parisshel

Mine was an airplane. I was at the luggage carousel and overheard the guy who sat next to me complaining to his friend about the fat lady he had to sit by (me) who crowded him into the window during the flight.

I'm so sorry this happened to you.

Standing in line to reenroll for the millionth time at Weight Watchers last fall. I just could not bear the thought of losing the weight again, only to regain it plus more. I just didn't have it in my anymore to be constantly hunger, trying to game the WW system, always needing special foods in the house or I'd deviate from the program.

I left the WW Center and started my lapband research that day. Had my first consult with the surgeon on December 11th, after months of research and self-questioning to make sure I was mentally prepared for this. Surgery took place March 20th.

I'm very very pleased with my decision, and so grateful to be living in an era where there is a real, viable, proven tool to help people like me. I feel like such a burden has been lifted off my shoulders...I'm really loving the way I eat now...tiny portions of wonderful things.

Luckily my bf is 10 years younger than me. Just sayin'.

well what a pleasant surprise to read this.....thank you honey :wub:

It's true...you look like you are 15 years old! Great picture, CarolinaGirl!

I wouldn't say it is a safeguard for Portion Control, but an appeitite dimmer. I call it the nicotine patch for the Fat. You know smokers who use nicotine Patches to get off cigarettes? That's what my lapband does for my appetite...it diminishes it so I don't eat too much, just as the patch blocks the smoker from wanting to light up.

If I could tell every pre-op one piece of advice, it would be this one: sit down and write out all you hate about being at the weight you are at. And then write out all you hope to obtain from lapband surgery. Then answer these four questions:

• What do you care about? (As it relates to living a good life)
  
• Where does this come from? (Why do you care about these things?)
  
• What is not possible in your life if you stay at this weight?
  
• What new theory will you have about your body at your goal weight?
  

I wrote all this out, and I printed it out and took it with me to the hospital. It is also a good document to look at as you work out whether or not you should proceed with WLS.

I think most of us hesitate and do a back and forth as we start seriously considering WLS. But one thing that kept me moving forward was looking at how predictive my weight loss history had been. I had reenrolled in Weight Watchers so many times since the age of 14...always lost weight with the program only to eventually gave in to the persistent hunger. It was very clear that I was not going to be among the 1-2% of people losing over 50 pounds and maintaining that loss for life.

I didn't really have a big fear surrounding this decision. I know I'll be successful, so there isn't a fear of failure.

I could feel every liquid in the back of my throat after my fill last Wednesday; it slowly diminished over the weekend. Now it's been almost a week and my Water goes down like it always did, but my food--I just started back on solids today--man, that's a different story. My chest is very tight as I begin to eat, but then it relaxes. So I'd say for me, it took about a week for the fill to settle and for me to swallow comfortably. But I'm very careful about bite size and I chew my solids to smithereens!

Hi All,

Last Sunday I experienced a sharp pain in my chest. I suspect its band related because I've been to the ER twice and EKGs are normal and I have no other symptoms of heart problems...vitals all great etc. I was originally banded 12/05/06 in NE. I moved to FL 3yrs ago and have had a terrible time finding a lapband DR that would take me, if they did it would cost $400 out of pocket, which I just don't have. I have, however, made an appt with my Dr that installed the lapband since I will be visiting NE on vacation. With all that said I have 10 more days to wait until I find out whats going on and this is driving me to anxiety/panic attacks. Has any vet had this issue before? It feels like short sharp pinching pains, shortly after I hear/feel a lot of gurling noises like I did after my band surgery. The nurse that scheduled my appt tried to reassure me that if I was not throwing up and not having problems getting food down then I will most likely be ok until the appointment. I have read up a bit on this and wonder if it could be gas related?? I recently have had issues with gas/bloating and have been put on a high fiber diet. Anyone else experience this? I have limited myself to very soft food and liquids until I know for sure. Sorry for the long post, but any input is welcome.

Thanks,

Annette

I posted about a similar situation a couple of weeks ago. I'm not at all a lapband veteran (I'm 8 weeks postop) but a couple of weeks ago I was having stabbing pains in the sternum. Like spasms, but the pain was fleeting. It seemed to be unrelated to a meal as it would occur several hours after. My band at the time was unfilled, and my surgeon suspected that there was some irritation going on as the band was kind of moving as it had not yet been filled. (I'm not sure I agree with his explanation because, like you, it seemed to be gas/bowel related.)

Anyway, he prescribed Nexium and it went away promptly.

