Linda Hamsing Rosen

Dear YiseIV,

I'm sorry you had to go through all that but congratulations on your weight loss. I think you can maintain it too if you exercise and eat properly.

I would also recommend some diet supplements to reduce your appetite. Google "Dr oz weight loss supplements" and you can see what he recommends.

I started taking Rasberry Ketones and L-Carnitine. Good luck to you !

Thank you; that was very helpful especially about the low carbs. Can you tell me how many calories you were eating when you were trying to lose and did you ever have problems with regurgitation (and if not, how did you avoid). It sounds like you were not hungry either?

Congratuations on your remarkable success.

You will have to cut your food into the little pieces possible to get it down. If I were you, check the complications site or struggling bandsters as some people struggle with the restriction.

^Marci,

^{Are they going to do anything about your band slip? can they keep it in or does it have to come out?}

Hi, Welcome,

I am back on line after being banded for 4 years, running into some problems (vomitting, couldn't drink), being unfilled, then very small fill. I am currently on a very small fill and want to "start over." What do you successful people actually eat? do you have problems with the Pbing or whatever? how does one avoid that. If I pb, I don't feel full, just stuck and everything gets out of whack I think.

I LOVE the Bariatric Advantage Meal Replacement powder (google it). It is actually a meal replacement rather than a Protein Shake but I am very satisfied after I drink it. Love it.

Annette, I am obviously no expert, but I have noticed that food goes down if I chop it up really fine first and then put it in my mouth (and chew some more). I think before I got into the habit of chewing alot without pre-cutting it. Also, to avoid slider foods is a decision we all have to make if we want to be healthy. Good luck to you !

Hi Liz,

I feel a lot of compassion for you because I have had similar problems with the band. The band does not work for everyone according to my surgeon and that is a fact. I feel like some of you are really coming down hard on Liz. We just need to accept that it doesn't work for everyone for a variety of reasons. End of story.

Hi,

I haven't been on this site for a while. I was banded in 2/2008, starting at 220, 5'3". My lowest weight was 180 and then I started having problems. specifically, acid reflx, very frequent vomiting and not being able to drink requiring emergency unfills two times and this happened a long time after a fill. The doctor unfilled my band completely, then several months later partially filled (because I was so hungry) and then he recommended gastric sleeve. I ended up at 210 where I have been siting for a couple of years.

Well to make a long story short, I made preparations for the sleeve but I was not comfortable with the surgery so I did not go through with it at the last minute. During the pre-op diet, I was on a liquid diet for 2 weeks and I lost weight. I thought "I can lose 30-40 pounds on my own, I know it" and I would be satisfied with that.

So here I am starting my new journey toward healthy eating and exercise habits that will be permanent and result in a moderate long term weight loss of (I'm hoping) about 30 pounds. I would rather do this than have the gastric sleeve.

The other thing I noticed is that the preop liquid diet completely "reset" my band or something. My stomach must have been swollen or something because I have not vomitted at all since I canceled the surgery. Of course, I am chopping and cuttime my food up in very tiny pieces which is probably why I failed the first time and that might be the reason.

My questions are: (1) has anyone "started over" with the band; and (2) do you think I should leave things alone or get a fill. I notice I can eat a fairly large meal. After that I am still "hungry" but if I just wait, it usually goes away and then I am not hungry for quite a while. (3) what is a normal "portion" size wtih the band. Mine are pretty large but like I said I am not hungry between meals. Thoughts?

PS: My preop barium showed no problems with the band and no reflux either.

Hi,

I have had the band since 2008. It was filled quite a bit and then unfilled slightly due to the vomting issues, etc. It never slipped or eroded. So I am having revision surgery on Tuesday and I'm wondering whether the doctor should have unfilled the band so the stomach could heal (after reading the other posts). I am very concerned. He never mentioned a higher risk with a revision or anything like that. I can't have a gastric bypasss due to a giant piece of mesh over my intestines due to a herna repair. I'm scared. what if he can't do the sleeve, partially cuts my stomach and then can't do the bypass--all this under anestheia. I am very afraid. Has anyone had a successful revision with the band filled? I have not vomited since I started the pre-op diet.

What if you have that kind of pain, but didn't get a fill yet, it's only been a week and a half since surgery, very uncomfortable right now chest pain through to my back?? Still acid reflux you think?

oh, I didn't realize you had just had surgery. I had all kinds of pains after surgery, left shoulder pain in particular. I don't think you can judge anything until several weeks after everthing has healed. You have a one week check up don't you? I would mention it to your doctor and see what he/she says just to be sure and don't deviate from the post op diet.

I am very frustrated and wonder if anyone else has had this problem. Several months after my last fill, I gradually got really really tight over a 2 day period. I was so tight, I couldn't swallow my own saliva and couldn't drink anything and was up all night. Physician's assistant took out a bunch of Fluid (2 cc) and ordered an upper GI. No band slippage (thank God-this tells me it must not be that easy to slip). A few days after the unfill, I can eat everything in sight and I do for two weeks. Gained 10 pounds !!! Today went in for a fill and he put in 1.5 cc of the 2 cc that was taken out. So now I'm tight again but not too tight. I asked the doctor why the tightness and he said it was probably swollen from throwing up too much. The band is very frustrating and it's so scary to think of what would happen if I ever needed it removed. I live in fear of that almost daily. Any advice, thoughts?

I recently got more Fluid in lap band and now i have chest pain. It hurts every time I inhale. I am still able to eat (no blockage) but my chest is consistently hurting. Does anyone know what it could be?

It may be acid reflux. Does it happen usually a few hours after eating? That's a sign of reflux. I had something similar. The band was too tight.

Explain your situation. Tell them you are going to call every day in the morning to check on cancellations. They should be able to fit you in !

Thanks for all the support. I did see the doctor today and he was incredibly compassionate. He said that there is a learning curve with the band in that you want to eat more than what you should. He told me to measure my food (4-6 ounces) and try to not regurgitate. But he didn't seem overly concerned about it because he said this is part of the learning curve. He would not fill me but he would not unfill me either. I have to check back in 4-6 weeks. Like some of you said to do, he recommended something really soft in the morning due to the tightness. His said my weight loss is good.

So today I really tried listening to my body and I stopped when I felt I had enough. lunch went down well. Hopefully, I can eliminate this problem.

Hi,

I see the doctor thursday and would appreciate your opinion prior to seeing him.

I was banded 2/27 and have lost 35 pounds. very slow but steady. I have had 3 fills. Since the last 2 I have been losing about 3/4 to 1 pound per week. However, I vomit a lot ! I thought it was because I was eating too fast, too big of bites but even though I try every time to eat better, it happens a couple of times a day. Sometimes I throw up the whole meal and other times, just part of it (like the excess that I shouldn't have eaten). Do others experience this? Once I vomit (or regurgitate), the pain goes away and things are fine. Sometimes, I can eat a lot more with no problems and so there is also little consistency with the restriction. Is this normal and why? I have no problem with liquids. I was on vacation last week and I noticed I ate more ice cream than normal--maybe because it went down easily?

Also, I have noticed a left shoulder pain, a pain in my left arm and a lot of gas--is this normal? No acid refux though.

I'm tempted to ask for an unfill but he hardly filled it last time and what if I start eating a lot again? I'm also really afraid that I have done permanent damage to my system and will need my band removed. I'm wondering if I made the right decision getting the band. Thoughts?

The requirements are BMI of 40 or above with nothing wrong or BMI of 35-39 with co-morbidities. They say that what was submitted doesn't show two co-morbidities which is ridiculous with a cholesterol of more than 300 and a fatty liver. I have not appealed yet. That's why I got obesitylaw.com involved. I noticed your BMI was 37 so you must have had co-morbidities to get approved? What were they and what evidience did you submit? Also, I didn't know they paid for surgery in Mexico

I'm sharing my experiences for those who have Blue Cross Blue Shield FEP so you don't encounter the same horrific experience I am now going through. I had my surgery "pre-approved" which was actually simply a letter staing that it was an approved procedure assuming I met medical necessity (this is all the insurance would provide). Well, after the surgery, the insurance determined that they didn't think I met medical necessity. To make a long story short, I have hired Obesitylaw.com to help with my appeal and they say I have a really good chance. In my discussions with Kelley Lindstrom she explained that the doctor's office screwed up by not designating the procedures as inpatient. If they have designated the procedure as hospital inpatient (more than 24 hours in the hospital) as opposed to outpatient (24 hours or less in the hospital), the insurance would have HAD to have made a decision as to whether to prior authorize the hospital stay. I'm assuming they would have made that authorization and I wouldn't be having these troubles now. But since I was only scheduled for 24 hours, the insurance told my doctor's office that I didn't need prior authorization. This opened the door for the insurance company to disapprove my surgery after the fact. Again, this only applies to Blue Cross FEP. I hope this helps someone.

Hi,

I was banded on 2/27/08. I had a question about band size. Why is there such a difference in band sizes (4 cc, 10cc ?). I looked at my doctors notes recently and I believe it said I had a 15 cc band? Have you ever heard of that? Why do some people get a small one and others a large one. I started at 218 and now weigh 188.

Hi,

I wish you the best in your decision making process. I was banded 2/27/08 and have lost 30 pounds (218 to 188). I feel great. The beginning was very tough before you get the necessary fills to feel restricted and even now I know I get a lot more hungry than my bypass friends. In my opinion, you have to work harder with the band. I'm pretty happy with my choice considering that I didn't have that much to lose (relatively speaking) and I have two little kids so I wanted NO death risk.

If I was anywhere near 300 pounds, however (and I don't know if you are), I would most definitely do the bypass. Don't even waste your time on the band !!! The bypass is the way to go for large amounts of weight loss. This is just my opinion. My sister in law had the bypass and went from 275 to 115 then up to 140 where she has stayed permanent for the last 4 years. She never exercises but she is good about staying away from sweets. All in all, I think she has had to suffer less than what I am going through to lose less weight. If I had to do it all over again, I might have had the bypass if I hadn't been so do gone scared of it.

Also, I don't know if this is true but I have heard that people who regain their weight on the bypass can have it done again. I think they can go back in there an tighten everything up (but ask your doctor). Remember with the band something can go wrong and you may need to have it taken out (my doctor says rare but it DOES happen).

Good luck to ya

Hi,

I received my third fill yesterday. I was a little disappointed that he only gave me 0.4. He said because I still had regurgitation episodes and a little reflux and my weight loss was 8 pounds in 10 weeks (okay, not great). Anyway, My total now is 4.9 in a 15 cc band. I have lost a total of 30 pounds (started 218).

My question is why the liquids/mushies for so long and do you guys follow this? Yesteday, I was on Clear liquids although I sneaked a little Peanut Butter when making my kid a sandwich. Today I'm supposed to be on full liquids. I haven't cheated yet but I'm hungry !!! Tomorrow is blended foods, next day mushies and finally on the 5th day, regular foods.

Do others find this hard to follow? Why is this necessary? Will something bad happen if I don't follow. I got only a small fill.

I had fatty liver disease. quite severe. I am down 30 pounds and they want a blood test which I have scheduled for tomorrow. I'll let you know the results (if it's improved)

Can you tell me what a pouch dilation is? I have never heard of that. As I said, I felt pain after a vomiting session. It did go away upon doing liquids for a day. However, yesterday I ate too much and it came back a little so I'm on liquids again. I go see the doctor on Monday. I still feel that I need a fill because I can eat a lot but then what is this pain? I hope it's not anything serious--do you think? I'm hoping giving it a rest and eating smaller portions will help.

Of course, I'm beating myself up a little but on the other hand, if we all did it perfectly we wouldn't need the band to begin with. I have a problem with overeating.

I doubt if your band slipped. I had pain like that a couple of times. Go on liquids for 24 hours if you can. or very soft foods and don't eat too much. Give it a rest. Call your doctor if it doesn't get better and inform him/her about it at the next visit

during the orientation done by my surgeon he said he had a patient who had her band removed because she couldn't live with the eating restrictions. I'm sure it's happened.