2muchfun

Good to see Lellow again! I don't mean to sound like a cynic but I've always been a skeptic when it comes to band CC levels provided by the healthcare staff? So, Honk, were you not feeling any restriction or satiety lately and that's why she pulled all the saline out? tmf

No problem just drinking Water. It's washing food through the band with water that's not advisable. A phrase you may not be familiar with is "Slider Foods"? Slider foods are foods like ice cream, margaritas, mac and cheese. Foods that slide through the band without the esophagus going through peristalsis 5 to 6 times. Peristalsis is when the esophagus massages food through the sphincter at the top of the stomach. Foods like egg nog just flow right through without giving the vagus nerve at the top of your stomach the signal that you're eating, thereby not giving you that feeling of satiety. Water will take most food and lubricate it right through the band.

Isn't it funny how some people, even professionals, cop this attitude about how we should be living our lives and controlling our eating habits. PA#1 sounds like one of those people who believe we need to control ourselves around food. As if we could have? We wouldn't need surgery if we could control our eating habits. Hell, we wouldn't need the PA, doctor or clinic if we could cure ourselves. Grrrrrrrrrrr. Sorry, I'm ranting and done now.

So, since you were unaware of pre-fill instructions, you do know that you should be on liquids for 24 hours and then mushies for 24 hours after the fill? Or, whatever protocol your doctor gave you? Looks like you've lost 12 lbs which is the same I lost after surgery for the first 4 months. I'd love to continue losing 4 lbs a month even now. After that first wave of weight loss is over, you probably will see about 4-8 lbs a month if you're good. Tough month to stay good though?? I had surgery 11/28/11 but the first 30 days weren't nearly as bad as I thought. It's the phase after the first 30 days is over that was hard for me. Good luck. Be good Happy Holidays!

Distraction is one of the worst for we bandsters. Lifelong habits are so difficult to break. I've had the same happen over the phone ringing or a knock at the door.

Man, I sure enjoyed the food but it was an ugly reminder of the old me and I don't want to be that guy again. All Holiday food is now out of the house but some Hutterites dropped off a care package for us complete with pies, candy, Cookies, canned peaches, eggs and more. Ugh! Need to put up a high fence around the house to keep all the gifters away

I'm using the website too.

It would be sad if you bailed now. You might want to ask your doctor for your next fill to use fluoroscopy. See this video. Catfish is in the green zone and found it fast using this technique. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjCZ3YjMzE0&feature=player_embedded

I'm thinking yes but I don't want to find out. Cherry pits seem to be bigger than most Vitamins I take. I picture the stoma to be about the size of the hole in a straw. Sometimes even less. If you've ever seen Catfish's video on his fluoroscopy you'll see the hole is not very big. You've done very well with the band and I'd only recommend a fill if you start to plateau for a few months and begin to get hungry 2-3 hours after a meal? If you're losing slowly now don't rock the boat. jmo tmf

I wouldn't describe it as pain. More like discomfort from the pressure on my esophagus. Like a soft golfball under my sternum for a few minutes. Stuck means that I have to stop eating "pause", and wait for the food to pass. I think for me, it's just an accumulation of food that builds up from eating too rapidly or from eating too big. I rarely ever get stuck from one single bite of food that I failed to chew or was too big. I do recall this last fall one time where I nearly swallowed a cherry pit. That, would have been painful and would have meant a trip to the ER. tmf

Ditto for me. Some foods do struggle making it through the stoma however and I occasionally get stuck.

When we would click on quote on the old site, it would only quote the comments from that member and not the quote he/she was responding too. This new site includes all quotes. Takes up too much space and bytes.

Since Jan? 11 months without restriction? How much does your band hold? How many cc's are u filled to? You can have restriction without being in the green zone.

Ok I'm busted. Got stuck on some marshmallowed yams and then some prime rib. But it was so worth it.

Sounds good as long as your doc is ok with it.

Not problem for me. Smaller bites, chew, chew chew.

You could reach a consistent green zone with your next fill or it might take several more? No one can know. And it might take just a small .25 CC fill to make it happen. It's unlikely you've sprung a leak. Most all of us have a similar experience as yours. It took me 6 fills and 7 months to get there. Oh wow! Hope im as lucky as u've been! Well maybe u can tell me when might i expect consistent restriction after a fill. The first week im definitely in the green. Second week is like i have no band at all. Im aware of the swelling during the first week analogy. Im guessing i may have sprung a leak some place. Im convinced somethings pushing the Fluid out of my band after 7 days Just keep going in for fills and stay away from slider type foods. tmf

I just have to go back to basics and remove all white foods from my grocery list and cupboards.

Hi Mona and welcome. I'm from Colorado(Go Buffs ). Miss that old rivalry with Big Red? Anyway, if you go to the top of this page, and click on the "Patients" tab, then click on the state tab, you can look up all Nebraska patients. Click on the "Last Updated" column and this will set up your results for ascending or descending. The patients with the most recent dates will probably be the only ones who follow the forum. But it looks like you have about 250 buddies to choose from. Happy Thanksgiving!

I was a low BMI patient. My doctor asked similar questions and suggested the band for me. I was leaning that way so it was an easy choice for me. I had settled in at 230 lbs for about 8 years. I'd vacillate between 198-235 depending on winter and summer. I wasn't a binge eater, I wasn't a big sweets consumer, I just averaged eating about 500 calories too much every day. The band seemed like the logical choice for me and I'm very happy. Today is my 2 year bandiversary btw. tmf

My quick story: I lost 12 lbs the first 2 weeks and then 0 lbs the next 3.5 months. I was in Bandster hell for about 3 months. I was pissed off the first couple of months that my doctor and nutritionist never mentioned this phase. I should have been more diligent in reading this forum and I would have known better. But, I accepted the fact it may take several fills before I started to feel satiety for hours. 4 months out I had a consult with my nutritionist and my 3rd fill. I immediately started to lose weight and my hunger level dropped dramatically. Just keep getting fills and eat your Protein. You'll get there. Happy Thanksgiving and today is my 2 year Bandiversary tmf

Bands that are too tight can cause patients to eat around the band with slider foods. Or, too tight can cause patients to dilate their pouch or esophagus when food won't pass through the band in less than a minute. Slips can occur too. Slip symptoms are not being able to eat or spitting up food trapped in the pouch.

Got me?

I had insurance via HCA 2 years ago and locally WLS was not covered. Every state and insurer will have different coverages. You should go to your UHC site and look up bariatrics to find out if WLS is covered?

Allergan bands hold 10 for the small version and 14 for the large version. You may also have a Realize band and I'm not sure what they hold.