Janell

Hey everyone. I've been MIA for quite a long time, mainly because I'm unhappy with my band. I had surgery in April '08, and since then I've had about 5 fills in a 4cc band for a total of about 2.75cc's. I feel like I have no restriction at all...I can still eat a full plate of food...maybe instead of two full plates of food--which I *guess* counts a little as restriction :thumbdown:. I'm back on Slimfast trying to lose weight again, which is BS because I wouldn't have gone through the WLS just to drink Slimfast . I've lost about 40lbs...23 of that was immediately post-op while I was recovering. So about 17lbs in the last 8 months .

I'm frustrated and tired of scheduling fills that don't seem to work. I feel like I'm reaching the end of my 4cc band's capactity, with no real result. Everyone here seems to have the 10 and 14cc bands...and I wonder why I didn't get one of those...

I guess this is more of a rant than anything...but if anyone out there actually has the 4cc band...please talk to me...

What was your "sweet spot"??

Hi there, I am so glad you posted. I have had this exact same thought time and time again.

I was going to the Dr. for fills it seemed like every 2 weeks and i felt NOTHING. So one day I asked the Dr, have you ever had a patient that this band wasnt big enough for? He said nope. So I started bawling and told him how could I be at 3.7 and not feel any restriction? He then checked my band and I had only 1.2 in. We found out I had a leak. He put in this stuff called Omni* and bam....instant restriction. I lost 17 lbs in 8 weeks.

Just hang in there and make sure you tell your dr everything you are feeling.

Good luck to you...you will get there.

I am glad to see others post about getting disappointed. I love the stories for everyone that everything moved along perfectly, but I know there are people out there that may be wondering what they are doing wrong.

I was banded o4/27/07 and I have lost 50lbs. I look at some stories on here and I am so happy for the ones that have had massive results but then I look at my weight loss and think, What the heck. But, if I am honest, I have not done anything the doc says at 100%.

I have lost quite a few inches but I still feel I should be doing better. I am at 3.7cc in a 4cc band and still think I could use another fill. I think I can eat to much at one sitting. But then I am embarrased to tell the Dr I made another fill, afraid he will say dang fat a@# your almost maxed out. :teeth_smile:

Even with all this said, I still feel this was the best decision I ever made, I feel better than I have in years and I am not giving up hope.

Thanks for letting me vent.

GREAT! so ummm, how do we get started? i need help getting the ball rolling. my fear is that if we simply mention a date, time, & location that we may have a few show up, and of course it will hopefully grow over time....

but what do we do once we're there????

xoxo, christie

Christie,

Please send me an e-mail to jpifer@calpine.com and let me know how to contact you. We have about 3 or 4 people interested in a support group in Baytown, so I think it would work out fine. Please just let me know, we are all anxiously waiting.

Thank you so much.

I would be interested in a Baytown group and I have a friend that would be also.

Hi, I am looking for any input on what might be wrong with me! I have no insurance (paid for the band myself - or will be paying it off for the next 4 years), and my recent problems have been really scaring me, and I'm not exactly sure what to do.

To start off, I was banded in mid-October of 2007 at NWWLS in Everett, WA, which is a 4 hour drive from where I am in Portland, OR. My last (second) fill was about a month ago, and I am not over-filled. I'm not feeling that much restriction, and I saw the Fluid go through under flouro. However, after this fill, I was quite light-headed for a couple of days (even turned around and went back to Everett for the flouro and reassurance that everything was OK) but this eventually subsided, and everything was fine until a couple of weeks ago.

Recently, I've been very fatigued and have random dizzy spells or periods of light-headedness and nausea. Usually when this happens and I try to throw up, nothing comes up but some foam. (I'm also quite foamy - more often than not, I could spit up some foam at any given time if I tried.) Sometimes these episodes are accompanied by heart palpitations, and since this is all kind of scary without insurance, I usually have a bit of an anxiety attack. And I always get very sensitive to cold. Other times, I feel just fine for the most part.