I hope you find whatever it is that is causes your pain. It is indeed scary; I, too, thought they were symptoms of a heart attack.

I would keep doing what you are doing until you decide that you need that fill. I only say that because I was also like you, pleased with the restriction my empty band was giving me, with a loss of 2 pounds each week. I met all my nutritional needs, just had bloodwork done which was excellent, and was enjoying everything I ate. I followed all my surgeon's post op directives to the letter in terms of reintroducing my foods in stages.

I didn't want a fill, but did not wish to be viewed as a non-compliant patient. My surgeon is quite authoritarian and is not open to hearing a patient's take on things. So I went and got my first fill last week, very reluctantly.

Right now I have way too much restriction and cannot even get down any of the healthy. protein-rich, real foods I was basing my diet around. But I'm going to give it a couple of days; it may be once the fill/band settles down I'll be able to reincorporate my salads, Beans, eggs, etc.

But I greatly regret not cancelling my fill appointment last week. I was doing just fine without it, and now I'm hating the way I have to eat (for the moment; again, this may change as the fill settles down.)

That said, it is providing me with a rapid weight loss. There's at least that benefit.

Probably not a great thing to eat chili (pureed, but chili nonetheless) 3 days after my first fill. I never had gas pains post-op, and now I understand what everyone was talking about.

Absolutely no average whatsoever. People's morphology is different; many people have a fill placed at the moment of surgery; some doctors fill slowly (perhaps to keep you coming back in = revenue stream); some, like mine, do a more-agressive fill. Also, remember that people have different sized bands, with varying lengths of tubing linking them to the port. So a 4 cc fill in one person with a longer tubing will not equal 4 ccs in another with shorter tubing. And 4 ccs in a 14 cc band obviously is a different restriction level when compared with 4 ccs in a 10 cc band.

Your fill should be tailored to your comfort. I understand the question--I read alot about fill levels prior to having my first fill a couple of days ago--and now I realize that, while interesting, you can't really do much with the information.

I didn't have coffee on the "no" list; in fact I was served a cup of it postop in the hospital! That said, I don't tolerate the caffeine content anymore---too much of a "zip" now that my calories are so low. So I drink chicory mix coffee (like they do in New Orleans!) or Decaf.< /p>

Otherwise: I usually eat the same thing for breakfast every day, alternating between:

--two melba toast like crackers with butter and jam (lightly spread) or softened Peanut Butter (2 tsp total)

or

oatmeal with a bit of butter and brown sugar.

I don't use light products--no access to them where I live--but I don't get freaked out about using "real" butter, sugar, etc. I just don't load up my stuff with it.

Your surgeon's comments are very interesting, and explain a bit more about the phenomenon of how microscopically different fills in the same size band in different patients can have such different effects on the patient.

I have to say, for the sake of bandsters reading this thread whose surgeons do not routinely do fills under fluoroscopy, that while fluoro fills can help ensure a tolerable and effective fill level, they don't guarantee it. I have never had a fill under fluoro and don't feel that my band's effectiveness was compromised because of that. Fluoro gives the radiologist or surgeon a snapshot of your esophagus, band and stomach at one point in time. A few hours or days or weeks later, the effect of that fill can feel quite different because of perfectly ordinary physiological events and processes, including hydration, hormones, time of day, allergies, medications, etc. etc.

Often bandsters get what seems to be a "perfect" fill under fluoro and a few weeks later feel as if they didn't get a fill at all. The stomach expands and contracts to aid digestion by breaking food down into pieces that can be absorbed properly by the intestines, and that necessary movement can affect the position of the band enough to affect the patient's experience of restriction. Also, as you lose weight, the visceral fat clinging to the stomach shrinks, so that your band feels looser and you need more fill. And finally, a new fill can feel extra tight in the first few days but feel less tight as the patient learns to adjust their eating skills to accommodate the new fill level.

Also, bandsters can get what seems to be a perfect fill and hours or days later find themselves struggling even to drink liquids. That can be because the fill itself, and the newly increased pressure of the band against the stomach, can cause enough irritation to cause the patient discomfort. Eventually the band settles more comfortably against the stomach, everything calms down, and life goes on.

Jean

Thanks, Jean, for this thorough response. I also think that given the radiation does one incurs with fluoroscopy, it is perhaps not a good idea to do more than one fill/year this way.

I'm particularly grateful to read your last paragraph, as today I'm quite uncomforable with this fill (I sense I've very sensitive to restriction). I can drink fine, but trying to get mushies down is just not happening. I will wait a few days to see if the band / stomach settles in, if not...back to the radiologist to get some saline withdrawn.

