Kalipso2

I totally agree. Dr. Curry probably doesn't have the best "bedside manner" but he did the job I asked of him. He made me feel comfortable during my initial consultation and I was very happy I chose him as my surgeon. I was surprised when Dr. C. didn't give me my first fill but his staff are simply amazing. I also have to say, I live 4 hours away from Cincinnati and I had my surgery before he opened the satellite office in Columbus. If I ever had a question, I emailed him and he ALWAYS responded within a couple of hours. While he may not be there to hold your hand during your entire journey, he will make sure it is a successful one!

i've only had fills with a numbing spray so i don't know what it would feel like without it... i think i'm going to try at my next fill just to see!

i can't believe it's been almost 2 years since my surgery. what a rough journey it's been! i've had so many ups and downs i don't know where to start! i haven't had a fill for quite a few months. i'm at 4.7cc in a 10cc band. i'm restricted so i don't feel the need for a fill but i do have an appointment scheduled in march because my free fills end in april. i've lost 44 pounds over the last 2 years... most of it being during the first 6 months post surgery. i'd like to lose another 20 pounds but i'm satisfied with where i'm at now. i'm still having difficulty with throwing up a lot, not because i eat too much but because i give in to temptation and eat foods my body can't handle. i just can't see me going the rest of my life without ever eating pizza or a cheeseburger ever again. one bite of either of those and i throw up. *sigh* i rarely feel hungry and sometimes go 1 or 2 days without eating at all. i know it's not healthy but it just seems like a waste of time to make something when i can only half of a chicken breast. don't get me wrong... i love the results and i think i'm happy i did it but i still think about food way too much and wonder if finding a therapist or going to an Over Eaters Anonomous meeting is what i should do...

before i lost weight, i dressed in baggy clothes... i guess to try to hid the fact that i was fat. now i feel confident enough to wear clothes that actually FIT so... heck YA i'd wear a miniskirt!

i do know Dr. Curry's office is always busy so i can understand why he can't take patients that were banded elsewhere. he has a lot patients of his own to treat. actually, it's not only Dr. Curry who will only fill patients he's previously treated. i have a 2 hour commute to get fills in his office. i've called surgeons closer to home and they refuse to do fills if they didn't perform the surgery. i wonder if it has to do with risk of complications and who would be to blame?

that scar is going to give you a healthier life. most likely that scar is right where your port is and i touch that spot on my body when i need a reminder that i look and feel SO much better. it's almost like my security blanket in some ways. give it time... you'll learn to LOVE that scar!

you have to realize that your band has no restriction. it's absolutely NORMAL to still feel hungry! is it good to cheat? obviously no because "cheating" is what got us all overweight, right? don't beat yourself up over it. tomorrow is another day! if you're hungry, eat something healthy... it's OK to eat! try to be patient. even after 1 fill you still might be hungry before 4 hours. it can take a couple of fills before that goes away... but it will. remember, it took you time to gain the weight, it's going to take you time to get rid of it too! 15 pounds in 3 weeks is AWESOME! be proud of yourself and don't feel so guilty about eating some crackers!

as long as you're feeling fine, it should be fine. i wouldn't get your first fill until after you come home after the trip just in case you get filled too much. i felt (almost) back to normal 10 days after surgery.

good luck on your journey, bob!! i was pretty lucky, i didn't have any gas pain but the strips would be good to have just in case. don't be shy with taking the pain meds either. they give them to you for a reason!! Protein shakes are a must as well as non-creamy Soups. i had a small pillow that i clutched when getting up or sitting down... it helped with the pulling sensation near the incision sites. and lots of rest!!

maybe it was just an off day? there are just some days where i'm more hungry than others but i admit, i rarely feel hungry anymore. just this weekend i went out for valentines day and ate almost an entire chicken breast when i normally can eat less than half. i also ate half of a baked potatoe. i haven't been able to eat that much for SO long that i thought for sure i over did things but i felt fine afterwards. also, i seem to feel fuller quicker when its that time of the month. just take it one day at a time!!

i'm almost 2 years post-op and i still have a hard time when it comes to my food addiction. it's sad but i have a list of "vomit worthy" foods and when the craving gets too intense, i give in. it's not often but i do occasionally give in to the temptation. with my band, i can't eat bread or ground meat anymore so pizza and burgers are out of the question... unless i'm having a "vomit worthy" moment. i can't stop at one bite... or two. i've often wondered if i have an addiction to food and should attend Over Eaters Annonoumous or if i have more of an eating disorder and should seek a therapist...

ahhhhh... i don't think the cravings ever really go away! unfortunately, i can't eat ground meat or bread anymore so i'd almost give anything to eat one more burger!!

measure your food and you can make the decision if you're eating too much. i don't know how much of a fill you have but you should probably be eating 6-8 ounces at a meal. if you find yourself staying within that range, it should take you 20-30 minutes to eat that. i also started throwing up a lot about 5 months out. i just figured i was eating too much or not eating the right food. i WAS losing weight so i wasn't in a big hurry to get things looked at. when i finally did give in and tell my surgeon, he did my fill under floro and i have been having a MAJOR case of acid reflux. i had no idea. i had no pain. i never had acid reflux before the surgery. i couldn't feel it at all. so i got almost completely unfilled and started with much smaller fills. it's taken me about 6 months to get my band being tight again and it was a frustrating 6 months because i had gained 6 pounds right after my band was unfilled and it's taken me a long time to get those 6 pounds back off. i'm finally under what my lowest weight was before my unfill and i feel great! good luck on your journey!

