much common sense around here!

I'm coming up on 3 years with no problems at all....You went 5.....What happened? Did they ever say exactly? Erosion? Slippage? Or did your body just stop tolerating it...."the band just bonded to the stomach" as in adhesion? Seriously...these are the posts I pay attention to and weigh all the information....