kiz

Diva, I read your other post, and saw that your doctor isn't being supportive. I know that makes it doubly hard to go back to the office when things aren't going well, but that's when you need to go the most. Chances are, you're eating too much because you don't have proper restriction yet. Make an appointment for a checkup and a fill. I know the amount in a fill makes a difference, but it took me about ten to get to good restriction. I hope you call soon..like in the morning..and let us know how it goes.

I've read on LBT that some doctors require their patients to stay on liquids for two weeks. I'm at my sweet spot and have had numerous fills, and I never had any significant swelling after a fill. If it were me, and this definitely lay advice, I'd go back on liquids for 2 days and then try soft foods for 2 days before trying solids again, since your fill was just five days ago. If the soft foods didn't go well or if I couldn't move on to solids, I'd go back in to have a little fill removed. I would also suggest you call your doctor tomorrow to see what he thinks you should do. I hope you just need a couple days of liquids to let things settle down.

How long ago did you get the fill? If it was not more than a week or two, you might still have residual swelling from the fill, and you could try soft foods and liquids for a couple of days, then back to your regular diet. If more than one or two weeks, you should talk to your doctor and see if he recommends a slight unfill. I would guess that you are too tight. At your sweet spot, you should be able to eat at least 1/2 cup good solid meals without feeling sick. Just being able to eat a few bites means you're band is too tight, but you have to determine if it's due to swelling or being over filled.

This is some of the criteria from my doctor for needing a fill: If you feel like you're able to eat bigger meals then your doctor's recommendation and you're getting hungry in less than a few hours after eating your meals, you might be due a fill. Also, you should be losing 1 - 2 lbs/week. Since you're unsure if you need a fill because you're pretty happy with your restriction now, I'd probably hold off, especially if it's not difficult to schedule a fill with your office. Your calorie intake seems great at this point.

Hi Rachel, and welcome to LBT. My best advice to you for healing quickly is to follow all of your doctor's instructions. Be sure and stay hydrated because it seems that dehydration is one of the major reasons people end up back in the hospital. Be sure and walk a little every hour to keep the blood flowing in your legs. If your doc gives you a spirometer to breath into, do that as instructed as well to help keep your lungs clear. Most importantly, try not to over do it during the holidays. Recline and rest as much as you can the first few days to help with the healing process. Being young is definitely on your side, so barring any unforeseen post-op issues, you should be more than ready for your classes. Good luck!!

That happened to a close friend of mine, but she had been banded for over two years when, for whatever reason, her tubing became disconnected from her port. She realized that something was wrong when she suddenly had little restriction. For what it's worth, she said the corrective surgery was very simple and she had a very easy recovery. I'm so sorry you're facing this, especially so early on.

I don't have any advice to offer you as to how to go about changing band doctors, but I feel your pain. I don't blame you for being frustrated. I wonder if the doctor knows what how inept his office staff is. I bet you're not the only patient at their wit's end.

Shhhh...

"My band became tighter after a long flight to Hawaii in July. Weird, huh?" I have to start paying out of pocket for fills now, because I was self pay and my one year of included fills/appts is up. Next time I need I fill, I may just book a trip to Hawaii instead..lol There can be such a fine line between a little too much and not quite enough. I hope it ends up that your band loosens up a little without intervention, but if you start to PB a lot, I agree with you, I wouldn't try to wait it out. Congrats on the weight loss though!

Being too tight can lead to band complications such as a slip or erosion. Also, it doesn't sound like you're getting proper nourishment. If you begin to have reflux and pb's during and after meals, you might also begin eating more slider type foods to compensate, which generally are higher in cals and lower in nutrition and don't provide long lasting satiety. Many people are tighter in the morning, and loosen up during the day, (I'm the same all the time though), so it's not unusual to need to start off with liquids in the morning. My concern is that you are still so tight that you can only eat a few bites at lunch and dinner. If you had just a tiny unfill, and were able to eat three healthy but small meals, do you think you would halt your weight loss? You could loosen up over the next couple of weeks if you just had a recent fill, so there's that to consider too. There's no easy answer, and you know your body, but just be careful that you're not putting too much pressure on your band.

For me, I have to measure or I could easily overeat. However, when I measure a 1/2 cup meal, full for me is the absence of hunger. If I went by the "full" signs, hiccup, sighing, runny nose, tightness in chest, I could easily eat 3/4 to 1 cup of food and then feel bloated. But, when I measure, I eat my 1/2 cup meal, feel just fine, but I lose the hunger sensation. I feel satisfied for four hours or more if I've eaten a good solid meal. Keeping well hydrated between meals also help to keep hunger (head hunger maybe) away.

I'm sorry you're sick, and I hope you're feeling better soon. I've never heard any warning that coughing from an illness can cause a slip. I'd give a call into my doctor if it were me, just for the extra reassurance, and to ask if they'd call a prescription in for you if there's any chance that you could cause damage.

