NY2LAGirl

Congratulations!!!!!!

Nick, I had my surgery with Dr. Billy in Thousand Oaks last May. I can only say good things about Dr. Billy & his staff! Especially Andy his assistant who will give you most of your fills. I have not fully taken advantage of all they have to offer, I have not gone back to see the nutritionist, or participated in the monthly support groups but it is great to know that it is there if I stumble. I appreciate their candor, they refused to give me a fill when I had lost 8 pounds in a month and respected me when I was too nervous to get a fill because I already felt tight and didn't want to not be able to eat at all. Good luck with you surgery and contact me anytime if I can help be of some support through your exciting adventure!

ursa first of all you are losing weight before the band weren't you finding yourself always putting on a pound or 2 when you got on the scale? That alone is a success story! Perhaps you are vomiting and sliming after eating because you are either eating too much or NOT chewing well enough. I have had 3 fills and if I take too big of a bite or eat too fast I am sliming or vomiting so I need to make a real effort to control HOW I eat not what I eat. Good Luck.

I am going to the doc today for what will be my 4th fill but am really conflicted over if I should get one. Some meals I can eat a fair amount probably more than I should yet there are times after 2 bites I am full or start to get that chest pain and twice in the last month I have full on vomited after eating and I hardly ate anything but I think it might have been too greasy, once was breakfast sausage, once a hamburger no bun which I ate about 1 oz of if that. Any advice out there?

Don't know how you ladies are losing those kind of numbers but good for you and keep up the great work!!!!

hopefulebndr such is the frustration of having this band. If we could control our eating we would be thin without the band! I too struggled with portion size and until I had restriction it was almost impossible, again if I had that will power I wouldn't have gotten a band. You have such a large band it's going to take a few more fills to get that needed restriction. Just keep on that doctor of yours and keep getting regular fills and then the weight will start to come off! Good Luck.

fluffycat I too have been struggling with how this band works. I got my 3rd fill 2 weeks ago and was fine then a week later I feel such restriction I was PB'ing/sliming after every bite. Then TMFRITTS a fellow May bandster said her doctor told her to cut her food into pencil eraser size bites then chew well. That worked for a week then 2 days ago even with doing that I am having tight restriction. I just can't figure this out! I am down weight and that was the goal but I can't live not knowing which day if I will be able to eat and which days I can't. Imagine my embarrassment when at a restaurant Sunday night with friends when I without more than a seconds notice slimed big time into a napkin at the table. But I keep chugging along in the hopes one day to figure it all out. Yaheard how's it going with the fill now that it has been a few days? It's odd how your doctor went from one extreme to the other, no fill to 3cc's WOW!

My doctor said that the hair loss is due to drastic caloric intake reduction/surgery He said it is common after WLS or c/sections and usually stops about 9 months out. He also said the same thing as Restless, supplements don't help but said if I was so inclined I should try Biotin which also comes in shampoo & conditioner form. I was losing tons and tons of my hair and it is about half of what it was before surgery and I consider myself very lucky to have had thick hair prior or I would need a wig for sure! I did go and get a good haircut and it seems to now be slowing up a bit.

I am sure he will!!!!!! Keep me posted.

Yaherd I don't understand why some doctors make their patients wait so long between fills. If you could do it without one you wouldn't have had the band in the first place!!!! When it comes to health care you always have to be the one in charge. Put your foot down and demand a fill and at that appointment make your next appt for 4 weeks after that. You can do it and you will do it!

Did the nurse have you lie down and do a sit up? when I do this my port sticks out so far I could do my own fill;)

I think it's a guessing game for these doctors since being on this site and reading everyones fill experiences and they are all soooo different!

Jessica I am so sorry if you thought I was saying you thought others were failures, I so didn't mean that I guess I just worded that wrong! The point I was trying to make was you are not alone and you shouldn't be so hard on yourself about needing a fill! When you get a band they assume you will need a few fills or why get banded. Please accept my apology.

If your doctor is taking an hour to get the needle into the port something is seriously wrong!!!! But I do get what your saying, at my previous appt. I had lost 10 lbs between fills so he said no fill then I didn't lose anything for the next 4 weeks so I demanded a fill last visit and lost 3 lbs this week. I would most certainly ask him to be more aggressive since it's a 3 hour drive but is there anyone else in the practice to do the fill so you are not tortured?

I am so glad to hear I am not alone on this!!! I have been snapping at my DH for no reason, everything grates on my nerves and to make matters 10 times worse I have now started to get my period twice a month add my ridiculous amount of hair loss and I am a mess.

jetti as you have heard a thousand times on this site our band is a tool and the fact that you have lost 80+ pounds without a fill puts you in a minority. And one that makes me jealous;). I have had 3 fills and I was banded only 5 months ago and I certainly don't think of myself or anyone else who have gotten fills failures! Use your tool girl get that fill and keep losing those pounds!!!

christypooh402 I felt like death after the first week and it turned out I was severely dehydrated. I had no idea that dehydration could do that to a person. I also had the gas pain for weeks after. I actually had it yesterday in my shoulder and I am 5 months post-op.

Happy 24 my doctor put me on 2 stool softeners every night. Did you speak to your doctor about it? That's where I would start it could have nothing to do with the band.

witchbabe I have no idea what you are depressed about. You have lost 37 pounds in FOUR(4) MONTHS!!!!!! Is there any chance you would have done that pre-band? I think you should be proud. You aren't always going to lose weight. There will be points where your body just wants to hang on to what it has and when that happens you need to eat less, drink more and exercise. I just had 4 weeks at the same weight but my surgeon gave me a pep talk and I have been really watching what I eat and have lost 3 pounds this week. MORE PROTEIN that is the secret! Stay Strong.

I asked my surgeon about this yesterday when I went for a fill because in the last 3 weeks since my last visit I didn't lose a pound but lost a TON of hair! He said it usually starts at 3 months post-op and stops between 5-7 months post-op then will begin to grow back. He said the cause is from a sudden drop in calorie intake.

KIKIVAL you are looking great! haven't been on in a while and now I see your new picture where you are showing your face not hiding behind a hat!!!! OMG 40+ pounds I am so jealous. Keep up the great work. Have any of you started losing hair the last week I have lost so much hair. My once thick hair is gone. I pray I don't lose too much more. Went on a thread last night in the hopes of getting some answers. Seems I need to start taking Zinc or Biotin or both.

No thyroid problem here.

I was so happy to see this post today. I am 3 months post-op and recently started shedding like crazy. I am lucky I had thick hair to start with but I admit it's getting scary!!!!! Glad to here from some of you ladies it will stop. I have to admit I stopped taking the supplements after the first month because I was so constipated all the time but I started them up again today. I will also run out and get this Biotin everyone is writing about.

Gabby I think you are doing amazing, 42 lbs in 5 months OMG I think the PA is crazy. If you have found a system of fills that works for you what the hell do you care what she thinks. Keep up the great work!

I went for my 3 month post-op visit yesterday and what should have been my 3rd fill. When I got on the scale I was down 10 pounds in 1 month so the doctor decided not to give me a fill. I go back in 3 weeks and he will decide then. I don't have full restriction yet but he thinks I need to learn how to use the band more myself rather than the band do all the work and I agreed so I will wait out the 3 weeks and see how I do. In the mean time I went to Old Navy to buy some shorts and I took in size 18's they were swimming on me so I asked the girl to get them in 16's they were too big then I asked for 14 & 12's. Frustrated she finally says to me "How can you not know what size you are?" I just laughed and told her it's a long story but I fit nicely into the size 14's YEAH !!!!!!!!