bkchick88

I received my lapband in December and have had a fill every two weeks since then. I am now up to 7.2 cc and just barely starting to feel like I'm in the green zone. It's been extremely frustrating, but I'm not giving up. I can finally go about four to five hours in between meals and not feel hungry. Just like you, even when I'm not hungry, I get brain hungry and still want to eat. I'm still working on that. I felt exactly how you did with the liquid diet. It was hell and I was so tired of sweet food, such as Jello. I've only lost 9 pounds since December, so you can imagine how frustrated and discouraged I've been. The bright side of this is that I've kept that 9 pounds off and haven't gained anything since Christmas, which is a flippin' miracle in itself. Today was a really good day as far as keeping my calories down, so I'm feeling happy right now. I think this latest fill might actually have me at a good spot.

Best wishes to you in your lapband journey.

Where is your port fill location?, I am told mine will be in the middle of stomach under my breast bone?

Mine is on the right side, four inches to the right of my belly button and up an inch from that.

You're definitely too tight. For the past two fills, I've received 2 cc of Fluid, but with my last fill I couldn't stop burping when I drank a Jamba juice and some of the drink would come back up with the burp. (Nice....TMI...) Then I would hiccup. I went right back to the doctor that afternoon and explained what was happening. The nurse said all of those were bad signs. I'm learning how much is too much of a fill, but today I'm wondering if she took too much out when I went back. What everyone has already said is correct: 2 cc is a big fill and even 1 cc can make a huge difference. Heck, even 1/2 cc can make a difference. I'm learning the perfect fill is a lot like a butterfly I can't quite reach on my tippy-toes. Good luck. We'll get there.

My doc didn't require me to take any Fluid out and I had my left knee replaced on 10/20/14 and my right knee done on 12/22/14 and had an appendectomy on 12/14/14. I lost 15 lbs after my surgeries but I think much of it was muscle loss.

I'll talk to my knee surgeon and tell him I'm banded and see what he thinks. If he thinks I'll be okay, I don't want to mess with my Fluid level. I'm at 6.65 cc as of today. The knee surgery scares the crap out of me, but it's got to be done. I'm not sure I would be brave enough to have the other knee done two months later like you did. Yikes!

bkchick88,

Give it time. I was banded 11/28/11 and had only lost 12 lbs till late March of 2012 with 2 fills. I had a consult with my nutritionist and she made a few adjustments in what I was eating. I was filled at the same time for the 3rd time and suddenly fat started to melt off.

I attribute my weight loss to eating the right foods and exercise, lots of exercise. Talk to your nut!

tmf

Thank you, 2muchfun.

I'm going for my 5th fill today. I have problems exercising because of my knees. I'm scheduled for a total knee replacement on July 1st. Unfortunately, I'll have to have everything taken out of my band for the surgery, so I'll have to start over. At least I'll know how far my band will have to be filled the next time around. Maybe today's fill will be exactly what I need and I'll have the next three months to peel some weight off. I'm certainly ready to see some results. I don't have a nut, so I'm figuring this out on my own.

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So when is this band going to kick in and start working......???? Sigh.

I was banded this past December and have gone in for fills every two weeks since then and still haven't seen much weight loss. I'm feeling discouraged because I'm at 6.25 cc of Fluid in my band, and I'm still not feeling enough of a restriction. I know I'm close, but I can't imagine even losing 20 pounds, let alone 300. I've only lost about 8 pounds so far and still can eat a pretty decent portion, although it's significantly smaller than what I used to eat. I think this is due to my plication and not my band.

I had one moment when a piece of broccoli felt like it wasn't going down the right way, but so far all food goes down without any problems. I don't eat as much as I used to and I've noticed that drinking Water will sometimes fill me up, but I'm still not seeing much as far as weight loss. It's discouraging. I'll go in for another fill in two weeks and hope that another 1/2 cc or so tightens things up. I think it's so strange that it takes some people so much more Fluid to have their lapband kick in while others, like me, have to go back for 5-6 months for fills.

Sometimes I question if this band really works?? I'm not giving up, just waiting to find the illusive green zone. Thanks for sharing your story. You're an inspiration.

I'm at 2.5 cc and thinking the green zone is some distant land I've heard about but can never get to. Congratulations on finally finding it. I'm still hopeful it can happen for me someday soon.

Good to share your experience with others on this topic. Even married people like myself can relate to feeling self-conscious about our bodies with our partner/husband. I've been all over the place on the scale with my weight and have often wondered what my husband thinks when we're alone. I've come to the same conclusion you have; those imperfections we focus on fade away and don't seem to matter as much as we think they do. I'm not naive enough to think that there isn't a big portion of the population where it would matter, but not with all men. If only perfect people made love or fell in love, there would be a lot less love goin' on.

I had my lap Band surgery in December, my first fill five weeks later, and my second fill this past Thursday. I had no problems with my first fill, except for disappointment that I didn't feel any restrictions. With my second fill, however, I've had burning and pain at the port site. Is this normal? It hurts to bend or even touch the area around my port. It feels almost like it did two weeks post-op. Has anyone else had this problem and should I be concerned? I still don't feel any restrictions with my band yet, even with 2 1/2 cc of Fluid.

