Tristessa

Hope everything went well with your surgery and you are resting in recovery now!

I board the plane to San Diego tomorrow morning. Gastric sleeve surgery Sunday morning. It's been a blur, honestly. July 29 decision made, deposit paid. Less than a month and I'm having surgery.

No time to panic. Oh, except I have not packed yet!

I'm getting released from the PLC today, surgery was Wednesday. Now that the gas is moving I am feeling so much better!! Good luck with your upcoming surgeries!! A Calgary support group would be so awesome!

I had my band to sleeve revision done on the 20th. Having a heck of a time moving this gas, even with all the walking but I'm feeling good, very minimal pain, and hoping I get to go home tomorrow.

Hope you are all doing well!

Had my revision surgery this morning and now recovering. Managed to go for a small walk his evening which was amazing!

Will have a swallow test in the morning and if no leaks I get to start sipping Water. I have never been anticipating a drink of water like I am right now!

Pain is minimal, treating with Tylenol suppositories. I can have morphine if it gets bad but it reat hasn't been bad at all.

Good luck everyone with your journeys!!

Hi everyone! I'm having my band to sleeve revision on August 20th. I've been on a liquid and steamed veggie diet for a week. So looking forward to being on the other side!! I have a cold that I am hopingm doesn't cause my surgery to be rescheduled. I know the reduced calorie diet probably isn't helping my body fight it off.

Hope everyone is doing well! I haven't read all 66 pages of the thread yet but I plan on reading a lot of it this week.

Hi everyone! I'm having my surgery on August 20th. Start my liquid diet on August 6th! I just did all my pre-op testing on Friday. Can't believe how close it is!

I'm in Calgary. I'll be getting a band to sleeve revision done on August 20th.

I am in Calgary. Just found out yesterday I get my revision surgery from band to sleeve next year. I'm so excited! Yay!

I should update my signature one of these days, haha!

My band baby girl arrived December 30th!

Here she is on halloween as a little mouse.

If you can work the band definitely do. I have had so many complications that mine needs to come out. I thought I was going to have to self pay for a sleeve which I just can't afford but found out I am covered by my provincial health care for revision.

Have you had any complications or that with your band?

Today is my five year surgery anniversary and today I found I am approved to get a sleeve. So, so happy!!

I had my first fill about three and a half months after delivering, though my fill doctor said I could come in anytime after delivering.

I'm 34 weeks. I've had a very complicated pregnancy and will be happy when the baby is here. Even with all the complications though it's worth it, though this will be the only baby I will have.

I have hyperemesis gravidarum and had my band completely unfilled in August. I still vomit a lot and still have bad nausea. The heartburn is awful too. I've put on 35lbs at this point and weigh 220lbs. Can't wait to get back to onederland!!

I cried a little when the scale crept back up over 200lbs but I started working out last week (at 33 weeks pregnant) and I'm feeling pretty confident that I can get the baby weight off once the baby is here and I can start weight lifting again.

Had my band completely unfilled at the end of August and the weight started piling on. I've been maintaining (well bouncing up and down 5lbs) for the last six weeks or so and I've got six weeks or less until the baby is here and then it's back to weight lifting and HIIT and Protein, Protein, protein!

The introduction of carbs has been my downfall in this pregnancy. Getting the band unfilled allowed me to have bread for the first time in four years! I indulged. But I'm over that now.

Can't wait to get back down to the 160-170s. Still holding out hope that I can hit 154lbs and offically lose half of myself. Though at 159lbs you could count all my ribs and see all my chest bones, so not sure if I want to get that low.

Crazy how fast the last four years have gone and how transformative they've been!

Glad to hear you are doing well, SunnyRachel! Congrats!

Wow, it's been a long time since there have been any updates in here.

Maintaining between 180-185lbs but I'm 7 weeks pregnant so that will change.

Hope everyone is doing well!

According to What to Expect When You're Expecting the reasoning behind waiting 12-18 months post-op is that those months are when you lose the most weight the quickest; you see the most drastic weight loss during that time and then have a stabilizing period and it being best to weight until your weight is stable until you conceive.

I can't imagine with the band it being dangerous or even all that worrisome if you conceive prior to that though, with the ability to fill/defill as needed, so long as you seek care from your family physician, OB and lapband surgeon. I'll be working with all three throughout my pregnancy. It's still quite early for me (5 weeks) but I'm already feeling the morning sickness.

