HeatherO

It is good that she is checking. At least you know what you have. Something odd happened to me a couple of Friday's ago at a dinner party. We had steaks on the grill, some veggies (I skipped the rice and corn on the cob). We had variations of pies and ice cream for desert. Well, the steak was medium cooked but it was the best steak I have had in a long time. It was moist and soft and perfect. I swear I ate a couple of bites of veggies, but over the course of about 40 minutes or so, I ate the entire steak (maybe 10 ounces) and I was comfortable doing it. It felt like not being banded. Most days I can't get but maybe 4 ounces down, a bite of potato before I get uncomfortable. I also had a small sliver of pie with a spoon full of ice cream an hour or so after dinner. Anyways, this did not make any sense to me. How can I eat so much at one sitting out of the blue and not other times? At first I was worried about my pouch being stretched but I have watched closely how I felt after. I still have good restriction 90% of the time and I don't tend to overeat since I stop eating when I am still comfortable. Is it possible that we can just have an occasional fluke where the band is extra open? Steak is not a typical food that I could possible overeat without paying consequences for it.

Hey . . . we lost the same amount, bale of hay and a brain :0) Now I just need to lose the amount of cheese an average American eats in a year and some baby back ribs . . . ahhh, but i love cheese!!!!

I think it is possible that you are not restricted yet. When I had 6.8 in my 10 cc band I did not feel restricted. Another 1.5 cc's and I was up to 8.3 and I have perfect restriction. Our bodies are all different and some people need large fills while some need no fills at all. My doctor was also skeptical that I wasn't feeling much restriction, added in the additional 1.5 cc's and said I would probably be back in quickly for an unfill. However, I found that it has been the perfect fill for me, I am losing steady and I am not ready for another fill although I have been at this fill level for about 2 months now. If I were you, I would schedule another fill as quickly as possible and ask that they withdraw the current Fluid just to get the current volume and make sure you really have 7.5cc's in your band. That will at least rule out any fluid loss. If you are not losing 1-2 pounds a week, are hungry quickly after eating and can eat large volumes of food, you probably need another fill.

I am sorry the band has not worked well for you. Can you please tell us a little more about your situation? Have you found any restriction? Do you know how many calories you are taking in on average? Are you exercising? What did your doctors say?

It really depends on what you are willing to put into it. Most people who have struggled their lives lose a significant percentage of weight with the band. Committing to following the bandster rules, eating healthy foods, avoiding slider foods and liquid calories such as ice cream or milkshakes and incorporating intentional exercise into your daily life can give you wonderful success. The band definitely helps with that in that you don't have to battle hunger and you can not overeat. It really is easier to lose in the beginning and the weight comes off a lot quicker. Later it slows and you have to work harder to see a difference. For me, I had 85 pounds to lose to get to the normal BMI range, I have lost 52 pounds as of this morning which is 61% of my excess weight at almost 5 months out. I am very careful about what I eat and I exercise 1-2 hours daily. I did not have a very high BMI so my percentage dropped fast. Other than giving you averages across studies, there is no way to really find how much you will lose on the internet. There are so many personal variables at work. When I was first looking into the band, I started taking study average weight loss and applying it to my weight to see where I could end up. I then had to ask myself, if this is what it would most likely be . . . is it acceptable for me? Because it is an average, I also had to accept that there are people who do far better and far worse than the average. I then started looking through threads by people who were not having much success, and the common themes were lack of exercise, emotional eating, slider foods, lack of restriction, etc. I also looked into posts by people who were very successful and managed to lose all of most of their excess weight and the common themes were exercise, a healthy diet, commitment to the change in lifestyle, changing routine when a plateau started and following the band rules most of the time. Now that I have been through the process and read thousands of forum threads, I now see what I didn't realize before. The band is the wonderful tool that give us the keys to success, but it only works if we are willing to do our parts as well by following the program. I never would have found this level of success without the band. The best part about it, is if I slip for a day or two, I don't lose ground by regaining weight and lack of continuous hunger makes it easy to get back on plan. You said that you have 200 pounds to lose . . . if you only lose 100 pounds in a year or two, your health and feelings of well-being will still most likely be greatly improved. Does that make the banding worthwhile? What if you choose not to take the WLS path, where will you be healthwise in a year or two? It is such a personal decision that only you can make. For me, the final catalyst was . . . a true personal reflection of my obesity. I am not happy being obese, I have always dieted and been successful with dieting but inevitably found my back to the same or higher weight. I could always do it on my own . . . for a while until I was back to square one. When I looked at my weight change over the years, I could see that I was only going to end up heavier and heavier as I aged. Continuing to do what I had always done was leading me in circles to nowhere. I needed help. The band was the help I needed. Every day I am thankful for being banded. It is the best decision I ever made. My only regret is that I did not do it 5 years earlier. Good luck with your decision :0)

