feliciadawn

can I ask why they put in a 4cc band and where you had your surgery? I was also banded in Mexico by Ortiz with the 11cc johnson and johnson band. I've heard there are a lot of complications with the 4cc

Be careful, if you overeat and make yourself throw up, you may get a slip and have to have your band removed. You don't wana go through that. We all have our demons to fight with the band (mine is no restriction with junk food) but we have to be careful and keep on fighting. Seeing a counselor will probably help, just find out why you are emotional eating and get some tools to turn it around. I am looking for one myself. Also, two pregnancies and the band within a couple years? Your body is probably freaking out. Give it a chance to settle down and be patient. Giving myself the same advice!

There is no restriction with junk food, people. Between last night and today, I've eaten an entire large bag of potato chips. I can eat them like I used to before the band. The. Entire. Bag. Now I feel like a bloated, water retaining whale. I do need a fill, but if I don't stop my journey down the junk food path, I won't lose anymore weight... inspiration PLEASE?

I am 7 months out toooo! Banded in October, down 70 lbs, and feel awesome. I have about 50 to go until i'm where I wanna be, and confident I will get there. I started at 325, now i'm at 255 and I cannot tell you how much better I feel. My feet/ankles/knees feel better, I have more energy, I can already fit better in restaurant booths and movie theater seats. Can't WAIT to be able to ride horses and not be embarassed to go on rides at theme parks!

You can eat this on the mushy stage, or even the full liquids phase if you take out the banana. I eat it for Breakfast, it's VERY filling and I can only eat about half a 6 oz container of yogurt. It would also be a good smoothie, but I like the chunks of Peanut Butter. one 6 oz (one serving size) container plain, fat free greek yogurt, whatever brand you like, or about 3-4 oz of greek yogurt from a large container 1 tbsp honey 1 tsp cinnamon, or to taste 1/2 (or less) cut up banana 1 tbsp peanut butter ( i like creamy but any kind is good) stir it all up and eat it! Yummy!!

Call your doctor, but i've just started gettting heartburn too, no nausea though. Banded 6 months. I've put in an email to my doc and waiting to hear back, but she said in the mean time, to take omeprazole OTC, you can get it at walmart or walgreens. She also told me (which I haven't been following like I should) no drinking while eating, wait 30 mins before and after you eat to drink. Eat slowly, take small bites, and chew slowly. I think my problem is i'm healed now, and everything goes down easy again...I do have restriction, but i'm not being as careful as I was about what I put in my mouth and when. Maybe at 6 months we get used to it and think we can eat whatever we want again? Anyway, that's what my nutritionist said, I will follow up when I hear from the doctor.

Mine has been split pea soup! I started when I was on the liquid diet after surgery, strained the peas and drank the liquid. Since then, I have been making a batch every week, freezing it, and taking it for lunches or warming it up at home. I've read that peas aid digestion and are good for the stomach, and I noticed that when I don't eat my pea soup for lunch, sometimes my stomach doesn't feel as good as it does when I do eat it. Here's a recipe: 1 bag dried split peas 6 cups chicken broth (for one lb of peas, follow instructions on pckg using broth instead of water) 1/2 package chicken apple sausage, chopped small 1 small-medium onion 1/2 bag baby carrots, chopped lemon juice fresh mint, chopped garlic, pepper, thyme, rosemary, salt, basil, etc..to taste. I use fresh herbs if I have them, dry if I don't. olive oil or whatever healthy oil you like cook the peas as directed on package, add carrots while the peas are cooking to get the flavors meshed and the carrots softened. Saute the sausage and onions in the oil until brown, add to soup and let the whole thing simmer until peas are done - there should be no whole peas visible, just green mushy yummines. Add herbs last to retain the flavors of the herbs, especially the mint. Add lemon juice. Eat!