I can not beleive this post is this old, but I will take a shot!! I am really leaning towards Mexico anyone have any doctor suggestions?? I have a couple that I really like and have researched but just want to see if it some of the same..also, as someone posted above, you can get money back from Health Care???? would like more info on this!!

Yes, you should get anywhere from $1200-$1800 back from Alberta Health Care if you have surgery out of country.

The out of country form is here:http://www.health.alberta.ca/documents/AHCIP-form-AHC0934.pdf

Out of province form for Physician services: http://www.health.alberta.ca/documents/AHCIP-form-AHC0693.pdf

Take the physician services form with you and have the clinic fill in the physician information. Then get a detailed, itemized receipt for all services, tests, etc. that were completed during your stay. You can submit that with the above forms to AHS.

Great, thank you!!! trying to get my info all in line, is that the only one, I am more norther alberta, but I can and will travel.. Also if you do not mind me asking, who did your surgery in Mexico, I am leaning that way as well...thanks!!

I know back when I was banded there was a doctor at the Grande Prairie hospital that would do fills and bill them through AHC so you wouldn't have to pay, provided your doctor wrote a letter, but I don't know if this is still the case. I don't know what's available north of Calgary. I've met a few people at Dr. Mitchell's office from Edmonton, so I'm guessing options are limited.

I had my surgery done by Dr. Ortiz with Obesity Control Center in Tijuana. Best of luck in your journey.

I was banded in Mexico by Dr. Ortiz as well, in October 2010. Dr. Mitchell is also doing my fills. Can I just ask you what level you finally went to to make it kick in. I a already at 9.5cc in the 11cc band, it is getting really frustrating. I appreciate it.

I am at 2.2cc in a 4cc band. I could probably stand to be a little tighter but this is the tightest I've ever had my band. I haven't had to have really aggressive fills to get tight restriction. I have however had significantly more fills than most do. I think I'm at 13 or 14 now? I've had to be filled and defilled quite a few times because of how sensitive my band/stomach seems to be. I can't say I have one set sweet spot, I've hit multiple sweet spots and as the weight came off, the band needed to be adjusted again. I am only ever filled .2cc at a time though so it has been a long process. My longest run at what was my sweet spot lasted about five months when I was at 2.2cc the first time. I then had to be defilled due to what was thought to be a slip (fortunately it was not) and was gradually increased back up to 2.2cc over the course of nine months.

I honestly didn't really see the scale drop significantly until I started weight lifting and interval training. That coupled with the lapband diet was what really made the weight start falling off. Unfortunately due to multiple injuries I have had to stop and have been on an eight month plateau.

How are you doing for pain now? I hope you're recovering ok and getting some relief from the pain.

Is bypass still an option you're considering?

Thanks for the advice! I have a lot of toning to do on my legs. I don't really do weights unless it's a part of the exercise video I happen to be doing then I usually do 3 lb weights. I used to be much better at working out but then kind of got out of it over the summer and now I want to get back into the groove!!!

You can tone up your lower body with just squats, lunges etc. but if you do them with weights you'll get killer definition a lot quicker. ChaLEAN Extreme might be something worth checking out. The weight lifting is three days a week, heavy weights, fewer reps and you really do get results and (from my experience) you feel fantastic when you start getting lots of definition. I LOVE the feeling of my shoulders, legs, etc. etc. getting hard and defined, and just love feeling strong in general. When I first started CE I was lifting a max. of 15lbs (per arm, 30lbs total) working my lower body and by the end I was lifting up to 35lbs (70lbs total) when doing lower body work (weighted lunges, squats etc.) and I didn't bulk up. I actually lost 40lbs and 41 inches overall doing my first round of CE.

The CE program also comes with cardio and a schedule of when to do what. I sing its praises because it really does work but if weight lifting really isn't for you Turbo Fire is a good program if your fitness level (and coordination) are there. There are the work outs and then a breakdown of the routines so you aren't thrown right into it. It's a lot of fun and a hell of a work out too!

I haven't done the Slim in 6 series but hear it's good. When I'm well enough (been too sick to work out beyond just walking lately) I do Turbo Fire, ChaLEAN Extreme and P90X and love them all. Do you do weights at all? I've found that Turbo Fire on its own does more for my upper body than my lower whereas ChaLEAN Extreme is really good for overall body toning (and it's not really just toning - you will put on some serious lean muscle doing CE. And P90X for that matter, but if you don't weight train I'd recommend a round of CE first and then hit the P90X.) I like the hybrid of TF and CE myself.

