barngal2003

yeah it does. but the one thing i've learned is it listen to your body over what any doctor says. i just wish i could talk to someone who has had maybe a few of these problems.

So it's been awhile since I've been on lapbandtalk but, a lot has happened since I originally got my band in dec '08. I guess I was just hoping to hear that I'm not alone in my struggles with my band..or as my family calls it, my monster. I was banded in dec '08 as I said, and until july of '09 all was well, great restriction and weight loss with appropriate fills along the way. I found myself in the ER one night in late july '09 due to a stuck tomato piece...and sadly it's been downhill from there. Slowly over time, more and more types of foods just would not go down, we tried over the months to take fluid out, or remove all fluid from my band but....it was to noavail. Finally, at the end of Sept '10, I'd had enough. I couldn't eat , period, flat liquids were all that went through for me, my weightloss had stopped and I was in constant pain. My surgeon finally figured out that I had slipped. So much so that my stomach was squished up into my liver and had attached itself there....my pouch had been 3 times bigger than what it was supposed to have been. Too bad I'm a selfpay because I now owe the hospital more money than I can comprehend for that surgery. So here I am, several months out from my repositioning, and 20 pounds heavier, back up to 5.5mL in a 10mL band and....restriction is ok I guess, far from perfect though, weightloss is almost non-existent. I'm not gaining, but not really losing either. I'm like 50 pounds from my goal, my dietician says I'm doing everything correctly, the exercise is definitely there. infact more so than it was when i first got the band....unfortunately though, i can't say i'm glad i got the band...or not. i hurt when i eat, i still frequently have to vomit, or ...more like wretch..i guess. i can't eat within 2 hours of bed because i would probably puke in my sleep and asperate it. (done that several times) i also can't take pills which makes life even more interesting......like I said, I guess I'm just hoping to hear that someone else has had these problems too. Or maybe even a little ray of hope that maybe I can still take off my remaining weight.

good luck with your adjustment. hopefully it'll help. i completely understand on the out of control part. i feel the same way.

wow, they thought my band had slipped but then said it hadn't or if it had, once they removed all of the fluid it fixed itself. so, yeah i don't know what to do. i really want to finish losing, but why can't i get my restriction back? in theory it should be there. just as your's should be. so does that mean that our stomachs just get used to the pouch like deal and then just adjust? so that even when we get adjustments, will we eventually not feel it? i'm scared that eventually i won't have any restriction and gain all of my weight back.

i was banded 12/19/08. and up till july i had really good weightloss. infact at 5.5cc i thought i was at my "green zone" because i had good weightloss and fantastic restriction. at the end of july i lodged a tomato in my band and have to have the fluid removed. since then we've been trying to fill me back to getting good restriction and at least a little weightloss. i've managed to hit 90lbs, however since july it's probably only been like 10. they got me back up to 5.8 cc and yet still not very good restriction and despite continued efforts in the exercise department, i couldn't lose weight then for some odd reason my band swelled shut. they again removed all my fluid, that was in december right at my bandiversary. they did an upper gi, my band hasn't moved, the pouch is still the same size, and according to my surgeon there's no reason why i shouldn't get good restriction without over filling. so i now have 2cc in there and again no restriction. i mean i guess i have it, but once i feel satisfied, i'm hungry again in 2 hrs tops. i guess my question is, has anyone else had this problem?? will i ever go back to losing good again??? i've got another 40 pounds i'd really like to lose, and i need my tool, this little monster inside me, that's supposed to be my helping hand to get back into gear and help!

