bunnykin4u

Hi all, My 3 year anniversary was also Valentines day. I have lost the sum total of 20 pounds since banding. I am not happy with it and its the worst decision I ever made. Should have gone with the bypass.

Its 2 years for us all!! How are you all doing? Have you all achieved your dreams, or like me are you still a long way away from them. Have you lost the statistical 50% of your excess weight? Who has reached their target? Who has had problems with their ports/bands? Anyone had to have more surgery? Any one got plastics or thinking about it? Anyone had to have their band removed? Erosion anyone? Reply to this post and please feel free to do the poll. You can choose more than one answer. For those who 'got there' congratulations. for those still on the path (like me) lets keep the faith and keep going! Bunny

Thanks for the replies, thought I would let you know that I had an emergency appointment this morning and had 0.3mls removed and can now drink again! Phew:thumbup: Thanks everyone. Bunny

Thanks for the replies, thought I would let you know that I had an emergency appointment this morning and had 0.3mls removed and can now drink again! Phew:thumbup: Thanks everyone. Bunny

Hi R-M, Yeah, their clinic is on Saturdays and Sundays in Londond. She is in Leeds (which is about 6 hour drive from here) right now. Her advice was to suck Ice cubes as much as possible and sip iced fluids (which I have tried to do) but I think that sipping is hard to substantiate, so I am going to use a teaspoon (5mls) and see how that goes. I took Ibuprofen a minute or so ago, one of those little liquid sachets for babies, and I can feel it, but because its liquid, it might immediately help me out so I can at least get some sips of Water down. I am so parched and thirsy, not to mention STARVING... so we shall see. And yes, I do know its not good period to take Ibuprofen, but this is desperation right here. To be honest I was taking diclofenac or volterol for a whole year until my new doctor told me they were also the same family of drug as other NSAID's. So... I have thaken it before and been ok, although obviously I didnt know that at the time. My last doctor was rubbish... when you have a broken band for 8 months and he keeps filling you, you kind of work that out, so I am so glad to have got with WLSgroup. They are great. I have met with her many many times now and I trust her very much. I am her first appointment as she steps off the train! I am going to try and have a teaspoon of ice... Thanks for your concerns and thoughts, I really do appreciate it. Its such a horrible thing when something liek this happens, you feel so alone.

Thanks JRFANN88. To be honest you have put my mind at rest. I know I will now live until tomorrow when I have booked to see my doctor. I phoned their emergency line and am going to see them tomorrow. I have been too tight back in August, but was eating still, if only a couple of bites. I was at least able to drink. This is an ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE. I am taking someone elses advice aswell to take liquid nurofen (i know you are not supposed to) but that person was only putting into words what was goign through my mind anyway. In august they took 1cc out and i could eat anything and I put on 1 whole stone... its only int he last month I am back to having nice restriction, its so random how these bands suddenly get tight. I really hpe they just take a whisker out rather than a whole ml because I know I will gain again if I can eat anything. thanks though, you have helped me a lot. Just knowing someone else had this makes it better. :frown:) Oh, and I am already in the achey phase, and tomorrow I have to drive 3 hours to London... goodness knows how. Cheers

:ohmy: Help! I posted earlier, but things have not changed. How long can you survive without being able to take in liquids. I am not talkign about Soup or yoghurt or even milkshake, I am just talking about water! I cant drink anything at all... I am begining to think that I have something stuck rather than too tight. I had a fill 2 weeks ago and I have been eating and drinking totally as I always do and have been doing for the last 2 weeks. Then out of no where yesterday I was unable to eat my dinner or drink coffee or tea or a glass of wine. Went to bed and thought everythign would be ok and havent been able to eat or drink anything ALL DAY. I am REALLY SCARED. I already feel feint and weak, and I have a FULL day fo work tomorrow from 8am until 9pm I have booked an appointment to have an unfill on Sunday, but is this too long away? Has anyone else got any ideas about getting un-stuck. I analysied what I ate yesterday and I had a couple of slimfasts, a biscuit, some cheese and many different drinks... coffee tea Water milk etc... Then whilst cooking the dinner I had a spoonful of sandwich pickle (brown chutney in sauce) and that felt 'heavy' on the way down and it was after that that I had the problems... Could there be an onion skin or tomato skin from the pickle sat over my stoma or something? Have any of you got ideas on how to dislodge or dissolve something in the way? Obviously I also want to know how long you can live without water. Its been 24 hours!!! All I can find out is that you can lose upn to 20% of your Fluid before serious problems... but I would not know how to measure that obviously!! I need hard facts like amounts of days!! This is a serious desperate post people, please help. Also any ideas where I could go and see someone right now in the UK for a sort out.