don't worry about gaining weight at this point. you're on liquids at first because your stomach was swollen from the surgery. as the swelling goes down, your stomach basically goes back to it's normal shape and size since you haven't had a fill. seriously... eat while you can because as you start getting fills, that WILL change. the hardest thing i've dealt with over the past 1.5 years since my surgery is the limited portion control. while my stomach is satisfied with 3-4 ounces of food at one meal, my head feels like i haven't had enough. so mine is more of a mental torture than a physical one. i WANT to eat more than a 1/2 slice of pizza. i WANT to be able to eat a bagel. i WANT to be able to eat a normal sized meal instead of 1/2 of a kids meal. good luck on your journey!

i've been doing so much research lately and i'm left in tears... every hospital i've contacted in the cleveland, ohio area and i don't know what to do. one hospital quoted me $22,000. another one $27,000. being self pay, i can't afford that! so let me ask you... some of these hospitals quote their fee of $10,00 plus other hospital, anethesia, etc. fees. do the hospitals in Mexico do that or is it the flat rate of $8,500? i'm getting so upset that i don't know what to do!

in my opinion, i don't think it's so bad to eat every 3 hours or so. if you eat every 6 hours you may not get in as much Protein as you should. i'd wait maybe a month before the next fill to see how much weight you can lose with this fill. for me, i was very aggressive with my fills and ended up having extreme acid reflux. i had to get almost completely unfilled and start again from scratch... getting .4cc's a fill instead of the 2.0cc's i was getting.

i'm 1 year 3 months post surgery. i'm not going to lie... this has been the most difficult thing i've EVER done. there are some days i wish i had never had surgery... that i would almost give up my life just to be able to eat 2 pieces of pizza one more time. BUT i'm beginning to love my new body. i wouldn't have been able to lose weight on my own. if i could have i would have. it's still hard knowing i'll never get to eat certain foods anymore... pizza being on of those foods but you learn to live with it! i take a few medications in pill form.. 2 of them being capsules... and i've never had any problems. you should be fine after your fill. don't give up just yet. it WILL get easier, i promise!!

hi there! thanks for the response. don't get me wrong... i'm HAPPY with my 40 pound weight loss! if i never lost another pound i'd be satisfied. i fit into a size 10 and i never thought i'd be able to get there. my weight has been consistant these past 6 months... no gaining! the last time i saw my surgeon we talked about my weight loss and i think we determined that i've lost between 55-60% of my weight. i should be estatic about that but i'm not. my personal goal was to lose 100% of the weight. i want to get my BMI into the "normal" range. i don't want to be "over-weight". i want to be the size i was in my early 20's before i started gaining. i have to learn how to be more patient i guess... since i'm told that it could take up to 3 years to lose the weight. my surgeon said since i didn't have as much weight to lose as a lot of people it would be harder for me but i had no idea it would be THIS hard. i never planned for the complications i've had. i'm happy with myself right now but i want to LOVE myself. does that make sense? does that sound too selfish?

my 1 year bandiversary is coming up April 21st. i'm still having problems with my band and acid reflux. i'm about ready to throw in the towel and just be happy with the 40 pounds i have lost and move on with my life. maybe i wasn't meant to lose more than that? i think i'm filled with 4cc in a 10cc band. each time i try to get .5cc added my acid reflux gets so bad i throw up almost every meal and sometimes in my sleep. my surgeon now thinks i may have a hiatal hernia that has happened after the surgery and that's why the reflux is so bad. i go see him this saturday... a fun 4 hour drive there and a fun 4 hour drive back home.

i am allowed to drink diet sodas. i do drink before i eat but NEVER after. if i drink right after i eat, the liquid comes right back up my throat.

i was banded almost a year ago. i do have one of those cards but i've never had to use it. i order off the kid's menu (and pay the kid's price) without any problems at all from places like Denny's, Cracker Barrell, Friday's, Long Horn, etc. Don't forget... you can always order just an appetizer instead of a full meal (which you'll never be able to eat in one sitting ever again!)

I just want to thank everyone.... After my surgery, I thought I was going to be fine doing this on my own but it's obvious I can't do this by myself. It feels nice being here... with people who have had surgery the same time I did. i hope you all don't mind me hanging around for awhile?

honestly, i've been nervous to eat solid food. i've been sticking to low carb slimfast as my main meals and supplementing with protein water. yesterday for lunch i ate 1 chicken finger. i'm usually able to eat 2 or 3 but i felt full after 1. the only thing is... i felt stuck. i went into the bathroom and only slimmed. maybe i didn't chew enough? i'm just scared to eat now...

i decided to call the nurse who helped me on saturday because i was confused about the liquid diet. i thought i had to follow the original post-op diet but then i read here about the 5-day pouch diet. good thing i did email her because here's her response: "Your pouch is dilated not your stoma. Your stoma was too small thats why I unfilled you. Now food should pass through without building up too much pressure on your pouch thus letting your pouch have time to withdraw and get smaller again. Hope this makes sense. You need not be on liquids anymore. You can start eating regular food now. No more than ½ to 1 cup at a time. " but now i'm confused... what does it mean to have the pouch dilated and not the stoma? will i ever be able to have more than 4.5cc in my 10cc band?

i've been struggling this entire time since my banding in april. i lost all my weight during the first 4 months and haven't lost a pound in 5 months. i had a lot of pb'ing during those first few months and it was determined that i had a bad case of acid reflux. most people get to reduce their prescriptions once they lose weight... me, i got to add a prescription to take care of the reflux. during my most recent visit, i went in for a fill because i've been extremely hungry. i was checked under floro because of my acid reflux and it seems that not only is the reflux worse, i'm too tight and have severly stretched my stoma to the point of my band is close to slipping. i got a slight unfill and told to start the pouch test. i haven't started yet, but i plan to tomorrow. this is the first time that i actually regret being banded.