shortgal

Only three fills in all that time? How many cc's do you have and what size and brand band? Have any tests been done? I was banded in November and my pounds lost flucuate between 40 and 45. I have not lost for three months but found out the Dr. thinks my band is unlocked! I got up to 9cc's in my 10 cc band when they decided an x-ray would be in order. From that x-ray he believes my band is unlocked. I am having a second surgery to have it fixed. I have no symptoms, just no restriction and hunger. Maybe you need a test? X-ray, fill with floroscopy or an endoscopy?

Check through the comestic surgery section on the forum , you'll find a few people that had arm lifts.

Let me know what you think once you start it. I am still working on Isacc's Storm... when I read a book this slowly... it can only mean I'm not crazy about it. When I love a book, I can't put it down. I want to finish it, so I can start Pillars of the Earth.

It's impossible to continue to lose at the rate of over 10 pounds a week, it just doesn't happen. And without more fill in your band your hunger will be almost the same as prebanding, so lighten up on yourself. If you were not exercising before getting your band, then suddenly starting at a rate of 1.5 hours might just be too much for your body to continue. Start off slower and gradually add time to your work out. It's easier to sustain that way. Try to stick to high Protein foods, even if you are overeating, because it helps to burn more fat and fat takes up inches on your body but fat doesn't weigh much. You're still new and learning all these things, give yourself some time and some more fill and you'll be fine.

OJ is high in carbs/sugar. I do not like the pureed diet either, so I just stayed on full liquids one week longer and then moved onto the next phase.

The forum has support sections where you can join people that were banded in the same month. YOu might have to look around under the "support section" then 2008 and then July to find it. At least then you can hook up with people that have been banded but also do not have fills yet so you are in the same place with the same struggles. None of us are good at willpower all the time, if we were we wouldn;t need a band. Once you start getting fills and restriction it will get easier. Good Luck.

I have read many times on the forum that the best thing to do if you have a bad stuck episode is to go on liquids after until things calm down. You could have just irritated the esophogus and it needs time. If you are still having trouble with food I would stay on liquids until you see your Dr.

Need more info. What band do you have? How much fill is in it? Have you ever felt any restriction? Do all foods go down easily. While I have lost weight, I recently found out my band is unlocked and the Dr. will go back in and lock it. Perhaps you have a problem with the band, too. Has the Dr. done any x-rays? Do not assume the band will not work until the band is checked.

Cindy G, What town in RI will you be in? I'll be in Narragansett Aug 29, 30 and 31. good luck with the fill. Judy

Thanks Marie, I appreciate your prayers. Judy

Marie, I'm glad that all looks normal with your band. Remember you've already lost a lot of weight and just to maintain a lower weight you must eat less and to lose additional weight, we must cut calories even further, it's really hard. I think it's great you spoke with the nutrionist and have a plan to get back on track.

I considered myself a slow loser until I found out that my band is unlocked. I will have it fixed soon but what I want to say is if what you are doing is not working for you, then try something else. I was only losing after fills as well, with being on liquids for two days after one. The band is not GBP and we are actually supposed to lose slowly ( 1 to 2 pounds a week and you are right on that track) but we are all impatient when it comes to losing weight. Have you tried varying your intake? Your body can adapt and learn to maintain itself when you reduce the calorie intake, it will just train itself to maintain on that lower intake. Try having a larger portion for one meal or two a week and that day, exercise a little longer. Mix things up a bit and I think it might help. Don;t forget the less you weigh the less food it takes to maintain that new lower weight as well. You don;t have to track calories every day, but if you do for a day or two, you'll have an idea of how many you are consuming. Maybe too much, maybe it's too little. I have a a high fiber Cereal for b'fast and a couple Fiber one bars a week to help with constipation. A piece of whole wheat toast can help, as well as lots of fluids, like flavored Water or crystal lite, if you don;' like plain water. I think you've done very well.

Australia's not expensive for me... :thumbup: :biggrin2: No, you're right it's not! I can't even guess how much an airline ticket to AU costs or one from AU to the states! Got to be a lot! I think a late fall weekend somewhere would be nice!

If we have a few nymphs from the NE, we could at least do a regional meeting unless we have some from the south etc, then we could meet in DC or someplace. For the NE, I would vote for Boston or someplace where we could plan some sightseeing. We could go Shopping or do a duck tour. Newport has a lot of great shopping and sightseeing too. Any other ideas? Tahiti and Australia sound great and really expensive!

After an x-ray was taken last week due lack of restriction, hunger and no recent weight loss, my Dr. has diagnosed an unlocked band. The physician's Assistant wanted to send me for an endoscopy, but I kind of persisted on a less invasive route first, so I was scheduled for a fill with floro first. The first step the day of the appt was an x-ray and that's where it stopped. The Dr looked at the x-ray and tell me he "thinks" my band is unlocked. Whether it has been unlocked since day one or it happened along the way is unclear, but he wants to go back in and lock it. I have a date for surgery, but now that I've had some time to digest all the info, I will meet with the Dr. first and ask a few more questions before the surgery date. Anyway, I am posting in case the info helps anyone else that has a problem reaching restriction and thinks they are failing. Here is one more thing to have the Dr check out. My surgeon said I am the second person in his practice that has this problem. He claims the band locking device has changed.

