lapbandmom89

Did any of you have real trouble finding the right restriction after pregnancy?:biggrin:

Hi. I must say upfront that I am not banded my daughter is but I paid for the surgery and still take her to everyone of her appointments because this was an investment for me and worth every penny to me if it worked for her. My daughter was banded in April 08 at the age of 18. I was so excited for her but it has been anything but a fun ride. She dropped 19 pounds in the first two months after surgery but then it all pretty much stopped. Then she started the up a pound, down two pounds, up four pounds, down 2 pounds...... each time she went to the doctor she would get a small fill except for the one time he gave her a slight unfill. In her 9 cc Realize band she was up to 8.5 cc and then she dropped 12 pounds. Just so happens she was going through a breakup at the time which may have been the reason for the weight loss. Then to complicate things more, she found out she was pregnant. She only gained 11 pounds during the pregnancy which was great. I expected her to lose more than she gained after the birth of the baby but she didn't but she did drop the 11 immediately. Three weeks after the baby she went back to the doctor who filled her band back to 6 cc. We were scheduled to return in 4 weeks and when she returned for that appointment she had gained 5 pounds! Which didnt make much sense to me seeing as she had joined the YMCA and had been exercising and actually enjoying it. We were there last Friday, and this new doctor we are seeing is wonderful by the way....he too is banded. He told her he wanted her to do like two Protein bars a day and then one "real" meal of like a chicken breast etc. Also, she is NEVER to drink calories of any kind again, not a Protein shake, nothing and he did not want to give her another fill at that time becuase she did have one episode of throwing u. So we got the bars and she has been doing that with very litttle deviation and after a week she is up 2 pounds! I dont know if it takes a while for this protien thing to kick in or what. He said "trust me on this". So I dont know if this is hormonal or what. She did just get the new 5 year birth control gadget and in on her cycle now so I dont know if that is it or what. I do know that she doesnt drink enough. She used to be a big milk drinker but with her meals and now of course you dont do that so she just doesnt drink enough of anything, which I know from personal experience is not good. So, I guess she is heartbroken. She feels like a failure.....a fat failure with what she calls a "fat flap" now from pregnancy. She is almost back to pre-surgery weight and we are almost two years into this. I guess I would feel better about the starting over after baby thing if she had been real successful before the pregnancy but she wasnt. I beginnig to think there is something wrong with her. Why cant she lose with this thing? Maybe the 8.5 cc thing was it but we didnt really have enough time to figure that out before the pregnancy came up and she had to get a partial unfill. I am going to call the doc on Monday. He said to call if ever she needed him before her appointment and we are going to do just that. We will drive the three hours if need be to get another fill which she is sure now that she needs. Anyone have any words of hope? Encouragement? Ideas? Is this normal after pregnancy? Is it just that she needs more of a fill? Or is it just impossible for some people to actually lose weight?

Thank you so much humming bird. I appreciate your positive attitude. I get kind of consumed with this thing for a number of reasons but a large part of it is the fact that that was a lot of money for me to pay. I remember feeling so excited for her the day of her surgery like it was a new beginning for her. She struggled with the band even before being pregnant so I just get discouraged now that you throw this into it. I remember her crying one day and saying "mom you don't understand. This thing can be so painful." So I'm thinking does that mean shes too tight...does it mean she is so addicted to food that she isn't satisfied with a small amount emotionally and eats more than she should....is she eating things she shouldn't? Why would it hurt so frequently? This is a difficult age for me to handle. They want to show you how independant they are but they really still need mom and dad. I thought she had reached the sweet spot at the 8.5 but she'd eat and then walk outside for a minute or walk in the bathroom and up it came in one plop. She lost 12 pounds in one month that month. She was at 8.2 before that but said that she didn't feel that "whoa" feeling like everyone described on these forum and she wasnt losing. Her doc was a little perflexed becuase she kept telling him that she didn't have the right restriction, she knew she had some, but not enough while she was also having some things get stuck. He said that was not possible. That that was two ends of the spectrum... Sometimes she would eat and it would come up then she was fine and she could eat without problems. I'm kinda rambling again. This thing can be kind of perplexing. It would be great if you could just have the surgery, they fill it and off you go....you are at your sweet spot. It took 12 months for her to get to the 8.5 meanwhile weight loss was minimal. I have asked the surgeon for a few additional months. We'll see what he says.

