parisshel

I fly longhaul Europe-California flights frequently. I have never felt any band-tightening effects from airtravel. I do pack my own food, however, as airports and airline choices are not band-friendly. Always lots of pasta, breaded stuff and dry chicken. I pack protein bars, cheese, fruit and almonds. Often the fruit gets confiscated at immigration in California but by then I'm in the land of fruit anyway.

It's so wonderful you are taking these steps now, while you are young. My biggest regret is that WLS did not exist (in today's perfected form) when I was your age. So many years wasted trying to diet and hold my weight down. So many years feeling hungry and deprived and battling my demons. I remember the hope I finally felt after my first WLS consultation. Hope in something that had data-based and supported success rates, not hope like the hope I felt starting a new traditional diet, which was short-lived and based on marketing ploys. Wishing you the best as you move forward with this life-changing decision.

One of my band eating rules is no liquids (like soup or yogurt) for meals. As tmf says about, these go right through the stoma and offer no feeling of fullness. No wonder you are hungry. Tmf gives excellent bandster eating tips here. Try a couple of days following these and I'll bet you'll start to feel full on these types of dense solids. I might also nix the chocolate--it slides through, keeps your sugar cravings in active mode, and offers no nutrition (although I understand the pleasure part!). It could be that you are properly adjusted; the only way to test this is to follow the bandster diet.

If I were in your shoes, I would begin by having a look at the functioning of the band. I would do this with a barium swallow (under fluorscopy) so the professionals (and you) can actually see the rate at which the liquid flows through your band. Then you can see restriction (or not). When they are filling you, are they pulling out the saline which is already in your band to check for leaks? They should be doing this as part of quality control with each fill, whether "blind" or under fluorscopy. Watching how the barium flows will tell your healthcare workers loads about your band, and, if it just flows right through, will corroborate your story and they will be hard pressed to brush you off. I would start with this. Even if it weren't covered I would pay for it, just to be sure that the band is in place and functioning correctly. For info, a fluorscopy where I live, in France, is around 250 euros. NHS covers all of it but 15 euros, which my private insurance picks up.

Great thread. I would love to be a patient advocate for bariatric surgery but that does not exist where I live. (So I compensate by talking quite liberally about my own experience to everybody who will listen to me. Poor things.) I am greatly interested in obesity research and, had I been younger, certainly would have pursued this as a career. It is such a rich field of research and there are so many avenues to explore within this area. But I'm far too old to go to medical school now. For me, my WLS has me rethinking so many things...some with regret (the road not taken because I was so fat) and some with pride (the road I took anyway, despite my fat). I will say that I'm better in my chosen career (academic research) because I'm more confident and energetic. I am much present at conferences, always pitching to lead a session, whereas before I would just be a passive audience member.

I don't know why, but Pepto Bismol is on my "DO NOT TAKE" list of post op meds. But check with your own doctor; he may have different protocols.

Your feelings over this are entirely legitimate. I hope your surgeon proposes either repositioning or just an entire unfill to see if the band will go back into its correct place that way. Please keep us informed. But yes, people on this forum understand your sadness and fears completely. You have worked very hard to go from morbid obesity to a healthy weight (well done!) and it is normal that you are apprehensive about losing your band.

I'm right with you on this one. My last fill was "what I signed up for." (Funny you should use that phrase; my BF used it with me just last night when I was having some sternum pain from eating too fast.) Mindful eating is the ticket here, that's certain.