Now that I don't have really heavy periods like I did when I was heavier I actually gain more during TOM. I used to not really gain anything at all and if I did it was 1-2lbs but now I've put on as much as 8lbs at TOM.

And never without fail, I always seem to book my fills (and the documented weigh-ins) during TOM. Even if I plan it all out in advance and estimate when my period should be starting!

The 6lbs might seem discouraging but it'll come off once TOM is over.

I'm with liese too, my weight fluctuates so much throughout the day. I'm about ready to throw my damn scale out so I don't obsess over it. But then I'm sure I'll start obsessing about not knowing. Hehehe.

:cryin:

Right before Thanksgiving I started having really bad gas/pressure pain that went up into my ears. I called my band doc's office and was told to come in for a total unfill. Had a unfill, but still pain. Went to the ER where I was told my band was fine but my stomach was distended. Went to a different band doc (the one the hospital called) the next day and he looked at me CT scan and said "Your stomach is HUGE!!!" He ordered a upper GI and it turned out my stomach wasn't emptying, though again, my band was "fine".

Based in this I was diagnosed with GP.

Still had restriction but pain got worse. Still had the gas pressure pain on a regular basis, but also developed a "ball of pain" in my chest when I ate. Finally got into a gastro doc last week (new insurance, 3 week wait) She did a endoscopy and found out I had a large erosion. :cryin: .

I saw the surgeon today and am having my band removed next week. :cry_smile:

I asked about a sleeve and he said I can NEVER have one. He said it would totally paralyze my stoamch and I would be on a feeding tube for the rest of my life. He told me putting a band on me would be malpractice!!! He said when I ate anything I would drool. Sounds crazy (and none too pleasant) but I did believe him.

He told me (and I alreay knew this) that a bypass will usually fix this problem.

Have you had an endoscopy??

Perhaps your doc will give you a different (and better) answer than this.

I did have endoscopy done in January and my band is fine, no erosion, and the stomach is ok. I was h. pylori positive and was treated for that but am still sick.

The surgeon I see for follow up care thought it was odd the GI doc made a diagnosis of GP without sending me an emptying test (I thought it was a little strange too, but I guess he figured I had everything else under the sun done so this must be what it is) so I'm going for an emptying test on March 1st. I'll stay on the Motilium until then and just live on a modified diet.

It's weird that some people have success with a sleeve with GP and others have success with bypass. Some yet have no success with any and have to go the feeding tube route.

My band itself seems to be fine though, so if I can find a way to live with it and a modified diet I'll be happy so long as I don't start gaining weight. I've learned to adapt to the liquid/mushy diet without going overboard with the calories and am finally seeing the scale move down again after it going up six pounds when I started consuming a lot of liquid calories.

I've gotten better about not eating foods that cause me to get really gassy, though it still does happen on occasion, but I would get to the point where I looked 5-6 months pregnant I'd bloat so bad and the pain would be crippling.

Sorry to hear that your band has eroded. That's one of my biggest fears with this and was what I was afraid was happening last year as I wasn't having slip symptoms but something seemed wrong with my stomach.

I would really like to keep in touch to know how you're doing and what route you decide to go with.

I've gotten pretty good over the past few months of figuring out what my stomach can tolerate and what it can't (broccoli and oranges are an absolute NO for me) meat in very small quantities every couple of days unless I have a really bad day, then it's 5-7 days of straight liquids.

My frustration is that the medication isn't working. I was hoping it would stimulate stomach movement enough to go back to eating band-size meals. It's not like I eat a huge plateful of food but most "meat" days as I call them I can only tolerate about one ounce of meat. And of course since it's not hitting the stomach instantly, if I eat too much I don't realize it until it's too late and I end up on liquids for days because of the pain and nausea. I really need to find a good dietitian who is familiar with both lap bands and GP.

I'm really hoping that if I need to have the band removed that I can be converted to a sleeve. I've read of some people who have had some success after being sleeved with their GP. Since it will be for treatment of an illness and not a weightloss surgery I'm hoping that our healthcare will pay for it. Looks like revision surgery to a sleeve can be pretty pricey. I've been wondering if maybe getting an unfill might lessen the pressure on the vagus nerve and offer some relief so I'm going to see my fill doc tomorrow to run that, and a million other questions, by him.

Thanks for the replies! I look forward to talking to you Kscott12!