I had this problem too, and still do if I eat too much. I took these chewable gas tablets from Wal Mart every hour or so. I can't remember the name of them, but they are near the bottom shelf where the gas-ex and stuff is. They work better than gas-ex (for me anywa) and are cheaper! It's in a white bottle with a yellow label. Also, I walked a lot. Don't worry if you can't burp, it'll just come out the other end! Haha! My sister and I had surgery the same day, she was able to burp just fine....we shared a hotel room (in Mexico) and she just loooooved me...hehe.

So I'm almost 6 mts out, 60 lbs down including 20 lost before surgery. Since I started full solids, I cannot seem to stop eating junk. Today I did great all day. Egg for bfast, crackers and hummus for lunch, salad for dinner. Then the chocolate craving hit. I ate 2 scoops of ice cream and half a butterfinger. WHAT is wrong with me? I need another fill, yes, but I don't think any restriction is ever reached with junk food. Makes me almost wish I had bypass instead if band.

Wow, are you kidding me? First of all, NEVER do a fill without fluro. They can't see what their doing and could puncture the tubing, not to mention they have to feel around blindly and cause you more pain and stress. I don't care what anyone says about the radiation from the machine, it's just an x-ray, you get your boobs smashed and x-rayed every year, you'd get an x-ray if it was a broken leg, or for anything else like that, and if they are not doing your fills under fluro, you need to seriously rethink your doctor. Secondly, why are you getting a fill while you are still swollen? Fills should not be done until you are healed, you'll just be causing more irritation around the band and the port, and pain for yourself. Listen to your body and yourself, not your doctor so much. They don't know everything, and that they are so eager to do fills while you are still swollen and healing also makes me concerned about your doctor's policies. While you are healing, you should only be worried about healing and getting enough nutrition, the weight will come off anyway, but don't worry about losing until you are healed and feeling better.

Thanks for sharing! I hope your esophagus problem is resolved. Have you been to Apple Valley before? My sis and I are planning to use them as back-up if we can't get to TJ for some reason. I think they are the closest to us that uses fluro.

as a side note or follow up to I said or whatever you wanna call it... I will say that the experience is kind of what you make it. He's a great surgeon, it's a great office, and all of the staff is great, but if you don't follow up, take care of yourself, and make sure you are getting what you need, make sure they have your information correct, make sure everything is in order, and ask the right questions, you will not get the care you should. You have to demand what you need (politely) and respectfully let people know where you stand, or you won't get anywhere with any doctor in any part of the world.

Wow, sorry to hear that. Have you had any complications? Where did you get your after care/fills? Just curious. I don't know if they recently began their after care program, or if maybe they didn't have your email address or something. Every three months, they email a "what to expect" informational video, they have you fill out a survey to let them know how you are doing, and then after you watch the video, they ask you to call them for a phone appointment with a doctor. Also, two days after surgery I was having some weird sensations (feeling the tubing move) and called Dr Martinez cell. It was a Sunday but he answered on the first ring, I could hear his kids (or someone's kids) playing in the back ground. I called once again when I returned to the US, the 800 number this time since the question I had wasn't as serious. Dr So (the doc who does the fills and aftercare) returned my call the same day. My sister (also banded by Ortiz on the same day as me) and I have had the most amazing experience with him and his staff, better than any treatment i've ever received from any Dr in the US. We've been joking about going to Mexico for everything now. Seriously thinking about getting my teeth done there.

I also went to Dr Ortiz, he and his staff were amazing! The Marriot, where you'll stay down there if you choose him, is awesome, the people are wonderful. I was banded in October '11 and just went back down there for my first fill a few weeks ago (I'm in Vegas, so flying or driving down there is pretty easy) their follow up care is great, they email you every 3 months after surgery, and you will receive Dr Martinez and Dr Ortiz cell numbers in case you need to call them after surgery. I have the 11cc Realize band, and when I talked to Dr Martinez after surgery, he stated that it is the only band they use now, and they have not had any complications with it since they started using it (a few years). All has been wonderful, and I am 60 lbs down, including the pre-op liquid diet, 2 weeks prior to surgery when I lost 20 lbs. Anyway...i cannot suggest Dr Ortiz enough. If you have anymore questions, feel free to message me!

