KelinTx

I think its totally unfair for someone to make a statement in regards to long term banding and problems with out having facts to back up what they said. All this does is freak people out. Im nearing the 3 year mark have been amazingly successful and problem free to boot!

I was banded two and a half years ago and have traveled and vacationed frequently during that time. I have never had an issue with flying causing tightness in my band, or issues with metal detectors in the airports. I have done the Disney thing several times.... rode everything without incident. Many a journey out of the country without a problem as well. In fact everything has improved travel wise since being banded!

More often then not when i get pain from eating a certain food 1. It was not chewed well enough 2. Was not a small enough bite 3. Was not something i should of been eating anyhow! The pain deters me from eating lots of things and thank god for that. Don't let it stop you from getting your fill.

Ill second everything that Jachut said in the post above. I asked my doc about the possibility of maxing out on fills. I do not recall his exact words but they were something to the effect of the bands do in fact hold more then the recommended max. I currently am filled to 9.2 in the large VG band. I had a fill exactly 2 weeks ago today. They added only .5 cc . Before i had that fill i was able to eat for example an entire healthy choice dinner. Mind you that is not very much by normal standards but for me it was alot. After this last fill i am only able to eat half of a healthy choice. So yes the more fills you have the less it takes to get the desired effect. Level of restriction also is a personal preference. Myself i prefer to keep my self restricted enough to where its impossible for me to over indulge because i still am learning not to want to eat like my former 359lb self.

Jason what a great attitude you have! Keep up the positive thinking. Best of luck on your journey.

I had port replacement 6 months ago and now have the low profile small port. I can still feel it though if i press on the area. I do not think it will get to the point where it protrudes.

I also in the very early stages of being banded had alot of lightheaded episodes. What helped me was Gatoraid watered down to half gatoraid half water.

Count me in from Mckinney!

I have been banded 2 and a half years and i LOVE MY BAND. I have never had any major issues. I did need port replacement but not because of any fault of my own. I developed a leak because of a faulty needle (least thats what i was told). So it was really no big deal other then having to recoup a few fills. So i will gladly sing its praises to anyone. The majority of the "nancy negative" posts i see on here in my opinon are from those who are not and have not been compliant with standard band rules and have not done the homework to find out what to expect or rushed into this thinking it was a magical solution.

I hope you will keep us posted when you find out why this happened! I am in shock that this occurred within 6 months of being banded. If i may ask....were you compliant with the post op dietary rules, im just curious.

One of the things on my list of to do's was to get an outrageously expensive pair of jeans when i felt small enough to pull it off. My goal is to get a pair of True Religion brand or 7 for all mankind or Rock and Republic. I look at them whenever i go in the upscale hoity toity stores and the brands i see most frequent expensive brands i run across are Chip and Pepper True Religion Rock and Republic Frankie B 7 for all mankind Paper Denim They go in price from the high 100's to 300's.

I can tell you with complete honesty that since i have been banded i have not deprived myself. I find that if i feel that ive neglected myself something that i truly wanted, i do myself worse damage. So when the occasion comes up if i want a piece of candy or cake or pie or ice cream or french fries ......what ever the case may be. I have it, BUT... only a few bites, and i do not make it an every day occasion. I attribute my long term success to this, as i basically eat what i want only VERY LITTLE of it. Its my band that enables me to be content with just a few bites of whatever.

Salad is an iffy thing for alot of bandsters, let alone at 3 weeks post op. Im sure you are fine but i would not try and eat salad again for a few more weeks. Salad greens and the things that are usually accompanying them really make your stomach work hard at digestion. Give yourself and your band a lil more healing time before doing the hard core veggies.

You know ill just toss it out there and say I HATE TO EXERCISE!! At the start of this journey at 359 lbs there was not much i could do. I did a lil walking and a lil treadmill, the weight did fly off. Low and behold the weight stopped FLYING OFF, i joined a gym........and it really has helped me maintain a steady weight loss since.