I recently got a new PC and was transfering files from the old one. While doing this, I went through some old bookmarks; weight loss blogs I would read "for inspiration" when trying to stay on my traditional diet. The blogs I followed were people with situations similar to my own, i.e. bloggers with a substantial amount of weight to lose, bloggers who were also working on the psychological aspect of why we are overweight and bloggers who were losing weight sensibly by using diet + exercise. Most of these bloggers were following Weight Watchers, or a doctor's program. None of these bloggers had had WLS nor were they planning on doing so. I stopped reading their blogs once I decided to have my lapband surgery, since I felt their paths were no longer that similar to my own. I switched over to reading WLS bloggers, finding more compatibility with this group. It was a shock (and quite sad) to go back and see where the "traditional" dieters were today. There was the very famous weight-loss blogger (famous in the fatosphere, in any case), who had hundreds of followers cheering him down from 505 pounds to 140. I remember reading his post the day he hit goal; it was so moving and so incredible. He blogged daily and was a fantastic writer. He went on to self-publish a book and do seminars and weight loss coaching. Today he has gained back 143 of those pounds. Another popular blogger blogged her Weight Watchers journey from 400 pounds down to around 250. She was quite motivational at the time. Then she got hungry. Today she is back up to 335. Another young man with a well-followed blog started at 638 pounds, lost 300 of those and is today back up to 450 pounds with no plans to stop the regain. He's tired, depressed and just plain hungry. One of the most famous writers in the weight loss world who wrote one of the first books of its genre (Passing For Thin) about her transition from 365 pounds to 140, is now back up to her original weight. Also depressed and beaten down by the constant hunger and teeth-gritting it takes to keep the weight off. I don't cite these examples to point fingers or shame them. On the contrary, I feel such empathy for their stories which are all the rule, none the exception. As I read through my old blogroll, I just keep thinking that I wanted to tell them to at least look at the option of surgery. (But I didn't, as I'm sure my suggestion would have been met with much anger and opposing views.) My takeaway from this moment of re-visiting my past "motivational blogs" was such gratitude that I surrendered to my inevitable truth: I could not be successful with traditional dieting. I could not beat the constant hunger and perpetural deprivation. My body's cravings and urges would always, at some point, override my willpower. Had I not opted for WLS, I am sure that I would also be in the situation that these bloggers are today. My weight would be up, and my blog posts would be a constant refrain of "I have to get my head back in the game. I'm disgusted with myself. Why am I so weak?" I know that the lapband is not magic, and it does not prevent me from gaining weight. But it sure does level the playing field, giving me a much-stronger shot at not only getting to goal, but staying there.

Sure, it's not like the real thing, but it's much lower in calories. I mix it in smoothies, plain yogurt (and I add a few chocolate chips to that for dessert) and mix with Water for a dip for thin slices of apple.

Lapbands are adjustable, and that is a wonderful thing. As you lose weight, the fat pad around your stomach (inside) reduces, rendering the band a bit looser. So what you are feeling may be tied to your weight loss, and yes, you may need just a bit more restriction to keep you on the straight and narrow. It would certainly be worth getting checked. And well done on your impressive weight loss!

NaNa, this is precisely why I did not sense it was a good idea to wait out my situation. I based my decision for an unfill on my previous timeframe with my fills and I knew my fill should have settled by two weeks. Honestly...my answer for anyone that is willing to keep a too tight band, is make sure you are always in close proximity to your surgeons office, good insurance and money IF needed for emergency surgery or band replacement. If you can eat steak, and can keep it down, you may not be too tight, I'd give it a few days, but again, most people who THINK they are too tight probably are. Also, it takes time to get used to a very tight band, you may want to take tiny bites, and only eat moist food for a while to determine how tight your band really is. Sometimes it's a fine line between Red and Green zones, the warning signs to look for is chest and throat discomfort, frequent vomiting and reflux regardless of how small your bites are and reflux at night regardless of how close to bedtime you eat. My band is 'tight' green zone, I can eat all solids --but I have to be careful, and I can't eat no more than a few ounces per meal and I don't have to get up a slime and vomit at every meal. I went to Red Lobster yesterday for lunch and ate fish, green Beans and a few potatoes....I did not finish my fish, beans or potatoes and when home with take out box...before I ate I drank some hot tea to allow me to eat a very tiny meal -- to ME, this is what restriction is supposed to be without slimming and vomiting at every meal AND able to still lose and maintain my weight. I've had many friends over the years never could eat solids because they maintained their bands too tight, they got skinny and ALL have lost their bands and revised to the Sleeve at this point, I never question how tight they keep their bands because it was THEIR business. Remember there is no advantage for being too tight. This is one of those questions based on how tight someone is willing to keep their bands, everyone keeps their bands at different levels so you may get "varied" opinions on this boards.... I've been at ALL levels and I know what the consequences are long term.... When at two weeks I was displaying eating behavior which was not consistent with how I wish to live my banded life (drinking my meals or eating slider foods to combat the hunger I was experiencing since I could not eat solid, filling foods) I knew I needed to get an unfill. I read loads of bandster blogs and I see many many bandsters who keep a tight band so they can speed down the scale. They are fine with living on Protein shakes, or living with stuck and PBing episodes. I've read blogs of bandsters who think PBing and vomiting EVERY SINGLE DAY is just normal and part of the banded life. As you say NaNa, this acceptance of a too-tight band is what contributes to the slippage and erosion rates, and sometimes (often?) failure rates of the lapband. And how miserable would it be to live like this...always seeking a place to PB or vomit? I got banded to live a normal life. Normal in body size and normal in how I eat. I will do everything I can to reach these goals, and this includes keeping my band safe from slipping, eroding or anything else that might put me in a position where I have to lose my band.

