KristyT

ok mrs highness
you are correct the horse is dead and it has been dead but I feel the need to clarify something. for starters, I know how to spell interpret, my daughter was interuppting me when I typed the first message and I was trying to say to you to begin without being just down right blunt is that your posts seems very rude, insulting and down right nasty. did you even read your post, you were making suggestions and accusations that just were not true. and yes, I am probably just as bad for responding to you in this way but your tone in your post was insulting to me as I am sure it was to others and most specifically helen. all i was trying to say is that you are correct in posting your own opinion but maybe you should read your post and attempt to not insult people when you convey them
and again your highness, i apologize in advance for any "typos" or mispelled words I may have typed not to your liking, I am a nurse and I type very fast and use alot of short hand. and as far as I can remember this is a forum post for lapband not english 101. as to clarify your first message please feel free to read below.
oh and BTW it still "sounds to me like you like to argue" wink wink
That's quite a leap and reckless to write about this... inuslting I believe it is not advisable to challenge the instructions most every one of us have received from our individual doctors about NOT eating and drinking at the same time. she never challenged any physicians instructions, simply stated her opinion and her research

I would challenge your statements and say that it would take many more studies on this same topic to statistically validate the accuracy of the information you shared. Anyone who has a background in statistical evaluation knows that ALL studies are flawed in one aspect or another. ONE study which publishes their findings is not the "gold card determiner" of the accuracy of the rules as we know them to be. this statement is true, but again she is not stating that she is challenging any other reserach,, she simply states there is "new" research

Please validate your writings with citing additional sources and studies prior to telling ALL if us to change the rules. she never told anyone to change any rules ..BTW, when and from what university have you earned your MD degree????? insulting maybe just a little bit??????????????????

I will also continue to follow the instructions given to me by my surgeon; that is fabulous, she never told you to do otherwise he seems to be quite knowledgeable on the topic, again, insulting? implying that she is not knowledgable and most importantly, we get good results with weight loss if we adhere to those instructions

i also am in the same boat as you, no port correction and you have lost more weight than myself. what i did was go to my surgeon and was honest with him that i was falling off the wagon and needed his help. he has me write down all my food intake for a week and come back yesterday for a fleuroscopy of my band and he gave me an adjustment with barium. i was able to see the band and the liquid going down which helped me better understand the band. i guess i always thought i should be able to eat 2 bites and the band will make the hunger go away. after i saw how it actually works, i see that the food moves through slowly and the idea is to eat food and when it fills up that pouch it hits those receptors and gives you that feeling of no longer being hungry, it doesnt stop you from eating more, you can wait until it empties and shovel more food in and more and more and more, the idea is to fill that pouch up and then stop so the hunger pain goes away. now that is the hard part. i seen it under feuroscopy that the band is doing its job, it is me that is not doing the rest of the work. i plan on getting back on track and researching more about how the band works and what my role is in making it do its job in the best possible way. good luck to you and pls talk to your surgeon and ask for suggestions, i am also going to see the nutritionist next week. god bless

sounds to me like you just like to argue, good luck to you

marci,
thank you for posting this, I was reading and reading those posts and I was thinking "good gawd, Im a failure" because im 6 months in and I have only lost 20 lbs since surgery, I did lose 25 lbs before surgery but not that much since surgery and I was also like you, I didnt have much restriction until about a month ago, my dr does things very very slowly. I was so glad to read your post and find some comforting in what you posted, I think its great that you have lost what you did and Im glad to know im not the only one to lose so slowly in first 6 months. kinda wish people would focus on losing and being more healthy rather than how much did you lose. even though I havent lost that much, I am thankful for what I have lost and how much healthier I do feel. god bless and thanks for your post

