Amanda Mae

i think so ... i went through a roller coaster from October through last week - there are two tests they can do to see if the band has slipped - either an upper GI which doesn't require an unfill or something else (can't remember what its called) but it requires the band to be empty ... I started having trouble in october and ended up having my gallbladder out - a few weeks later I was still having trouble - at the time I had 4.5 ccs in and hadn't had a fill since August - so I was surprised that after months of the same Fluid level all of a sudden it was too tight. They went down 3cc and I gained weight in two weeks ... they went back up to 3.5cc and i had trouble. so then they took more fluid out and when back down to 3cc and I was continuing to get sick, couldn't sleep without coughing, had horrible heart burn - just felt awful all around. so then about three weeks ago they took more out and when down to 2cc - i gained a few pounds and so now i'm back up to 2.8cc - hoping this is the right spot - i'm starting to lose again! Just remember that all happen over the course 3 months. good luck1

My surgeon won't even tell his patients how many cc's they have because he said you can't get caught up about how much is in the band - you have to base your success off of how you feel. I recently had problems with the band being too full and he ended up telling me what was in it. I had 4.5 cc, went down to 3.5cc - gained some weight so went back up to 4cc - then had trouble so went down to 3 cc - continued having trouble so went down to 2 cc - gained some weight - now i'm back up to 2.8cc... that was just last week that I got adjusted to 2cc - we'll see how it goes. Once you get restriction .. .you'll know it! and it's great!

I have to agree with Kimmy - it sounds like if you would just have it unfilled you would probably fill 100x better. I thought my band had slipped because I couldn't keep anything down for days. The doctor unfilled it back to the same as right after surgery and we have slowly started filling again. I feel great .. when it was too full I couldn't even lay down to sleep - I was sleeping in a recliner for like a week. go to the website below and type in your zip code - I believe there are probably 7 different surgeons in your area that you could try calling http://www.lapband.com/en/lapband_is_for_you/find_a_surgeon/

Good question ... not sure if you have to stay over night but if you do - take a laptop!! I would have been bored out of my mind if I hadn't. I did sleep some - usually right after they gave me medication - but I was up walking the floor a few hours after I got out of surgery. I had a really hard time sleeping in the hospital because of these stupid massage things they put on your legs to prevent blood clots - so I was up almost all night. The laptop and walking kept me entertained until I could go home. as far as home - if its possible - call your doctor Monday morning or when you see him before surgery and see if you can have any prescriptions then so someone at home can go get them filled for you and they are ready and waiting at home for you. I had to stop at the pharmacy on my way home - and although I felt great I was a little run down and didn't feel like sitting at walmart for a 1/2 hour waiting for them to fill medication. I would also have any liquids you are going to want for the first two - three days. If there are recipes you want to try or anything - have someone go pick it up Monday while you are in surgery. I was ready to leave the house and walk around the grocery store by the second day but make sure you have someone with you - no lifting and take it easy. You need to make sure you walk a lot after surgery to keep your body moving again ... a little walk around the grocery story to pick up what you need for the diet is a good way to do it.

Skinnyminime ... Great suggestion on grouping people on facebook.... Before surgery only my husband, best friend, and her husband knew - not even my parents. I had surgery the week before my 30th Birthday and I remember when I finally told my mom - it was only because I had to. She called to tell me that her and my sister were coming to visit for my Birthday and that they had this huge day planned for going out to lunch and getting me new clothes - I finally broke down and told her and she was excited for me. After I had the surgery there were only two people at work who knew, my boss and a good friend who has been super supportive. Everyone thought I was on vacation for a week when I got back... I never lied but I didn't correct them either. Now that I have lost 70 lbs since I started and 60 pounds since April people are asking how I'm losing weight. I have found that its easier now to explain to them that I had lapband surgery earlier this year and clearly its been successful. I haven't run into any negative reactions yet - quite the opposite - a lot of encouragement actually. I'm a plant manager so I'm one of less than 10 women in the plant - now when I walk through in new clothes or with a little more confidence the guys give me a thumbs up and compliment me on "dressing up" more often. It's nice! There were a few people that I go to lunch with that notice sooner than others that something was different and I again - I told them but asked them to let me tell others when I'm ready instead of it going through the gossip mill. I guess it's all part of the journey.

Good Job!!! that's very exciting. I wish I would have started losing weight that fast. I started out really slowly until after my fourth fill but some people don't ever need a fill - hopefully you are one of them!!!

I asked my doctor where the port was when I went back for my follow up visit. I could feel something right under my skin that I thought was the port but it wasn't ..just scar tissue. I actually haven't lost enough weight yet to feel my port but its down lower like right above and to the left of my belly button. The doctor said as I lose more weight it will be easier to feel.

My doc's office offered two options - you could follow the liquied diet that you do on your own or you could purchase ready-to-drink protein shakes, soups, and granola bars and you were allowed to gave any combination of 6 items per day (but only one granola bar per day). I did this option just because it was easy for me - the shakes came in little juice boxes and it gave me some variety - not to mention the granola bar each night was a god sent after liquids all day. They also told me if I absolutely had to cheat to do something like a couple bits of grilled chicken breast or tuna - something high in protein and not much of it.

so I have been trying to figure out the best way for people to find out I have a lap band.... It's social media that's getting me! The people I work with know and ask questions from time to time and my close friends at work even joke around with me about how slow I eat ... My family knows that I have had the procedure done as well. However, everytime I go to post an update from lapbandjourney or from this site to facebook I end up panicking after its posted and they delete the post. I'm not sure why I'm not ready for those who aren't close to me on a daily basis to know. My reasonable side says that I shouldn't care what other people think - especially people I went to high school with. But my non-rational side keeps deleting the posts from facebook. I guess I don't want to hear from the negative nancys (no offense to any nancys out there) Has anyone else struggled with posting great, exciting weight loss updates on more public sites? how did you overcome it?