Hi. I am not banded but my daughter is. She was banded at 18 years of age. That was about a year and a half ago. If you are wondering why I'm posting and not her, she's too embarrassed to use these forums. The other reason I'm posting is I feel like this was an investment for me too as I am the one who footed the bill. I think what I would like are words of advice/encouragement for her. Here's the deal. Her weight at surgery was 215. She dropped 10 then 9, then up one, down one, up four, down two, up ??, down one, down 12.....anyhow to date she has lost 27 pounds. Yes that is good. I am pretty confident that she would have added that much to her pre-op weight by now if she hadnt have had the surgery. Problem is that she does not communicate well with the doctor and/or dietician. She's really bashful about talking about it so then I end up talking for her going by the things she has talked to me about. She has a 9 cc Realize Band. We were told that it could be "stubborn". At her max fill she was at 8.5 cc (yikes). She then dropped the 12 pounds. Thing is she was going through a break up with her boyfriend at the time and so I think that may have contributed to the 12 pounds. at 8.5 she was throwing everything back up so we knew that was too tight. Anyway the point I am trying to get to is that it never seemed like she got to a point where she was not miserable in one way or another. Either she was in pain or she was thowing stuff up but yet she seemed to be able to eat plenty. I think maybe she was overfilled so was eating poorly (bad foods that would go down easily) so then she wasnt losing. then becuase she wasnt losing she would get more of a fill. Am I making any sense here? Now to make things more interesting, she is pregnant. the doc took 2 cc out of her band so she is at 6.5 cc. she says she feels good becuase things arent gettting stuck but yet she can eat a lot. Can someone please tell me that it is possible to get back on track after a year and nine months. thats what it will be by the time the baby gets here. She will have 3 months left of her two years of visits that are included with the surgery. Would someone please tell me that I havent wasted my money. and not just that, I had such high hopes for her. I dont mind the money. I was worth it if it worked for her. More importantly I was hoping it would improve her self esteem. I think she thinks she has to put up with whatever guys want to dish out becuase shes just the fat girl. is it that hard to find the sweetspot? I would like to call and talk with the dietician but I feel silly doing that as she is an adult. Oh and for the record, no I didnt suggest that she get surgery. She wanted and asked for my help. at first I said I cant help you then I thought it over and looked into financing and decided I would go through with it. Please refrain from lectures. I need positive replys.:thumbdown:

hey everyone! I wanted to give you an update. I think the last time I posted my daughter was at 8 cc and she was discouraged as her appetite was still big. She did have some issues with some vomiting but really was able to eat as much as she wanted. She was noticing nothing from the band other than occasional vomiting....strange....but not a sweet spot. At the next appointment he filled her to 8.2 cc in her 9 cc band......still no change. I called and kind of insisted that he let her come back in before the month was up and he did. They filled her to 8.5 cc and I think that did the trick. At her next visit a month later she had lost 12 pounds which was great. Maybe a little more than they would like but she had been gaining weight back so was not really making progress. Now she is 13 months out and is going the right direction again. Mind you, I must say she doesnt follow all the rules. For her it is really a matter of portion control. She is eating little and not even eating three times a day most days. If this works for her and she stays healthy maybe thats fine. She does need to work on liquids though. She was mostly a person who drank at meals and has had to quit that. Her dietician did say that she could take an occasional tiny tiny sip to kind of clear her throat if she needed to. Anyhow I don't think she is getting enough water. But despite a lot negative comments from some who just wanted to say she was eating around the band, she, I believe is back on track. I can see a change in her appearance already.

Guess What!! Yesterday for lunch and today for breakfast she was unable to eat more than a few bites until she was full. Could this really be the magic day she's been waiting for? I'm thrilled.:tongue_smilie:

She has a 9 cc Realize band and is currently at 8.5 cc.

