Madeline's mom

I also have the vangard band and have lost 45 pounds since March 15th. Since being banded I have abandoned all breads, all rice all pasta and sodas. For me not being able to eat these things has caused me to loose more weight than limiting the amount of food I can eat. Some days I can eat way more that a cupful other days just a cupful. Currently I am filled to 6.5cc and I feel like I am perfectly restricted.

I can still eat crackers (sometimes) but loaf bread and buns cause instant PB. I tried eating one of those round subway tuna sandwiches with the top half taken off. Man oh man I PB'd for 15 minutes. Now hummus no problem I eat mine with wheat thins and they are delicious. I have not tried pita bread and probably won't I figure the less bread I eat the better off I will be.

Three cheers for you! It is nice to know that there are people who are getting approval for banding despite all the 3rd party red tape.

Wow Heather you have lost 40 pounds in 2 and 1/2 months that is fantastic. Keep up the good work and you will be at your goal weight in no time. By the way my port usually hurts when I eat to much!

Jaime and Trish it is obvious that you to had a blast together. Thanks for posting the great pix for us all to see!

Joe please let your decision be based on what YOU want and not what your insurance wants. There are so many bariatric surgeons out there why not get a second opinion just to see if they are both on the same page. Whatever your decision I wish you luck and please don't be a stranger.

Congratulations! You are absolutely right about children being gifts from God! I will pray that you have a full term pregnancy. Please keep us posted on your condition.

Thanks Karen! I never thought to run a search on it through Google- good idea! Well I guess that we are stuck with what we already have!

I would love to know if anyone has found it to be beneficial. It's not fair to give men all the tools and none for us!

Yes, you must be talking about Jessica O. I have been thinking about her and praying for her. That is such a sad story!

Stephanie, That is exactly what I needed to know thansks for sharing your experience with me. Sorry to hear about your weight gain BUT at least you still have your band. That is what I fear most having an ulcer which will lead to an erosion. I just got my band and I want to keep it. Was your ulcer located on your stoma or somewhere else in your stomach? And how long were you on the ulcer meds?

The food will either go down or back up. I guess there is a possibility it could stay stuck for a long time. My food usually comes up after "sliming" for 3 - 4 minutes. After you vomit or PB the food up you should stay on liquids for 24 hours.

I was going to go ahead and have the endoscopy and then give a copy of the pictures to my band surgeon to look at. I could not get an appointment with my band surgeon until July 29th and I did not want to wait that long to have the procedure. Lisa, have you had an endoscopy? if so did they have to give you an unfill before the endoscopy?

I need someone that has had an endoscopy tell me if there will be problem for the endoscopy procedure to be performed with 6.5cc of saline in my 9cc band. I am going to ask my PCP to perform one because I have been having stomach pains for about 2 weeks. I have had an ulcer before and it feels like it might be another ulcer. I need to know if I need an unfill BEFORE the endoscopy procedure or not.

I have experienced this on several occasions. I usually am eating out and very relaxed not worried about cooking/cleaning etc. I usually get it when I eat buttered bread or when I have desert. Although I have gotten it from eating plain chocolate. I can honestly say that food had become my few sources of pleasure before my surgery. Now loosing weight is replacing that- Thank goodness. Having a food high is NOT a good thing it leads to over eating and food obsession.