I feel constantly tight in the chest and a little bit short of breath, and I do feel a sensation (wouldn't call it pain really, more like pressure or acute awareness of something) in my chest, just to the right of center, though I would say I notice it more in my back. And even when I'm not having one of these episodes, I feel a little cloudy-headed.

About a week ago, something like this happened out of the blue, while we were on the couch watching TV. I had eaten a relatively unhealthy meal about 4 hours prior (Chinese, with fried wonton things, I know, bad idea) and while we were watching TV, my boyfriend gave me one of his potato chips that I had said that I wanted to taste. So I ate the potato chip (which I chewed completely) and then suddenly just a minute or two later my upper back started hurting a lot, and just got progressively worse. I got light-headed and nauseated. I had a little bit of diarrhea (nothing major), tried to throw up, but at this point all that would come up was foam and that one potato chip. I went back into the kitchen and was standing there telling my boyfriend about how I was feeling, and then WHAM I thought I was going to pass out. I kneeled on the floor and put my head on the floor, and then after a minute of completely freaking out, heart palpitations, truly AWFUL upper back pain, and chest pressure, I got more nauseated, crawled into the bathroom, threw up some more foam, had some more diarrhea, and then everything just started getting better as fast as it happened. In 10 minutes I was back on the couch again, feeling mostly OK.

The next day, I went to an urgent care clinic, and told them what was going on, and they did bloodwork (a CBC, thyroid panel, and complete metabolic profile.) Everything came back mostly OK. They said I wasn't considered anemic, but that my red blood cells were a little bit small, and that I would benefit from more Iron in my diet or a multivitamin with Iron (which I already take, but OK I will increase my iron.) And they said it seemed like I was a little over-hydrated, and that I should limit my fluids to 64oz/day. I don't buy that second part at all, because I struggle to get in 40oz of fluids per day, and can't even remember the last time I had 64oz in one day. So basically I spent a ton of money doing this bloodwork and it is telling me absolutely nothing. That doctor said he thought that an EKG would be next if the bloodwork didn't show anything, but that's goingto be expensive, and heart disease of any kind does not run in my family. Plus this all started after the banding, so I can't help but think that it's related.

If it was a problem with my gall bladder, would it show up in that kind of bloodwork? My mom had to have her gall bladder removed due to massive gall stones when she was about 45 years old.

I don't know what to do at this point!! I'm so tired of feeling miserable, and terrified, and exhausted!

Thank you so much if you read all of this! Please, any ideas of what could be wrong with me, or any advice on what I should do would be greatly appreciated!

You have alot of the same symptoms I had when I needed my gallbladder removed. The only way my doc knew I needed it removed was by ultrasound. I would have this checked if I were you just to be on the safe side.

The band was the best thing I have ever done.

Good luck to you, keep us posted on how your doing.

Thank you so much for the pic's Dr.C. Do you happen to have a pic of the band properly positioned? I really appreciate the time you take to provide us all with information. We all know you must be terribly busy, so Thank you again.:clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::whoo::whoo::whoo:

I am scheduled for my first fill 5/24/07 and I am nervous. The things I am most nervous about are....how am I going to know if I can eat something or get it down? When I do something wrong is it just going to " come up" without warning? Should I put off going to lunch with co-workers as to not accidently offend anyone? Do we have time to excuse ourself before our food comes back up? I know this may sound crazy but I do worry how we know what/when/how we know what we are doing wrong. Can someone please tell me some guideleined to go by or direct me to a site that spells things out in plain english that we newbies should do and expect. I really appreciate all the help you guys give on this site, you would not believe how much it really helps us newbie's. Thanks again.

:faint:

Hello all!

I'm starting to get really discouraged and feel like I'm going to be in pain for the rest of my life. I had my surgery on 5/15 and have been recovering steadily. However, after I arrived home I began to get this pain that is now more and more frequent.