I had surgery on Friday and was at work again on Tuesday. The pain was not bad at all, but I was really tired more than anything else. I felt like I could have laid my head on my desk and slept for an hour or two which is very unusual. A couple of days later and I felt fine. I have an office job so it wasnt a big deal, but everyone heals a little differently and has different tolerance levels. A week is a safe bet for anyone. If you do go back in less than a week, it would be better to have shorter days or at least the option to go home if you are not feeling up to snuff.

I am happy I went with the band because it is adjustable. I was worried about taking a one size fits all solution and not making my personal goals. Some people say that this adjustability through the need for fills makes the sleeve a better option (less aftercare), but I like being able to make sure that it is working just right for me. Complications like erosion and slippage are serious and something to consider with the band. However, I thought the possible complications from having a more serious procedure such as the sleeve or R&Y were much scarier to me. I also chose it because it is less invasive and I would like to have another child in the near future. It was just the right fit for me. There are lots of other discussion threads on this topic. You should do a search on the forum and read through some other responses as well.

I never feel it inside unless I am eating something too fast or not band friendly. I can feel the port if I want to and make an attempt to locate it by tightening my abdominal muscles and press my fingers into it. I never feel it in general in day to day life. It is really not a big deal.

20-30 minutes was good for me also in the very beginning until my second fill. However, now that I have reached good restriction, it can sometimes take up to an hour for me to eat. Eating too fast can make me miserable and I have learned what speed is appropriate for different kinds of food. Even a food like an egg omelet, which is relatively soft and easy to eat, will block me up if I do not eat slow enough. I guess if food is only passing through my stoma in a trickle, it doesn't take long to cause an overflow through the other end if I eat too fast. :0)

If I dont drink enough during the day I am incredibly thirsty at night. No one says you have to get a fill at this stage. Some people never get a fill and do great. However, it may not hurt to have an appointment on the calendar if it takes a while to get in to see your doctor. If you keep losing well and are satisfied during your meals without a lot of hunger in between, then the band is working and there is no reason to get a fill. Some people get really hungry after the first 3-4 weeks and definitely need a fill. Sometimes the transition from not hungry to very hungry every day moves quickly. Just keep your options open and go by how you feel.

One more thing I want to add . . . I have been most surprised by my legs lately. This might sound strange, but when I am riding a bike, my thighs look so long as I peddle. The shapes have also changed from triangles to rectangles. These can't be my legs, can they???? Self awareness, self image keeps readjusting itself in strange ways for me. It is like I am rediscovering parts of myself but I can't quite come to terms with the whole as of yet. It has been interesting to say the least . . . .

I understand where you are coming from. For a long time I "avoided" how heavy I really was. I just didn't want to see it and so I didnt think about it and just thought of myself as similar, for the most part to everyone else. The decision to have surgery forced me to really see myself. It was the ultimate reality check. Once I accepted what I had become and what I needed to do to correct it, there was no such thing as hiding from myself. Now that I am on the road to being normal, it is strange to see how things are changing. It takes time to get used to the new you, but it is definitely worth it. I still find myself picking up clothes thinking there is no way they would fit me, but they do. I think our minds will adjust for the most part as we continue though our journey.