Well, we went for her appointment and I layed it all out....why we were there and what we wanted and how we wanted it. Any any every question either one of us had, we asked. The dietician was first. She said she thought this was all due to not being at and/or finding her sweet spot. Then we met with the NP. We hadn't met with this one before and we both really liked her. She was oozing with information and good ideas. We told her what we wanted and she said they take a look under the flouro and she did. Good news is that the pouch is not stretched and the band is sitting where it should be. She gave her the barium and said there was obvious restriction but was still room for more. She had her then lay down so she should withdraw the saline and check it (that was awsome to watch!). All 8.2 cc appeared to be there but she added .3 more putting her at 8.5 cc. I pray that this is the fill that does it. She isn't sure yet because she was on liquids and wasn't feeling the best. Yesterday all she ate was a yogurt for her lunch. I assume that was just because she wasn't feeling well not becuase of restriction or anything. So I guess its too soon to tell. Like I said I've seen her ate a noticed how much and it was definately more than what others are saying so I'm hoping that was the real issue here. Like I said, I guess she assumed that this just wasnt going to work for her. The doc or dietician never used the word sweet spot or described how it should feel so she was just kind of muddling along. She always was the kind of kid that would just go around not feeling well instead of telling you so that you would know. I guess she hadn't said anything becuase she thought that this was just the way it was. The NP assurred her that they "would get her there. Don't worry." I pray that tomorrow she gets up and when she starts to eat she hits that point and knows it for sure. If so we will probably celebrate. We are going to start a water aerobics class but wow memberships are sure expensive. I refuse to committ to something for 12 months just becuase of the job situations right now. I wish she could find a part time job at the ymca or something so she could make friends there and maybe get more pumped about fitness. Sorry guys if I sound studid becuase I keeping saying "we." I guess I do that becuase I have an investment ($$$) in this too. It's worth every cent if it will work for her. Does anyone out there have this large of a fill? She has had 7 fills, this doesn't include one month he took .2 out and then the next month put it back. That seemed like that slowed things down too. Plus as I mentioned before there were two months, December and January, when we werent able to make it to the appointment due to the weather. We had to reschedule and reschedule. Anyhow she is at 8.5 in the 9 cc band.:crying: I would love to hear from anyone who has this amount or more in their band and what their experience has been like.

Yes. Her appointment is at 2:00 so we will be leaving here in about 15 minutes for the 3 hour drive. I hope we get some things settled becuase this is another day off work for me and six hours in the car wears me out. Its worth it but it will be easier once we get things rolling and I'm not going in there every two weeks. He has a satellite office now thats closer but its only one day a month so its hard to get those appointments and theres no floro there.:tt1:

I'm going to encourage her to get on here. I find this site amazing and addictive. As I have said, I'm not banded but have struggled with feeling "fat" and had attended Weight Watchers. I lost all the weight I wanted, which was 24 pounds, and then I slacked off and gained it all back. That totally makes a person feel like a loser. That is why I find your guys stories so amazing. I know how good I felt about myself and you guys should be very very proud of yourselves. There is a lot of pressure out there on women to be skinny....sometimes way too skinny. For heavens sake look at the manicins (?) in the stores. They look sickly but our girls think thats how they should look. I know that I am content at the high end of the acceptable weight for my height. I'm going to try to curb my addiction to this site. You are all amazing!!