I absolutely understand and pretty much expect that I will need a fill one day (perhaps sooner than later), but at this moment, I concider myself to be essentially I'm the green zone as I know it... so at this stage in the game i was thankful not to mess with a good thing. I am certain I could tolerate any food i throw at my band as nothing as given me problems (to afraid to try steak yet). The only thing stopping me from eating a sandwich with the bead our a bowl of Pasta is me and i like it that way! When the time comes that i get hungry or start feeling like i need to snack, then i will be more than willing to get a fill then. My thought is that at 4.5 weeks out, I'm still learning to live with my band and eat slowly/chew. At this point, i have absolutely no restriction...but i don't think it's about restriction or hard stops or soft stops, i just know to stop at my alotted amount and then a i realize I'm satisfied. The reason i stop eating is me....I know the band's working for me because there is way 1/2c if food could have satisfied me for 4+hrs on my own. But i am not afraid of getting a fill except for the fact that the tighter the band, the higher complication rate from what I've read.

I felt this same way as you. I had an empty band and a (relatively) slow loss but I was pleased with my loss. I felt restriction even with the empty band and stuck to my prescribed portions. I did not want to get a fill, but at the same time if I didn't, my surgeon would have seen me as a non-compliant patient. (He's a bit of a jerk anyway.) I specifically ask the radiologist doing my fill for a "small" fill....like 2 ccs in my 10 cc band.

He did 4 ccs, saying really I should have had 5.

And today I am completely nauseous. I had to stay home from work, in fact.

I sense I'm one of those people who are very sensitive to restriction and I should have listened to my instincts rather than trying to comply with the surgeon's orders. If I'm still ill tomorrow, I'm going to get some or all of the fill taken out. I don't care if I'm only losing 2 pounds a week---that's fine by me. That's 2 pounds a week with no hunger or cravings....and, more importantly, no nausea!

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!

For my Protein sources, I turn to Beans (kidney, garbanzo, refried), hummous, lentils, loads of fish, yogurt, milk or soy milk (although I think soy milk has fewer grams of protein vs. cow's milk). I'll have some Peanut Butter from time to time but it's a trigger food for me. I use toasted sliced almonds on my salads, and add some cubed cheese, too. I wasn't a vegetarian to begin with but gave up meat when I got banded.

Everyone is definitely different. I choose to not push the envelope (or the band in this case) and gave up all bread, rice, Pasta, and basically "white food." Dry meat definitely causes me problems, but I find 9 times out of 10 it's mind over matter with me.

This sounds like me, too. No bread, Pasta, anything fluffy, no red meat except for rare ground beef and even then it sometimes doesn't go down easily.

Also just found I couldn't eat ripe peaches...too fibrous and they get stuck in my throat. Oh well. I can live without peaches.

With the new report out citing the relationship between bariatric surgeries and completed suicides, psych exams should be looking for signs that the pre-op patient is open to consulting post op should suicidal thoughts occur. The psychiatrist I saw prior to my surgery asked me outright if I was the personality type to seek help should I feel despondent after surgery (due to slow loss, or inability to adapt to my changing shape/attention etc).

I bread my fish with crushed and seasoned cornflakes. Drizzle with some oil or spray Pam on them before baking. Yum! Can do with chicken breasts as well.

Previous poster is correct. Ads pop up based on personal interests/browsing history/your demographics. Not that you were browsing "those kind of sites" but perhaps the algorhythm picked up something about weight or weight loss and that ad was generated.

Adspace on sites can feature random ads, not necessarily known by the site itself. While there is bought ad space on LBT, there is also space on this site for these random ads to pop up.

I am definitely being able to tell a difference now that I have had my 2nd fill but it isn't what I thought it would be. Not to mention I actually started losing more weight when I wasn't eating just the healthy stuff. I think our bodies need some fat intake or it holds on to what we are putting in thinking it is not going to get more. Eating olives and avocados or using olive oil when cooking can help add fat. Sour cream, cheese, and such... I don't know what it is but I started eating regular foods again instead of restricting what I eat and I feel better and am losing. I cannot eat a lot of any thing so i am still staying low on calories and such I have found that pretty much all meat other than hamburger meat in sauce and such will not go down. My husband (who had lap-band 2 years ago) lived on tacos and tortilla chips for a while because they broke down easier for him. I cannot eat a taco to save my life. I got 1/2 of one down and felt like it was stuck. I am sure if I take smaller bites of anything it would be easier but I am still learning. My biggest battle is not waiting until I am starving to eat. This seems to be when I hurt myself the most. I get so hungry that I eat too fast and then it will not go down. It usually takes about 15-20 minutes to get down so I can continue to eat slower all the while I am still starving but now starving and in pain. Oh the learning process... lol even after 2 years my hubby still has a difficult time with eating small bites slow. Good luck to you...