I had a hiatal hernia repair as well. I was in excellent health with a BMI of about 40 at the time of surgery. I had an endoscopy done before surgery in preparation for surgery that showed the hiatal hernia and also showed that I had h-pylori (bacteria that can cause stomach ulcers if not treated) and had to take antibiotics to get rid of it. There were 6 people who had surgery done on the same day as I did and we met the day following surgery in a meeting to cover post banding lifestyle. We all discussed how things went for us and I found I was the only one with a hernia repair. I found that I took over an hour longer to recover and return to my room where my husband was waiting after surgery. I also had a very purple stain from the corner of my mouth on the right down my neck, around the shoulder and on my back. It was stained into my skin and took 2 days before it went away with a lot of scrubbing by nurses and my husband. Evidently I must have vomited this substance during the surgery. Everyone else recovered quickly and no one had an issue with vomiting during surgery. Really it was not a big difference . . . an additional hour of recovery coupled with not looking very attractive in the hospital with a purple stain down the side of my face. The doctor said there were no issues with the surgery, hernia repair went as planned and everything looked great. For a few days, I was the same as everyone else until I got home (and probably because I was no longer taking anything for the pain). The day I got home, the incisions were sore and my abdominals were sore in general but it felt like I had been kicked by a horse in my left neck and shoulder region. It was a continuous sharp pain which would definitely worsen with any deep breaths or by eating. I read about left shoulder pain being normal post surgery as gas dissapates and it should go away quickly during the days following surgery. This pain lasted for about 6 weeks. Tylenol never helped it at all. The only relief I got was with massage and a hot bath soaking my neck and shoulders in very hot Water just deep enough to not get my incisions wet. Eventually it went away. I still get an occasional twinge in my left shoulder area if I eat a little too much but it is not bad. I eventually learned that there is a nerve in the diaphragm that causes this pain. Evidently the hernia repair aggravated the area and caused the pain. OK, so it was very uncomfortable . . . and I was worried for a while that something was really wrong with me post surgery because I could get no relief week after week. However, I would do the surgery again in a heartbeat. I made it through, my hernia is a thing of the past and the weight is coming off really great. After reading tons of posts, I have found that a lot of people with the left shoulder pain which is worse than usual or lasts for weeks have had hernia repairs as well.

I guess my first question would be, what are they made of? If they are not metal it is probably not as big a risk. I never saw anything other than the band in my x-rays and I have passed through plenty of airport metal detectors since with no results. Maybe a lot of us have them and don't even know. It is strange to think of it. I hope they are truly no risk for those that have them. I must say, my band is a UDF that I absolutely love and hope it never goes away :0)

The dirt diet :0) I love it. :smile2::lol:

I agree with you that there is variation in doctors methods and plans. I also agree listening to your body is important. As far as people making presumptions about whats best for people, reading through the responses to this thread the general theme in almost every response is get back on the doctors plan with some side discussions about reasons why the doctors have the plan. People do heal differently based on numerous factors, but staying on your doctors plan is always best. I didn't see any specific responses stating a person should do something different than this. You are also correct in that people who are new to the forum may not be new to the bander lifestyle. However, there are plenty of people out there that are new and read these threads as a way of gaining knowledge of how things are going with those people who actually have the band. Of course, the best source for information is your doctor but I firmly believe you learn more by seeking information from multiple sources. Before I was banded, before I even spoke with my doctor, I started looking through forums to get a better "feel" of what it means to be a bandster on a day-to-day basis. I would be very surprised if I am the only person who ever did this. We trust our doctors with our lives. I certainly would not take advice on a forum that is in direct opposition to what my own doctor has told me. But the whole point of a forum is discussion and support by anyone and everyone who would like to participate. I am very very happy that there are people who take their time to post thoughts and opinions about their journey. It helps me to feel less alone in this and I feel like there is good advice from veterans that has helped me along the way.

I did not have a preop diet, only no eating after dinner time the day before. The day of surgery was only Water. If you have a diet of liquids, it is pretty easy to find Jello, apple juice, etc in Mexico. Please remember that if you are flying and you decide to bring some liquid items with you, you will need to put it into checked baggage and not carry on. They will confiscate anything above 3.4 ounces that is not in one quart sized sandwich baggie.

