Yayforme

So..every now and then i'll wake up and have stomach pains, located in my "upper stomach area"..im assuming where my band is. The pain normally goes away after I drink some water or eat something..but today its not..and its hurting more than ever!! I called my doctor and am waiting for them to call me back right now. I PRAY its not erosion..the idea of that happening scares the hell out of me! Has anyone else had this happen? And if so, what did you do? I was banded back in September and have had about 4 fills since. HELP!

Wow! Thank you for all of you who responded! Its very comforting to know that I'm not the only one who is (or was) at the same spot as I am with losing weight.

I had my surgery back in September and right now I am at a loss of about 33 pounds. So how much weight did you fellow bandsters lose when you were 4 months out? I know everyone loses differently, but Im just curious as to what other people have lost compared to what I have. Thanks!! :thumbup:

I heard it was an average of 5-8 fills before you hit your "sweet spot". But the number of fills you get varies with each person. It depends on how much fat is around your stomach when they put the band on..as the fat goes away, the band gets looser which is fixed with a fill. I know a few people who only had to have 3 or 4 fills. I have only had 1 fill sofar and my insurance was billed. Once you hit your "sweet spot" you wont have to get anymore fills (or shouldnt have to anyway..unless you want to..)

Hi Rob! I had my surgery on Sept 10th and I had diarrhea off and on for about 2 weeks. I called my doctor to see if there was something I could do about it and they said to just be carefull with what I eat and that it should stop as my insides adjust to my band. If it doesnt stop, I would recommend calling your doctor to see what he says. Good luck! Diarrhea is SO not fun!

I had my surgery on Sept 10th, so not too long ago. Here is how my experience went..after I woke up in the recovery room I was very groggy and dont remember much ...then I woke up, they wheeled me into my room (i had to stay overnight for insurance reasons) and I got nauseous (from the ride up) but after a few min the nauseousness went away. Im not going to lie..for the first few hours I did NOT feel that great! It was more of a "really really uncomfortable" feeling than pain though. The girl I shared a room with, who had the surgery about 4 hours before me, told me "i know you might feel like crap right now, but TRUST ME, you will feel SOOO much better in just a few hours!" And she was right! After about 4 hours (it may seem long but its not too bad) and doing LOTS of walking around (it REALLY does help TONS!) I was feeling almost 100%! When I wasnt walking around the hospital floor, or talking to my "roomie", I was asleep. If your feeling pain, DONT be afraid to ask for some pain meds! After the car ride home I was a little nauseous again, but I laid down for a while and felt much better. Now, the gas pains you will feel....well...they suck, but are tolerable. Just remember to do LOTS AND LOTS of walking around (when I say lots I dont mean distance, I mean # of times you get up to walk around for a few min!) Also, get some gasx strips and a heating pad for when walking isnt doing as much as you would like. I was so nervous for my surgery too, and if I had to go back and do it over again, I SOO would! I have almost lost 30lbs sofar! In my opinion, the time spent in pain and discomfort is 100% worth it! Just remember, you will be in pain for only a short period of time, but you will be getting healthier and skinnier and that will last MUCH longer than the time spent in pain! I hope I was able to help you a little! Good luck with everything! I know you will do great!

Wow! Thank you all so much for your replys! I am feeling so much better after reading what you all had to say! I know that its going to take quite a while to lose the weight I want (I need to learn to be more patient!!), and I know that the band is a tool. I promised myself that I would only weigh myself once a week and to make sure I'm getting enough (good)calories in! Its so comforting to know that whenever I am feeling down, or need help with something that I can come here and have so many people on my side, willing to help me! Thank you all so SO much! :tongue2:

I had to wait 2 days after surgery to shower. But when I did I was SO scared to! I was told to NOT scrub them AT ALL. They also didnt say that I needed to have any kind of soap. So in the shower I just let the soapy water run over them and thats about all I did for the first few showers. I'm still to nervous to scrub them (im about 4 weeks out). -Nanook why did u have to have your band removed??