RN here also in Louisville KY, banded in aug. 31st 2011, congrats on your decision, best choice i have ever made for myself other than my job and family. good luck to you on your new journey

if you are uncomfortable and pb'ing, throwing up and cant eat certain foods, then you are either A too tight or B eating too fast. the band should not restrict what foods you eat, it should help restrict how much food you eat. the band is no about restriction, it is a tool to help control the amount of intake you need to be satisfied.
i can eat bread, rice , Pasta but it depends on when and how I eat it. in the morning I am too tight to eat much of anything so I opt for soft foods like oatmeal or scrambled egg. in the afternoon and night i can eat breads but small bites and chew well, if i eat fast and dont chew i get stuck. that is not the bands fault, it is my own for eating too big a bite too fast.
my surgeon says no foods are off limits, he says not to count calories, fat grams or any other part of the food, he says eat until you are full 3 times a day and stop. he says no liquids for meals, no liquids as meals and do not drink for 30 minutes after a meal. if i follow these rules i lose very slowly about half a pound a week, i started exercising the past 3 weeks and I have lost about 6 lbs but have no changed my eating habits. I think we all have to experiment and find what works for us, but I dont want to count calories and fat and all that, too much like a diet. I want to eat what I want but less portions and so what if I lose weight slower, Im still losing. if you are losing weight you should be proud of yourself and not focus on how much you have not lost yet, just focus on what you have lost and how much better your life is now. good luck to you all

also if you have any questions, pls feel free to message me, good luck

i too often make bad choices, you just have to learn to say NO. what i did was make myself get everything out of the house that could sabotage me. no more chips, no more sweets, no more ice cream, everything healthy and all good choices in my house for food. once you say NO to that stuff, you start to continue to say no and then you stop craving it. I call those "trigger" foods, if i eat one chip, one icecream cone, one sweet cookie, its all over, i continue to eat that stuff all day and all week. get it out of your house, ask the people you live with or hang out with to respect you and not eat that stuff in front of you and you will see that after you rid your body of those foods you will stop craving them. carry smart food choices with you in your car for Snacks like Protein Bars, cheese and crackers, veggies and dip and when you fill the need to get an icecream, eat a healthy snack and drive past that dairy queen. you can do it. good luck to you

i too often make bad choices, you just have to learn to say NO. what i did was make myself get everything out of the house that could sabotage me. no more chips, no more sweets, no more ice cream, everything healthy and all good choices in my house for food. once you say NO to that stuff, you start to continue to say no and then you stop craving it. I call those "trigger" foods, if i eat one chip, one icecream cone, one sweet cookie, its all over, i continue to eat that stuff all day and all week. get it out of your house, ask the people you live with or hang out with to respect you and not eat that stuff in front of you and you will see that after you rid your body of those foods you will stop craving them. carry smart food choices with you in your car for Snacks like Protein Bars, cheese and crackers, veggies and dip and when you fill the need to get an icecream, eat a healthy snack and drive past that dairy queen. you can do it. good luck to you

My opinion is, if they dont like the lap band it is because they want to continue over eating and pigging out and the band does not allow that. other thing is alot of people think the lap band is a quick fix it all and it is not. the weight loss is slower than with RNY but you learn to eat healthy, make better choices and change your life style, what exactly were the negative things they were saying about the band? and 312 is not too big for the band. I was 272 and only 5'3 tall so I looked as wide as i did tall lol the band does not fix you, it is only a tool and you have to learn to work with it. post the negative things they were saying and see what responses you get to that. good luck and pls dont be scared, if you are ready then you will be fine with what ever decision you choose

tatto
have you tried appealing to your insurance company about removing the band, it seems to me that if they know your body is rejecting it and you cannot keep adequate nutrition in without vomiting it up, then that should be grounds to have it removed. I would seek legal advice on appealing to your insurance compnay about removal, all they can say is no, but it never hurts to try and having your body reject it is something that is out of your control and your insurance should help get it resolved with the help of your surgeon writing letters for you. good luck

I can honestly say that this has been the best thing I have done for myself. From the health perspective, look how much better off you will be having the surgery and losing weight. Maybe you don't have any signifcant problems now, but down the road obesity will kill you. So I can rejoice in the fact that I have taken the steps to become a healthier me. I also appreciate the little things. Like tying my shoes with no problem, sitting on my work chair on the highest level and being able to cross my legs! Oh, and buying new clothes has become a favorite past time! But maybe the last isn't a good thing!

