pashee

hi everyone, so, i had the band done in 1/08. so far, not so good. it's either too tight, or too loose. i've lost maybe 25lbs in a year and a half. totally dissapointing. last friday, i was having a really sharp pain near the port area. i started feeling around, and i could feel something hard further up, and to the right of where the port usually sits. i called my dr, and his highness only works on thursdays, so i had to wait over a week to go see him. by that point, the pain had mostly gone away, but i still think i feel TWO bumps in the area of the port. so, the port, and something else. i went to my appt, after waiting almost an hour, he came in, and immediately went to fill me. so, when he was doing the fill, i was telling him i was having pain, which was the main reason why i came in. he finished filling it, and i was tryin to get him to FEEL the area to see what i was talking about!! i wanted him to show me THIS is the port, and then tell me yes or no if he feel something else. you know what his response was???!?!? "i don't know anything about that. i've heard of hernia's, but on the other side...." then he just walked out the door, and left me fuming on the exam table. when i spoke to the nurse when i made the appt, she was telling me he'd examine me, and maybe ask for a barium swallow, or do a sonogram, which set the expectation. i'm obviously just a port to this guy. i hate going in there. i hate talking to him. i hate his attitude. i hate the fact that he has absolutely ZERO interest in the actual result of this surgery. he's only going to either fill or remove liquid from the band, nothing else. is this normal? am i crazy to expect more? have most of you found your after care to be similar? i'm self-pay. i paid $17k out of pocket, and now i'm only paying $50 a visit for fills, which from what i'm reading, is really low. has anyone had luck switching to another dr after the surgery? i had it filled a lot, and now the idea of eating is just not fun anymore. i guess that's the point. i'm hoping to start losing weight now for real, but i don't ever want to step foot in that office again. thanks for reading. i look forward to hearing from others on here if my experience is typical, and i just need to set my expectations lower, or if this is as bad as i think. thanks!

well, i ended up going to the dr. to have some taken out. i couldn't eat! i lost 6lbs in 4 days. they freaked out when i told them, especially about how i kept throwing up. it's not normal, it's not ok, it's not how it has to be. after the adjustment, my boyrfriend and i went to eat. it felt SO good to eat, and not feel that pain. i ate. i got full (about 1/4 of the plate only). i stopped. it didn't hurt. it's good right now. yey! -pash

hi, i had the same thing. they put a lot of gas into the area during surgery too. gas-x specifically helped. not the knock off, not mylanta, but gas-x really did the trick for me. i just popped the capsule with my teeth, swallowed the juice, and then spit out the shell. good luck!

hi everybody, i was banded (that sounds weird to me) beginning of February. My dr. told me not to expect to lose weight until after 6 months. I lost weight initially, but gained it back once I healed after the surgery. At this point, I've had 3 adjustment. The first 2 times, it felt restrictive for the first couple days, but then it sort of eased up. I was eating small meals, but I couldn't stop myself from grazing. Especially at night. I'd eat a little, then go back and eat a little more, and a little more. II lost 1lb. Now I've had my 3rd adjusment. It's been 3 days, and I can't really eat at all!! It took me an hour to eat an egg. Especially in the morning, just swallowing a pill can hurt going down. I'm thinking it's too tight, but I'm finally losing some weight. Is this how it's supposed to be? I'll call my dr. monday, but I'm wondering what those of you that have already gone thru this have to say. When is it too tight? I'm worried if I loosen it, I won't lose weight. Will this ease up after a few more days? Thanks!