betrthnever

Hi ladies, I have to say that I'm FINALLY having my much needed, long awaited hysterectomy. Should of had this done years ago - I have a prolapsed uterus with little to no pelvic floor and have been living with it coming out of my vagina (or the bulge, anyway) for years. And its getting worse. Find out that this runs in my family and most likely made worse by my weight. Luckily I really don't have painful periods but they have been getting funky lately probably due to the fact that I'm 41 and perimenopause has begun. So I'm not shedding tears over this. What I'm concerned about it my band, or rather, my fill. 9 months after band surgery I'm finally close to my perfect spot - I found out that the person giving me my fills never actually gave me fills, or rather she missed the port. For the first time I found out what it was like to have half-way decent restriction and I'm afraid to lose it. The NP at the band Drs says I don't have to have it unfilled but that thought is scary, too. My friend suggests having only a partial unfil. Anyone have surgery while banded and what was your experience? Thanks for your help!!!

I wonder if it means that they didn't get the port. Happened to me several fills ago only to find out later and I had much less in my band then I thought I did. At any rate I'm at 5.25CC now and at times it seems too tight.

Hi Emily'sDad, I think its natural to lose some restriction. Don't know when you were banded but sometimes it takes a while to get to a decent restriction point. But I was sitting at over 8ccs (or so I thought) and had so very little restriction. I have more restriction now so I think I had much less before she pulled it out and I DON'T think there's a leak. If you think there's a problem, tho, I'd ask them to take it one step further and take out the fluid (if you've been banded for a while). If you just got banded give yourself some time. However, if you've been banded for a while I'd insist on action. I think most Drs go with the flow and won't act unless we ask them to. The NP said that with my effort and at where I was suppose to be with the fills it didn't make sense that I wasn't really losing much. Good luck!

I found out on Friday that I haven't been given my fills properly (that the needles weren't going into the port) OR I have a leak. I'm leaning more towards the no fills 'cause I rarely had any restriction after a fill - no burping, no slowing down. I was lead to believe that I had 8.25 CC in a 9CC Realize band. I've lost about 47 pounds since I was banded in Feb and have never really had any, or little, restriction. It happened like this: At my appt on Friday I asked the NP how is it possible for me to be a 8.25CC and still be able to eat a good sized steak, a cup of veggies and a banana with no problems (now since my last appt I lost 4.5 pounds of fat and gained 2 pounds of muscle so I wasn't overeating). The NP said that there must be something wrong with the band. Not telling me what was going on, the NP withdrew all of the liquid and told me later that I didn't have as much Fluid as first thought (tho he said he couldn't remember how much fluid she pulled out). I'm now at 5.25CC and have NEVER had ANYWHERE NEAR this type of restriction! Lots of the swelling has gone down and I'm not having a problem eating, wish I can hold onto that real tight feelling longer. However, if i get really lose I'll go in again real soon for a fill. I angry finding this out, but my wonderful 11 year old son said, "mom, you should be proud of yourself you've lost most of your weight by yourself!" Isn't that wonderful? I finally feel like I'm back on track.

The show probably wouldn't want to do that if they've gained it back!! Wouldn't make them look so great. BTW Donna113, you look like your avatar!

So how do you know you just need a fill? Or, you just like carbs. I, too, eat way too many carbs but I think that is head eating not anything to do with my band.

I'm a recent watcher. I have a friend I ride the bus with and for years he's been talking about the show. Had no interest in it in the past, scoffed at it, even thought the idea was disgusting. But this season I decided to start and I really enjoy it. I even like Jillian and realize that I need a trainer like that. Yes, they are subjugating themselves but they chose to do so. THEY did. And obviously it works! And it works quickly. Good or not? Don't know

Just you see your Dr. Could be signs of other problems

Hi Akane, my heart goes out to you. Just this morning I suddenly realized that everything I've worked towards with this surgery - the way I eat, the no drinking, no snacking etc., has been slippling through my fingers. Almost like pre-band days. And I feel like I'm spinning out of control. I haven't lost anything in 3 months (but haven't gained which is good).

Hi, IB prohen taken in any form (or way, including via the rectum) messes with the lining of the stomach, supposingly increasing the chances of band erosion/slippage. And my Dr's NP doesn't incourage it. HOWEVER, taken every once it a while it doesn't hurt. My dr says its kind of a matter of the lesser of all the evils - like if you have a migrane which you know will get better if take it then maybe its wise to do so). But I wouldn't take it daily. BTW, the NP says in all the years she's been working in the bariatric field she's never once see an issue with IB usuage. Makes me think.

NewSho, thanks so much for the support. I'm 7 months out and have lost 43 pounds (ok, not so slow but I feel like it is) and need to jump start things. Has anyone else noticed that some of the bad habits try to come back after 6 months? I've been fighting this and so haven't been losing. My battle with sugar seems like a losing one at times but I keep going. Thanks!

Do you have the stats for this cake? Calories, fat grams, etc? It looks interesting...

HI Jacole, how are you? It's me. You're at 9cc??? Wow. I'm at 8.25. I still feel like I need a little more restriction since I can still eat bread, etc. How's the eating like? You should call the office if you aren't feeling well..

Yes, you'll feel your port, your feel the effects of restriction like tightness and mabye being stuck every once in a while. I feel normal in every way. I don't (and never have) see these additional physical feelings I've never had before as anything to be fearful of. But that's what you're signing up for, isn't it?

Thanks, everyone. I put this question out 'cause I really did want to hear what people thought of this issue.

Manatee, I'll have to read your site when I get home can't do it here at work (work has it blocked) but it sounds VERY interesting. DH & I have friends who were business owners, alcoholics & out of shape (suppose that would be a given with the alcohol). They both went through AA & saved their marriage. Couple of years later she found out she had breast cancer & so decided to change her way of living to save her life by becoming at first a vegetarian & then later a vegan. She lost 20 pounds & now plays soccer 4x a week +, sometimes several times a day. She's in great shape. For years her husband, tho, didn't go along with her eating program. I started to wonder if their differences in lifestyles was going to cause problems. Slowly he came around, started to adapt a vegetarian way of eating & is now much thinner & playing soccer too. The kicker is through all of this they are still together & by all appearances, happy SO why is this relevant to my question? IMO we, as individuals in a marriage, still need to make decisions for ourselves for our own growth no matter that we are married. Sometimes our decisions have a negative effect on our marriages. Our friends priority was their relationship. They tell us that if they hadn't gone through AA they wouldn't be together. But they were able to stay together even tho they were on their own paths of growth.

Only 28 years? Wow, that's great.

Hi Gail, thanks so much for your reply! Your post is very insightful. My DH & I never have sat down to talk about how WLS will change our relationship. And we are both quite personable and talking comes easy to us.

HI all, I've read so much about how the divorce rate goes up after having weight loss surgery, esp within the first 3 years. And with divorce statistics as high as what they are already it makes me wonder. I didn't want to attempt a survey but I am aching to ask those who have been banded for a while if you have experienced this - divorce after being banded & what do you think the reasons were that caused the divorce. OR did the surgery help your relationship with your SO? I've been banded for 6 months now (wow, time flies!) & in some ways I feel closer to my DH then ever but it hasn't always been so. And those reasons haven't gone away but are lurking in the background still to this day. In no way do I want to divorce & for years I've worked on keeping the issues we have from completely interfering in our lives. Sometimes it seems like so much work. There was a point about 5 years ago (I've been married for 13 years now) where I lost 50 pounds on WW and was feeling great. I LIKED the attention I was receiving from others & beamed at compliments. I didn't want to recognize the issues I had with my DH, some of them I believe were (are) compatibility issues. I rekindled a misguided affair of the heart with someone I knew in childhood. It was all over the phone & through letters & lasted a short time but it caused my DH much pain. Needless to say I'm very weary about how I feel about my now shrinking self. It doesn't interest me much when a man tells me that I look good. In fact I shrink from that attention 'cause I look at it in light of my previous experience. I would like to hear from those of you with first hand experience with issues of the heart resulting from WLS/lap band. Did the surgery cause problems or actually help your relationship? Thanks for sharing your stories.

Wow, to have that kind of restriction on just 1 fill!!! I have 8.25cc in a 9 cc band and I can STILL eat anything, of course much less. I have no problems with getting stuck or being in pain. Just got .25cc this week so I'll have to see what happens. I can feel restriction but not that "sweet spot" stuff people talk about. I think I might just have to settle for the "semi-sweet spot":huh2:

Congrats! The pre-banding journey is ending and the banding journey is just begining. That's what I feel like having the band is - its a journey to discover how to to live with it, how to lose with it, waiting for fills and seeing what works and how you can work it. And its not a quick journey, at least for me it hasn't been. But its been a good one. Good luck!

My Dr says tightness in the am depends on how much water you retain over night. That the tightness is from the extra water. Same goes with PMSing - the more water you hold the more tightness you have.

Juliegeraci, is he overweight himself?

Could it have anything to do with dehydration? Or maybe an allergy to the band?

Hi Luluc, how long after you eat(ate) were you hungry? Just curious, as my Dr says one of the main reasons is to keep the food in the pouch longer. Also, Water dilutes the digestive juices making it harder for the body to utilize all of the nutrients in the food.