parisshel

I read a statistic that claimed band removal = complete regain +10%. If I were to have to have my band removed, I'd probably revise, too. I'm sorry to read your band did not work out for you, and wish you the best.

@PJ Geeser -- I feel for you and understand your disappointment. But 40 pounds down is fantastic, really! I'm also a slow loser (but I keep my band loose as well, purposefully so I don't have any stuck or uncomfortable episodes) and,while sometimes I stomp my feet when I see the fantastic losses my March bandsters are posting, I am unwilling to risk an overly-tight band and playing with fills just to see bigger losses. I'll get to my goal, I'm certain of that, I'll just get there in my own time. 40 pounds is like 4 sizes down! I'm happy for you! Keep it going...and remember--what's important is what you are going to weigh in a couple of years. At goal and maintening that weight with no difficulty, I hope!

Hi Donna....I made the mistake of purchasing Quest Protein bars---I had read Bariatric Foodies raving reviews of them (but then realized she gets a kickback from them for each clickthru so perhaps she was a bit biased). The worst Protein Bar I've ever tasted. Greasy AND gritty at the same time, slimey and with a vague hint of dust. (I bought the Peanut Butter and chocolate one.) It doesn't even look like a protein bar...more like molded bodily waste. The only benefit to this bar is that one would never ever binge on them they are so vile. Sadly, I had to buy an entire box of them. So you are wise to try to find just one to sample.

Such good advice on this thread. I would just add that if my surgeon said the lapband "wouldn't" work for me and pushed for a WLS that I wasn't comfortable with, I'd change doctors. Because even if he consented to do what I requested, I'd still feel uncomfortable staying under the care of a doctor who didn't support my informed decision. Of course you can lose a large amount of weight with a lapband! It doesn't just "stop" working when you hit -50 lbs! You are the master of whatever WLS tool you choose. Stats are just compilations and do not speak to each individual's capacities. Remember, you are in the driver's seat. You can do this if you decide to do it, and you commit to following the post op directives each and every day. Lastly, it is not what we lose today, this week, this month...when we compare our losses to the losses of other WLS patients. What is going to be important is where we are two years from now...all of us. And two years from now it all evens out for sleevers, bypassers, lapbandsters, etc. In two years I'll be quite happy that I didn't chose a WLS that works by malabsorption, and did choose a lapband.

I wouldn't imagine lapbandsters have as much of a need for a recliner to sleep as other WLS, such as the sleeve. I slept in a bed from the get go and, other than not being able to roll over on my port side for about a week, there wasn't a problem. Being tired post-surgery makes it easy to sleep!

I love this response, especially since this mirrors my experience!

I predict you'll start seeing your weigh drop soon...and then it will be "off to the races." I had a stall post-op...most of us do. But keep doing what you are doing and your body will readjust. Often your body will hang on to the weight after a drop such as yours (10 lbs) just trying to figure itself out for a bit...and then zoom....weight loss continues. Don't give up...ride out the stall. Each day you are getting nearer to breaking that plateau.

So many different answers on this thread; it really proves how unique our bodies are and how differently we all respond to the band. I would not be able to eat red meat because I can't chew it down to "applesauce" consistency. Even ground beef...it just is too dry. Same for breads, Pasta. Rice I could eat but I choose not to, as I have to eat it too slowly to bother. Who want to eat rice one grain at a time? I can't chew lettuce enough to have it go down safely, but I can chew endive properly so that is my salad base. Contrary to other commentors here, I can eat eggs in any form with no problem. It's one of my go-to sources of Protein when I'm too tired to cook. I can also eat nuts easily and I often use them in my endive salad.