I feel the same way!! I havent had any fills yet....and hopefully when I do, I will be able to make it between meals! I have been really good about not snacking..but sometimes I get SO hungry between lunch and dinner and drinking water isnt cutting it so I will have a piece of turkey. Hopefully we will soon reach a point where we can go from breakfast to lunch to dinner without getting hungry in between! Congrats on your weight loss so far! :crying:

I had my surgery on Sept 10th and am so bummed out right now:crying:. The past two weeks my weight loss has slowed drastically! The first two weeks I lost 7lbs per week. Then, in the 3rd week I only lost 1 pound!! (During that 3rd week I had lots of ups and downs on the scale.) And I have been pretty much the same for this 4th week! I am just wondering, why is it that I am eating WAY less calories then I did before my surgery, and WAY healthier and exercising WAAAY more, and i'm not dropping weight like crazy?! Shouldnt me doing that (regardless of surgery) be enough to make me lose more then what I am? I havent had any fills yet (first one scheduled for Oct 16th:thumbup:), and I hope things will get a little better after that. *sigh* ...I guess i've been looking at other peoples progress a little too much...I have seen lots of people who have lost lots of weight the first month and maybe i'm comparing myself to them too much. Is my weight loss "normal"? Does anyone have any tips or advice they can give me to maybe help up my weight loss? Also, how often do weigh yourself? I weigh myself daily...its kinda getting addicting to see if I have lost any weight..but I get so depressed if I have gained anything (which has been happening alot these past 2 weeks:sad:). Someone PLEASE help me!! :crying:

Hi Onetiffany!! :smile: Congrats on getting your first fill!! How did it go? Did it hurt? I am going CRAZY!!! I get my first one on Oct 16th and CANT WAIT! What is your average weight loss per week?? My weight loss has slowed SO much and its starting to bum me out :cool2: !

I had HORRIBLE gas pains in my left shoulder too! I did lots of walking and used a heating pad....that seemed to help me a little. I had my surgery on the 10th and every now and then I get a little shoulder pain (but nothing like I did the first 2 weeks after). I hope it goes away fast! I know it is NOT a pleasant feeling..AT ALL!

I had my surgery on the 10th, and this past week my weight loss has slowed SOOO much! The first 2 weeks I lost atleast 7 pounds a week...I just weighed myself and Im only down 2 this week! ( dont get me wrong..Im happy for the 2 pounds...I am just confused as to why its not more) I'm only eating around 500 cals per day and I usually burn off 200 of those calories on the treadmill each day. So why arent I dropping weight like crazy?? Before surgery I would eat atleast 2500 calories per day..shouldnt the drastic change have me losing more each week?? I'm so frustrated and a little depressed that my weight loss has slowed down so much. Can anyone please help me understand why? *sigh* thanks:crying:

I had my surgery on the 10th! You will be just fine! Expect to be very groggy when you come out of surgery(i sure was!) and to be somewhat in pain( i was more uncomfortable then i was in pain..)..but just remember..no matter how you feel for the first hour or two, you WILL start to feel TONS better shortly! I felt like crap for the first hour or two and then about 3 hours after surgery I felt SOO much better! Also remember to WALK WALK WALK!!! It REALLY DOES make you feel SO much better! There were some patients who had the surgery the same day I did, who didnt walk alot, and they were miserable! I had to stay overnight at the hospital (insurance reasons) and me and the girl I shared a room with (who also had the surgery) were up and walking around about ever 3 or 4 hours doing about 5 "laps" around the hospital floor. We were BY FAR feeling the best out of everyone! Another thing, drink as much water as you can..that way you dont get dehydrated or nausous! Try to get a good nights sleep tonight..tomorrow will go by so fast! Good luck and let us know how your experience went! :girl_hug:

I'm so sorry to hear that your family is like that! I get a TON of crap from my family about my weight too...which is why I didnt tell them that I had the surgery either. Its so pathetic that our own familys, who are supposed to love us unconditionally, can be so rude and hurtful! There is a difference between being worried about someones health and being downright rude..and your family seems to have crossed that line (as well as mine..several times)! All of my siblings are thin, and they will never, EVER understand how hard, physically and emotionally, it can be to be overweight..and I think that if they had the slightest idea how it was they would just keep their mouths shut! I'm almost to the point where I want to tell them "if you want to have any kind of relationship with me you need to stop with all the rude, degrading remarks!" ...I hope things will get better for you..it sucks having your family act this way. Just know that there are tons of people here who support you and help you through the hard times.

I just want you to know that I felt the EXACT same way after I graduated HS(and still kinda do!). I'm only a few years older than you (Im 22...today..its my bday!) And I just had my surgery 8 days ago (so im still on liquids...doesnt make that great of a bday dinner!) But just think of how GREAT we are going to look soon! We cant ever go back to HS...but try not to focus on that..just think of all the CUTE clothes you will get to buy and how we will be HEALTHY!! Keep your head up! Pretty soon we will be jumping in front of every camera we see instead of running from them! :thumbup:

I also had my surgery on 9-10! And I TOTALLY agree with you about that gas devil! It KILLS! I had my first bowel movement yesterday, however...it started out with me rushing to the bathroom with horrible diarrhea for a few hours..then everything was back to normal-Thank goodness! ....I never thought I would miss chewing so much! Lol! I cant wait until im able to eat "regular" foods again!!

Hey! My surgery is tomorrow too!! I am SUPER excited! I also have to stay over night at hospital. Best of luck to you! We are going to do great! :thumbdown:

Only 6 more days until I get banded! I am SOOOOO excited! :smile2: I am SO ready for this! I registered at the hospital today and I couldnt stop smiling! Of course i'm nervous, and even a little scared...but nothings going to stop me from doing this! Words cant describe how excited I am to say goodbye to these size 22 jeans i'm in and this 2x shirt! I cant wait for the day I will be able to shop in the same stores with my sister ( who is a size 6 )!!! YAY FOR ME! LOL! ONLY 6 MORE DAYS!!!:tt2:

Thank you to both of you! I've been thinking about it and I decided that I'm not going to tell them. And now whenever I start to get depressed about my family situation, I just think of all the cute clothes and how healthy I will be and that helps! I am so excited for my life to change on Sept 10th and I'm not going to let anyone, even if it is my own family, bring me down anymore! Thanks again for your kind words! I'm so glad I found people who can relate to me with my weight issues and who are so supportive!

First of all let me tell you that I am the youngest in my family. I have 2 older brothers and an older sister..all who are all thin, never been overweight a day in their lives. Anyways, so I with my sister yesterday and she got a call from my brother. Well, with my sisters cell phone you can somewhat hear what the person on the other side is saying. So my sister made a comment to him "my kids are eating me out of house and home" (typical for growing kids..) and my brother says to her "just dont let them end up like Chelsea!'' (...I am Chelsea..). I'm so sick of how overweight people are treated! And its so pathetic how my OWN family talks crap about me to eachother because of my weight! I havent told any of my siblings about me getting surgery (which will be on Sept 10th) because they consider weight loss surgery as a cop-out. It makes me so sad that I cant tell my own family about this exciting change thats going to happen in my life, well..I could, but then I would have to deal with all the crap they will give me about it..and I dont need that in my life right now. *sigh*...I wish my siblings could spend just ONE day having to deal with the physical and mental things that come with being overweight, then maybe they wouldnt be so cruel. Anyways...thats my rant....

I am scheduled to be banded on September 10th! YAY! I cant wait! Good luck to all of you September bandsters! :biggrin:

Hey everyone! My name is Chelsea, and I will be banded on Sept. 10th by Dr. Atkinson /Dr. Soong. I am so excited! I hope everyone has a great day today!:tt2:

my doctor didnt really give me a preop diet..just for the day before surgery. Thanks and good luck to you too!!! -Chelsea