donali

Hi Caroline! Sorry I missed welcoming you on SanDiegoBandsters. I've been lazy there lately. I just find it much easier to use this board. Anyway, congrats on your upcoming date, and looking forward to seeing you at a meeting soon! We are a great group of gals - our get togethers are always a riot, and everyone is very supportive and fun. Best wishes -

Wow, Leo - I don't think you're supposed to be able to see your port THAT well... lol Ah, I love a good ribbing... When I had my surgery 1/23/03, Dr Lopez told me that I would have the new mini-port (this is the Inamed lap-band). I'm not positive what it looks like, as he only had the "old" port on his display model, but I must say that when my port flipped, it sure did not feel like a "mini" ANYTHING - lol. Even now, after my revision, it seems very close to the surface (and not "flat", as far as low profile type "flat") and slanting from top to bottom, the top pushing out more. It doesn't hurt (which is all I care about!!) but the appearance certainly is not aesthetically pleasing, particularly with the big dent below (where the heck did that come from?!?!). I know you are all dying to see what I mean. I'll have to get the camera out and take a picture for posterity... :eek: I'd check into how much that little one day surgery is going to cost you (mine was $1821 just to reposition the existing port, not replacing it). If it's going to cost you $$$, and your port isn't causing you any problems, I personally would skip it. But then, no one ever accused me of being a fashion plate...

Whoo hooo!!! Congrats!

Tonia - So glad all is well!

Quotes - The easiest way I have found is to copy the text I want to quote and paste it in my message. Then I put the quote tags around it - the starting quote tag is "["QUOTE"]" (without the ") - at the end of the quote put the ending quote tag "["/QUOTE"]" (again without all the "s) Good luck! To see the real quote tags, hit the quote button above, type something in the box, click okay, and then in the message you'll see the correct format.

P.S. - Bright, yes, you are mad, but not about eating mushies at this point. lol I was able to do liquids for the whole two weeks after surgery with no probs, but I was not hungry at all - that's the only reason. If I'd been starving, I probably would have moved to thicker and thicker liquids on my own - not to be non-compliant, but to keep myself sane. Since your doc gave you no post-op info... I would say if you can stick to super blended stuff for the next few days you should be fine. But, that kind of is at the heart of Sue's complaint - does anyone really know? What IS the real requirement? :cry

It is true that you go underwear-less. I've read several posts on this topic a few months ago on the Yahoo bandster board. I think the concensus was to ask the surgeon how he/she would like you to handle this - tampons okay? It's unfair that they make us ask about this - it should be printed in the literature that they should hand out when the surgery is scheduled. Of course, why society has felt the need to make women feel embarassed about a natural physical event is another question for a different forum.

Okay, one of my personal pet peeves is this: :mad: This is ridiculous. People should eat when they're hungry, and stop when they are full. Counting how many times we eat, measuring the amount we eat... All of that contributes to keeping us OBSESSED with food! Do "they" (the "experts") really think that people without food issues "eat only three times a day" and "no more than a yoghurt cup amount" at a time? Do THEY eat that way? I think not! When I went to see my primary care physician for a referral for my surgery, I asked HIM if he exercised everyday for at least 30 minutes, ate only 3 meals a day, kept his calorie levels at 1200 a day, measured his food, etc., etc. (he is slender). He looked at me sheepishly and said "No." He doesn't think about ANY of that stuff. He eats when he's hungry, and stops when he is full. Everytime I hear I mentally put my fingers in my ears and scream at the top of my mental voice "LALALALALALALALAALALALALLALALALA" (I know, I probably am mental! lol). I start feeling hysterical :eek: the moment the words come out of someone's mouth. Okay, I'll stop before I have a meltdown. I'll creep myself back to mental health with my mantra, "No one controls my eating except for me. There is no right or wrong way to eat. There are no "good" or "bad" foods. I will always eat when I am hungry, and stop when I am full. I will never diet again. I do not have to horde food. I will never be deprived. I choose a healthy lifestyle because it is fun and enables me to live the way I want to live."...

My fill restriction tends to "kick in" about 4 weeks after the fill - talk about "delayed reaction"! Also, I note that you say Remember, bloating (swelling, Water retention, etc.) will most likely impact your restriction as well. Even once you get consistent restriction, it is likely you will have the odd day when you can eat anything and you wonder to yourself who stole your band while you were sleeping? Good for you in taking it easy and resetting yourself with liquids. The band is fickle, so remaining flexible is key to keeping frustration levels low.

Congrats, Deb! Wishing you a successful journey!

AMEN, Sister! Couldn't have said it better myself!!

lol - Sue - can't wait to read that new thread! I'm with you!

Erosion is where the band is absorbed into the stomach. This is a slow process, and would not happen to a newbie - it's a 1 year+ complication. It also is not terribly common, but does happen. So rest assured, you do not have erosion at this point.

Whoo hooo!!! Congrats! I still think it's wild to try on something old that used to be too small, and find it goes into the donate box because now it is too big. Alexandra is SO right - keep on top of your closet, 'cause those things in there are getting bigger and bigger while you sleep. I've "lost" a couple of things myself by waiting too long to try something on again. Good for you again!!!

Hi Lulu - Perhaps you could try thicker purees to help with the hunger problem, and yet more or less conform to your Dr's regimen. You can puree anything, and that would ensure you are not relying on THINKING you are chewing really, really well. I think I'm chewing well all the time, but every once in a while I am reminded that's not true. lol

Hi Tonia - Good for you that you are having this looked at right away. Please keep us posted, and we'll be sending good thoughts your way.

Yeah, what Sue said. As far as the "pop" you felt, was there any pain? Could it have been a popping joint? It is unlikely what you felt is band related, but it's always good to be alert when something unusual happens. Loss of restriction is generally a sign of erosion, and not of slippage. Slippage generally involves pain and obstruction, as the lower part of the stomach migrates up through the band. There have been instances where the band slipped wholly down, which increased the size of the stoma - the restriction was still there, but the increased stoma size allowed for greater portions and the sense that restriction was lost. I also recently read about a woman whose band slipped because the stitches the doc used did not actually include stomach tissue, just surrounding fat around the stomach, due to the fat layer being so thick. As she lost weight, that fat "dissolved", the stitches were no longer stitched to anything, and the band migrated. It was easily repaired laproscopically, but that was of course another surgery. But again, if there was no pain associated with the "pop", I doubt it had anything to do with the band.

Yeah, can't have that thing running around in there wild - can you imagine trying to get a fill after your port migrated to who knows where?!?! lol I don't know what they did differently in anchoring my port this time, but it is SO much more comfortable than before. Although I do still have a bit of topical numbness, so maybe it hurts and I just don't know it... lol I'm itching like crazy, though! So it must be on the mend!

Hi Karen - That probably is the same Monica - the karmalounge, right? If you read through her journals you can read about the band removal. I haven't been to her site recently, so don't know if she's updated with the Swedish band story. And remember, sexy is a state of mind, not a size...

Absolutely true. Some people are tight enough on an empty band, some people need many cc's to feel right. It's about how you FEEL. Karen: If you mean "dieting" by going hungry, then it is absolutely true - the band is supposed to help you reduce the quantity of food it takes to alleviate hunger between meals, so that you can lose weight without "dieting" (i.e., without going hungry). If you mean "dieting" by QUALITY of food, that is something different. MOST people can get to their goal by choosing MOSTLY nutritious foods and exercising regularly without denying themselves any particular food. If your normal diet is mostly less-nutritious food (high fat, high sugar), then you will either have to make better choices, or be so restricted that the quantity you eat is very, very small. Most people are better able to moderate their food choices with the band - not an "all or nothing" attitude. There are so many different ways to give fills I don't believe it is possible at this point to say "this is how it SHOULD be done." My doc does NOT measure what comes out of the band - he just lets it run out. We keep track of what my last fill level was, so he knows to inject more than what I had before. Plus, I always have mine done under active fluoroscope, which means that the fill level is adjusted while the barium is flowing through the stoma - they tighten me up, watch to see if any barium goes through, and then slowly back out fill until they can see that the barium is passing. Having only ever had my fills done this way, I cannot imagine any other way being half as effective, and yet MOST people have their fills done blindly and fill levels are guessed at. That approach must work, since most people are successful, but I've also read a lot of posts from people who have been too tight or too loose that I think could have been avoided using my doctor's method. But that's just my opinion.

