Ilene62

I had surgery on a Monday and felt like I could have returned to work on Wednesday, but my doctor told me to take a week off, so I did. Saw him that Friday and was back at work on Monday. However, I have a desk job, so it was pretty easy.

Genea: Good luck with your surgery. Stay strong and postiive. To all you over 60 bandsters, the best to you in 2008.

Chanda, according to my nurse practictioner, you're an average loser, one to two pounds a week, but more realistically one pound a week. Many of us in this thread have talked about how many fills are needed and the difficulty in reaching restriction. Does anyone out there know why the VG band is preferred by so many surgeons?

Kat817: It's not hooey. You've expressed perfectly what I've been trying to do. Everyday I learn something new about how to live with the band, what I can and cannot eat, how to chew(!). I make good food choices, which includes an occasional cookie (but just one cookie). I'm losing about a pound a week and I'm going with that.

Four fills over five months, 6.5 cc in all. Finally feel restriction. Hope this leads to some real weight loss.

Please don't use the word failure. If losing weight was easy, we wouldn't be in this blog. I, too, have been disappointed with my weight loss, banded five months ago, four fills and only lost 21 pounds. However, my nurse practioner thinks I'm doing very well. She had a heart to heart with me and reminded me that lap band is for slow and steady weight loss. The average is 1 to 2 pounds a week, and many people don't do that. That's the reality. You're not a failure if you're not losing more rapidly. Also, it takes months to get the adjustments and to adjust yourself to the band. Learning to eat slowly, taking small bites, recognizing a sense of fullness, not forcing more food than you should--these are all things you have to learn. Bottom line: Things don't happen overnight. It's a process.

Hi FoxyGramma: Just wanted to let you know that we're all still out there. I've been busy and a little fed up (no pun intended) because my nurse practitioner who does the fills cancelled my monthly appointment (again) and it'll be another two weeks before I see her again, and I need another fill! After five months, I'm still not adjusted, still struggling with too little restriction. Whew! Glad I got that off my chest. Have a wonderful and good-food-choices Thanksgiving everyone.

JudyFae: You're to be commended on the 35 lb loss. Thirty-five pounds since April with no fluid in the band is excellent. The average weight loss with banding and adjustments (fills) is one to two pounds a week. You've done that without any fills. Do you know what kind of band you have? The newer VG bands are much larger than the old ones and without any restriction in the band you can pretty much eat anything you want, as long as you chew well. If you're concerned about your weight loss, you should speak to your surgeon and find out about getting an adjustment.

Frozen fruit pops were on my liquid diet list and I found them very refreshing as I, too, was thirsty a lot.

Carol: Be patient. It will happen. You've already done the hard part--you did the research and made the decision. My journey took almost two years. First my insurance company turned me down. Then while I was preparing to appeal, I was diagnosed with early stage breast cancer (I'm fine now). So the journey was interrupted again while I was treated for that. But all along, all my doctors said to keep going. It will happen. And it did. And my insurance company paid! Banded June 20. I'm still getting adjusted and getting use to a new way of life. But it did happen. And it will happen for you. Good luck.

Although some people have referred to NYU as a bariatric mill, it has been designated a center for excellence for this type of surgery, which is where you want to have the work done. I have spoken to several people who went to Dr. Ren and all of them said she was excellent.

Don't give up on the surgery because of your arthritis. The surgery will help you lose weight which will relieve your arthritis. There are a lot of meds you can take for pain that are okay after lap band. I take tylenol. It's not great, but it helps. And it comes in liquid form, but I just cut tablets in two and take with water. No problem. Actually, there are many medications that come in liquid or chewable form. Ask your surgeon about what arthritis meds are okay and then discuss them with your arthritis doctor. Many people on NSAIDS have had lap band. There is definitely a solution to your problem.

Do not, repeat, no not give up! Insurance companies make it difficult on purpose: They want you to give up. As far as your patient advocate, she's not much of an advocate if she doesn't return your calls. If necessary, get another surgeon. Or tell your surgeon that you will get another surgeon if the advocate doesn't call you back. I started with one group that gave lip service to advocacy. The nurse practitioner never returned my calls. When she finally did leave a message for me and I got her on the phone (after several attempts), she forgot why she called me! My insurance company turned me down. Turns out the bariatric group I was working with gave me wrong information about what my insurance company required. I went to anther surgeon. He had a support network, including a fabulous woman (Mary) who not only knew all about insurance, but acted as liaison with my carrier. I learned what I had to do. Mary put the clinical record together, submitted it to my carrier and I was approved. I lost a lot of time in the process but it was worth it. Moral: This surgery is a major money maker. There are plenty of eager, good bariatric surgeons out there. If you're not pleased with the services of the one you're seeing, go to another one. The hardest part is making the decision for surgery. Don't let a bunch of dopes prevent you from doing it. You deserve to do this.

You don't hear a lot about ten years post lap band because the procedure was only approved for use in the USA in 2001. It's been used successfully in Europe, Australia and elsewhere for much longer.

I see Dory Ferraro for monthly follow up and fills. She's terrific, but she's only in NYC once a month. She has a practice out at Long Island Jewish Hosp. and Lawrence Hospital in Bronxville. Lawrence isn't too difficult to get to without a car. Metro North stops a few blocks from the hospital.

I use it every morning in my coffee. No problem. If you're making good food choices, a dollop or two of this won't make a difference. Enjoy.

I've had a similar problem. My fill doctor is a nurse practitioner and she's also very conservative. My first fill was only 2 cc's. I then didn't see her for seven weeks. This was not on purpose. It was her busy schedule. In that seven weeks, I had no restriction whatsoever, was hungry all the time and was seriously questioning why I had the surgery. I gained three pounds and was very unhappy. When I saw her again, she said that "they" were learning more and more about the VG band and realize that they have to be more aggressive with the fills, so I got 3 cc's that visit and for the first time since the surgery in June I have a sense of some restriction. I'm now learing to eat a whole new way, even smaller bites and chewing, chewing, chewing. I will need more restriction because I can still eat way too much food in one sitting, but I'm learing what foods to avoid and I finally feel as though progress is being made. My only advise to others with the VG band is to insist on bigger fills, at least at the beginning. You can fine tune the fills after you reach some restriction.

Hang in there. It's not that bad. I found that I was less hungry after a while. Just think of why you're doing it. It's worth the effort.

I can't offer any helpful advise since I'm pretty much in the same position as you are. One fill, nada restriction. And I have to wait until the nurse practitioner is in my area again for the next fill. I finally got an appointment for two weeks hence, seven weeks after the first fill! What I'm really annoyed about is that I found out that I was getting the "special" VG band about an hour before surgery and no one told me the difference between the VG and the traditional band, so I had to go through all this frustration until I found this VG thread and learned that I was not alone. I lost weight during the first three weeks, probably because there was internal swelling from the surgery that acted like natural restriction. Now it's a struggle every day not to overeat.

I was banded in June. I still don't have good restriction, but I too have noticed burping, something I didn't do before banding. The burbing seems to be a message to me that I'm full. I stop eating when I start burping. So far, I've neither thrown up or slimed.

Wow, even a car accident isn't going to stop you. It was meant to be. The best of luck. I think the worse is behind you.

Thanks for your post. It has put things into perspective for me and I'm going to be more patient with the process.

We're all still here. Thanks for asking. Since I'm still getting adjustments and haven't achieved restriction yet, I'm not jumping for joy, but I'm feeling good and remain optimistic.

I envy you. I'm two months post surgery, one fill and awaiting another, and I still don't feel like I had the procedure done. No restriction. None. If I didn't force myself to stop eating while still hungry, I'd down half a cow.

I'm really glad I read your posts because I have had one fill so far (2 cc) and have no restriction. After an intial weight loss, I haven't lost anything. I'm fighting every day not to overeat so at least I don't gain. I thought there was something wrong with either me or the band. Now I know that others have a problem with the VG. Obviously, I'll need more fills. I'm annoyed that neither my doctor nor the nurse practitioner (who does the fills) told me why the VG band was used and that it would require a lot of adjustments to get restriction. Since the nurse is only in my area about once a month, it's going to take a long time for me to get a good adjustment (the sweet spot) unless I can travel to her, which will be a pain in the butt.