Good advice, thanks... I am wondering if its completely necessary because it happend quite randomly just yesterday evening... I have been eating fine since the fills (I always have slimfast for lunch and brekkie and we alwasy eat stews and mashed soft food... just the way we are) but it was the sudden randomness of it happening last night... thats why I am asking the question. If I had been like this since last Saturday, firstly I think I would eb dead, but had I managed to survive then I would be tearing my hear out by now. I think I will book an appointment and cancel if needed. anymore ideas people? Anyone else had sudden onset tightness? what could ahve caused it?

I had a 0.5ml fill 2 weeks ago which takes me to 7mls. I didnt notice any difference for the first few days, then as is usual with me, I started to feel more and more restricted over the course of the rest of the week. Last weekend I felt a good restriction. I know that my food is unusual, but this is not what I would like advice about. This week has been fine... Monday slimfast for Breakfast, snack and lunch with plenty of hot and cold and drinks, helping of lasagne for dinner Tuesday slimfast breakfast, snack and lunch and soome mashed potato and gravy in evening Wednesday Slimfast for breakfast, snack and lunch and then some chip shop chips and a little fish for dinner. This was followed by a small jar of olives and packet of crisps NOW THEN... Yesterday I had slimfast for brekkie, several cups of coffee, some flat coke and another slimfast for lunch. Then in the evening I put together a little mashed potato and stew in a bowl with the family. I have one desert spoon of the stew (no lumps) and had to wait and wait. I had a swig of drink to see... nope, it had to come up. Then later I tried to drink my cold coffee and I threw it up. Later still we were watching a film (about 11pm) and I had some wine and that wouldnt go down either. We went to bed at the usual time and I took a glass of Water with me. Drank some and promptly had to find an appropriate vessel to get rid of that too. Went to sleep. This morning, got up and had my coffee as usual... but 2 sips in I had to stop. Its now 1pm and my coffee I made at 9 is still here infront of me... 2 sips less. I have been to tesco and whilst there bought some polo mints. I have sucked 2 and can feel them there and its not comfy if you knwo what I mean, but not bad enough to make myself sick. So has anyone else had this happen... be absolutely fine and then had a really tight day? Lifestyle wise, I have been doing a serious amount of heavy lifting and decorating and things for the last 2 days. could that sudenly have an effect on tightness? I dont see that because I only had a problem after yesterdays evening meal and this morning. If I have to have some out, then I have to call them today and make an appointment for Sunday. Or should I go with it and see if it settles down? The thing is the lady who does the fills is only about every 2 weeks!! Could be disaster. Or am I fretting over nothing... At the moment today I have only had 2 sips of coffee and 2 polos... This is obviously not good!! I guess I need advice about sudden tightness which subsides, or whether I should get some out... I am REALLY lothe to have somethnig out as its taken me since August to get the Fluid in and I have only just started losing again. I am more worried about dehydration than hunger as I am not hungry. look any advice would be great to be honest. Thanks Bunny

