Nanook

Mac, I did look into DS but the surgeon is far away and eventually I canceled my appt. with him a few months ago. (I'm not affraid of being stanky) I was going for the stats then. Also I personally don't do "anyathons" but I know my brothers do and 1,500 cals doesn't sound like enough to sustain you for training, I could be wrong, just concerned for your health. BJean, The only time I feel a compulsion to eat is when I'm PMSing or when I was banded. I always had in the back of my head I needed food, good food but I couldn't eat good food so I ate whatever food I could get in. When my band was first removed I noticed that I didn't eat as much as I did pre-banded because my stomach had shrunk over the 14 months banded. Since then I definitely eat more but find my hormonal eating is when I tend to overeat. Once I get my period I feel so normal again. We're all different but just getting to eat healthy food again was worth the removal to me. As you know I didn't revise and never lost any weight so I'm still in "limbo" stage. I think having it covered by insurance makes things much easier also and anyone who is self pay has a much harder time with these kinds of decisions unless they they have unlimited monies. I wish you well Nancy.

I watched this episode when it was on a few weeks ago. He deserves all the he's getting. It's obvious the show is edited well and they always put extreme opposites together but he and his wife were jerks and that's putting it nicely.

I didn't know Maureen O. lived in Ireland all the time now? She was/is such a beautiful actress. My dad died three years ago and always wore one of those tweed caps so I kept two of them to remind me of him. They're kind of pretty in a way. I love Maureen O'Hara's tweed jacket in that movie. I bought the collectors DVD last year but it was always on TCM every year and is again this year on 3/17. My pain wasn't that bad but was enough to help me get my band removed and paid for since it wasn't working. So in a way it was a good thing and I'm not in any pain anymore. Is your son on it as he has the same problems your husband had? My husband is the type of person who will wake up in the middle of the night with acid in his throat coughing, I wonder if I should worry about him now! He's always popping Tums. Sorry again you lost your husband but glad that you have such happy memories of him. Nancy

I know a lot of people have problems at first, my daughter had one for her "disturbed" sleep due to snoring but didn't even have apnea so we ended up sending hers back after a fee of course. She just could not use it. I had to get one before my surgery also and I had severe apnea so I adapted to it because it really did help with my sleep. I have one that just covers my nose. I also joined the WWW.CPAPTALK.COM forum when I got it and they were very helpful with questions I had. I got mine from a respiratory therapist after seeing the pulmonologist and they're seem like they're apt not to try too many masks because once they try them on you they can't sell them to other people. I guess I was lucky that the one I have worked out for me. Good luck and check out that forum and see if they can help you a bit. But it sounds like you may not even need one. Good luck Nancy.

MistyD65, Very well said!:tt2:

What I mean is that she's right there to ask what something is like and what can go wrong and what can go right. I know if I don't revise I'm not going to be thin, that's a given. But some people have real issues with failure and I suppose I'm one of them. I guess you're saying that it's better to take a chance with surgery and fail than to stay fat but it's the failure part that I'm afraid of more so than being fat in the first place. I know I sound a bit of a loon but that's how I feel.

OK, Now I remember who you are as you changed your screen name too. You know I worry more about my daughter than myself. I know because I've gained back weight quickly twice that it happens. I know because I've seen all the famous people on TV who have had the RNY done and you see it come back on. My daughter is the only person I know personally who has had this surgery. She is only post-op May 08. I don't want my daughter doing an emotional downhill spiral if that happens to her. I suppose I've been prepared though for it from the beginning on how to help her. She's still in therapy and I think it helps her and am hoping that will help her also if/when that happens. Of course once she had the surgery I joined a forum just when I had questions as she is not a forum girl. I know from Obesityhelp.com's revision section that every surgery has been revised to every surgery. I think I've seen someone have 3 different ones, I don't know what the high number is yet. But I assume they all can fail in one way or another. I never go to the point where I lost the weight but gaining it back is very stressful on the psyche. Having WLS and gaining weight is very damaging to the psyche too. My psyche is a bit fragile so that's why I'm back and forth about what I'm going to do. Either way I'm damned if I do or damned if I don't! My opinion is that the sleeve wouldn't work for me if the lap band didn't work. Maybe I'm wrong but I don't think it's an option anyway. I remember you said you daughter had children too right? Do you think there is a connection between the pregnancy/(s) and the weight gain at all? My daughter has never had dumping syndrome, I guess I expected that to happen too.

