lapbandmom89

Well I must admit that that didn't really help. You just had surgery two weeks ago so I don't know if you completely understand yet. If I made it sound as if she is not following any of the rules then I need to correct myself. She is trying to follow the rules of protein first and limiting carbs. Our doc does not talk so much about calories just the number of grams of protein you need and what number of grams to keep the carbs under. Occasionally in a hurry she will grab something on impulse that she probably shouldn't. She does exercise at least three times a week. My question was does anybody else have this much fluid in their Realize band and not reached the sweet spot yet. If so, I'd appreciate your imput.

My daughter has 8 cc in her 9 cc Realize Band. Isn't it true that the realize band is 9 cc? She can tell its there becuase some things just wont go down. She was banded in April 08. Recently she was in a hurry and grabbed one of the little powder donuts and NO WAY. It came up. However, she had never heard the term "sweet spot". The doc never mentioned it so she didn't know what this was supposed to feel like and the weight loss has stopped and gaining weight has started. The doc is three hours away so that has made things more difficult and we've had to reschedule a number of times becuase of winter weather. The other thing is that her doc will fill no more than every 4 weeks. Apparently he had some bad experiences with swelling etc. in some patients. So that has slowed her down. Anyhow she has not reached her sweet spot and she is trying to diet and lets face it, if that was an option she wouldn't have had surgery. Anyone else have to have this much fluid before getting restriction. I just was so excited for her but now the months are just ticking by with no real progress. Then its wait another month and another month. A family member asked recently is she had her band removed or something. Thats bad. Fills were large at first. Fills were 5 cc, 1/2 cc, 1 cc, 1 cc, 1/2 cc, and still not there yet. Any encouraging words anyone. Anyone else who had this? And if so did you EVER get there and how are you doing now? I'm beginning to think the dietician is not thrilled but if it was all about low carb high protein and nothing else then like I said she wouldn't have had surgery. And if she is at 8 already what happens when she starts to lose? There's not much more that can go in.

The dietician always wants to preach at my daughter about carbs and protein and exercise. All those things are important but isn't this all really about portion control. If it was that easy to diet no one would get surgery. My daughter didn't know anything about a sweet spot. Shes got 8 cc in her 9 cc band, has had 5 fills and is not there yet. She can only get a fill every 4 weeks though so she has to wait three more. Doc is three hours away and that means I have to take a day off work to take her to the apppointments. It's getting discouraging and the weight is coming back on.

My daughters doctor will do fills no more than every four weeks and he is three hours away. The weather has also gotten in the way and we had to reschedule like three times so that has slowed her down. Her fills have been 4/08: fill to 5 cc 6/08: fill to 5.5 cc 7/08: fill to 6.5 cc 8/08: fill to 7.5 cc 10/08: unfill to 7.3 cc 11/08: fill to 7.5 cc 2/09: fill to 8 cc So I guess you'd call that five fills. A family member asked me today is she had had her band removed. I assume because he doesn't notice any difference in her weight. Next visit is 3/4 and we are going with a list of requests - see the doc not the nurse practioner, take it all out and check how much is actually there, give her a fill and do it under floro. I'm paying dearly for this and its time for this to start heading the right direction.

SisterC, your post was great. My daughter was banded in april 2008 with a starting weight of 215 and I think she has lost about 10 pounds. I know some of you are thinking "whats this womans problem" but I have been through soooo much with this child of mine. A lot of the problems she has had I always felt was due to her weight which led to self esteem issues. My husband and I are both relatively small people eventhough I feel that I struggle with my weight too just not to this extent. My daughters two siblings, both girls, are both very small, for example my 22 year old is 4' 11" and weighs 87 pounds. Other sister is under 100 pounds. We've been through ADD, depression, panic attacks, cutting herself, sleep studies, thyroid tests and on and on. The carries a lot of weight in the breasts so you know what she went through in school and we have to go out of town to by a bra. No only has all this been expensive for me but it has wore me out. I feel like I know my child better than a doctor. I worry that she will be the one who doesn't make it. I want this sooooo bad for her. She is so beautiful and I think that losing the weight would change so many things for her for the better. Anyway, she got a fill this week, which puts her at 8cc in a 9 cc band and nothing amazing has happened yet and no more fills for another month. I'm afraid she's gonna give up before she gets to that sweet spot. Anyway thanks for your post. It help to know that not everyone loses 60 pounds the first three months after surgery.