Hi there... dont fret darling. I was ina bad band place too for a long time, but was it was coupled with pain. I would go and see your fill doctor/nurse/surgeon and ask them to ASPIRATE your band. If you actually have any fluid in there... this is how much you have in your band. I think probably that you have no fluid at all... either because the band is leaking through a damaged tubing, or that the fill doc is not hittng the port correctly. What ever the case is, when you dont have fluid in your band, you can pretty much eat what you like. My port and tubing came apart and I had 4 fills and wondered why I regained the 25 pound lost after initial banding. It was 8 onths down the road when I got so sick of gainign weight and stuff and feeling like an absolute faliure that I went to the trouble of travelling back to the foregin country where I had my band done to find out if I really was going to be a fat git for the rest of my life, and that I was doomed to fail, or if by any chance somethign was actually wrong with the whole set up. Seriously, dont feel bad, ashamed or anything. I am dealing with being in EXACTLY the same space as you, but after having my band fixed in November I am now 32 pounds down again and into uncharted weightloss waters... this band does work... and trust me if you ACTUALLY have fluid in your band, then you seriously know about it. Its impossible for me to eat 'normally' let alone like I used to eat which was terrible. Get yourself a new doctor, because you are worth it, and your band is worth it. Its probably screaming out at you to get it looked at and the symptoms you have (no weight loss) are a clear indication that its not right. As soon as you get it fixed one way or another, then you will see the results I promise you. I am currently annoying myself with thoughts that my band will break again, but its ot goign to. And if it does, its not be thats the faliure, its the device/ and or doctor. We have spent so many years feeling terrible and guilty and like a faliure on the weightloss front, and like me I expect you thought this was the answer. I used to feel sick reading other peoples stories of weightloss and great band news... I mean at first i was great, as it motivated me, but after a while it just made me sad and I felt worse than I did before I had the operation. It just felt so bad that I couldnt even have a medical solution to this problem and that that was just my luck as always, but it wasnt my fault. It was the device broken, and the doctors fault that he didnt notice for 8 months and kept filling me into my stomach cavity... how bad is that!! Its their fault, not yours. If you are eating too much its because the band aint working honey... If it was, you would not be able to eat much trust me. There is also another sure sign that things are not right because your doctor says you are almost at being too tight point... I bet he has NEVER aspirated you band right? Mine didnt do that either, and when he actually DID try to, he got nothing out and made up some crap about how sometimes you cant get it out. Well since then I have changed my doc, and it gets aspirated every time without fail... after all thats how they check they got the right spot... especially without an x-ray! Darling, go to a new doc and re open that window. draw a line under the last year (God i know how difficult that is trust me... still working on it!) and get your mind ready for weightloss! Please update this and keep me informed. I feel for you... especially as you are a FEB 07 bandster. I was banded 14th Feb 07... wasnt till 9th November that it was fixed and wasnt until my 'first' fill in my fixed band in January that I started losing weight. Hold in there, and go get it sorted. hugs Bunny in England www.weightloss-expedition.blogspot.com

Hi there, yes they did... 8 months after I had the problem. My port and tubing had blown apart. The tubing whipped through my body and was stabbing me in my pelvic cavity... hence the pain and all the fills i had were just going straight into my stomach muscle tissue, hence the pain in the port area... If I were you I would IMMEDIATELY get an x-ray. that will tell you instantly whether you are still all joined up or not.

I would love to get together with some people who have been banded or are thinking about it who live in Cambridgeshire. I know its a big county, but I am prepared to travel as I really would like to give and recieve support... even if its just once a month or something. I was banded in FEBRUARY 2007 but it went horribly wrong. It was a horrible, frightening time and I wish I had had fellow bandits to talk to in person. I have been re-banded in NOVEMBER 2007. Everything seems to be going well now and I would love to share experiences! If you are in Cambridgeshire, please message me privately and we can arrange details and things. I dont want to broadcast where I live etc, and I am sure no one else does either, but I am here waiting for some buddies if anyone feels like it. Thanks for reading! Bunny xx

For those of you who are actuively losing or on their way to goal, believe they are at their sweet spot and comfortable with their band control - please take the poll about where your sweet spot is/was. thanks

I have always wondered this... Does anyone know the average size of the entrance to the stomach pre-banding? How small is it after banding - the actual inside diameter..? What about after fills... I dont know why, but I really want to know this. cheers