No, I don't eat the same things that I ate prior to being banded. I cannot eat any red meat, for example, and that used to be something I'd cook a couple of times a week for dinner. Now, only my kids get hamburgers, but not me. One of the biggest changes is that I don't include a traditional starch at every meal, which was always my way of eating before. Before, my Breakfast would include bread, either in the form of toast or a croissant. Every single day! lunch would also include a starch: bread or chips or potatoes...I really needed this to feel full. Dinner was the same: it included Pasta or rice or bread. I thought I was eating "balanced" because I hit all the food groups! Now, I don't eat any bread or bread products, rice, pasta, or couscous. I haven't had a sandwich in three months. I can't imagine even being able to eat bread without it getting stuck, and I don't want to see if I can, because then it is a slippery slope back to eating as I did before. I eat much more protein--that is the ticket to staying full for me. Much more fish than ever before...I eat fish most everyday. (Before the band, I would have fish maybe once every two weeks.) As for staches, I eat bits of potato or sweet potato, or I have another starchy veg like peas or Beans. But not until I've eaten my Protein. I used to drink a lot of carbonated Water and one diet coke a day. I stopped all carbonated beverages the day of my surgery and have never had one since. Now I only drink milk or water or iced tea. I do miss my fizzy water, but not enough to go against my post-op rules. I used to eat dessert...a lot of dessert. I couldn't imagine not having Cookies or cake after my meals...and snacking on them in the afternoon. Now if I have a sweet, I have one cookie (the size of an oreo...not a "big" mall-sized cookie) and I don't eat cake at all. Most importantly, I am not forcing myself to eat this new way. I am able to eat this new way and not feel that old feeling of "dieting" because my band has turned down my hunger/cravings. Also, without the traditional carbs my cravings are dimmed as well. Hope this helps!

8 weeks post op today, 18 pounds down since my surgery. My band was placed unfilled but still I respected all postop directives and I'm pleased with my loss and my level of restriction felt by the band alone. I went to get my fill reluctantly, because I'm quite fearful of getting stuck or having PB/vomiting issues and frankly, I'm fine with a slow loss. My fills are down under fluoscopy and I told the radiologist that I didn't want a dramatic fill, something small, particularly because I travel a lot internationally and do not want to have to find myself seeking an unfill in a place where I have no insurance coverage. He told me something that I found interesting; when you get a fill of, say, 4 ccs, it doesn't mean that you have 4 ccs of saline in your band. Some of that saline is in the tubing, and tubing lengths are different. If you have more tubing, some of that 4 ccs will be in the tube and not in your band. So you just can't "order up" 4 ccs because someone you know found their green zone with 4 ccs. This is why filling under fluoscopy is so important...the radiologist can see how the liquid flows and judges a fill "adequate" based on speed that it exits the pouch, and no reflux occuring. On the summary, he noted that 4 ccs was done per my request and that ideally he would have put in 5 ccs. I'm glad he didn't do what he wanted and listened to my needs. So now I'm home, spooning down some applesauce VERY SLOWLY and seeing how that goes down. It can't be any thicker than that cursed barium, right? Wishing everyone good success with their band!

I gained 3 kgs during the period between my first consultation and my surgery...I walked into the hospital wearing the ONLY pair of pants that fit me. Ugh. That said, I did enjoy the holiday season eating everything without guilt or restraint, as I knew I was going to do a 360 in March. And I did. And I totally threw out that one pair of pants once it got too big.

Can you recommend some good Facebook pages that aren't filled with products being pushed? Thanks.

Three months post op and this is a typical daily menu for me: When I wake up, I drink a glass of Water. 30 mns after that I have breakfast: either a small bowl of oatmeal, or a slice or two of dry cracker--like Melba toast--spread with a bit of butter and jam. Mid-morning I drink my coffee and milk beverage (around 11 am). lunch is always 50-100 grams of Protein, usually fish or chicken. I do not eat red meat since being banded, as I can't chew it enough to swallow it safely. With that I have a small salad usually endive with either some bits of avocado or some crumbled nuts mixed in. I'll have a calcium-based snack in mid afternoon: a small (100 gr) plain yogurt, or a small bit of cheese. dinner is the same as lunch, but with some cut up fruit (right now I'm doing watermelon or cantalope) instead of the salad. (No room for both in my little pouch.) Here is the list of what I don't eat, by personal choice: Pasta, any bread or breadlike item such as croissants or cake, rice, couscous (semolina), red meat, even hamburger, veal, pork I sip on water all day long. The hardest bandster rule for me is not drinking during a meal, because I'm really used to drinking when eating. (Plus I'm thirsty when I eat!) I don't particularly use light or low-fat items, and I don't consume processed foods, Where I live it is very easy to live on whole, not genetically-modified foods so I'm lucky. If there are any pre-ops reading this, don't let this scare you. I thought I'd really miss being able to eat "normal" (or huge) quantities of food, and that I'd feel really deprived having to follow my postop directives, but for me that is not at all the case. For that I am so grateful that I finally got the band, and stopped dieting the traditional way.

