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.

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.

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!

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. .

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.

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.