Two words: Bandster Hell You're swelling has subsided and your band is loose. Try to make healthy food choices, and possibly add a healthy high Protein snack (it was more like a 4th meal), if you're allowed by your doctor and if you can tolerate it well. During this time, I had the same hunger issues, and the NP in my doctor's office gave me several options, such as: Greek yogurt with added All Bran Cereal 1/4 cup tuna w/ 2-4 whole wheat/fat free crackers 1/2 cup of thick chili

My guess is that it's a combination of real hunger mixed with head hunger. With the band, the hunger sensation is satisfied because the nerve endings that tell our brain that were "full" is at the top of the stomach (what a mean trick). So, when the band is giving your good restriction, your good solid meals stay in the pouch long enough to let your brain think we're good and full. The soft foods you're eating are giving you a sense of satiety, but my guess is that there's more to it then that little nerve at the top of our stomach, and the brain is calling for something more substantial than yogurt, for instance. Head hunger has to play a role in this too. One of the beauties of the band is that you have time to work all of this out as you're getting fills. I have great restriction now, and I stay satisfied for several hours with three 1/2 cup meals/day and a healthy snack. However, after a couple of hours my stomach sometimes gives me a shout out that it wants more food, but drinking a beverage generally knocks that hunger out. Since I'm supposed to be drinking a lot between meals, it makes it easier to not give in to temptation and to get that additional liquid in.

I had the opposite problem in that whenever I would catch an accidental glimpse of myself in a store window or mirror, I was always taken aback by how much weight I had gained over the years. I definitely never expected to see a skinny gal staring me back, but I had never wrapped my mind around the fact that I was so overweight. Our minds are funny things aren't they? It also sounds like you have some great support from friends &/or family who are letting you know that they're seeing the positive results from your hard work. I hope you take their compliments to heart, and that it encourages you to stay committed to this new lifestyle, even if it takes awhile for your eyes to catch up to your new thinner self.

Since you're self pay, talk to a local surgeon about the bmi requirement. Also, if you're a bit under 5'6", round down, even if by half an inch. You're close, so if you're scales are a bit off that could factor in.

Hi, and welcome to LBT. What a great mom you have! If you have insurance that covers weight loss surgery, often times they require you to have one or two documented medical problems (sleep apnea, high bp, diabetes, to name a few) besides obesity if your bmi is under 40. I think a bmi of 35 is usually the lower end cutoff. I was self pay and my bmi was under 40 but over 35, and I had no other medical issues and had no problem qualifying for the surgery. I'm not in Texas though, but that seems to usually be the norm.

In all honesty, that seems like a lot of lost fluid. I have the Realize Band, and the doctor can never pull out as much fluid as was put in, but I'm talking in the neighborhood of 1.5cc. That they were only able to pull out 2.4cc rather than the 6cc that you had in the past is a big loss, but since you got such amazing restriction with 3.1cc added, it sounds like there was more fluid in your band that they just couldn't pull out. When I was concerned about the loss of fluid (it happened every time they checked), my doctor said that generally you know you have a leak within two days of a fill, because you lose restriction virtually overnight. I took that to mean they very rarely see slow leaks. I'm sure they're not unheard of though. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. I'm self pay too, and my one year of fills/appointments that were included in the contract is over, so I also worry about something going wrong.

You really should to talk to your doctor about that, if you haven't already. Maybe he could give you some exercises that don't require you to get up as often to help make sure you don't form blood clots after surgery. If you're spending the night in the hospital, you might be given "boots" that constrict on and off to help with blood flow. If you're going directly home, I can understand why that would be a concern of yours.

It seems like insurance approval is generally the biggest hill to climb. I'm sure you'll do just fine tomorrow. Good luck!!

I would follow Sunshine's advice. Many people have said that they really don't get the full effect of their fill until two weeks have passed. You may have just gotten a delayed reaction. There's almost no chance that you got a slip after one stuck episode. Your band should have been anchored in by stitches, so I wouldn't worry that there's a slip. Either you just need to get used to this new level of restriction and be a little more careful about your food choices and the speed in which you're eating, or your stoma is still a little inflamed and just needs some more time to settle down. How big was your last fill, and are you taking liquids okay? If you continue to get stuck on solids, and most definitely if you start to have trouble with liquids, call your doctor about getting a tiny unfill.

BQT, if you do opt for an out of town doc, be sure that you have a local doctor who will take care of your band fills and other band related issues. Your follow up care is very important for success with a band. I paid $13,500 for my surgery and one year of office appointments, fills, etc.

They just called you today to tell you you're surgery is tomorrow? Wow, I'd be shocked too. Try not to let yourself get too nervous. The surgery will be over before you know it. Focus on how different your life will be a year from now. I can hardly believe the difference a year with a band made for me. Good luck, and I hope all goes well.

You might be just a bit too tight, so you're compensating by eating easy to eat foods during the day, which leave you famished by dinner and snaking in between meals. Just a slight unfill of .2cc might make the difference, but then you're also going to have to work on eating more solid foods and fighting the urge to snack that you've re-established. If feel like you have the right level of fill, and the tight daytime restriction is normal for you, it's going to be important for you to find foods that stick with you during the day, but aren't hard on the band. One soft food that works for me is Greek yogurt with all bran Cereal mixed into it. Adding the cereal makes a world of difference on the level of satiety I get from that simple snack/meal. (I found myself overdoing the Snacks..I mostly ate healthy snacks, but the calories were adding up..when I wasn't quite at the right fill level. I had to make a point of turning off my head hunger and let the band do it's "magic". Once I was eating properly and at the right level of restriction, it wasn't hard to get back into the groove of three 1/2 cup meals/day + one healthy snack.) Also, if you have several hours between lunch and dinner, a healthy Protein heavy snack might be in order at that time, only if a snack is included in your plan, since some doctors recommend larger meals and no snacks.

I think that really depends on the individual. I don't have any issues with reflux, so I don't have to be careful. I think the recommendation is to wait at least an hour, but some people have to wait longer. Since I try not to eat past 8pm, unless it's a special occasion, it's generally never an issue for me anyway.