I figured out that it's happening either in my diaphragm or lower esophogus. I'm not sure which. It's random, not connected to when I eat for or sit a certain way. It feels like an intense ball of pain, then like bubbles on either side of it.

I'm still on the liquid diet, am supposed to starting working up to pureed today. I did have hernia repair (hiatal) with surgery, could that be causing this?

The pain is bad enough when it comes that I exclaim, and I'm pretty tough (I think!). I've been trying to relieve it with pain medicine, which does the trick by just putting me to sleep. Of course, who wants to be sleep all the time? I have been hoping it's gas/constipation and taking Mylanta and a liquid laxative. The Mylanta feels good going down, but it doesn't make any difference once the pain comes back.

Any advice? Should I call my doctor?

MaryumC

Banded by Dr. Lin in Atlanta 5/15

335/300/180

MaryumC,

I was banded 4/27/07 and I had this same problem. OMG!!!!!! It hurt like #$%^. I too feel like I have a high tolerence to pain and I kept on saying OHH, AWWW, and a few other choice words. :-)

I called my doc and he said try Pepcid complete and it was from my hernia repair. The Pepcid did not help I am sorry to say but my DH went and bought Prevacid (sp) and it REALLY helped. Sad news is it took almost 2 full weeks to get over, but it does pass and now I am not having any problems. I wish you lots of luck, I know how you feel. I thought something went wrong with my surgery I was so miserable. But thanks to the very nice folks on here they helped me calm done and wait it out. If I can be of any help, I will be more than glad to do so.

Hi All: Been laying low over the last 4 months reading all your helpful advice. Well today all your help paid off. I was banded at Abington Hospital in Pennsylvania. Due to ALL of you collective advice I was able to walk into that hospital today confident that it was the right decision.

My insurance company said no go as it is excluded from my policy by my employer. (Aetna) For the price of a decent used car I have been able to start on down the road of a much higher quality of life.

Six hours into it and feeling pretty good. I hope I can continue on your support and will be sure to respond to those who I can help. Not sure how to add in all those fancy statistics but I am a 50 year old man weighing in at 325. 42 BMI. Lost 60 on WW about 3 years ago but gained most (but not all) of it back. I have been battling this problem gor 40 years and am very confident that this tool will be the extra assistance I need to get the job done.

Wish me luck and thanks for all your support.

CONGRATS!!!!!! I am a newbie too, Apr 27. I wish you lots of luck.

Thank you so much. I feel a little better now.

I was banded over 2 years ago and have experienced reflux, aspiration pneumonia, and esophageal dilation. None of that is fun, but aspiration can be deadly. You really don't want to try and live with that. One Bandster from another online group ended up with a huge abscess in her lungs from aspiration.

My latest series of problems resulted in having to be unfilled for almost 3 weeks and limited to mushies. During that time, I gained 8 pounds! I just had my swallow test today and my esophagus is back to normal and I got a small fill. The bad news is that if you keep stretching it, the esophagus will eventually NOT spring back into shape and you (me) could end up losing our bands.

I'm on antibiotics for THREE MONTHS as a result of the aspiration. And I haven't even gotten to the esophagitis, which can lead to Barrett's Esophagus and cancer.

You may not think you are too tight, but if you are suffering aspiration, you ARE too tight. Everyone reacts to banding differently, so what's "too tight" for one person may be not tight enough for another.

How do I know for sure what it is? Today is day 10 and I do have to say my throat hurts worse today than ever. All day I have had these little sharp pains that seem to radiate up from behind my breast bone. It is VERY uncomfortable and does hurt at about 5 when the litttle attack comes but goes pretty quickly. Ive been taking Pepcid complete daily and my DH just went and got me some Zantac 75 and throat spray. Could this be just from "surgery" do you think? I havent had any problems drinking or eating except it hurts to swallow sometimes. ( most of the time). Im actually getting worried, I DO NOT want to lose my band and I just dont wanna be a complainer. Thank you VERY much for your help. I am a VERY newbie to all this.

