Bandedboomer

My port is constantly quite painful. When I saw the doctor's assistant she said it is common for the port to be painful because it is attached to a muscle and when you lift something it makes the port painful. She told me not to worry, but it has been years and it hurts every minute. Plus it swells up like I have a walnut under my skin. I think I am going to try to see another surgeon to see if this pain is truly normal. I would really like to know if anyone else has this problem.
In addition to that I also have had pains throughout my abdomen for the last five months. I just had a CT scan and the radiologist told my doctor that it didn't show anything at all. I am now waiting for an appointment with a gastroenterologist. The pain is not in my stomach, but seems to travel all around my abdomen. With all my tests showing nothing, I am now wondering if my band is causing problems that cannot be seen on a CT scan. I am not throwing up and I don't feel my band is too tight so I just cannot figure out what the problem is and neither can my regular doctor.

I actually had three friends who had the surgeon that eventually did my surgery. Each of my
friends had very good results and really liked the friendly and professional manner that my
surgeon displayed with each of them. After thinking about the surgery, I decided the best way to know about the surgery was to accompany my good friend when she had her Lap Band surgery. In that way, I met the surgeon and followed my friend through her first few days of surgery. After spending this time observing how well she was treated and how fast she healed I knew I wanted Dr. Michaelson for my surgery as well and I was not disappointed.

I actually had three friends who had the surgeon that eventually did my surgery. Each of my
friends had very good results and really liked the friendly and professional manner that my
surgeon displayed with each of them. After thinking about the surgery, I decided the best way to know about the surgery was to accompany my good friend when she had her Lap Band surgery. In that way, I met the surgeon and followed my friend through her first few days of surgery. After spending this time observing how well she was treated and how fast she healed I knew I wanted Dr. Michaelson for my surgery as well and I was not disappointed.

I had my Lap Band surgery in March of 2011. At that time I weighed 283 pounds at 5'8'. The surgery went fantastically well, however, I had a hard time following the program so it took a year and ten fills to lose 30 pounds. I could never understand what the "sweet spot" was and how it was supposed to work. Then in October of 2012 I had a fill that was a little too much and I was sick to my stomach constantly for two days until I had some of the fill removed. At that time, I just gave up because I read about all of the success stories and I never really felt the Lap Band made much of a difference and I certainly wasn't losing weight like so many others were doing.
Although I stopped the program in October 2012, I kept reading all of the fantastic success stories and became more and more depressed that I wasn't one of them. Finally, I decided to call the Lap Band Clinic a couple of weeks ago and set up an appointment to talk to the Fill nurse. She spent more than an hour with me and discussed all of the things that I was doing wrong. The main thing was that I was eating "Protein Bars" as a meal thinking they were loaded with Protein, therefore, they would fill me up and keep me satisfied so my band would work. However, after about an hour I was hungry again so I would eat again (often another protein bar). After discussion, the nurse let me know that Protein Bars are really more of a snack and I was not eating enough at my three meals so I was hungry all the time and started snacking instead of eating proper meals. In addition, I often drank milk with meats (yes I know this sabotaged the Lap Band, but I didn't think it would hurt much!) Anyway, after spending a lot of time going over what I was doing wrong and then learning exactly what and how to eat using the band as a tool I FINALLY understand how the band works. I also understand what the "sweet spot" is and exactly how and why that works. I am not dumb, but I never understood how the Band worked until this particular fill nurse actually spent the time with me and explained things much, much better and more in depth than anyone else had done. With my new understanding, I finally have worked successfully with the program over the last couple of weeks and am using the Band exactly how it is supposed to work as the tool to help me stay with the program. In addition, when I went in for the consultation with the new fill nurse, she took out all of the fill and then put it back in. She called it a "Reboot" and it really has made a huge difference! I now believe I can follow the program correctly and will be able to lose the weight like I should have been able to do two years ago. I love the idea of being "Rebooted" because it is also a psychological as well as physical boost to my success!

I had my Lap Band surgery in March of 2011. At that time I weighed 283 pounds at 5'8'. The surgery went fantastically well, however, I had a hard time following the program so it took a year and ten fills to lose 30 pounds. I could never understand what the "sweet spot" was and how it was supposed to work. Then in October of 2012 I had a fill that was a little too much and I was sick to my stomach constantly for two days until I had some of the fill removed. At that time, I just gave up because I read about all of the success stories and I never really felt the Lap Band made much of a difference and I certainly wasn't losing weight like so many others were doing.
Although I stopped the program in October 2012, I kept reading all of the fantastic success stories and became more and more depressed that I wasn't one of them. Finally, I decided to call the Lap Band Clinic a couple of weeks ago and set up an appointment to talk to the Fill nurse. She spent more than an hour with me and discussed all of the things that I was doing wrong. The main thing was that I was eating "Protein Bars" as a meal thinking they were loaded with Protein, therefore, they would fill me up and keep me satisfied so my band would work. However, after about an hour I was hungry again so I would eat again (often another protein bar). After discussion, the nurse let me know that Protein Bars are really more of a snack and I was not eating enough at my three meals so I was hungry all the time and started snacking instead of eating proper meals. In addition, I often drank milk with meats (yes I know this sabotaged the Lap Band, but I didn't think it would hurt much!) Anyway, after spending a lot of time going over what I was doing wrong and then learning exactly what and how to eat using the band as a tool I FINALLY understand how the band works. I also understand what the "sweet spot" is and exactly how and why that works. I am not dumb, but I never understood how the Band worked until this particular fill nurse actually spent the time with me and explained things much, much better and more in depth than anyone else had done. With my new understanding, I finally have worked successfully with the program over the last couple of weeks and am using the Band exactly how it is supposed to work as the tool to help me stay with the program. In addition, when I went in for the consultation with the new fill nurse, she took out all of the fill and then put it back in. She called it a "Reboot" and it really has made a huge difference! I now believe I can follow the program correctly and will be able to lose the weight like I should have been able to do two years ago. I love the idea of being "Rebooted" because it is also a psychological as well as physical boost to my success!

I was banded two years ago and was so excited about the program as were two of my friends who were banded about the same time. Each of us lost about twenty five pounds in the first couple of months, but none of us lost any more weight over the last two years! None of us have gained any weight either but just plateaued at twenty five pounds loss and stayed there. There are no support groups in our area so we tried to support each other. We are now going back over all of the information to see how and if we can start over and be more successful at losing weight. It is both exciting and depressing to see all of the many people who have been banded and have lost enough weight to have reached their goals. We were instructed to eat no more than one cup of food for each meal with a small Protein snack at night. None of us could keep that up very long without being really hungry. Is that what each of you successful banders have been able to do to lose all your weight? Did you just work past the hunger until you could be successful?
I think the three of us may go back to our surgeon ( 5 hours away from where we live) and see if we can have our bands checked so we can start the eating program a second time so we can be more successful like so many of the banders are on this site. Have any of you had the same problems and then started all over again? I would love to talk with you to see if you were successful the second time around.

Thanks to each of you who gave me some ideas for getting back on the program and how to better fight my hunger. I bought Soups and lots of high Protein foods and am really sticking with the program like I should have in the beginning. Although I am behind in losing weight, I am excited again about stickicking with the guidelines so I can do as well as most of you. Congratulations on all of your hard work! Hopefully, next year I will also have a nice "After" picture to post too! Thanks again.

I have done really well but i am very strict with myself, the hunger isnt from needing food it comes from wanting it, If i am hungry i make a cup of tea or a weak coffee with sweetners and that will last me, i try not to snack but lately the hunger is creeping back in even tho i am getting stuck a lot more often like kiskis said u do worry about a band slip. If i do have a bad day and cant resist some 0% greek yoghurt or some cottage cheese i just burn it off by doing more exercise .. i eat Soup before my main meal always and that makes the dinner feel far more satisfying as the soup helps u feel full ..
Might be an idea to keep busy and try not to even think of food .. There are people who the band just doesnt give them the restriction they need .. maybe you are one of those.. what does your surgeon say ? Have they checked the band for a slow leak ?
We are so afraid of actually feeling hungry that we often try not to feel it, that leads us to overeat, snack and graze.. its like always having to cry when u feel sad, we dont do we, so why do we eat just because we feel hungry.. maybe a counsellor can help you with the head hunger at least good luck !