I waited for two weeks when I went from 5.0 to 6.5 in a 10cc band. It was a long two weeks of primarily liquids, as even the smallest bite of solids would get stuck. My weight did not change, since I was basically eating/drinking all day long. Took out .5 when I just couldn't wait it out any longer and man, that was a relief. Gone was the tightness in my chest and the fear of swallowing anything. Weight dropped immediately. Now I'm at 6.0 and it is perfect. For now.

Happy bandiversary! Well done--you've worked hard, consistently, and you look wonderful. Thanks for posting your story and showing us your impressive transformation.

See? This is why there are few fat French people. Well, the Mediterrean diet and the fact that being fat is viewed as a sin far worse than infidelity here (cf. President Hollande ).

I'm in France and would be happy to provide you with support; I love mentoring. You can PM me if you like.

One of the first posts I ever wrote on my blog (The Lapband Chronicles) as a pre-op addresses this feeling of surrendering to the blatant truth...that traditional dieting had never and would never work with me. I looked around and tried to find a significant number of people for whom traditional dieting had worked. I could only find one person that I knew IRL that had, through OA, lost 80 pounds and kept it off for life. ONE PERSON! Yikes! No one ever said to me why don't you just diet? (since I was always on a diet) but had I been asked that question, I would have turned it around and said do you know anyone with 80+ pounds to lose who has actually lost the weight and kept it off for life? Look at this forum and look at all the transformations that have gone on and are on-going. Look at the statistical success rates of WLS and compare them, if you can find them, with traditional dieting. For me, WLS is THE gold standard. I only wish I had done this years ago, instead of wasting so much money, energy and mental bandwidth on Weight Watchers.

If I were in your situation, I would not, but only because I would be doing so to give myself permission to eat all the lovely buffet offerings that are what make a cruise ship's reputation. Having the band at correct restriction would help me from indulging in my overeating/bad choices old habits. I know I would not be able to stop myself if I had a too-loose band. I went to a Club Med last November (Club Meds are also known for unlimited delicious buffets) and came back greatly thanking my band for helping me keep to the straight and narrow. The thing is, if you've got the correct fill currently, and you stick to band rules in terms of quantity and chewing and slowing down when eating...you won't get stuck. But if you know that you might want to relax around the band rules during this cruise (and that's completely understandable) and you don't want issues with PBing, etc, then go ahead and get the unfill.

Isn't it great to welcome back one's lap? P.S. Before I started my WLS research, I actually thought "Lapband surgery" meant a band that would bring back your lap.

Just got a slight (.5cc) unfill and am SO glad. I waffled back and forth on whether or not I should get a bit taken out. But the fear of a dialated pouch or band erosion, coupled with the constant tightness in my chest...whether I was eating or not...made me go back and get some Fluid removed. Awwww....instant relief. What a difference .5 makes. I know I'm eating better, too...no more slider foods/bowls of soup, etc, which weren't filling me up.

You look great and your hard work shows. Thanks for checking in!

Yes; you've described very well something I've noticed too. I can be both hungry and full at the same time. And it's real hunger. This is particularly noticable after a fill, when I'm not yet back on solids. My pouch has fullness but my lower stomach doesn't. I'm glad to see someone else experiences this. Makes me feel more normal

My surgeon + staff are thin, but that is unsurprising as I live in a city where there are few overweight people. (I think they hide them or something.) I have to add that I know some cardiac surgeons who are smokers, and that really blows my mind. That said, I would be uncomfortable consulting someone in the field of obesity and obesity research who is obese. I recall a time when I was in my twenties and I wanted to consult a therapist to see if I could find out WHY I had this weight problem. So I go to this woman who was highly recommended, but when I had my first appointment and saw she was 300 pounds, I knew I would not take anything she said seriously. Physician, help thyself!

All abdominal and lower body surgeries will have blood thinners as part of post-op procedure. It's not a big deal, unless you are needle-phobic. In any case, the needle is quite fine and for me pretty painless. When I had ankle surgery several years ago, with a cast for six weeks post-op, I had 90 days of blood thinner shots. By the end you couldn't find a place on my belly or thighs that didn't bear the mark. But I'd rather endure that than blood clots, which are among the risks post-op for lapband surgery.

9 months post-op and still got it. At this point, I just tell my kids and BF "It's medically necessary" everytime they shout "Ewwwww....gross!"