@Jenny: I could have written this myself! This is precisely what I'm experiencing, too.

Re fat: I make sure to add some avocado to my meal, or some cheese to get in some fat. It helps keep me satisfied and has some benefits such as less-dry skin and hair.< /p>

Re meat: I can only tolerate moist hamburger, too...no other red meats. That's ok; I'm don't miss steak or pork anyway.

Re not waiting until one is starving to eat: my biggest battle, too. Waiting far too long for lunch today, and, as you described, ended up starving AND in pain. My chest still hurts, in fact, and I'm still starving.

Must.slow.down. and must not arrive at the table soooo hungry.

It's a good sign that you are doing deep research as you reflect on weight loss options.

I'm "only" six weeks post-op, but happy to share my thoughts.

I'm not fearing loose skin once I lose my weight, but at my age vanity is less of an issue than it may be for a younger person. I doubt I'd do plastics, (the recovery time is just too long for me) but that is an option for many. In any case, I would NEVER let the fear of loose skin prevent me from taking off my weight...being fat is far uglier imho than having loose skin.

My loss has been slower than some others banded on the same date, but I've made my peace with that. I currently have an empty band and that may be part of the slower loss. The important thing for me is that I feel GREAT, that I eat extremely healthfully now, and I'm not gaining weight, which would have been the case had I not gotten banded. I've lost 14 pounds in six weeks---had I not been banded I would have gained during those six weeks at the rate I was eating. So that is a great thing! And I'm hoping my first fill will bring a more rapid weight loss; if not, it's ok because the scale is going down anyway.

I have had no nausea nor vomiting. I am extremely compliant with my post-op directives.

I was off two weeks and needed that--I was tired after surgery and you are kind of wiped out emotionally plus you don't eat a lot during this time. I'm glad I didn't go back to work immediately.

Your last question about adjusting to the new way of eating is the most important question you could ask. For me it was not difficult but I had months of getting my head mentally prepared to make this change. This is not like a diet, by that I mean you do not have the flexibility to "cheat" as you would on a diet. On a traditional diet, the worst thing that can happen if you cheat is you gain weight. With WLS, the consequences of non-compliance are much graver...ranging from discomfort (food stuck, etc) to damaging your insides (stretching out your pouch or esophaegus). So my response to your post is that the most important thing you can do for yourself is be honest with your ability to completely change the way and nature of your eating habits. You cannot go into this surgery on a whim (and that is why I'm thankful there is a pre-op journey to get there). You need to be mentally ready to adhere to your surgeon's post-op rules.

I was recently on a Skype session with the home office and even THEY could hear my stomach! Yes, I've never had so many loud noises. But I'm getting used to it and everybody knows I've got a lapband so I just blame the band. 'Cause I don't have a dog.

Madrid has a number of larger hospitals and clinics. Inquire with the Digestive Surgery department of these...these are the services that do WLS.

I'm 6 weeks post-op with an unfilled (for now--first fill will happen in two weeks) band. Over the weekend I started having some brief but extremely ntense pain between my breasts...like spasms. So painful I had to sit down. Each spasm only lasted about 5 seconds but they recurred; by Monday I was having several per hour. Nothing was stuck (I follow my postop directives to the letter); the pains occured outside of mealtime. The pain was only between the breasts, not radiating out anywhere else.

Of course I googled "symptoms of a heart attack" and then saw my GP. Based on an examination and my responses to her questions, she ruled out a heart attack and thought it might be irritation from the band. She put me back on Nexium (I think that is what the drug is called in the US); a pill I had been prescribed for one month following the banding. Because she is unfamiliar with the band (I'm her only patient with one) she advised me to see my surgeon.

By Tuesday my symptoms were gone (I had started the Nexium Monday night) and I got in to see my surgeon. He only kept me for 1 minute (but took 100 euros from me for those 60 seconds) and said he thought it was the band moving around (not slipping, but turning) since it was unfilled. He said that once I get my fill it should resolve the problem.

Anyone else experience the type of pain I described above and had it resolve with either medication or a fill?