Your band is too tight. Go get an unfill before you get a slip and ruin the whole thing! This sounds like an emergency situation to me. I have never vomited and the only stucks I've had are "soft" stucks where the food goes down after walking a bit. Listen to your body, not your doctor. When I got my first fill, I walked around the lobby a bit, felt too tight (shoulder pain and generally just didn't feel well) and asked him to take some out. He seemed a little frustrated with me for making him re-do the job, but that's just too bad. That's what we pay them for!

I've been eating split pea since the post-op liquid diet. I would strain it and drink the liquid. It is one of my favorites nowadays, and I've read up on peas and learned that they are good for digestion, settle the stomach, and have tons of Vitamins and Protein. They go down SO well and make my tummy feel good. Here's a recipe i've made a few times now, it's a spin off of a Rachel Ray recipe. 1 lb split peas 7 cups Water (they say use 6 cups on the bag, but 7 makes it a little less thick) 2-3 chicken bouillon cubes, or you can use chicken broth instead of water 1/2 pound chicken apple sausage, cut into small bits 1/2 large onion or one small onion chopped about 1/2 cup chopped fennel (optional) 3-4 carrots, or about half a bag of mini carrots, chopped small 10 mint leaves, chopped 2-3 bay leaves juice of 1/2 lemon rind of 1/2 lemon, grated thyme, garlic, salt, pepper, basil rosemary to taste (fresh herbs are always better, but dried work too) bring peas to a boil, add carrots immediately. Saute onions, fennel, sausage, and herbs until slightly browned. Add mint, lemon juice and lemon rind directly to Soup. Add all other ingredients after browning. Let all ingredients simmer together until peas are mushy and you can no longer see whole peas and all the flavors are meshed. Enjoy! I make extra to freeze and take it to work for lunches. Everyone I work with says i'm going to turn green from so much pea soup! you can also make this in the slow cooker, cook the peas for about 8 hours on low.

It's strange, the girl I spoke to who this also happened to also got her band in 2008 (if I remember correctly) she said it was a 4 cc lap band, as opposed to the realize band. I've heard of SO many more complications with the lap band than the Realize. I wonder what the differences are. I know that the Realize was developed in the 80s and the Lap wasn't until the mid 90s, but I don't know other than that. Here's a link I found on the two different types, if anyone is interested. http://www.wlshelp.com/lap-band-vs-realize-band.html I don't know if it was the type of band, your body rejecting it, or a combination of both, maybe this would have happened with either band. I just wondered if anyone else has any comparisons or knows anything about the Realize versus the Lap.

The veggie recipe is one my mom tried after seeing Jamie Oliver make it on his show. I made my own version, you can do it however you like, but the veggies come out SO GOOD when roasted in the oven, go down easy, and are very healthy! Fennel Carrots Parsnips Potatoes any other root veggie you like that would bake easily in the oven olive oil cider vinegar fresh rosemary thyme garlic - fresh if you have it, if not, powdered is fine basil salt pepper Chop all of the veggies into bite sized pieces, use only the bulb of the fennel, set the rest aside (it freezes really well) add Water to a pan and blanch until they are soft and slightly rubbery, but not too soft. Take them out and dredge on a towel. Toss all in a liberal amount of olive oil and about a tablespoon of vinegar (just enough to flavor) add the herbs to taste. If using fresh garlic, toss it with the rest of the veggies, it will crunch up and be SO yummy. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes, or until veggies are slightly carmelized on the outside and soft in the middle. Enjoy! I sometimes eat this as a meal by itself or with a Protein, it would be great with the baked herbed chicken below. Baked chicken 1 whole chicken fresh garlic 2 fresh lemons one large or two small onions fresh basil butter salt pepper powdered garlic italian seasoning or herbes de provence cut slits into the top of the chicken (as many as you can), insert small pats of butter, a basil leaf, and about 1/2 to 1/3 a piece of garlic into each slit. Squeeze a lemon over the whole thing. Peel the other lemon, half it, and cut the onion into thirds, insert into the cavity of the chicken. Insert a few garlic pieces into the chicken as well. Sprinkle powdered garlic, salt, pepper, and italian seasoning or other herbs over chicken, bake, covered, as directions on chicken wrapper state, or until done (depends on size). I always take the cover off for the last 20 or 30 minutes, so the skin gets crispy and brown.