My Dr. insists he locked it at surgery, so if that is true then it came unlocked and further if it's true then anyone with the same band could experience the same problem. There is a lock indicator on the band that shows the Dr. it's locked. One other person on the board had her's re-locked, her Dr. does not believe the band was defective, so he re-used it and he believes her's was locked at original surgery as well. I think people with this brand band need to be concerned that this band opens too easily. I never was sick or vomited or had a bad cough or anything like that since surgery to say that caused the band to be unlocked and my Dr. says I am the second person he has that the band came unlocked. Are there more people out there that just haven't discovered their band is open? It took sevens months for both me and the other person on the forum to discover this. At this point it seems my only option is to have them go back and lock it. My Dr. knows to check the band for defects this time and we have discussed the option of a new band if there appears anything is wrong with the band I have. The new band was redesigned to make the lock easier to unlock should a patient need a revision surgery ( like for a slipped band)and so the band could be re-used in that situation, but now it seems people need revision surgery because of the new design. In the end I just hope I end up with the working band I paid a lot of money for. I feel we are guinea pigs to the band people and the surgeons.

I think I would say don't wait get and x-ray right away. It's just an x-ray, it's quick and easy. Now I say this if you REALLY think you do not have restriction. If you are just making bad choices that's one thing, but does bread, steak all the things they tell you will be hard to get down, do they go down really easily? Plus the band if working right should take some of the hunger away. If all foods go down easily, without having to chew a lot then ask for an x-ray. Why torture yourself with more fills and be more discouraged. I wish I had insisted on an x-ray sooner. 75 pounds IS really good though but I can hear how hard you feel you've worked to get those pounds off and shouldn;t the band make us feel like it is helping us, so the work isn't as hard as it was before we got the band? I know it's not a cure all but it is supposed to help. Sorry, you're struggling Marie. Let us know how you make out at the next appt.

Our original surgery dates were only a couple weeks apart. When was your revision surgery? There is another person on the forum that this happened to, but when they went in to lock her band ( she does not what brand band she has) they puntured the tubing. They found this out later after they closed her and started new fills. She will now need a third surgery! This is one of my concerns, so I am glad to hear they just were able to successfully lock your band. Do you have any fill in the band now?

Thanks for the info. I have the allergan band as well but the smaller 10cc band. On my x-ray the band look round but my Dr. says the Diameter is larger than it should be. My Dr. is not being cooperative in saying that the band is the problem or helping me resolve this with the band people. He wants to bill my ins co for the second procedure ( I was self pay for the band) but I will have a deductible and copay that could cost me up to $2000. This is after I have already paid $18,000 for the original surgery. I know I am getting screwed big time here. I just don;t know what to do. I have a surgery date of Aug 5th. If I start trouble now with the manufacturer AND my Dr. then it will delay the surgery. I just know I should NOT be paying for this second surgery and I am very angry about this. I knew I didn;t have restriction. I did lose weight but I know now that it was simply because I followed the Dr. instructions. I followed the liquid diet after surgery and everytime I got a fill I was on liquids for two days followed by soft food for two days. I was fearful of getting food stuck so I proceeded very carefully once I tried food after a fill. Of course, I have not lost for several months now and would have lost more if I had restriction. What state are you in? I'm in CT.

Queen Jane: I have a few questions if you don;t mind answering them: Do you know what brand band you have? Did you say the band manufacturer paid for the second surgery to relock your band? If yes, they were willing to pay even though they did not know if the band was defective or the Dr. never locked it during the original surgery? I ask all these questions because I have been told my band is also unlocked. I have the same symptoms, lots of fill in my band but no restriction. When your Dr. looked at your x-ray what made him know the band was unlocked? Thanks for any info.

Is Tahiti in the middle? Ha, ha! I think you need a list of where the people that are willing ( Have time etc) to meet and come up with a middle ground. I'm in CT!

Linda, Haven't started the book yet. Still plowing through (slowly) Isaac's Storm. So far I am not enjoying as much as his other book I read, Devil in the White City. You might enjoy that one if you haven;t read it, because it's about the building of the Chicago World's Fair and lots of references to famous architects and landscape designers. Judy

Cindy and I never got together. time got away from me with extra visits back to CT to see the DR. Bummer! It must be fun to actually meet in person.

Donna, You can call your Dr's office and ask what kind of band you have. posting the brand could establish a pattern with a certain brand that could help others, but more importantly... Fast for 10 days before ALL kinds of surgery? or just bariatric surgery? I have never heard of that. Mamy bariatric patients are asked to modify their diet before surgery to help shrink the liver, so it's not injured dyring surgery, because overweight people especially can have fatty enlarged livers. Have you lost any weight at all since surgery? The first time around I was asked to modify my preop diet, but this time I do not have to do that... since I've lost weight. And there are many different diet methods to shrink the liver. some Dr.s have their patients do various liquid Protein diets, some have patients do a high protein, low calorie, low fat diet and some do a combo, such as Liquid Protein for 2 meals and a dinner of a salad and low fat protein such as baked chicken breast. To insist that you do that a third time seems barbaric to me and i would be outraged. Bad enough that we have a post op diet to follow after each surgery, but that is understandable as we have sutures on our stomach that must heal. Your Dr. and or your hospital should correct your problem. Have you seen an attorney? Just for a consultation?

Donna, These are my concerns, that the surgery to "fix" the band can cause additional problems. While your Dr. was in there wasn't it possible to fill your band and look for leaks before he closed you. I have already mentioned to my Dr. that if he thinks anything else could be damaged to my band, that he should be prepared to install a new one. I will discuss this with him again to be sure and I appreciate your warning about this. I am so sorry you are going through this, I know how alone and defeated you must feel. Is your Dr. willing to go back in? Are you willing to endure another surgery? My Dr. says these are the risks when we chose a "device" to help us instead of a procedure like GBP, but then there are other risks. We are guinea pigs and pioneers in this weight loss surgery struggle and that is because we are desperate for help. Medicine has made big advances in many areas, but I don't think we have progressed enough with helping obese people and based on statistics the world is getting fatter still. How do we explain that one person seems to be able to stop after a reasonable portion and another cannot? OR how do we explain that one person can have two alcoholic drinks and stop but another person can't stop after two? What band do you have?