barbie1978

Has anyone had an unfill yet? Tell me about it....oh btw..it SUCKS... i just had it done yesterday:( Since my last fill in September I have been at 10.5cc's in a 14cc band. It was my sweet spot! I was never hungry, I could only eat a very small amount and I'd be satisfied for 4-5 hours, and I was losing easily. No getting sick at all....but that all changed as of last wednesday/thursday. I had a stomach bug and since then I have not been able to eat ANY food. Even if it was a tiny amount, mushy, and i ate it slow (and even if it felt ok going down)...one hour later it was back up and all liquid ...plus every night i was not sleeping because of acid reflux. It was waking me up and I'd get sick..THEN i could sleep...i needed to sleep and knew all of that was bad for the band..so i had to go in yesterday. The other doctor in the practice (my surgeon was in the OR all day) explained that after a bad stomach bug (ie vomiting) and/or upper respiratory infection it's common for your stomach to become inflamed and unable to tolerate anything...which means you NEED an unfill to be sure you don't hurt yourself! I only wanted like .25cc taken out..he took out 3! I wanted to cry right there...I completely understand WHY it had to be done but it's frustrating at the same time. Now I have to go to a bairum swallow next friday to make sure i'm all clear..THEN on the 23rd i can go back and be filled back up...only i don't think want to go back to 10.5...i think 10 or 10.25cc's is plenty for me. But what's the most scary part about it all? I'm now down to 7.5cc's (which i haven't had this little in my band since this time last year) and i'm HUNGRY...and I can EAT. And it's only been 24 hours since my unfill! It's scary...very scary at how quickly you get hungry. I'm trying not to stress and I'm staying away from foods I know I can't eat when my band is at it's sweet spot. But OMG i'm going to have to work really hard the next 2 weeks so that I can at least maintain until I get my fill back....

Exactly!! I can eat a small amount and be ok...but I dont' like being ABLE to eat that much. And i HATE feeling hungry...havn't felt that since september to be honest....and i preferred it that way. I only ate becasue it was a necessity and jsut what i needed...no more mindless eating. I WAS at my sweet spot. But Instead of having 10.5 back in my band i'd like only 10.25. That extra .25 i think was just a tweek too much

Lockport is a tiny little town near Niagara Falls and that's what's listed. He has a full practice in Rochester, NY....how can that be fixed on here? i know a lot of his patients won't come to the forum because we don't live in Lockport... and Rochester is not listed.

I was banded by Dr. D in july of 2009 in Rochester (don't know why it's not listed under NY)...he's is absolutely the BEST!! Please let me know if anyone has any questions about him....you would be lucky to be his patient!

ok so even though it's only been 2 days and i have definately felt hunger (which i was terrified of), i've been ok. I haven't gone crazy with eating at all and I've gotten in LOTS of liquids! I need to go easy and stick with mostly mushy foods and liquids so that my irritation can subside. I go for my barrium swallow friday and then my fill the following thursday...

i think it's a completely personal choice. I have no problems talking about my band at all! That issue has not come up (havent' been on a date since being banded), but if it needed to be said, i'd just say it. I'm proud that I made the choice to do something to get healthy. And I can talk about it for hours Now i'm NOT saying that if you dont' tell someone that you're ashamed of it. Not at all! I just feel that each person has to make that choice as they see fit. If you want it to be the first thing you tell someone, great! If you don't want to tell someone until you think...well let's be honest, until there might be some bedroom action when your scars will be visible, then that's your choice too LOL Either way, you only need to tell someone when YOU feel it's necessary

hi! I'm moving to Las Vegas in the next few months and I'm looking now for a bariactric surgeon. I had my surgery done here in Rochester on 7/7/10 by Dr DiBenedetto and he's amazing! My appointments are ALWAYS with him. He's always very busy but unless you need to come in for an un-fill on a day that he's in the OR (like yesterday) you always see him. So this Dr Atkinson, you pretty much never see him after surgery? That concerns me....