I had surgery on a Friday and was working the following Tuesday. It was rough not because of pain, only being tired and lethargic. I quickly recovered and was able to work without issue. I have a desk job so not much standing involved. By 3 weeks out I think I would have been fine for any job as long as there was not heavy lifting.

Doing abdominals such as situps with exercise did cause me to have some port soreness. However, it went away over time. I dont feel this soreness anymore but it may be because I worked through it and continued with abdominal exercises anyway. Some doctors say absolutely no caffeine. Mine says coffee is a free food that I can have as long as I am not adding a lot of additional sugar. So I think it varies. However, I personally feel that reasonable consumption of occasional caffeine is OK.

Great post! The first section would make a great article :0). #1 - Isopure Protein drinks helped me to feel better right away. It was hard to drink them, they taste a little different, but the extra protein made me feel human again. #2 - The worst of your discomfort should be finished and it will get continuously better from here. #3 - I waited maybe 1.5 weeks. By 2 weeks out it was fairly regular again. #4 - I started exercising again at 4 weeks out . . . but it was really hard. I was actively exercising before banding, and I usually do a vigorous, intense workout daily. The first few times at the gym in my step class after banding were really hard. I was so tired and I had to go very easy which is very unusual for me. It was like I didnt have any endurance at all. 2 weeks later and I was like normal again. #5 - Headaches were bad. Part of it was the caffeine. Once I started upping the protein and staying away from carbs it really helped. One thing to note, Tylenol never helped my headachess. I think I must be immune to the Tylenol version of pain relief . . . it did nothing for me. #6 - I was nauseous also . . . terribly so even though I never vomited. The crazy thing was that Water was making me nauseous and I had to drink a ton of it. There is nothing worse than feeling you have to vomit and being deathly afraid of doing so. I went to WalMart and found a product called Nausene chewables. You can chew them until they are liquified and they work almost instantly. They were like a lifesaver for me. On a side note, I never finished the box . . . after I started taking them when needed, my nausea got to be less and less until it dissappeared. I also found that I did not feel as sick if I did not drink very cold liquids. Thanks for sharing your post. I did not think I needed much support either but this website is a little addicting. :0)

Protein supplements are helpful the first month or two after surgery or if your diet is so restricted so that it is the best means to get in adequate protein. My doctor has a different opinion regarding shakes then some of what I have been reading on this forum. Other than initial healing after surgery or post fills, she said I should be getting protein from food and not shakes. I had been drinking a shake for breakfast daily on weekdays and she told me I should stop. I asked why. She said because the purpose of the band is to prevent overeating and give you a sense of fullness in between meals. The shake goes through your system too quickly and can contribute to taking in too many calories in the day, specially if you are hungry a couple of hours after you ingest the shake. I gave it some thought and I think she is right about this. It may not be the same for everyone, but for me I stay full all the time when I am eating Proteins.

Definitely contract your doctor. You need to have some tests done. It may or may not be band related but only tests by your doctor will give you the answer. Are you able to eat normally (the usual way you do as a bandster)? Do liquids go down OK?

I hear ya . . . I have been going through the same thing. I have found that lately I have been cravvvviiiinnnggg milk. It is really strange for me but it seeems as though the craving is so strong it is more a body craving then just a head craving. I just make sure I drink it out of a small teacup (if I get a big mug I will be sure to drink it all). Perhaps our bodies are trying to tell us something??? Calcium and Vitamin D are great as long as we are not taking in too many calories.

It only took me two but I asked for aggressive fills and my first was under flouroscopy. Some people say they can go up to 10 fills before they find the right spot. I think the most important thing is to keep an open dialogue with your doctor regarding your fill needs.

My doctor told me but I had to ask. She said that it really doesnt matter how much is inside since we are all different and our bodies will know if we have the right amount . . . I still wanted a number. She gave it to me but asked why I needed it. I laughed when I realized why I needed it, I need to post on the website how much I have in my fills and just to track my progress.