I've only had one fill and most days I wonder if I even have a band. My band only has 1.0 cc of Fluid in it. What I was told after my first fill is that the stomach area is swollen and irritated for a few days after a fill and that you'll feel very tight for a while. Then it loosens up after that and gets more comfortable. I go in for my second fill this week and hope to feel a little more satisfied between meals. I can only go about three hours and I'm really ready to eat! They're really going slow with me and so my weight loss is going slow too. I'm thrilled to have lost what I have, but I have so far to go I wish things would speed up.

Really chasingadream? First fill after 18 months??? Have you had restriction all that time?

I wondered the same thing. How do you lose 90 pounds without having one fill? Maybe the doctor did a fill during surgery.

Thank you for your reply, louluch. I guess I'm not entirely abnormal. My worry is that I have the stomach of the Jolly Green Giant and nothing will limit my stomach from food intake. I really want this band to work!

I'm about five weeks out post-op and just had my first fill two days ago. The nurse put in 1.0 cc (I think cc is what they measure it by??), but I don't feel any different than I did before the fill. I was hoping I'd get more of a full sensation that lasted longer between meals, but I feel....normal. I'm hungry after about three hours and really ready to eat! I do eat a lot less than I did before by about a little more than half. How much Fluid does everyone usually get in their band before it really kicks in?

Now I want to try a Premier bar and a Quest bar to see what they're like.

That pain around your port is pretty normal and it's going to last a while. I'm a month post-op and it still pulls and is tender when I bend over to pick something up. The pain is nothing like it was the first week or two after surgery and is much more tolerable, but I think there's always going to be a little discomfort around the port site.

We're in season 5 of The Good Wife. We never watched it when it was on TV and just discovered it. We started with the first season a few months ago and are just about caught up. We also like to watch Downton Abbey and Sherlock Holmes.

Totally normal. This will pass along with impressive gas. The first 10 days are a slow process, but then you'll see big improvements. Hang in there and take it easy. The discomfort will go away.

Gowalking, you are such an inspiration! I'm just starting out on this journey and I hope to be just as successful as you. You give me hope. I'm so happy for you and the new life you've found. What a beautiful story for all of us to read.

VSGAnn 2014 writes: "I'm sorry, but this is 2014. Corset-training? No freakin' way."

VSGAnn2014, Hilarious!! I agree, waist "training" sounds like torture. I think I'll pass.

I just went to my doctor today for my two week post-op appt. He won't allow me my first fill until I'm at week 5, so I have three weeks to chill. I can eat absolutely anything I want, so you could say it doesn't really feel like I've been banded at all. No weight loss goin' on here for a while. I'm kind of enjoying the variety of food I can finally eat after that tortuous liquid diet but, in all reality, I'm not losing weight, which is what I'm ultimately shooting for. I guess I'll be patient for a few weeks. I'm hoping things work out with my first fill because I've read some nightmare problems with band adjustments.

I also had this combo done on December 29, 2014, with a hiatal hernia repair. At first, I could eat very little while I healed. I suppose I'm still healing at only two weeks post-op, but I can eat pretty much anything without complications (except for the Soup at Zuppa's.- Can you say gas pains for four hours straight?) There's no way I'm going to lose weight being able to eat like this, so I'm going to need a fill. I see my doctor for my post-op appointment tomorrow and will ask about it. He's the only one in this area who does this combo, but he says the plication with the lab band helps avoid slips and with weight loss. I've only lost about 6 pounds because I think I'm actually going up on the scale the more I heal.

I had my lapband on December 29, I'm in my puree stage of diet. I'm still in some pain, mostly where my port site is and I get tired pretty quickly. I have my post op visit on Monday, I may ask doc to give me one more week of rest before going back to work. So far about 20lbs down since pre-op diet

Tsty21, I also had my lap band surgery on December 29, but I went back to work on Monday, January 5th and felt great. The only place I'm sore is at my port site. I went to a follow-up support group last week, and they said my port site will be sore for a while because it's attached to the muscle. I see my doctor on Tuesday of this week for my first post-op appt.

Welcome to the other side. Things will improve for you very quickly. I was amazed how fast my body healed itself. I'm at day 13.

I had my lap band surgery on December 29th. Hated the liquid diet, but my recovery went very smoothly with no problems. I didn't even have the shoulder pain everyone complains about. By day five, I felt almost back to normal except for soreness at my incision sites. I went back to work six days ago and was fine. Now I'm at day 13 and have started eating pureed foods, scrambled eggs, popcorn, and tiny bites of bread. So far, I haven't had any restrictions or problems eating, except I can only eat about a cup of food and I'm 100 percent stuffed to the gills! The only soreness I have now is at the port site, but it's getting easier to pick things off the floor and put on my right sock/shoe. That was a killer last week. No one was allowed to leave until Mom had her socks/shoes on for work (just kidding, but I did need a little help).

I've lost only about 6-8 pounds so far. My weight loss stopped once I got on the pureed stage. I hope to jump start it once I integrate more protein/meats into my diet along with more vegetables. I only eat about 1000 calories a day, so it still baffles me as to why I haven't lost more weight. I would have been a starving maniac on this amount of food before the surgery.