hey July bandsters!!!!! 7/7/09 here and I've been away from the boards for awhile..stopped coming because no one was here! Glad to see us coming back! Here's my biggest issue..i also posted this in another forum so if you've already read it, that's why Since my last fill in September I have been at 10.5cc's in a 14cc band. It was my sweet spot! I was never hungry, I could only eat a very small amount and I'd be satisfied for 4-5 hours, and I was losing easily. No getting sick at all....but that all changed as of last wednesday/thursday. I had a stomach bug and since then I have not been able to eat ANY food. Even if it was a tiny amount, mushy, and i ate it slow (and even if it felt ok going down)...one hour later it was back up and all liquid ...plus every night i was not sleeping because of acid reflux. It was waking me up and I'd get sick..THEN i could sleep...i needed to sleep and knew all of that was bad for the band..so i had to go in yesterday. The other doctor in the practice (my surgeon was in the OR all day) explained that after a bad stomach bug (ie vomiting) and/or upper respiratory infection it's common for your stomach to become inflamed and unable to tolerate anything...which means you NEED an unfill to be sure you don't hurt yourself! I only wanted like .25cc taken out..he took out 3! I wanted to cry right there...I completely understand WHY it had to be done but it's frustrating at the same time. Now I have to go to a bairum swallow next friday to make sure i'm all clear..THEN on the 23rd i can go back and be filled back up...only i don't think want to go back to 10.5...i think 10 or 10.25cc's is plenty for me. But what's the most scary part about it all? I'm now down to 7.5cc's (which i haven't had this little in my band since this time last year) and i'm HUNGRY...and I can EAT. And it's only been 24 hours since my unfill! It's scary...very scary at how quickly you get hungry. I'm trying not to stress and I'm staying away from foods I know I can't eat when my band is at it's sweet spot. But OMG i'm going to have to work really hard the next 2 weeks so that I can at least maintain until I get my fill back.... Since surgery I'm down 52 total....and just in this past year (jan 2010 till now) I've only had 3 fills....one if feb, one in may, and my latest in sept as i said above....i've done really well with my fills and I know that 10.25-10.5cc's is my 'sweet spot'...i just need to get back to that..AND i need to exercise...i've slacked so much! I'm fine with the eating...but i'd be down so much more if i just moved my ass

I get that sometimes, and it's ALWAYS from eating too much. The first time it happened it was not right away...i was uncomfortable and thought it was just one bite too much. But as the food settled more it became so painful that i almost went to the emergency room because I didnt' knwo what it was. I decided to take a shower to see if it would help and just before i got in the shower, i ended up vomitting from the food being stuck..and INSTANTLY the pain went away. That's how i knew what it was from. It's happened only a few times in the last year and a half (maybe 3 total) but it's aboslutely a sign that you've eaten too much...HTH!

nope, no matter what you should NOT be throwing up all the time...and if liquids won't go down either? You need an unfill! Yeah it sucks..i just had it done yesterday But last week I had a stomach bug and since then I have not been able to eat ANY food. Even if it was a tiny amount, mushy, and i ate it slow (and even if it felt ok going down)...one hour later it was back up and all liquid ...plus every night i was not sleeping because of acid reflux...i needed to sleep and knew all of that was bad for the band..so i had to go in yesterday. The other doctor in the practice (my surgeon was in the OR all day) explained that after a bad stomach bug (ie vomiting) and/or upper respiratory infection it's common for your stomach to become inflamed and unable to tolerate anything...which means you NEED an unfill to be sure you don't hurt yourself! I only wanted like .25cc taken out..he took out 3! I have to go to a bairum swallow next friday to make sure i'm all clear..THEN on the 23rd i can go back and be filled back up...only i don't want to go back to 10.5...i think 10 or 10.25cc's is plenty for me. Anyways..my point being that you can permanently damage your band and need another surgery if you keep getting sick! As much as we don't want them, GO GET AN UNFILL! Even just .25 will help you....

Thanks! Everytime i feel bad that it's not more, i stop and remember how i havent been able to lose even 10 in years, and the scale keeps moving now, so yay!!!!!! :thumbup: <---wow, 12cc's? Tell me more...and what'd this 5 day test??

i just had a fill almost 2 weeks ago...my first fill since APRIL!! I had great restriction after the April fill...and that's when i truly learned to SLOW DOWN...lol I still only occasionally have a pb/vomit issue but rarely now....(tmi? lol) Anyway at this last fill i thought i needed a small fill..he thought i should have one full cc so now i'm at 10.5cc's....and WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!!! Omg, i only get hungry if i've gone way too long w/out eating, i can eat VERY small amounts and be staisfied for hours, plus there's lot of foods (mostly breads) that i can't eat anymore. And i'm OK with that! I'm 15 months post op, down 50 pounds since surgery, and i have amazing restriction..so i'm losing more! :smile2:

Well i shouldn't say CAN you...i guess my questions is WHEN can you. This is NOT a "at what stage" question...i've been thinking lately (i'm 6 days post-op) and watching all these commercials or programs with people eating and I'm just curious as to those of you who have been banded at least months ago...can you eat a sub? Can you eat a regular salad? Can you eat one slice of italian bread with your small Pasta meal? Can you even eat a pasta meal? Can you eat chinese food and have an eggroll? Can you have a regular sandwhich? Can you split an appetizer with a group of people and still have room for your meal? I know PORTION SIZE will be much smaller...I just feel like I'll never be able to eat normally again...

CONGRATS!!!!!! I'm at JUST about 60 lost...and i'm loving that! My one year BANDiversary was 7/7/10...at first i was disappointed but then i go "holy crap, i've lost 60!"...lol I'm still working...need to work out a lot more..that's my only issue. As far as the band itself, im at my sweet spot! YAY! Inches are FLYING off still...is it that way for you guys too?