I am filled to 9.2 cc in the large VG band, i had a very small fill last wed. I would say i am at my sweet spot or even a tad beyond it as i must be VERY VERY carefull when i eat or drink for that matter. Yesterday here is what i was able to eat. First thing in the am 1 small cup of coffee Later in the am 1 bottle Water with ice tea Protein powder 11 am 1 balance Protein Bar 1:30 Mac & cheese (did not go well) ate 4 small bites and threw the rest away 3 pm cup of coffee 4 pm 1 low fat string cheese stick 5:30 bottle of water 6:45 1 lean cuisine cajun shrimp and chicken steamer, left over about 4 bites of it 7:30 1 cadburry Peanut Butter egg ( i know i know! but at least im being honest) 9pm cracked open another water (drank bout half of it)

The jello sugar free puddings are SOOO GOOD and under 100 calories. I buy the light cool whip in a can and swirl some on top and the whole thing is 100 calories. Feels super indulgent cuz it tastes so great and is satisfying to boot! Saw them do this on the biggest loser and i have one a few times a week.

I did not see any mention of how much you needed to lose. If its less then 100 lbs is bypass even an option? I started out needing to lose at least 200 lbs, the only plus side for the bypass surgery for me would have been a quicker result. The number one reason im glad i went the lapband route is this......when properly restricted its impossible for me to overindulge. Of course its my responsiblilty to maintain that certain level of restriction but with the bypass surgery you do not even have the option to adjust the amount of food your able to consume. As far as the loose skin thing goes, that should not even be a factor in considering one surgery over the other in my opinion. If you need to lose over 150 lbs chances are loose skin is just gonna be a fact no matter how old or athletic ya are. But at least its fixable LOL. Good luck to you in whatever path you choose!

Water ...... water........ water and more water and i bet that scale takes a downward dip!

My question is what do you mean by eat anything? Do you mean anything that your doctor has put on your allowed list? Your post indicates that you have not even been banded 2 weeks yet. I can not say strongly enough how important it is to follow the dietary restrictions during the healing phase. You can do great harm to your band and to yourself by ignoring these.

I was very fortunate to never have experienced the dreaded PB till i was banded well over a year and a half. To this day i have only had it happend a handfull of times. Each time it was due to letting myself get overly hungry then taking to big of bites in rapid succession. So if i could offer one piece of advice it would be to eat slowwwwwwwwww and if u feel your bite was to big, chew it to death and dont swallow it all at once.

I wish there was a quick fix for this. I am also one that always thinks about food. I have come to realize that i truly am a food addict to the point where i have obsessive thoughts about food. Thank god i have my band wich physically keeps me from being able to gorge myself with all the food related things i think about. Now if they would just come out with a band for the brain to squeeze out all the thoughts of food id be in heaven!

You will be there before you know it steve!

I know the time of day has alot to do with it for me. I am super tight in the Am, so anything other then a beverage drank very slowly will give me issues. Ive also found that being in a prone position for anything over a half an hour will tighten me right back up. For example laying down in the afternoon or something. So choosing the appropriate food to coincide with the level of tightness at times of hunger is key to avoiding pb or stuck situations.

Time is the key. I do not want to sound like a "debbie downer" but when ya got 200 lbs to lose it takes awhile for the dramatic effect to take hold. The positive thing is we can all tell in our own bodies but others it may take a good 50lbs before they notice. My own personal experience starting out at 359lbs, i could tell a difference in my pants after 20lbs but before anyone that i did not see daily commented on my loss i would say i had to lose about 80 lbs. . Now when i see people i do get the "OH MY GOD" how much have you lost.

I went every 4 weeks in the beginning. My approach was to have small frequent fills in hopes of avoiding any issues. Im currently filled to 9.2 cc in the large VG band. Im restricted to the point now where i can only eat about 3/4 cup of food at the most at once. I can still eat anything meat or bread or pasta wise but only a few bites, it works out perfectly.