Let's see....before I went to college I did the pregnant women's urine injections. (I can't believe my mother paid for this.) Acupuncture by "stapling" my ears (also paid for by my mother). Once I had a physiotherapist recommend The Papaya Diet for spot reducing. "It will take the fat off your hips but leave your breasts!!!" he said. Um....I didn't go back to him.

I had some restriction with the empty band alone. I feel I have about the same restriction now with a 4cc fill in a 10cc band. That said, 80% of my restriction is done mentally , but the band makes the remaining 20% easier for me. The band has significantly dimmed my appetite so that makes making appropriate choices easier.

Agree with labwalker; that's a whole lotta saline in one fell swoop. I'm not surprised you are feeling very restricted. See if it settles in; if not I'd get some taken out. You want to be able to eat comfortably and not have to resort to slider foods just to eat.

You've done fantastic, both on the weight loss and marriage fronts! Sounds like you are really living well with your band...not relying on an overly tight band for limiting your calories, but doing it yourself with a "little" help from this tool. Be proud of yourself!

Hi everybody! Great to read everyone's updates. I had my first fill three weeks ago (4 ccs in a 10 cc band). While I don't notice that much of a difference---I had pretty good restriction with an unfilled band already--it gave a bit of a jumpstart to my weight loss and my weight is moving down at a nice pace: 2 pounds a week consistently, whereas before my fill I had a lot of stalls. Now I see a little drop each time I step on the scale! I'm pleased with this overall. At one point I had this feeling of "Hey, I could've gotten the same results with Weight Watchers!" but that was just a brief moment of insanity. Because I never would've stuck it out this long with WW without falling off the wagon, or feeling deprived, or feeling insanely hungry and always thinking about my next snack or meal. With the lapband, I have none of that old dieter mindset. As I said to someone yesterday, for me, the lapband doesn't make losing weight easy, but it makes it simple. Good to see everybody, and keep checking in! Have a great summer in your new, smaller body!

Banded in March and have also noticed an effect on my vocal chords. I've never read about anyone else experiencing this so I'm glad to see your post. I was thinking it was merely dry food sitting on my vocal chords, because when I drink water 30 mns after eating, the problem resolves itself. But I hate how my voice sounds all cracky after I eat...until I can drink. I'm going to mention this to my surgeon at my next check up.

I don't think age has anything to do with the success or failure of lapband surgery. There are a lot of older people on this board who have had great success with this tool. I'm 54 and very pleased with my loss so far; it's slower than some but at the same time I like a loser band, I'm fairly sedentary, I'm just out of menopause...all factors that contribute to a slower loss. But hey, 2 lbs/week is perfect for my lifestyle. You are recently banded and it is normal you haven't lost yet...you are still healing. Please don't feel bad about this; it is absolutely normal. Many people actually gain a bit after surgery while waiting to find their sweet spot. Please give your band some time; follow your postop directives to the letter and you will see...this will work for you, but you need to do your part, too.

I had nausea the day after my fill but it wasn't because I was too tight. Something about the fill (or the barium drink) just made me bilious. It calmed down after a couple of days.

Well done, beautiful lady! And a big thank you for all the support you give us on this forum! You really do pay it forward.

This is the best response I've read on this thread and says everything I've been thinking. I wonder what the true motivation is behind anyone (not just the OP) coming onto any forum and bashes the theme of that forum. I cannot be to prevent people from getting the lapband...because I know of no one who would read something like this and suddenly decide not to get a lapband, based on one person's experience. Everybody does their own risk/benefit analysis, and their decision should be respected, whether it be to go ahead and have surgery or not. Your analogy to the risk of getting a pedicure is a good one. And if you went on a pedicure forum and told your story, do you think it would stop people from getting pedicures? No, it would not. Things happen all the time. Life is a constant weighing of risk, and we all like to mitigate as much risk as possible with every decision we make.

Please update us on Missy when someone hears something. She has been such solid support for many of us on this forum. And let her know we are thinking about her.

I don't use them except for if I have to replace a meal...I always have one in my purse in case I can't eat a real meal and feel my blood sugar dropping. That said, I like Atkins and hate Quest bars. I cannot understand the good reviews about Quest bars...they are slimy, taste awful and unnatural. On the other hand, one would never binge on them so that's a good thing!