Thanks for all your ideas.. Aubrie, this is exactly what I wanted. Thank you. I am actually from the UK, but have been in France and Russia for a while. I am not back in blighty and finding it really hard to remember what the heck to do. When you said the last day was my best day, that was actually when I was back here... so maybe there hope yet. Today I have had: 1 meatball (quorn ones full of protein) cooked in oxo and lots of onions and 2 tablespoons of dry sherry. Had it with peas and mashed potato. Portion wise Its about a childs portion I also had 2 yoghurts - muller fruit corners I can only really cook an oven meal because of the way I work... So i have to prepare it at midday and throw it in the oven for my husband to turn on at 6pm. I struggle with what to eat for lunch if I am home. I always used to have a sandwich, but thats no good now. So I froze a load of the borscht I made and can have that for lunch... but it gets boring. Wine.. yes this is not good and I know its a load of empty cals. I have taken to having wine rather than sugary Snacks like donuts or cake or pudding (the ice cream nut thing was a rarety!). I actually dont want to have anything, but it seems I have to substitute it for something... wack I know. I quit smoking, started eating, stop eating now drink. ARGHHH I probably have about 14 units a week which is about 2 bottles red wine, however I dont have it spread out. I half half one day, and none the next that kind of thing. Do you guys think I should just go for Tee Total in all honesty? I am thinking it might be good. also I love sauces and stuff and I cant stand plain old vegetables without a sauce or coulis or something tempting to make me feel like i am not on a diet. Who thinks this is good advice... Eat ready meals and have a glass of wine in the evening. Eat whatever you want it will all start to happen.. This is the kind of support I get from my fill doctor.. Not good hence I am changing. But Its really hard to get up and shake off the doldrums when all I want to do is eat. Its what makes me happy... obviously! HA HA so if I am depressed at no weightloss i just want to eat. i have used daily plate too and it was excellent, but then people mess with the amounts on it and I logged in and I had consumed 25000cals just because some idiot changed the amount. It just started to tick me off too much. Also I find it impossible to work out the amount of calories in a potato gratin when its just dished up on a plate witout having a degree in pure maths. I really thought, and was TOTALLY led to believe, that my life would just be normal. I cant handle it any more. I just dont know what to do with myself. Also, all this stuff about Protein and that... my surgeon said its not true and its balance that counts... so who do I believe. There is so much confusing info out there its like I cant trust anyone at all anymore. I am really upset about this and I appreciate you guys helping me out trust me.

Hi there, well crisps are the american 'potato chips' and one bag = 30g small bag brioche is a soft sweet french bread moules is french for mussels... You just eat them, they are a shell fish. They are pure Protein as far as I know... I think there is protein every day, but I cant get fruit other than banana down. Everything needs to be wet or not very chewy... Wine is full of calories I know... Any other ides? Is it too much? I have 4.5mls in a 10 ml band. its 2 months since my band has been fixed.

Ok. I really need your opinion. Here is my diet for the last few days. Please tell me if this is too much food, not enough or the wrong sort or what... I have no idea what I should be doing at all and feel like I am just getting from one day to another and walking along a dark tunnel. I wish my band had just worked from the moment it was placed and then everything would have been ok. Now I just dont know what to do with myself. :tired Today: Yoghurt (muller with a fruit corner) Borscht (not meat)(beetroot and root veg chunky Soup 1 tsp butter) 1 chicken breast, mushroom, cabbage, celeriac, bacon in stock 1/2 bottle red wine Yesterday: pot noodle 2 packets crisps 1 portion of lasagne (about the size of 4 decks cards) Monday: chocolate bar 2 banana's home made chick pea and prawn curry Sunday: 1 croisant 1 pot of mussels in tarragon (1.5 pts with shells on) 3 very small slices of bread 2 glasses white wine Saturday: 1 slice brioche 1 tablespoon fois gras (chick liver pate) tomato, olives, olive oil/balsamic vinegar with 1 slaice brioche 1 pot moule marniers 1 ice cream desert with nuts and meringue 1 bottle red wine Friday: 1 slice Brioche with 1 slice salami and gouda 1 potato gratin with cheese and cream green salad

Hi all, Thanks for your comments. I have booked to see a new doctor on 17th January. I have been trying not to take too big bites, and to chew really well. I have not had to make myself sick for 4 days straight which is a new thing for me. I guess I have to do this - just stick to the chew! I am really worried about having an unfill because I feel my band has been so worthless. I have had it in for ayear without it working at all, and now that it is correct and CAN work, I kind of want to fill the darn thing up!! I think it would emotionally destroy me if I had to get it unfilled. I havent lost any weight at all, but I think that because of all the emotional problems of havingthe band go wrong for me in the first place and not knowing for 8 months, regaining all my inital lost weight etc... I kind of got into a rut of eating to comfort myself again. Since I really sat down and thought about my band and what i needed to do and got a grip of it, I think I got it sussed. I really hope that I am NEVER sick again, but I know I will probably make a mistake. I think that being banded for such a long time, and eating whatever I darn well please with it has kind of jaded my view, and maybe I didnt change my attitude like I did when I first had it done. So new year, new leaves to turn, and I am gonna just think of the chew and go for it.