Wow, this sounds so horrible, i'm sorry you had to go through this. Do you mind me asking which band you had? I recently talked to someone with a similiar experience. She went to an ER in the US and they did nothing for her, tested her for everything EXCEPT a problem with the lap band, she was in the hospital for hours and hours, bleeding internally, knowing what the problem was and trying to get the doctors to to an endoscopy. I don't know her entire story, and I don't know if she'd be comfortable with me sharing it, but I know that she left the hospital, had someone drive her down to Mexico where she'd originally gotten the band (luckily she lived in San Diego) and they saved her life, called another doc in for transfusions, removed the band, and sewed up the ulcer. I think she had a 4cc band, and was one of the last to receive that band. I've heard a lot of people have problems with that particular band. Anyway, please keep us posted on how you are doing! Glad you are well and still with us. Terrified of this happening to myself or anyone else...I hope this is a problem that is particular to the 4cc band, since they aren't using that one anymore. Please tell us which band you had.

I just watched that documentary on netflix. It was great! Also, just wanted to update guy guys with a couple of recipes i've tried since starting this post Grape, kale, and lemon juice take 2 large bunches of grapes 4-5 kale leaves 1/2 lemon, peeled I usually add about 1 part Water to 2 parts juice orange carrot ginger 1 package of organic baby carrots 4 or 5 oranges dash of powdered ginger apple pear apples pears that's it so far. I always have to play around with the amounts, it depends on the size of the fruit and how much juice it has, how sweet you want it, etc. If anyone has any other good recipes, please share them! It's hard to find juice recipes online, for some reason.

I had this feeling (what it sounds like) for a while after surgery. Called my doc and he said since everything was going down fine, it was most likely gas trapped in the band. I had it mostly at night, took a lot of gas-ex and ate lots of tums and maalox. Haven't had it for a while now, but I remember it sucked. Since everything seems to be going down and you aren't having probs eating, that's probably what it is. Don't worry, it will go away. Make yourself burp a lot! Have someone pat your back to burp you. Sounds dumb, but it really helps!

Try a different brand of protein powder. Wal Mart has a soy powder (EAS is the brand, I think) which worked for me. I also really loved this chocolate fudge flavored already made "nutrition drink" from Target, which has more calories, but tastes really good...good for a treat.

Hi, you are probably already home, or on your way home, Shannalee, but just wanted to also tell you (regarding the pain meds) we went back to the clinic on the day we left and bought another round of them. The doc ok'd it, and we just took the shuttle there on the way back to the border. It was no problem at all. We also got some tylenol w/codiene from a pharmacy down there, which was expensive and we didn't end up using at all...anyway, if you guys are still in pain, just want to let you know Dr Ortiz and Martinez and So will approve more pain meds for you without any probs at all!

Thsi makes me SO MAD. Why has the US gone to the 14cc band? Does anyone know the reason? I got my 11cc band in Mexico, and the general consensus there is that the US doctors make more money by giving more fills. I don't know if this is correct or what, but I've lost 48 lbs in about 3.5 months and have had no issues with my realize band. I just don't get why the US went to a bigger band..it makes no sense, except that it's a bigger money maker.

I guess in that case, if you are dehydrating and can't even keep water down, you'd have no choice...still it seems a little extreme to me.