Hi - Well, unfortunately, the band cannot make your food choices for you. Getting a tighter fill is not going to help you with your food choices, either. The less nutritious stuff tends to be the kind of stuff that easily slips through. The only way you can determine if you need a fill or not is to eat solid nutritious food on a regular basis, look at your calorie intake vs. your weight loss, and evaluate based on your hunger level whether you need a tighter fill to bring your caloric intake inline with your goal weight (or higher) calorie requirements without suffering hunger less than 3 hours after a meal. Congratulations on resolving your PB problem by relaxing your fill. That is an important step in taking care of your health, and the health of your band. Right now the more important issue is why you are choosing less nutritious foods - do you feel they are "off limits", and this is your way to rebel? Is this your compensation for a deep-rooted resentment at being forced by the band to reduce the quantity of food you can eat at one time? Are you under unusual stress? Relationship problems, moving, changing jobs, financial worries with the holidays coming up? Are you hungry, angry, lonely, tired? (HALT) My guess is that at least one, more likely multiple of the above challenges of everyday life is affecting you at the moment. Please take some time to really think about what is going on in your life, and how you feel about it. Usually when you recognize and address the real issues, the need for food compensation is relieved, and you feel comfortable making healthier choices without depriving yourself. Once you are doing that, you will have better information on which to base your decision about whether or not you need a fill. Wishing you all the best -

Hi Shelly - As far as what you are eating, the AMOUNTs are the important part when you're looking at fills! lol Not WHAT you can eat, but how much? In the list you gave, if the amount all totals up to be about 1200 calories, and you are not hungry between your meals, you don't need another fill. The goal is not to be so tight that you have problems with food - the goal is to be tight enough that you are not hungry when eating the lower amount of calories required to lose weight. How long something actually stays in your pouch is not as important as how soon do you get hungry again? How do you FEEL?

Hi Bright - I suspect that most of the "hardness" you are feeling is actually tissue swelling, in addition to the port - having just had my port revision surgery a week ago Saturday, I still have more "hardness" than what would actually be my port. Also, it shouldn't be "floating" around inside you - it should be sutured to the fascia of the muscle. Your skin will move around above the port, which can give the impression that the port itself is moving, but in reality the port is in a fixed place. Let us know what the doc says - maybe you're feeling some of the port tubing as well? But I think it's more likely swelling of some sort. So good to see you back on the boards!!!

Hi Megan - First of all, our problem with food has nothing to do with "lack of willpower" - this is a fallacy, and something we have all used to beat ourselves up. The fact that I have been gleaning from posts about the Swedish band is that it is EXTREMELY difficult and frustrating to get a good, restrictive fill. The best example of this for me is Monica, from the SoCal group. She had the Inamed lapband, got to goal, had to have her band removed in an emergency surgery due to stomach torquing after a food poisoning incident, went bandless for 6 months to heal, and was rebanded a few months ago with the Swedish band. She is very, very frustrated, and is on fill 7, or something like that (she's lost track). This is an extremely experienced bandster, and she is a huge advocate of the band. She knows, though, that it is only a matter of time before she gets to the restriction that she needs. In the meantime, she is not beating herself up - she is doing what she can on her end, and pursuing fills in a safe yet aggressive way. Please do not blame yourself, or let yourself become discouraged. As long as your band is healthy, you WILL eventually get restriction, and those numbers will start to go down. But you WILL have to be patient, safe, and aggressive. And you WILL have to find a way to be "okay" with this process emotionally. It is never too late to get professional help with the emotional part of our eating disorders - the head is the most important part in our overall health , regardless of our weight. If we are not healthy in our "head," we will not be happy with ourselves. That's just the way it is. Hang in there! Remember, the trip is more important than the destination! Start up those positive tapes - "I am exactly where I need to be today." "Everyday that passes gets me closer to my goals." "I love myself, and I am worthy of kindness and respect." "I am doing the best that I can." "I am becoming the person I want to be."

Welcome!!! Wishing you the best of luck on your journey to better health.