lillie this is very normal. the reason why you have no restriction is because after the surgery you are swollen so you feel some initial restriction but there is no saline in the band. I lost 6 lbs from the preop diet then in 4 weeks had only lost like 4 and 4 weeks after surgery i was eating like a champ. went to the dr got my first fill of 3 cc, didnt really notice any difference, was still eating like a champ, chinese meals, egg rolls pizza, no stuck episodes, nothing, went to the dr and he gave me another fill with 1 cc total of 4 cc in band, went 2 months through the holidays and still eating like a champ, trying to make better choices but still eating ALOT. went back to dr 2 weeks ago, he was not happy with mylack of progress over the holidays i had only lost 2 lbs in 2 months, he gave me my third fill another 1.5 cc with a total of 5.5 cc in my 10 cc band, I am now experiencing stuck episodes, smaller portions and no longer eating like a champ LOL I have to go slow, watch what i eat, no breads and i lost 4lbs last week. so dont get discouraged, it takes about 3-4 fills to get to your sweet spot where you actually feel restriction. you are moving along just fine, my dr told me the first 6 weeks after lapband is about healing not losing weight. a good surgeon will adjust you slowly to get you to where you need to be. you will get there, good luck.

My opinion is, if they dont like the lap band it is because they want to continue over eating and pigging out and the band does not allow that. other thing is alot of people think the lap band is a quick fix it all and it is not. the weight loss is slower than with RNY but you learn to eat healthy, make better choices and change your life style, what exactly were the negative things they were saying about the band? and 312 is not too big for the band. I was 272 and only 5'3 tall so I looked as wide as i did tall lol the band does not fix you, it is only a tool and you have to learn to work with it. post the negative things they were saying and see what responses you get to that. good luck and pls dont be scared, if you are ready then you will be fine with what ever decision you choose

My opinion is, if they dont like the lap band it is because they want to continue over eating and pigging out and the band does not allow that. other thing is alot of people think the lap band is a quick fix it all and it is not. the weight loss is slower than with RNY but you learn to eat healthy, make better choices and change your life style, what exactly were the negative things they were saying about the band? and 312 is not too big for the band. I was 272 and only 5'3 tall so I looked as wide as i did tall lol the band does not fix you, it is only a tool and you have to learn to work with it. post the negative things they were saying and see what responses you get to that. good luck and pls dont be scared, if you are ready then you will be fine with what ever decision you choose

it does work but it is not a fix it all. the lap band is about choices and making the right choices. it works by helping you control the amount of food you eat but the trick is you have to control yourself also because you can eat alot of what they call slider foods, so basically, you have to learn not to eat junk stuff, gravy, chocolate all of these things slide past the band, good choices of Protein,, grains and vegetables is what keeps you full. the lap band is a slower process of losing weight in my opinion because it takes several fills or adjustments to find what they call your sweet spot and that is where you have the right amount of Fluid in your band to help this tool keep you from over eating. it works basically by placing the band around the top portion of the stomach close to the receptors that tell your brain you are full, so if you have enough saline in your band and you do not eat "slider foods" you will feel very full fast from just a few bites of food. if you force the band and attempt to eat more than what the tool is telling you to eat, you become sick and it is very painful when the food is stuck and will not go down. you also need to be a rule follower and be able to not drink with your meals. many drs say different things about times. my dr says 1 hour after meals but i have seen other drs say 10 minutes, 15 min, 30 minutes. the not drinking with the meal allows you to keep the full feeling longer so you dont eat too much. I hope this helps, if you have any further questions let me know, good luck to you, Kristy
I was banded august 31st 2011 and was 272 im now 233, was a very good choice for me and Im not a rule follower so my progress is slower than others.

i have had nausea before from cottage cheese. it depends on the time of day for me. I seem to be tighter in the morning and afternoon, I wouldn't put it on your do not eat list, I would try it again at a different time of day and take it slow.