The last time I wrote I was getting ready for an upper gi because my surgeon suspected that my band had slipped a little. I went for the upper gi and despite not really being able to eat, vomiting a lot, and everything that I eat hurt when it hit, apparently everything is perfect. the change in positioning was either a fluke or it fixed itself when they removed all the fluid. So here i sit, just over a year down the road, 90 pounds lighter, not where i want to be and questioning if i can pull off the last 40. i'm trying to cut back on my calories as much as possible, as well as up my exercise. i need another fill, my 2 cc isn't doing much of anything. i find i do better portion wise if i eat like 6 meals a day. not at all what they want me doing, but i get sooo hungry. and i can control it a little better if i eat more meals (small ones) more closely together. sadly since having the fluid out, and only 2cc put back in i've gained 2 lbs....i was up 4 but have since lost 2 back. hopefully i can get back on the horse and get a good rhythm going again with the weightloss. has anyone else had the problem where they can't seem to get a good green zone? i thought i had mine, dare i say i did. 5.5 cc. but i just had to get that stupid tomato stuck and since then (july '09) i haven't been able to get a GOOD restriction like i had! i mean before it was ....maybe 4 tyson chicken nuggets, or a side salad, or if i were particularly hungry the kids steak bites from texas roadhouse with a sweet potato, plain with butter on the side....that was fantastic restriction!.....i could get a serving of greek yogurt then and be good to go, even when i got back to 5.8 cc yogurt went right thru! not to mention everything else too!.. is it just me? or has anyone else out there had this problem too??? i can't fathom having gone into such tremendous debt to pay for this to have me possibly have blown it in the first year and be doomed to never see my finish line. meanwhile...i'm still going to the gym, farm work, and contemplating taking a belly dance class for the heck of it.

The last time I wrote I was getting ready for an upper gi because my surgeon suspected that my band had slipped a little. I went for the upper gi and despite not really being able to eat, vomiting a lot, and everything that I eat hurt when it hit, apparently everything is perfect. the change in positioning was either a fluke or it fixed itself when they removed all the fluid. So here i sit, just over a year down the road, 90 pounds lighter, not where i want to be and questioning if i can pull off the last 40. i'm trying to cut back on my calories as much as possible, as well as up my exercise. i need another fill, my 2 cc isn't doing much of anything. i find i do better portion wise if i eat like 6 meals a day. not at all what they want me doing, but i get sooo hungry. and i can control it a little better if i eat more meals (small ones) more closely together. sadly since having the fluid out, and only 2cc put back in i've gained 2 lbs....i was up 4 but have since lost 2 back. hopefully i can get back on the horse and get a good rhythm going again with the weightloss. has anyone else had the problem where they can't seem to get a good green zone? i thought i had mine, dare i say i did. 5.5 cc. but i just had to get that stupid tomato stuck and since then (july '09) i haven't been able to get a GOOD restriction like i had! i mean before it was ....maybe 4 tyson chicken nuggets, or a side salad, or if i were particularly hungry the kids steak bites from texas roadhouse with a sweet potato, plain with butter on the side....that was fantastic restriction!.....i could get a serving of greek yogurt then and be good to go, even when i got back to 5.8 cc yogurt went right thru! not to mention everything else too!.. is it just me? or has anyone else out there had this problem too??? i can't fathom having gone into such tremendous debt to pay for this to have me possibly have blown it in the first year and be doomed to never see my finish line. meanwhile...i'm still going to the gym, farm work, and contemplating taking a belly dance class for the heck of it.

So, if you've read any of my past posts you know that back in july i got a piece of tomato stuck in my band. They deflated my band completely, and then after about a month they started filling it back. When i got the tomato stuck, my band had 5.5 cc in it. I had fantastic restriction! I was losing at an awesome pace! Things were great!...after the tomato not so much they filled me to 5.8 cc and still i had next to know restriction. Despite my best effort to try to hold back myself. Apparently 5.8 is just a little too tight for now. At random, or so i thought, my band swelled shut. I found myself again in the er of my surgeon's hospital again having all of my fluid removed. That was just before Christmas of '09, right before my bandiversary numero uno, and went back this past week to find that at the very least my band has migrated.....meaning when they put it in at a 45 degree angle i.e. / (ok maybe not that high but you get the idea) it currently sits at _ (completely horizontal). :thumbup: They suspect when I got the tomato stuck i set things in motion for the slippage / migration. yeah, i did a lot of vomiting, or at least dry heaving during that time and the week prior to my "random" swelling i had also had some awkward vomiting...my surgeon has ordered an upper gi, and to meet with him this week to decide on what to do...meaning surgery to reposition my band. 2 thoughts....1..is it bad that I want to have it repositioned? I mean, I've been thinking that I've blown it, because since july i have lost maybe 5 pounds. I feel like ok, it that's what's wrong, reposition it, (i now have insurance so fix it!) and let me get back to losing my weight that i've waited my whole life to get rid of. I know it's a surgery but it's worth it if i can get back on track. while 90 pound loss is great, i'm not prepared to stop here. So i guess I'm really hoping that dr. schirmer will decide it needs to be fixed. Second thought...what if he doesn't? what if he decides that it shouldn't be fixed? I haven't been eating to the point of "whoa i ate way to much" or even to the point of vomiting. what do i do then? am i doomed to slowly regain my weight because of my band remaining empty? or struggle to lose 1 pound every 2 months kind of thing? I don't know that I could honestly not cry if he told me he doesn't want to operate to fix it. when he's already told me basically that i'm going to need the surgery and that my band has definitely moved....:smile2: I guess at this point all i can do is sit and wait till after my upper gi and see what he has to say. i just hope that regardless i'm happy and healthy. whatever the result.