Initially I lost weight prior to banding on the 4 week medifast liquid diet about 20+ pounds. Then I had surgery and lost a bit after that and then when I started to eat normal food I chewed and chewed until one day I discovered I didn't need to because they never really put anything in the first 3 fills, the fill nurse thought I had the smaller band. So I finally got the surgeon to do the next fill and he got me up to about 3.5, not that the number really matters it just made me super tight, this was about 3 months after my surgery. So I was basically too tight at that point but I didn't know any better. So I started eating around the band, mainly yogurts and Jello and Cereal or if it was salad or meat it had to have a lot of dressing or mayo to get it down. I did my fair share of PBing, it was almost normal at this point. Since that fill every time I went to the office after that I was slowly putting back the weight I lost in the beginning and because I was "gaining" the fill tech put in more fill so I kept getting worse and gaining until finally she put in too much as she had written in the wrong amount and I was puking in a church parking lot a block from their office. I didn't know if this was abnormal either, hadn't come to the LBT forum yet. I ended up calling the on-call surgeon and my husband drove me to their office at midnight where a different surgerion discovered the mistake and took out enough to go back to the old amount where I was still too tight but could swallow my own saliva again. This went on for a year of trying and failing getting fills and unfills and never getting to that sweet spot until my surgeon finally unfilled me and then you know the rest. After my stay in the hospital my surgeon sent me for an upper GI which they saw the acid reflux and a small hiatal hernia and that's when they scheduled my removal within the next two weeks. I chose to see a specialist aftewards to make sure there was no damage done to my insides. I still had the pains after my band was removed another reason why I went for an endoscopy because my protonix script had run out I believe that was helping me. I'm on it now and have not had any pains in a long time. I'm not a soda drinker, have to watch the chocolate though, I know there are a lot of things that can aggravate it. I was surprised when they told me that I couldn't drink Water when I went to bed though and still have a hard time stopping that as I like to have my water. Watch "The Quiet Man" if you haven't yet, my favorite Irish flick. Take care Nancy.

Mac, I agree it is a leap of faith that's why this time I spending more time on whether or not I'm going to do it. Before I knew I wanted WLS but which one. Now I want to be sure it will work for me before I decide to have it as I don't think I could really "deal" with another failed WLS. My daughter had none of the comorbs I had just a really high BMI. I'm also perimenopausal and have an underacitve thyroid and type II diabetes and on antidepressants. The whole hormonal thing plays a large roll in my life now that I didn't have when I was her age and then was able to drop 100 pounds twice but of course put it back on both times. We're close in body types but with her age and lack of other issues has a lot to do with her success. I still wonder if I could be successful not to be self prophetic but I need to be really sure this time. I suppose it's not just that I'm related to my daughter that makes me think I could do better but I've been with her through her whole journey and know more what it's like you know what I mean. There are no guarantees though.

I think genetics play a big role in weight. Maybe in some people they happen to sit on their asses and eat all day long but the majority of people aren't like that. Obesity is a very complicated issue. Ghrenlin may play a major roll in some people's weight issues but not every one's as far as we know. I think in many ways this big "obesity" scare that everyone is on can be part of the problem. If the band is working and you're able to keep it off forever that's wonderful but those of us who grew up fat and dieted, lost, gained even more, dieted, loss, gained more again - yo yo'd most of our lives and there are many of us like this it has made us fatter. There are many of us who were fat and have made it worse by dieting as we know dieting doesn't really work. So we're told we're obese and need to lose weight and diet and exercise and as you know there are plenty of us who exercise and don't lose a pound. If we want to lose weight and keep it off we're basically stuck with some form of WLS. Now if you try that and it doesn't work then we're apt to revise to a "better" one. We all want to get to a smaller us but getting there and keeping it off is still a problem for most of us. I still have hope that the medical community will come up with something in our near future that will help us, hopefully less drastic than WLS and hopefully something that won't bring about another yo yo in our lives. They seem to spend a lot of time and money saying we're all obese and we need to lose weight but they really don't seem to have much of a clue as how to really fix the problem in my opinion. I don't know about you but I don't sit on my couch all day and eat bon bons but I have spent most of my life dieting and have had WLS and I'm still close to the weight where my body seems to want to go to.