I was banded on April 12, 2011 and I have lost 60 pounds since then... and feeling great! I have 70 pounds to go until goal and can almost fit in my favorite jeans.. but I can't wait until they are too big also ..

Good luck with your surgery ... you sound very determined and I'm sure you'll do great! With yucky hospital food gaining weight hopefully won't be an issue.

If you are only on your second adjustment you might be still getting use the size of bites you can take and how much you have to chew. I know that after the first three fills I had I was learning a little more each time ... when I got my fourth fill I had to learn a lot and learn fast. It has taken me some time but I think I'm finally figuring it out which prevents things from getting stuck. As the band got tigther I also noticed that I needed to leave more time before and after eating from my last drink. The first few fills I could drink and then eat a few minutes later which is not good ... now I have to wait at least 45 minutes from the time I take a drink until I eat or I get sick. Sometimes the mental struggle is worst than the physical one!

Congratulations.... I did the same thing last weekend .. I'm into a size 20 now and had things ranging up to size 26. Some of the clothes were hard for me to part with but I as I brought new clothes out of the attic I was excited to get back into some of my old time favorites!!! It's a good feeling isn't it'?!

I'm trying to get back involved in the forums... I was banded in April and for the most part doing really well... I want share my successes and help others as well so this is me trying to get back involved .. I just had to have my gallbladder out a couple of weeks ago which was unexpected - I hadn't had any problems with it previously that I knew of and now they think I have an ulcer in my stomach. It seem odd that I never had problems before the band but it also seems that the problems I am having aren't related to the band at all ... too strange. So how is everyone else doing?

GNC women's ultra mega - chocolate powder ... even has 10g of protein!

same here .. I end up throwing my dinner back up if I drink while I am eating... The doc said that drinking while you eat breaks the food down faster and allows you to eat more defeating the purpose of the band...

I haven't had my band very long but I would think they would take some fluid out. I had my first fill last week and at first was doing good but this week has been a struggle keeping down dinner. I seem to do ok during the day with breakfast and lunch but I have thrown up my dinner everyday this week - usually because of whatever meat. Do you think maybe we aren't chewing enough? The other thing could be fluids - I know you aren't suppose to drink a 1/2 hour before or a 1/2 hour after - would that contribute to the trouble?

I think it will all work out ... my husband wasn't happy either - he didn't want me to have surgery because of the inherent risks that come along with it. I had a friend staying at the house to help me the first day to try and minimize the impact it had on my husband. She said the whole night I was in the hospital he was worried and kept saying he didn't know why I had to do something so extreme. Now that's been about 5 weeks, his support is great! He bought me a salad spinner for my birthday to help support my new choices and has been making helping me to make healthier choices - he's even given up is soda at work everyday and replaced it with Sobe Life Water Zero. Hang in there - your husband is probably just nervous ...

I had my first fill last week ... for the first few days I didn't have any problems but today I can't keep anything down. I have been trying really hard not to drink anything a 1/2 hour before or after I eat but have slipped up and that seems to be the times I ended throwing everything back up. Could this be the problem?

I had my first fill last week ... for the first few days I didn't have any problems but today I can't keep anything down. I have been trying really hard not to drink anything a 1/2 hour before or after I eat but have slipped up and that seems to be the times I ended throwing everything back up. Could this be the problem?

I have 6cc in the band ... hopefully next time will go a little smoother

I had my first fill today... it was definitely interesting. After trying to find the port five different times - yes five pokes with that needle - they got out an ultrasound to locate it. Then he poked me three more times ... he said if he couldn't find it was going to have to make an appointment for me at radiology in order to get the first fill. Luckily, on the last try he finally got the needle into the port!!! My stomach is actually somewhat tender this evening. Like a few others have posted, I had to sit up with the needle sticking out and he had me drink Water until I felt the restriction and then pulled just enough Fluid out to let the water pass through ... he ended up adding about 2ccs of fluid in addition to what was already in there. I can definitely tell a difference tonight and hope that this level of fullness continues.

You'll be able to eat whatever you want in time but just in much smaller portions. Don't stress out about that and ruin your pre-op diet. There's a book I read that I would recommend to anyone getting ready for or even thinking about the surgery. It's called "Weight Loss Surgery" by Barbara Thompson. She actually had gastric bypass but there's a nice section on Lap-Band included. The biggest thing I learned from the book was not to worry about what you an eat in the future because you can pretty much each whatever you want just in much smaller portions and you stay full longer.

HeatherinCA Great article you shared.. Thanks!

I'm so glad I found this thread.. the last week has been hell .. I was banded on April 11th and for the first few weeks I did fine but I guess since the internal swelling went down - now I'm hungry.. I'm definitely eating less when I do eat but the full feeling isn't lasting as long and I noticed that this week the amount I can eat is more ... I'm scheduled for my first fill on May 17th .. I can't wait! Glad to know I'm not the only one.