I know this may be so stupid but could someone please explain to me what exactly reflux is. I'm not sure if thats what I have going on or what. I was banded 4-27-07 :clap2: and have been doing pretty goos except this tight feeling in my chest that stays and then every so often tiny little sharp pains. This maybe weird sounding but sometimes when i have those pains my throat actually hurts. I did not of any of these types of problems before the surgery so I was not sure if this is normal afterwards or what. Will it go away or will I always suffer with this. Also can anyone help me knowledge on the different bad sizes? I know I have a 10cm. This site has been a wonderful thing. Thanks everyone.

Had my surgery Friday 04/27/07 and I feel preety good except my throat still hurts and some pressure on my chest. My doc had to repair a H. Hernia so Im not sure if thats why I have so much discomfort in my chest or not. I will be glad when this part is over but I am so ready to start my weight loss journey.

Thanks for all your posts it really helps to read them.:faint:

Im heading out this morning for my banding, I will keep this in mind, in case I experience the same pain.

Im leaving in a couple of hrs headed to hosp. So nervous and excited can't sleep. Can someone please tell me on a scale of 1 - 10 how bad the pain is when I wake up? What to expect? Thanks for any help. :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2:

Only 4 days left....very nervous but also excited. I too am glad I found this site as I have already learned alot, thanks to all your posts.

Thank you all so much.

Janell:clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2:

What type of work do you do? My day is Friday 04/27/07 yippppieee!!!!! I am scheduled to return to work on Tuesday, but I have a fairly easy job, I am an administrative assistant. Good luck, hope your feeling better soon!!

I was going to add this to the last post and forgot. My e-mail address is janellpifer@hotmail.com.

Thank you so much for responding. I actually discussed my " reasoning" with the doc today and she simply asked me "Why did you choose the Band in the beginning"? I told her less complications, less time off work, less fatalities. She said well theres your answer lol.

I am going to be banded by Dr. Wilkenfeld in Conroe, Texas. I did go to his seminar, which I really enjoyed. Today is my shrink appt, 04/23/07 is my pre-op appt and then Friday is the first day of the rest of my life.

I will say this ( and hope I don't offend anyone). The only concern I have is it seems people with the band don't lose as much as people who do Gastric Bypass. Is the a true assumption? Has any one ever regreted getting the Band instead of Gastric Bypass? I just want to lose all the weight I need to and not suffer and be miserable for 30-50 lbs. Any information appreciated even if you wanna holler at me for making an uneducated assumption.:faint: :omg:

HI,

This is my first post. I have been reading posts on here for about a month. I am scheduled for Lap Band surgery in 8 days. Most other patients I have talked to did NOT have a 10 Day clear liquid fast. It is literally SOOOO gross! I feel like I am going to puke all the time. I have the most discusting tast in my mouth no matter how many times I brush my teeth. Just hoping someone on here has done the same thing. I am only really hungry at night, and let me tell you that chicken broth does nothing to fill you up. I am having my surgery done by Dr. Srikanth in Federal Way ( WA ) Anyone gone thru this and any suggestions on how to not literally rip my hair out of my head.

Thanks so much,

Janette :(

My doc has me on Protein shakes, my date is 04/27/07, he says it helps shrink your liver and makes the surgery a little easier.

I found a very good Protein Drink ( at least the chocolate) is, have not tried any others yet. It is called Micell Edge. There are quite a few people at my job that really like it as well. This is only my 2nd day on the shakes but so far so good.:biggrin1:

Almost 2 my date....I am so excited and nervous. I am very new to all of this and love reading all your posts.Thank yall so much. A very sweet person e-mailed me today and explained what P & Bing is, does everyone do this? What should/shouldnt I do? Any suggestions appreciated. :help:

I am going to be banded 04/27/07, but I am getting a little nervous after reading all of this. This is the first site I have found that actually shows some of the down side to the procedure. I think it is great as we need to know what to expect. Could someone please give a short lesson on the lingo tho? ex: PB? I appreciate any help.

Thanks

:help: