Rachel412

Yeah, it sounds to me like you're doing great! So when they put the band in, it goes around your stomach and includes a layer of fat. As you lose weight, you'll lose some of the fat around your stomach and your band will get looser. You'll notice that you're feeling hungry sooner after a meal and that it takes more food to satisfy you. At that point you go in for another fill. Congrats, you're doing great!

I was banded in April, so what... 4 months ago? What you are describing would be what my doctor calls TOO tight, not the sweet spot. My doctor's office says that the band is made to control hunger, but you still need to control what goes in your mouth. So while I eat a cup of food at a meal, it's not that I can ONLY eat a cup of food- it that I'm satisfied after eating a cup of food. So what does the band do for me? It makes it so that I don't feel hungry anymore after I eat a small meal, and I don't get hungry again for at least 4 hours. Take this morning, I had a Protein shake at 9. I didn't have a chance to eat lunch at a normal time, and when 2:30 rolled around I decided to have something else to eat, but I wasn't really hungry. That shake held me for a good 5+ hours. THAT is what my doctor wants the band to do for me. But really... if hunger and satiety aren't your problem, the band won't be your solution.

Don't concentrate on numbers- tell us how much you eat at a meal, WHAT you eat, and how you feel when you're done eating- and how long until you get hungry again. That's really the measure of success with a band fill, not so much the number of cc's in the band. Are you having PBing, trouble eating, anything like that?

Well today's not typical but I had: iced coffee and a protein shake for breakfast iced coffee mid-morning late lunch: peanut butter on a low carb wrap, plus cinnamon roasted almonds dinner: half an oven baked pork chop, a small amount of corn on the side.

I can't believe you were that tight for a whole year! I don't know how you put up with it. But i'm so glad you're at a better fill level now

The band is best at controlling hunger, but you need to be aware now that it likely won't make you feel FULL- it'll help you to feel satisfied quicker after eating a smaller meal than you eat now. Satisfied versus full is a hard one for a lot of us because we're used to that full feeling. Satisfied speaks with a much quieter voice!

I could still eat like I used to, even with 7+ cc's in my band. Nothing gets stuck for me, nothing makes me sick, very few foods make me feel full (instead I'm just satisfied as opposed to full). It would be so very easy for me to just go back to eating like I used to. I don't even have to resort to slider foods. I find this equal parts terrifying and empowering- because I know that these 50 pounds, I really lost because of ME.

I weigh daily but only record the downs, not the ups. So say yesterday I was down .5 but today I was up 1 pound, I just keep the lowest number I saw in my head as my current weight and any other "gain" I chalk up to water weight or a heavier meal I told my nutritionist I do this and she was amazed, she said most people can't shrug off the "gains" but it really doesn't bother me.

You guys are all really in the worst stage of the journey. My advice is to drink every time you're hungry. I drank a LOT of decaf chai after being banded- I was having like 6 cups a day! Find something low calorie that doesn't make you crave sugar, and just keep drinking it to combat the hunger. Once your body gets used to eating smaller portions you'll find that you're not starving anymore, but for now, you just need to fight the good fight.

Awesome!!! I cannot even imagine what size 10 feels like

Try to pick foods that are high in protein and they'll keep you satisfied longer. A lot of the 100 calorie snack bags are just carbs, which might cause you to have a sugar craving later on in the day. I really like the Emerald cocoa and cinnamon roasted almonds because they're sweet but not loaded with carbs, and they're high in protein so they satisfy my sweet cravings, and my crunch cravings.

Congrats!!

Size 16, wow! That must feel incredible, good for you!

Monthly, wow! I believe my "mandatory" check-ins the first year are quarterly, then every 6 months after that... but I might be wrong. I know I have them but i'm not sure what the spacing is once I'm no longer a newbie. Once a month sounds like you'll be getting great follow-up care.

I don't see any reason to assume you have a leak. call your doctor for another fill, and have him pull all the saline out before he adds in the next amount. He'll quickly be able to see if you have a leak. Otherwise, what you're describing is what I had after my 2nd & 3rd fills. Your body swells up, and once the swellign goes down you feel "the same" and it just means you need more fluid in your band.

Water weight! take a deep breath and try not to dwell on it.

What! Wow. I wouldn't sign that.

Name, real or screen~ Rachel Age~ 32 (33 in 2 days!) Weight on August 1st~ 232 Goal Weight for August 29th~ 224 Exercise Goal for August~ exercise 4x per week Date Banded~ 4/12/11 Total Weight Loss Since Banding~ 39 pounds

Yesterday I hit 50 pounds lost since the start of the banding process, which was October (I had a 6 month wait period, in which I lost 11 pounds, and I was banded in April). I have been telling my husband that my goal was to not buy any new jeans until the fall, because I was hoping to fit in 18s by then. When I started in October, I was in size 24 jeans from Lane Bryant, and they were the blue/"curvy" style. If you're not familiar with Lane Bryant jeans, they sell them in 3 different fits for each size- curvy, moderately curvy, and straight. OK so now fast forward to today. I decided to hit Lane Bryant tonight for fun to try on jeans. I didn't really expect the 18s to fit- they haven't since high school- I just wanted to see how close I was getting. But guess what! The 18s fit AND the blue/"curvy" ones were too baggy in the butt, so I needed to try the red ones! I was so thrilled I took a picture. So here's my never-before-seen before & durings. Shot 1 is surgery day, shot 2 is very early July, and shot 3 is in the dressing room tonight

People do it all the time. Do yourself a favor- don't be one of them.

Yep, I agree, sounds like thrush. Call your doctor in the morning and some antibiotics should clear it right up.

That's weird... for me, getting a fill is less painful than getting a shot, or getting poked to give blood. I wonder why yours was so painful.

I chew plenty of gum and I've swallowed it a couple of times, it hasn't gotten stuck- but neither has anything else so maybe my results aren't typical. Anyway, yes, i'd say both are fine.

I really truly believe that the band doesn't work for everyone. I whole heatedly believe that some people can get fill after fill until they're too tight, but never be able to hit and sort of "green zone" or "sweet spot". My understanding is that doctors STILL don't know the exact science of how the band causes people to stop feeling hungry- since the food doesn't sit in the upper pouch like they used to think, what exactly happens to ring the "I'm not hungry" bell? That being said, I also think a lot of people get banded without bring told what the band is supposed to do for them. They expect the band to keep them from over-eating, or to make them feel full quickly, or even to make it so they get sick if they eat too much. Doctors tell them this! People don't realize that all it's supposed to do is to make you no longer feel hungry after a small(er) portion of solid foods. So if you get the surgery expecting the band to do something it doesn't... heck yeah you're going to have problems. So i'm sending you some sympathy, and I'm curious what you expected the band to do for you. Seems even in the past couple of years, doctors have started to explain the results of the surgery differently.

What you eat shouldn't affect your port site at all. yes, it's very normal for the site to be sore, and swollen so soon after surgery- but if it's hot, or red, or it has streaks coming out from around it, you need to call your doctor.