Hi everyone, I had my band go worng and had a re-surgery on 9th November 2007. I had 4.5mls put in at the time of surgery and I felt some seious restriction. I still have problems, but because I am 10 months down the track from my initial BUZZ about how COOL this was going to eb and how wonderful and amazing I was gonna look, and all the rules I had to follow.. I am kind of feeling a little deflated. I am eating crap and I just dont know what I am doing. I am sick pretty much every day, and it seems that if I am sick after a few bites, then I can then carry on with the meal. Other than that I have to eat WET food like casserole, stew or noodles with sauce or anything with sauce otherwise I get that choke feeling and have to shove my fingers down my throat. I am glad I have restriction, but I kind of dont know what to do with myself. I am sitting here 40 minutes after eating 2 forkfulls of rice and sauce, vomiting it back, then having a chunk of chicken and sauce, and vomiting again and I am HUNGRY again. I cant eat bread or anything dry. I can eat salad and I can eat most everything else, but because I am now so scared of eating anything that is not wet, I am having sauces that are probably loaded with cals. Someone drag me up by the boot straps and give me a dressing down. I wish I had never had this donw as it feels like false hope and optomism. I am paranoid about my band breaking again, and just cant take it. so what do you think...? Should I try and stick with a diet and do this thing too? Depressed in the UK.:cry

Hi Linda, Sadly no. they kind of have me over a barrell. If I flew off the handle he would not have re-operated, so I had to bite my toungue. The fill's happen in London with anoter guy who SHOULD have noticed that this was obviously wrong, but didnt. So I want to have a go at him too and find out what, why etc. But if I do that, chances are he wont fill me any more, and that means I dont have anothe place to go. A lot of places wont touch another surgeons work, and thats especially the case here in the UK when you have had your surgery abroad... a bit like "If we arent good enough in the first place, dont come to us now when it all goes wrong". So I am kind of, rock = hardplace = rock I am trying to get in contact with some other fill doctors, who dont charge the earth and are somwhere in my galaxy. However, at the moment, I DEFINATELY dont need a fill. I am as tight as the ducks proverbial! such a difference just after 4 days with the port connected for the first time in 6 months and 4.5 mls in my band. Thanks for asking though. I hope my experience helps someone.

Thanks, yeah I am glad about that, and even with the band in place I didnt get any heavier than my original weight. So yep, I am gonna try and look at it as a fresh start... Today was my first major choke. Not a PB, but a real choke. Its pretty intense and lasted for 3 hours. I ate 3 crackers and some humous... it went down but got stuck half way through the band. It wouldnt come up, or go down. When it comes to food time for you all, Chew chew chew!! I wasnt hungry when I ate this either, which teaches me a lesson. I was just bored and thought "what the heck". Now I know!! Heck is 3 hours of agony constant dribble, pain like having a heart attack etc etc. I promise to be good good good from now on (or try to be) bunny

Hi all, I would like to join the November Nymphs (cool name btw) I was actually banded in February this year, but to cut a long story very very very short, my prot was not connected to my band and after 6 fills and 6 months I found out. So my journey really started on 9th November after a 2nd Surgery in Brugge, Belgium. I have been living wit this band for 8 months, and have 4.5mls in my band now for real. Please feel free to check out my older posts to get the full story, but I cant be bothere to write it all out again its too harrowing. I was cool with my band for 3 months until it went wrong, so if I can help any of your guys with the whole liquids, mushies trnsition, just ask. I am currently trying to rapidly adjust to having 4.5mls and a HELL of a lot of restriction when I am used to eating a whole pizza (yes, its doable even with a band if your fills dont work!) Now I can only manage a cup of food. I am SOOOOO pleased as you can imgine, and I have lost 7 pounds this first week. So I hope you dont mind me jumping on your wagon to success, as hopefully I wil be travelling along with you all. All the best Bunny Cambridge, UK