meganmatters, hi. I'm the mother of a 19 year old who was banded in april 2008. 20 pounds dropped within the first two months without any effort and since then its been up one, down one, up four, down 2, and then this week we went and she wouldn't even tell me what she weighed. I can tell she gained becuase I can see it in her face/neck. She is currently at 8 cc in I believe a 9 cc realize band. Have you or do you know anyone who has taken this long to find their sweet spot? In the meantime she is hungry and feels that she has no restriction. with this last fill she says she can "tell a difference" but isn't feeling that "whoa" feeling. Last night for supper, she ate a three cheese stick and a slice of lunchmeat then stopped. She left one cheese stick still on her plate. It just seems like everyone on here is losing a lot even though they havent reached their sweet spot but my daughter lost the 20 but has probably regained 10.

Lapband967, Have read your post and would love to know how you are doing now. I am not banded but the mother of a 19 year old who is. She has the realize band. She just had a fill this week, which I say put her at 9 cc. She said she doesn't have restriction and definately didn't think shewa at a sweet spot. The office says it 8 cc. I think they are wrong. Anyway, things for her arent good. She was banded in Aprl 2008 and her weigh loss was -9, -10, +1, -1, +4, -2, and this week she wouldn't tell me but I know she has gained I can see it on her face and neck which is usually the first to go but now its back. :cursing: I ask her a lot but I dont want to nag but at 19 she is severly obese and I am worried about the future. She said she can tell a difference after this last fill but she doesn't say "oh yea I know I'm at my sweet spot." I don't expect that she would win any prize for following all the rules perfectly but I tell myself that everyone who has lapband is overweight/obese and if it were that easy to eat perfectly they would have the weight problem in the first place. So I assume she is not alone. Her self esteem is nonexistant. I'm worried that this band is going to be full before she reaches the sweet spot.:tongue:

do you mind if I ask why your band had to be replaced? Was it something you did or a problem with the band itself or a surgical error?

Wow lapband967!! I am not banded, my 19 year old dauaghter is. She too had the Realize band and had surgery in April (4), 2008. She has lost between 17 and 19 pounds. She is at 8.5 cc in what I think is a 9cc band and she said she feels little or no restriction. I worried about this, but I think even though maybe she may not always make healthy choices she will have to be eating less and that in itself should work. help.

I am not a lapband patient but the mother of a 19 year old who had her sugery in April 2008. She has lost about 19 pounds which she lost right away and now its like nothing is happening. She goes up a couple and down a couple. The dietician is upset with her and the doctor does pretty much what the dietician recommends as far as fills/unfills. She has a Realize band. Her fills were 5cc, 2cc, 1cc, .5cc, -.2cc, +.2cc, so I believe she is at 8.5 cc which I thought was a lot. She is now saying she is starving, like she did between fills 2 and 3, and feels like she doesn't have any restriction. She does not live at home anymore and really cant afford to be on her own so God only knows what and when she is eating. I am so disappointed, I am paying the bill and I wouldn't have done it if I didn't think it was worth it but its a lot of money to not see anything happening.:thumbup:

Hi, I writing on behalf of my 19 year old daughter. She is too embarrassed to get on these forums.:thumbup: She was banded in April 2008 and has only lost like 19 pounds. She is struggling all the way around. After all this time we are wondering again if she could need a fill. She said she feels like she has no restriction. I think she's at 8.5 cc now. She dropped the 19 within the first couple months but then its been up and down, fills and unfills. She's started on this crazy stuff again like she did before surgery of buying diet pills and even started ordering Nutrisystem. I told her to stop. Are there any girls around that age of here that would be interested in chatting with her etc via email?:laugh: