Jachut

Having a tt end of march. My port currently looks like a golf ball as im pretty slim and the ps said he could swap the port over for me. However, when i pull my skin tight, it actually shows less, so i think a low profile one will make a big difference. My concern is i dont want to go through th whole rigmarole of unfilling again! I had to pitch a fit to get refilled coz the doc at my surgeons practice wouldnt fill me coz im not overweight - yet she told me before she unfilled me to come back 3 weeks afte my cancer surgry and shed fill me again, that everyone whos unfilled gains (i didnt). So im goingto see my actual surgeon to make sure I wont get stuck for six months without fill again!

My stomach burns when im hungry. I do get regular hunger pains too, but often times just a burning feeling. I woud worry but ive been banded six years and its always done this. Im sure if anything was wrong it would have come to. Head by now.

Well in all truth, its likely nothing is wrong with mine, they just believe that its settled a bit with the complete unfill. Also, whilst unfilled i lost 20 lb and got extremely thin. I havent regained aLl of that. My surgeon believes that it may be possible that its simply a bit too big for me now. Its an old 9.75cm 4 cc band with 3.8 in it. I have restriction that works, just way less than i previously would have hadvat this fill level. So id say im fairly long serving at six years and a couple of months. Never had a problem other than having to unfill for a surgery. Lost slowly and steadily and never regained any (other than some of the weight i lost while having cancer treatment) I know Jack has had his even longer but havent seen him here for ages.

Huge congratulations! Being immediately post rectal cancer your news brings tears to my eyes. You deserve such happiness after what has obviously been a few tough years. xxx

Im likely going to have to unfill my band - again, sigh- as im having surgical scar revision/incisional hernia repair/tummy tuck and the plastic surgeon said why wouldnt you just swap over to a Low profile port while youre at it? So ill check it out with a barium x ray before then, seeing my surgeon next week. If the band needed replacing i would do it again in a heartbeat. Mine has given me six years, and id still rather hav a band. Im already missing enough of my digestive system as it is. But if it were a necessity, i wouldnt fear the sleeve.

I agree with b52, eat what you want is misundrstood. Ive been vocal about being a non dieter because i do believe that unless we get in touch with our bodies, we will never be cured of obesity. But theres reality too. I have the same probkem with sweets. I have to accept that i am just broken in that regard. Like elcee, i didnt need to give up carbs to lose but I have to stay away from sweet carbs, once i start i cant stop and if its been a few good days without them, then it can even be the start of a days long binge. Other than that i do eat what i want. Truly if I want a Big Mac I have it and those wants are a lot more appropriate that my sweet cravings. Are you the same? Can you stop when it comes to fast food,salty or savoury treats in a way that you cant with sugar? I dont do well with rules or pans, they only lead to deprivation. But I do ban sweets.

I tend to buy organic mueslis, mostly raw ones. Toasted muesli is honestly food of the gods, but sigh, its usually covered in butter and honey before being toasted. I have a nifty container designed to separate cereal and milk for transport, i reverse it and fill the bottom with greek yogurt, the top with muesli. My fave lunch to take to work ever.

I sure wouldnt. I had to unfill my band for a surgery and it has never been the same since. Thats a big risk just to eat a little more than usual. And theres nothing i hate more than coming home from a holiday boated and fat. These days i make it a point to take my running shoes, use the extra time to get more exercise and enjoy lots of light meals - salads and barbecues and such. That way you go home tanned, relaxed and feeling better than you did when you left.

Same here- especally anything like sushi that tends to fall apart because you shove it in quickly to avoid a lap full of rice. I can eat a sandwich, and at times a whole one, but ive never liked sandwiches, too many years of school lunches, i guess. Wraps are much harder, the dense chewy texture does me in.

The fact is if youre going to have excess skin, you already have it - the damage is done as you get bigger, not asvyou get smaller. If those collagen bonds are broken, they cant be fixed. How resilient your skin is depends on age and genetics. No amount of moisturising, exercising, fast or slow weightloss, hydration etc is going to prevent loose skin. Its not encouraging news, but you just have to face it if and when it becomes apparent.

Six and a bit years

Have you had a fill in recent years? I would start by going back to visit your surgeon. I know how you feel, at six years out, it is not anywhere near as easybto stay on the straight and narrow. I too dropped to 130 during a period of illness (five feet ten) and ive gained that back, im 140 again, fine but im working REALLY hard to stay here!"

Part of why i got banded ws chronic bursitis in my right heel, i had a cortisone shot and the bursar drained, got anded, lost 17 kgs within the three months the cortisone ws expected to provide relief for and never ever hada problem again.

I always do picolax and colonlytely which is liquid. Theres no reason why you MUST take the pills, just ask to do a liquid prep instead.

