puracriolla

I had my surgery almost two years ago and where I live there are no support group meetings.
People who have had them did not have their surgery here in town. I have had a tough time
just finding anyone who have similar issues and able to confide with people who are in the same boat as I am.
I just had my 11cc lap band fill and so slow of losing the weight it has been over almost two years.
I body does not create enough body heat to burn off the calories so I have to work twice as hard.
I do have support from my husband, bless his heart he tries to understand what I am going through.
But it is not enough for me to lose the weight. He has been the only one there for me and I know that he is frustrated as I am of losing the weight.

Welcome from one Brooklyn girl to another. I left Brooklyn @ 1967..Banded for 2 years and 3 months
Call on me for anything. I went to Erasmus Hall Hs

Hi everyone!
Just wanted to introduce myself. I was banded last week and it's been a slow journey of healing and getting used to this new lifestyle. I'm from Brooklyn and 26 years old. I've wanted the lap-band for a few years now and I am so happy I got it. I can't wait to start seeing real results and until I get past the healing hurdle. I don't know anyone who has been banded so this will be a great support system for me especially in the beginning while I am learning the lap-band ropes!! Thanks

It is alarming - greater than 40%!!!!
I'm having signs/symptoms of an eroded band, so I AM frightened.

The last two weeks have been particulary difficult and have really given me an opportunity to reflect on the last year of having the band. I wanted to take the opportunity to get my thoughts down in writing but also share my experience. I'm not a fan of long posts - for those of you who read this thank you and your feedback is welcome - for those of you who don't - I don't blame you!
I was banded on April 11, 2011. For the first six months things were great!! I was losing weight steadly, getting my fills every 6 -8 weeks and was rolling right along. In October 2011, I had to have my gallbladder out - again no major problems. From there things seemed to start getting problematic. In early November, my band was too tight and I had some Fluid removed; December held the same results - more fluid removed. It seemed like I was going to the doctor every two weeks to get more fluid removed and was continually getting sick - i wasn't getting any answers on why the band kept getting too tight. I would expalin that I was coughing at night until I would get sick - even throwing up brownish liquid at points. Hindsight is always 20/20 but the doctor had the nerve to suggest that maybe I had an upper respiratory infection. I had upper GIs done to check for slipping and it didn't appear that was the problem. Mid-February 2012 I went in for my regular check up and had gained some weight so the doctor decided to do a fill - he put in 3cc in one visit!!!!! I immediately went back as soon as they opened the next day but my regular doctor was in surgery all day - one of his associates tried to remove fluid but after 6 - 7 attempts with no lidocain to numb my stomach I had to ask him to stop. I went to the emergency room and met up with my surgeon in between his surgeries and he removed more fluid - this was a Wednesday. By the weekend, I was throwing up blood and horribly sick - I felt like I had been hit by a mack truck. There are two offices in our area that do bariatric surgeries so i called a completely different group of doctors. I explained the situation i was in and they asked me to come immediately to their office - this was early March.
My band was completely emptied in March and I started over with the new doctor. We went with an empty band for a few weeks to let my body settle down. Then we slowly started adding .5cc at a time every two weeks. The new doctor numbers your belly before he does a fill - that is nice!!! He was also insistent that I drink a Protein shake everyday - the first doctor said NO Protein shakes - there are too many calories in them. The same problems started again - anything more than 1.5 cc in the band and I was getting sick. So ... last week I had another upper GI - the new doctor explained he was going out of town for a couple of days but that on Monday, April 30th to come to his office to review the results. Sunday, April 29th I get a call at 9:30 in the morning from the doctor - I couldn't believe a doctor took the time to call me at home on a Sunday. He was concerned because he was reviewing my upper GI and my band had slipped. I told him not much had changed from the previous week - I was keeping down fluids but that was about it.
Well... This past Tuesday, May 1st - I had my first band removed and a new band placed. I also found out that during the first surgery I had a hernia repaired and was never even told!!! I am on the liquid post-op diet right now, I get to start purees tomorrow, and after my follow up on Monday we'll see how I can progress onto mushies.
I have reached out to several different support groups on here and facebook over the last week trying to decide if I should get another band, give up on weight loss surgery, or change to gastric bypass. I have met some amazingly supportive people and I have met some exteremly negative ones as well. The one thing that it definitely forced me to do was look in the mirror and be honest with myself and the question was - did I do everything right, follow the rules, could I have done something different to prevent the slip?
So what did I learn in really being honest with myself?

I rushed myself off of the post-op diet last year which made it more difficult for me when my band was tight
I wasn't always honest with the doctor on how often i was getting sick because I didn't want him to take fluid out
I was using the band as a starvation diet not as a tool to help me eat healthier
I have to have a doctor I can be open with and trust

What I am doing to differently this time?

I am following the post-op diet exactly as the doctor laid it out - NO CHEATING!!!

My doctor and I are going to have a very open and trusting relationship - he needs to know everything that's gonig on
Eating the right foods is key to success - weight loss is never going to be easy for me- it never has been - the band is to help me - it's not a cure all

I am going to participate in the support groups at the doctor's office and build a support network - I don't have to do this on my own

Well - if you took the time to read this - thank you - writing it alone has been very therapeutic for me.

I was banded on December 10, 2010, I have lost about 40 pounds. I feel like I haven't lost enough, and I want to know how I can loose more. I get banded regularly. Also, does anyone else still have port pain? My port will get really tender and hurt so bad. Also, when I eat certain foods, my whole left side and band will hurt - all the way up to my shoulder. Is this normal? I do not stuff myself or eat the wrong food. I am really confused and just looking for some answers. Thanks