Upstate NY and we got hammered again today. Grew up outside DC which can get cold too but the snow is something that I still just can't get used to. My husband and I are both part Irish, he more so than I but his full name is Irish and never pronounced correctly which is silly as it's a simple name! That's nice you can remember your husband every year that way. I had the band about 14 months and was removed last October. It never worked for me although I gave it the best try I could and eventually got the reflux issues. At my one year anniversary of being banded I saw my surgeon and that's when we discussed the obvious, a year is long enough and because I was always way too tight all the time he took all the fill out and asked me to wait a month before I decided to have it removed to make sure that's what I wanted to do. I waited more than a month and they removed it pretty quickly after I was in the hospital for the reflux chest pains. I am thinking of RNY because my daughter had it last May and has lost over 140 lbs so far. I have an appt. to meet with my surgeon next month to see if it's feasible etc...and I have decided yet if or what I'll do. I really don't want to make any rash decisions and am glad I didn't revise immediately and have given myself some time to adjust to the removal. Anyway that's about it and Happy pre-St. Patrick's Day Nancy.

I don't know if you knew but I had my band removed last October. I know they biopsied the polyps but I don't know if they biopsied the esophagus. This is a totally different group than my gastric surgeon and I'll use them also when I'm 50 for my colonoscopy. I'll have to look into that. I did get a typed statement of what they did so I'll look in my file. I haven't put up my Snoopy St. Pat flag yet but we still have too much snow! I have to switch my decor from Valentine's to St. P next weekend! Take care and sorry about your husband, Nancy.

I was just curious if you are banded. I never had problems until after I was banded. It became an issue when I developed chest pains about 10 months post-banding. I never had typical heart burn or acid up to the throat. I found out after spending the night in the hospital to rule out heart issues that it was acid reflux and have been on protonix ever since. They only gave me a script for one month and I ended up getting an endoscopy to see if there was any damage done and they found just red marks and benign stomach polyps and put me back on the protonix after finally getting it approved by my insurance company as it's very expensive. I was just curious as I've read most people who are banded can't help but get acid reflux problems. Have you heard this also? Nancy

I'll be the first to admit my skin has toughened up since my initial battle with the band and some of the bandsters who weren't exactly happy with my posts due to the fact that I was searching out here trying to figure out why it wasn't working for me and it appeared it was for everyone else! Now I know that just wasn't true and there are many more coming forward. That doesn't make me happy but makes me know "hey, it's not me it's the band, I'm not crazy or a failure". That is not to take away for those that it has worked for and right now I don't care why it doesn't work because it's too late as it's now gone forever! My problem now is trying to figure out if I should revise and if I do what I should revise to. As far as I know my surgeon only does two procedures, Lap band and RNY. But there maybe others out there affiliated with other hospitals further away. I don't want to take a chance again. How do I know that the sleeve would work for me. I say this objectively and not slamming anyone's procedure. Is removing the part that makes produces ghrenlin enough for someone like me? I thought the band was going to be enough and some people I even remember somewhere here have said that having the lapband has stopped the production of ghrenlin also. I watched my daughter, and of course it being my daughter makes it more painful and scary, go through her RNY. She's been very sucessful but also had her fair share of comps along the way. It was very troublesome in the beginning because her new stoma closed up and had to have it stretched out during two separate endoscopies. This included an extra hospital stay and there was the night we spent with her in the ER while she got fluids because of her dehrydration. It's still fresh in my head and heart and it's hard to think about it now. The thing is we're related and it's worked for her and she's doing well now so it's natural for me to think this one might work better for me. Anyway it's my problem but I know now that it's hard to decide on a procedure and even if I should attempt another. I wish there were easier ways to figure out the best solution for everyone. Some are lucky and what they pick seems to be working and working well. I just think it's now time to stop blamimg "the patients" as I called them earlier because the procedure they chose did not work. We all invest so much into these things and feel bad enough as it is, Nancy. :blushing:

Gladiator - great Russell Crowe flick! I think that I heard Mel Gibson's father moved his whole family to Australia during the draft of the Vietnam War, I could be wrong it's something I have way back in my memory somewhere.

I just don't think I would be a good candidate for the sleeve since I really wasn't for the band and I have type II diabetes etc...one of many comorbs. I wonder which recovery time is easier the sleeve or the RNY or if they are about the same. Just curious if anyone knows. I guess I always assumed RNY would be the most difficult.:thumbup:

BJean, I'm sorry things are going well for you either. With the RNY the duodenum is completely bypassed and that's where the majority of fat absorption takes place. So that aids in your WL. (I think that's basically it) They also remove a good amount of your small intestine and use it to connect to your new pouch openning. The stomach is stapled in one long line to portion off and make it smaller. (I hope I did it justice). Now I know nothing is perfect but I'm tired of giving up on the whole thing and know I need something major. At this point I'm not affraid anymore. I have more comorbs now than I had before I was banded and need to do something, plus I just can't be happy at a heavier size even though I made an attempt. Like most people I didn't want to go to the "extreme" of having RNY but since my 20 year old daughter had it last May and has lost over 140 lbs so far I have a little more faith it may work for me also. My surgeon only does RNY or Lap band and has been doing RNY much longer. My primary did not want me to get the lap band initially and has patients that have gone through my surgeon for their RNYs but I was his only patient that had the lap band. I don't plug any WLS because we're all so different and just because it works for so and so doesn't mean it will work for me or anyone else. My daughter has had probs in the beginning with strictures where her stoma closed twice and so far those were her only complications. Now she's eating well and still losing. (I will always worry about her, can't help it) She was about 360 lbs when she started and 6 feet tall and now carries herself like a model! Big change in her life for sure. I looked at the DS a while ago and decided against it mainly because the surgeon was much further away and I feel more comfortable going through my orignal team and a surgery that I'm more familiar with. Anyway I hope you can find what will work for you it definately took it's toll on me emotionally and still does. Take care Nancy.

Wow Susan, I had no idea thanks for "coming out of the closet". I hope something works out for you. I've always worried about you self-pay peeps and how you all deal with it. I'm guessing sleeves are great for people who can lose weight with the band but I don't think I would be a good candidate and need that malabsorption aspect that RNY has. I really hope things work out for you! Nancy

That's was true for me also. Even without any fill I could not eat a "normal" diet. Now that it has been removed I still feel the tightness in my esophagus when I eat certain foods that I could never tolerate no matter if I had fill in my band or not. Why is that? That's the question everyone should ask. Why is it so different with everyone. How can you know ahead of time if I will feel like that on the band? That's just one aspect of the band that is an issue for many people.

I think we've all learned that almost anything is up for grabs in R and R and usually uncomfortable for someone. I know banding is a very emotional thing for all of us. When it works like it does for a lot of you that's wonderful and that's what we all wanted too when we were banded. We all wanted to "ra ra, yay, love my band :thumbup:" but it doesn't always work that way. I know it's hard not to take it personally but you have to give us a bit of a break when we all wanted all the joy and the positive results that come from the band and did not get them or something went horribly wrong as it did with Wasa. No one is stopping anyone for boasting about their positive results with the band but it's therapeutic for us and also helps others who have problems. Also all prebanders need to get the good the bad and the ugly about the band. Knowledge is a good thing and some of us may not have been banded in the first place if we had all the information that is out now. Whatever procedure we choose we want it to be successful. I had mine removed last October and am still PM'd by people myself which is partly why I stick around. Part of me still wants the success and dealing with band failure is not easy I'm now considering revision to the RNY which was very successful for my daughter and I've been right along with her through her good times and bad and with our common gene pool I'm hoping I will be more successful with this procedure. Anyway I am happy for all of you that have had success but you just have to be a bit patient with those of us who have not had the same success and need to share our stories mainly because there are many people who want to hear them. Nancy

Some people do well with the band, I didn't and had it removed after 14 months. I suggest you find as much info as possible as to how it's going to feel physically and emotionally to be banded to find if it's the right procedure for you. I was fat all my life and don't eat a ton of food but sometimes the ones that will keep me from losing. I'm also 49 and on many meds that affect my WL in many ways. Hopefully your surgeon can answer all your questions. Good luck to you Nancy.

Wasa, That's funny you brought up the staples at the airport, just sent my daughter on her first solo trip down south to visit some college friends and I was waiting for her to go through security and I was waiting for them to stop her for having her RNY but they didn't. I can't believe my brain is working this way now but I suppose you can go through different stages, like death and dying, when you lose your band or it never worked and you lose your band. It's pretty traumatic as I'm sure you well know. I just don't know if I choose to revise, after saying I never would, if I be more successful with the sleeve or the RNY. I want to make sure it will work this time and have lost a lot of confidence during my banding experience, thanks for your honest assist, I appreciate it! Nancy.

That's the problem, I thought I knew what I was doing the first time and don't want to fail again!

Well even though my daughter did really well with her RNY, lost over 140 lbs and is doing well health-wise I was too paranoid about getting a revision. I suppose I lost all faith in WLS for myself after my lap banding experience, I'm dealing with it now the best I can.

Wasa, let's also not forget that everyone is different and not everyone does well on the band from the beginning. They don't even get to the point you did where they have such traumatic complications. I admire your honesty and hope you don't get attacked like I have in the past. Basically trying to help those to be aware that it doesn't always work they way they make it appear it will! We need to stop blaming the patients! Take care, Nancy.