Nanny2Trey

I have flown several very long flights since being banded and never had a problem. Did not have any amount of unfill prior and was never told not to eat for any period of time before flying. HTH Linda

I have flown to Europe twice since I was banded and had absolutely no problems and did not do liquids. I have also flown domestic twice with no issues. Linda Banded 6/5/06

What is a Protein bullet? Is it a pill form of protein I hope because I have yet to make anything and add protein to it and be able to eat or drink it. I can't stand any form of Protein powder in my food or drink. Linda

I would be interested to note if the banded patients in the study were with adjustable lap bands. If not then eventually you might lose restriction. I know that a friend of mine had lap band six years ago and she did not have access to the adjustable band at that time. Being able to adjust would make a difference I would think. Linda

I am able to eat any types of food. Any meats, bread, Pasta, pizza. I just don't eat a million calories of it a day like I used to. I know I exaggerated a little. I have lost 100 lbs in my first year. What I have found is that everyone is different. I just take small bites and chew well. I have had some pbs but not routinely. HTH. Linda

HI, I'm from Springfield. I know there are a lot of people around here having lap band surgery but this board for Springfield doesn't see much action. I had surgery 6/5/06. Dr. Edwards is my doctor. I'm right around the corner from my bandiversary. I'm sure glad it's not last year at this time as I was a basket case of nerves. I'm 57 and have lived in Springfield for over 40 years. I am a Registered Nurse at St. John's. I attended one of the support sessions several months ago. I'm not good about going back to the hospital after I get home in the afternoon. I have had 4 fills and have lost 100 pounds. I'm planning to get another fill 6/14. That will be my final one that was included in the original price. Feel free to email me if you would like. LHobbs@mchsi.com. Linda

Sorry to not get back to you. I lost the thread. Yes, I have the 4cc band. Have you had another fill yet? I am getting another one next week. My fill costs were included in the cost of surgery for one year and my year is up in June so I wanted to get one last fill before I have to start paying again. Linda

Go ahead and get a fill. That's what they are for. Check with your doctor but it sounds like you think you are too close to being totally full. I had that fear also. My doctor says, as do many other doctors , that you can put more than 4cc in the band. I am in the Medical profession and I believe that to be true. Probably up to 6cc or more. HTH Linda Banded 6/5/06 -95 to date 4 fills Currently at 4.6cc

You really aren't expected to make much weight loss progress before you get a fill. I know some people do, but I didn't. I have been banded since June 5 and have lost 90 pounds. I didn't really start losing until after my first fill so, see it can be done. I'm not going to lie to you, though. I have been exercising faithfully since two weeks after my surgery. Started off doing 10 minutes on the treadmill and I am now up to 60 minutes 6 days a week and 15 minutes of upper body weights. It does take work, for me anyway, but the work has paid off and I have had the energy and willingness to do the work when I do see results. Hang in there and don't compare yourself to others. Find what works for you. Linda

I have good restriction (4fills). Have been banded 9 months , lost 90 pounds. I haven't found any food that I can't eat if I choose to. I don't drink pop anymore and amazingly I don't miss it very much. I have an occasional PB. I love steak and have had no trouble with any types of steak, chicken, bread, vegetables raw or cooked, any kind of fruit. I have tried it all. I just don't eat anywhere near as much as I used to. HTH Linda Banded 06/05/06 B294C204G150

I don't consider my doctor to be overly aggressive. I have had good weight loss avg 2.4 pounds a week. I don't PB or slime, and I don't throw up. There really isn't any type of food that I can't eat. Each patient has to be individualized. He fills according to each patient's needs. I know several of his patients and we are all different and have different amounts of fill and different numbers of fills. The bottom line is we are using the band in the way that works best for us. If I had gotten .5 fills I would have never made the progress I have. Someone else would probably not be able to eat a bite with the fills I have had. Linda

I just had a fill on 1/11/07 and it was my 4th fill. I now have 4.6cc in my 4cc band. I don't know why they call it 4ccs. I asked how much more I could have before I coudn't have anymore and I was told that they could put in twice as much as as I have now which would be over 9ccs. I am a nurse and I do know that in catheters they say the inflatable bulb is 5ccs but you can put way more than that in. HTH. Linda OR 6/5/06 294 lbs 4 fills -77 lbs

Absolutely. The first two weeks were awful for me. If I could have undone it without having surgery I would have. I had major problems with my BP dropping and I do mean dropping 60/40 (probably related to anesthesia meds) and I normally have high BP. I had massive bruising on my entire huge abdomen. My doctor said he hadn't ever seen anything like it. I was so depressed and so weak. All I did was cry. Could not stand Protein drinks. I did move on to small amounts of other things. It has been 7 months now and I have felt much better after the first two weeks. Have lost 75 pounds and exercise an hour a day 6 days a week. Strange thing though, my BP has never gone back to what it was. Have decreased my BP meds by half and am staying in the 120/70 range. I would say it's due to weight loss, but not totally because it was this way after surgery before I even lost. Hang in there. Things do get much better. Sorry to ramble on. Linda Surgery 6/5/06 294 Now 219

Sorry to hear about your problems. I am an emotional eater, also. Actually, I'm just a big eater. Always have been. We always ate a lot and both my mom and I were good cooks when I was growing up. That sounds a little strange as we are still good cooks. I haven't lost any since the week before Christmas, but I'm trying not to be too concerned about it yet. I don't really think I need another fill at this time. Aren't grandchildren just grand? I have 5. Two of them are step grandchildren. It seemed like we weren't ever going to have any and then both our children got pregnant at the same time (really I guess I should say our daughter and our son's wife. ) Our son married a woman who had two children so we went from none to 4 all in one year. Then our son and his wife had another baby 8 months ago. I have learned to be careful what I hope for. Boy did I get a lot of blessings fast. Happy New Year and Happy losing. Linda

Earlene, Hi, I haven't been on in quite some time. I had the band 6/5/06 and have lost 74 pounds. I have had 3 fills and still don't feel extremely restricted. i can still eat any type of food without any problems I just don't eat as much of it as I used to. I started off losing 3-4 pounds a week and am now averaging 2 lbs a week. I also walk on the treadmill for an hour a day so I have put in quite a bit of work along with the band. Don't get discouraged about not feeling a lot of restriction. It still works. I read on here about people who are so tight that they can't eat anything. It doesn't seem like they lose weight any faster. I would prefer to be a little more normal whatever normal is. I did gain 2 pounds over Christmas, but I have alread lost those two pounds. However, I didn't lose any more than that. I'm not complaining because normally I would gain 15-20 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Years. Dr. Edwards did my surgery, too. He is great. I am older also so I think that may make things a little slower. (57) Happy New Year to all. Linda