Hi all, Just to let you all know that I just had a revision surgery (9th Novemer) because my tube blew off of my port in May. No one managed to work out what was wrong with me, even though I was on Morphine in Hospital for 3 days, had x-rays, ultra sounds and all kinds of investigations (thats the NHS i guess!) and have suffered serious pain for 6 months. I had posted on here a few times talking about pain and trying to get advice, but no one seemed to know what I was going on about. I went back to Brugge, Belgium for a fluro fill and well The tubing was hanging loose inside my pelvic cavity and the metal pin that comes off of the port was stabbing me daily for 6 months. That was why I was in pain. Apparently there was a batch of faulty bands with faulty connections. If I had not stumbled across another person with exact same symptoms as myself I would still be in pain now. These bands are 10ml bands made by Helioscopie. Its called the Heliogast band. These bands went all around the world, but mine was fitted in Belgium by dr. Dillemans who was great at sorting the problem out and I didnt have to pay anything further. I am warning others because I was going out of my mind thinking I was goign mad, getting depressed with not losing weight etc. They started using a different connection with this band in March (lucky me!!) so anyone who is not losing weight, has bad pain in the port/pelvic area or anything else, get in touch with your surgeon. I have obviously lost way less than any of you guys, and thank goodness I now have a reason. I seriously thought it was my fault and that I was a greedy pig and deserved the pain and frustration for some reason - i.e. daring to be thin. So now I am back on track and although I love reading about you guys (well I kind of hated it too because I was not losing, but you know what I mean!) I am goign to join the november 2007 bandsters link as I will be starting my loss again really. all the very best to you all, but if you hear of anyone suffereing like I did, then PLEASE put them out of their misery. Bunny UK

PORT REPLACED as tubing 'blown' & HANGING in PELVIS<!-- google_ad_section_end --> <HR style="COLOR: #e9e9e9" SIZE=1><!-- / icon and title --><!-- message --><!-- google_ad_section_start -->I have just returned from Bruge where I had a second operation (general) to replace my port and reconnect it to the tubing after it Blew apart. I was losing FABULOUSLY (28pounds in 3 months) and then in May 2007 I suffered EXCRUCIATING PAIN where I was hospitalised (check my other posts) and they did all kinds of tests but found nothing. I have regained all the weight I lost bar 2 pounds. I have literally just got home from Bruge and am writing to WARN people about a BAD BATCH OF BANDS that were in circulation across the world between DECEMBER 2006 and FEBRUARY 2007. The bands are 10ml bands made by HELIOGAST and the connection blows out after about 2 fills (or 5-6 mls) and gives CHRONIC pain in the port area and also in the pelvis. it feels like you are going to have a baby NO JOKE. The port is stabbing you in the tummy, and the tubing is prodding around in your pelvis! They bandied words like Kidney stones and Diverticulitis in the hospital, but cam up with nothing. It was only when I started regaining and had NO restriction and was eating whatyever the hell I wanted even after a further 4 fills and the assurance of my fill doctor (Dr. Dovey) that all was fine, that I booked to have a fluroscopic fill. Initially it was because I thought they must be missing the port or something... NO!!!!!!!!!! Dr. Dovey said everything was fine, but it was NOT. The last fill I recieved I got an infection and was off work for a week! I had had 4 fills since my blow out, regained 25 pounds and my fill doctor thought we were I QUOTE "MAKING PROGRESS"!!!!!!!!!!!! As you can see I am VERY angry. Helioghast are paying all expenses, but I am RUINED EMOTIONALLY. This has caused me pain and suffering for 5 months straight as the port connector jabbed and stabbed me in the stomach for the last 5 months. I AM APPEALING TO EVERYONE WHO HAS HAD A SUDDEN ONSET PAIN and then weight regain, or similar problems with port to contact me. cge@talktalk.net I am also not alone, I know 4 others from the same hospital that suffered the same problem. WE MUST SORT THIS OUT... I was banded 14th FEBRUARY 2007 in BRUGGES BELGIUM by DR. DILLEMANS. When I had the fluro the band was there - fine. The port was there... stranded on its own with the connector sticking directly upwards towards my head. The tubing was hanging down INTO MY PELVIS It was shocking beyond belief. PLEASE GET IN TOUCH IF YOU HAVE SUFFERED EXTREME PAIN or think this might be the same as you. Claire Eldred<!-- google_ad_section_end --> <!-- / message --><!-- edit note --> Weightloss Expedition