I take a different approach - I eat whatever i want. However, the band does its work in that I cant truly eat so much of everything on a consistent basis that I gain weight. But I can eat a "normal" size plate of food at times, my band is almost full and doesnt provide anything LIKE the restriction others talk about. It used to be better, but since I had to have it unfilled for cancer surgery, I've never got it back. I lost a bit of weight during the time it was unfilled. My surgeon thinks - as its been checked out and is all fine - that I've simply lost SO much weight that the band doesnt really fit me anymore. I've gotten down to a BMI of 20, and I"m a tall, but fine boned sort of body type, I didnt have a big, muscular stomach to begin with, and unfortunately, unlike a belt, we cant knock another few holes in it with a nail and hammer. That said, I'm extremely glad I put in the work that I did, because I dont really need more restriction than what I have. I decided I was never ever going to diet again, I was going to ditch the good food/bad food mentality. Its taken me years, but I have done it to a large extent. I do relapse, under the stress of cancer I was back to really restrictive eating and weighing 50 times a day, getting stressed because I'd vary by 100 grams! Basically, once banded and through the post op diet phase, I gave myself permission to eat whatever I wanted. But my question was "I can have it if I want it, but do I really want it". Over time, I came to recognise how often eating was a split second reaction and somethign was down the gob before you even realise it! the band helped me to eat slowly and savour what I was eating and be satisfied with much less. It took a while, but sooner or later, you recognise when you really truly want something. Other times, you want it anyway and override your body and eat it anyway, but basicaly, I've tipped the balance from stuffing whatever I want down my face and eatintg a bit more mindfully, and the band has taken care of the quantity. Of course you have to eat with some idea of nutrition (or whichever theory you're into) and if you're really listening, you dont truly want cake for every meal, but I absolutely do NOT believe that counting points, calories, Protein etc is right for me. It makes me obsessed and confuses me about when I am truly hungry, what I truly want. But my real secret? Running. I dont go and pissfart around walking on the treadmill and pushing weights machines around. I bust a gut running or spinning. Nearly every single day for an hour. No zumba, no wii fit for me. When I get my arse into gear to do strength training, I like doing stuff like hoiking a sandbag, or bootcamp, not lifting girlie dumbells. I've got a really hardnosed attitude to exercise and its stood me in very good stead. I think whatever you choose (and its what you enjoy, not what I say of course) you put 150% into it, hold nothing back and absolutely wreck yourself. Exercise is all about intensity.

Yes! Milk can make me really queasy, so can strong coffee. And often in the mornings I get vague nausea. Nothing troublesome, just really mild. Im more than six years out and it has always been like this.

Nope. Im a sweater and a gasper. Although sometimes i sing. Im sure it comes out in breathless sputters but i cant hear it, lol. If Im going to make the time to exercise, Im not going to waste it staying in my "fat burning zone". There are much more pleasant things to do at that pace, such as an early evening walk with my hubby or swimming in the surf with my kids.

Ive got miniscule little boobies now after having fairly large ones. Bit ive never had large breasts out of proportion to my size if that makes sense. When my body was ginormous so were my tits. Im not large breasted in that sense. I went from a 20E to a 12C (32C) and i like it that way. Theyre sad empty sacks and I cant create enticing cleavage with a push up bra (they just crinkle ling the stretch marks and wobble like puddles of water) but theyre easily hidden even in a triangle bikini top. Now that Im getting a tummy tuck at rock bottom price (its medically recommended by my bowel surgeon to fix surgical problems), i will probably do something about them in a year or so. I know i need a lift and implants to fill out the upper part but i wont be going bigger, just better shaped. Its so much easier to dress better with small boobs and its never been my scene to show a lot of breast or cleavage.

Its the darn IV fluids the fill you with. My lapband surgery i wasnt on an Iv for more than a few hours but after both my bowel surgeries it was days. I could even bend my fingers and toes, i was getting so impatient with the nurses, i w ready to rip the datn thong out. I too was heavier when i got home despite going without food for days and then followong a shorter clears to liquids to solids routine. Took two weeks to pee it all out.

Trust your doctor all you like but your body "rejecting" the band would not cause infection, infection starts because of bacteria, through poor surgical technique, poor aftercare, or a problem that was already in your body such as your gallbladder. The word rejection has been bandied about here at times, but ive never truly heard of it. A reaction to the band would be an allergic reaction - rare as silicon is inert in the body - not a spontaneous infection. Infection is always a risk with surgery, it happens to the very best surgeons and is just one of those things. But if he's asking yoy to believe your body rejected the band but hey, lets try again in a few months and maybe it wont happen, he's yanking your chain. Noone here can say hes to blame as **** happens, but without doubt hes not being straight with you about what did happen. And the fact that he wants to try again indicates pretty strongly that the cause is within his control.

Why no nuts? Theyre a superfood. Personally, id take cold foods like yogurt, nuts, cheese and crackers, a salad Id premaid at home or Soup (in a Thermos so you dont even have to heat it). Protein bars taste like candles to me and whilst i dont think the odd one will hurt, i cant imagine eating fake food like that regularly. But you didnt ask that, i know, so in answer to your question, no i dont think 320 is too much for a meal - but is the bar a meal? Does it get yoy through? Its way too much for a snack.

I notice that when i practice in the mirror, lol. I am just a bit afraid that im going to look like a 20 year o,d from the front and a 90 year old from behind.

I'd visit your doc and ask for some general bloodwork to be done. I know that after six years of restricted diet - and I eat from all food groups with my band but just small amounts - and granted, cancer surgery and chemo, my Iron levels are rock bottom. And I feel like they are! But you need to know if you've got deficiences so you can treat them specifically, not just go throwing money at every supplement under the sun.

At 5ft 10, I had a goal in mind of 154lb which I knew was a pretty good weight for my height and for me, not overly skinny (I'm fairly fine boned). My surgeon never even set a goal, he's a great guy and doesnt give all those rules and cautions and setting of "realistic" goals. The nutritionist I had to see the once said I should set something more realistic. Stuff her. I not only reached 154lb, I've settled at 140.

I think its wise to get general bloodwork done to check your iron levels, vit d, etc before you get into any complicated routines. I know for sure that i suffer iron depletion, so i take a heavy duty iron supplement. I take a multi, a green superfood drink ( yuck yuck yuck) becausevi just dont eat all the fruit and veg i should, calcium and fish oil. Along with my hrt and low dose adpirin, its quite a routine, but following cancer, ive had a big wake up call about the effects of years of restricted diet. Not thatbim saying it caused cancer but thatbive discovered all of these nutritional problems in my body and am struggling to feel well and energetic after chemo.