Hi Ladies. Once again thanks for your input. To answer some of your questions, no I never suggested weight loss surgery. I clearly remember the day she called me on the phone crying (again) and saying that she wanted to have lap band surgery. I didn't even know what that was. She told me and I explained to her that our insurance wouldn't cover anything like that but that that would be a good goal for her to set for herself later on. She was quite insistant on not waiting until later, which is different that what I'm used to. Tara is a "I'll do it later" person. I'm a "do it now then you know its done" person. So when she insisted that she didn't want to wait until years later, we started looking into it and making calls. I called numerous doctors offices and couldn't get a clear cut answer on the cost of the surgery. I even called Ohio State University Hospital and they dont even take calls. You leave a message with you name and address and they mail you out brochures with no mention of the cost as if that didn't matter. I then happened to find a doc who plainly advertised his price online, kind of like the ones in Mexico. I liked that and I was never comfortable with the Mexico thing eventhough I guess its been great for those who have done it. We called and attended the seminar and then talked at great length about it and we made the decision. I there is one thing I think their office could do better it would be educating people more. Dont just teach then how they will need to eat. Tell them what is going to happen and how it will feel and use the words "sweet spot". She didnt know about that. She just thought she was failing at this. When I say "we" I only say that becuase I got to handle the financial part of it for the most part. She got to go through surgery and all that that involved. For my daughter who is very sqeemish about hospitals and needles and all that to go through with the surgery is saying something right there. I'm surprised she didn't back out at the last minute or after a day or so of the liquid diet. :huh2: Shes kind of always depended on me to be her advocate. I guess the reason I was willing go pay for the surgery was because I saw what she went through. Her self esteem was nonexistant and you can only imagine what high school was like for her. Mind you, she was never huge. She was always the chubby kid but she stayed active in sports in school but still fought the weight. By the end of high school it was to the point where anytime she went to any doctor for anything they would comment about her losing weight. I remember when she was in 4th or 5th grade, she was on a basketball team and was having some chest pain and I took her to a specialist and he said to me right in front of her that she was fine but that he didn't want her gaining anymore weight. I nearly fell over. I always believed what everyone said about not talking to your child about their weight. Can you imagine, not gaining any weight after the 5th grade! I didn't really like that much. Anyway throughout high school a large amount of weight went to the breasts and that was instant popularity, just not the good kind. I think she was known as the girl with the largest breasts in the school. :eek: I just recently found out some things that I never knew about the way some guys treated her and took advantage of her. It breaks my heart. So as you may know, many things can occur emotionally becuase of stuff like that. She dealt with depression, panic attacks and I think thats when she started leaning so heavily on me. I have three daughters and to make things worse my other two daughters are tiny. My 22 year old weighs 89, I'm not kidding, and my 17 year old weighs about 95. We had thyroid checked numerous times but it always came back ok. One doc went ahead and put it on meds for it anyway because he said the blood work doesn't always tell the whole story. Then later when she got a new doc her took her off and told her to quit eating so many grinders (she worked at a pizza shop). Honestly I thought that was inappropriate too. Shes never ate huge huge amounts of food she just wasnt blessed with great metabolism I guess if that possible. I think to lose shes going to have to be one of people who can barely eat. I just worried that if she had that much trouble as a young person then she would surely be in big trouble later but it was never my idea. I was always very careful how I approached the subject of weight with her. We had lab work ran again yesterday just to make sure all was ok there and we go tomorrow to the doc. I would greatly appreciate it if you would all say a little prayer for her and pray that this fill would be that one that gets her there. As I said we are going to have it all withdrawn and measured and put back. I'm going to ask that it be done as some of you have mentioned.....filling to full capacity and then letting just enough out for the Water to flow through. I know the pouch isn't stretched because they took a picture the last time we were there so thats good.:heart:

Thanks guys for all your input. Here is some additional information. My daughter isn't really young. She had the surgery at 18 but has always been VERY dependant on me for emotional support. I think she is rather immature for her age and I don't mean that to sound mean or anything. Yes we do see the dietician everytime we go to the doc. Getting in enough liquids is a problem. She doesnt care much for water(?). The other problem is that she wasn't a person who normally just carried around a drink with her or drank a lot between meals. She drank a lot with her meals but that was it. Now she is not able to drink while she is eating. Said it feels like it just sits there on top of the food and is rather sickning so I think liquids may be an issue. She does like sweets but tries to limit them. She does like crunchies but tries to limit them also. We go to the doc tomorrow. I guess I need to not stress it until then. I am going to try the thing with them of filling it until no Water will go through and then backing some out. Her first fill was the only one done under flouro. I sometimes wonder about the NP's. Maybe they missed or something on one of her fills. I'm going to follow up with you all and let you know. If we don't hear what we want or they wont do what we want, I may just break down and ball my eyes out right there in the exam room.

Nicely put.....my daughter goes Wednesday too to her doc but he will be out of town so she has to see the NP. They are going to take it all out and see whats there and then put it back....all under floro. I feel so bad and we have had soo many arguments about it because I'm frustrated too becuase of the $$ I'm paying.......$733.52 per month.....she said she feels worse than she did before she had the surgery done. Today I watched her eat one of those frozen beef and bean burritos which arent huge but not small either. She probably could have ate more but didn't have time. We then ran a couple errands, maybe 1 1/2 hrs., and she was starving again. That doesn't seem right to me and if they arent always doing the fills under floro then how do they know they havent missed her port on some of these fills or something? One more thing.....eventhough she is not at her sweet spot, occasionally she has terrible pain in her chest and then sometimes it will come up. We think maybe it was just what she ate,not that she is overfilled. Doc says he's concerned because thats both ends of the spectrum.....puking and no restriction. What do you guys think? I'm thinking its what she ate. This last time it was scrammbled eggs with some cheapo so-called american cheese that wouldn't melt. It was like plastic. (We are all trying to watch our $$). It was terribly painful then came up. Is it normal to hurt like that with some foods? She says that she doesn't want to do nothing else but sit around and think about this band all the time. she wants it to do its job while she gets on with other things in her life. She is very private about having the surgery and didn't tell any friends or family.