So, if you've read any of my past posts you know that back in july i got a piece of tomato stuck in my band. They deflated my band completely, and then after about a month they started filling it back. When i got the tomato stuck, my band had 5.5 cc in it. I had fantastic restriction! I was losing at an awesome pace! Things were great!...after the tomato not so much they filled me to 5.8 cc and still i had next to know restriction. Despite my best effort to try to hold back myself. Apparently 5.8 is just a little too tight for now. At random, or so i thought, my band swelled shut. I found myself again in the er of my surgeon's hospital again having all of my fluid removed. That was just before Christmas of '09, right before my bandiversary numero uno, and went back this past week to find that at the very least my band has migrated.....meaning when they put it in at a 45 degree angle i.e. / (ok maybe not that high but you get the idea) it currently sits at _ (completely horizontal). They suspect when I got the tomato stuck i set things in motion for the slippage / migration. :ohmy: yeah, i did a lot of vomiting, or at least dry heaving during that time and the week prior to my "random" swelling i had also had some awkward vomiting...my surgeon has ordered an upper gi, and to meet with him this week to decide on what to do...meaning surgery to reposition my band. :smile: 2 thoughts....1..is it bad that I want to have it repositioned? I mean, I've been thinking that I've blown it, because since july i have lost maybe 5 pounds. I feel like ok, it that's what's wrong, reposition it, (i now have insurance so fix it!) and let me get back to losing my weight that i've waited my whole life to get rid of. I know it's a surgery but it's worth it if i can get back on track. while 90 pound loss is great, i'm not prepared to stop here. So i guess I'm really hoping that dr. schirmer will decide it needs to be fixed. Second thought...what if he doesn't? what if he decides that it shouldn't be fixed? I haven't been eating to the point of "whoa i ate way to much" or even to the point of vomiting. what do i do then? am i doomed to slowly regain my weight because of my band remaining empty? or struggle to lose 1 pound every 2 months kind of thing? I don't know that I could honestly not cry if he told me he doesn't want to operate to fix it. when he's already told me basically that i'm going to need the surgery and that my band has definitely moved....:w00t: I guess at this point all i can do is sit and wait till after my upper gi and see what he has to say. i just hope that regardless i'm happy and healthy. whatever the result.

So here it is, Monday November 9..so far my year has flown by. December 19, is fast approaching and I know with the coming of the holidays it's only going to begin to go even faster! So who knew that a small tomato at the end of july could set me back almost 4 months of weight loss!...In previous entries, I believe I told the story of how I had a restaurant tomato lodged in my band. They emptied my band, I gained like 10 pounds back and it's taken me till this morning to get back down to where I was the morning of the incident and plus 1 more pound. I do get really aggrivated about it, because up till my mishap I had down really well with my weight loss. As of July 28 I believe I had lost 83 pounds since my banding. Now here it is nov. 9 and I'm down 84. But I'm just trying to focus on the fact that I am back on track, and I knew I could get back on track, it just took time, extra patience, and more dedication to getting there. Now I just have to maintain it, continue the weight loss. When I got my band my goal was to be down 100 pounds by my bandiversary, I'm not really far from it, only 16 pounds. But I'm not sure that I can pull that off at this point. My weightloss has been much much slower. While I may be a little let down, when the day comes, I'm sure no matter what I'm down will make me happy. I've actually contemplated going back to diet pills to help boost my loss if at all. I haven't done it because I have trouble with large pills going through my band, so that's a big reason why I haven't gotten any, the other reason is, I think I just want to prove that while I do have a tool, a big tool, I can and am doing this on my own. So instead of diet pills, I bought a jillian michaels dvd and some hand weights...so far it's proven to be the right choice. :redface: I've lost like 3 pounds using the video and watching very very carefully what I eat. Afterall, we all know as we lose it'll get harder and harder to keep pulling it off. So I'm trying to quite literally tighten my belt. hehe. I must also say that I can wait to get my extra skin tightened up. It bugs me that I now have wings on my upper arms, and my stomach sits ......well not where it's supposed to....among other pieces of anatomy. I am however as of august engaged.:confused: No date has been set as of yet, he needs to relocate to my area, he lives about an hour away. And of course I need a job, and not to mention a big part of it is, I want to be able to feel good about walking down an isle. You know, finish the weight loss and get the skin taken care of. I can't you how good it felt this morning to step on the scale and see that not only am I back to where I was before the tomato incident but I'm down 1 more pound from it. these last few months have been so frustrating since the months previously I'd been able to step on the scale and see that I had lost another pound or two and then to see it stop, and because of my own actions....didn't feel very good. I guess basically I just wanted to get on here and while no one may read this at least an update on my situation would be out there. I hope that everyone else has had a good run on their first year as well. And may we have many more. :confused:

So here it is, Monday November 9..so far my year has flown by. December 19, is fast approaching and I know with the coming of the holidays it's only going to begin to go even faster! So who knew that a small tomato at the end of july could set me back almost 4 months of weight loss!...In previous entries, I believe I told the story of how I had a restaurant tomato lodged in my band. They emptied my band, I gained like 10 pounds back and it's taken me till this morning to get back down to where I was the morning of the incident and plus 1 more pound. I do get really aggrivated about it, because up till my mishap I had down really well with my weight loss. As of July 28 I believe I had lost 83 pounds since my banding. Now here it is nov. 9 and I'm down 84. But I'm just trying to focus on the fact that I am back on track, and I knew I could get back on track, it just took time, extra patience, and more dedication to getting there. Now I just have to maintain it, continue the weight loss. When I got my band my goal was to be down 100 pounds by my bandiversary, I'm not really far from it, only 16 pounds. But I'm not sure that I can pull that off at this point. My weightloss has been much much slower. While I may be a little let down, when the day comes, I'm sure no matter what I'm down will make me happy. I've actually contemplated going back to diet pills to help boost my loss if at all. I haven't done it because I have trouble with large pills going through my band, so that's a big reason why I haven't gotten any, the other reason is, I think I just want to prove that while I do have a tool, a big tool, I can and am doing this on my own. So instead of diet pills, I bought a jillian michaels dvd and some hand weights...so far it's proven to be the right choice. :thumbup: I've lost like 3 pounds using the video and watching very very carefully what I eat. Afterall, we all know as we lose it'll get harder and harder to keep pulling it off. So I'm trying to quite literally tighten my belt. hehe. I must also say that I can wait to get my extra skin tightened up. It bugs me that I now have wings on my upper arms, and my stomach sits ......well not where it's supposed to....among other pieces of anatomy. I am however as of august engaged.:smile2: No date has been set as of yet, he needs to relocate to my area, he lives about an hour away. And of course I need a job, and not to mention a big part of it is, I want to be able to feel good about walking down an isle. You know, finish the weight loss and get the skin taken care of. I can't you how good it felt this morning to step on the scale and see that not only am I back to where I was before the tomato incident but I'm down 1 more pound from it. these last few months have been so frustrating since the months previously I'd been able to step on the scale and see that I had lost another pound or two and then to see it stop, and because of my own actions....didn't feel very good. I guess basically I just wanted to get on here and while no one may read this at least an update on my situation would be out there. I hope that everyone else has had a good run on their first year as well. And may we have many more. :huh2:

Thank heavens after searching and looking for this that I finally found it! I was banded on dec. 19 2008 and after I guess January or Februrary I stopped having periods despite being on the Nuva ring. I stopped the Nuva ring and still no period and now it's August. So I wondered if the weightloss could do that, and apparently yes it can, and what a relief! I figured I couldn't be pregnant because I've been very cautious, and I've taken 2 pregnancy tests which were both negative..so phew what a relief! If I don't get a period though in the next month or so I will probably go back to my GYN just to double check and make sure everything is ok. But for now, this is VERY reassuring...thank y'all sooo much!