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Hi Peach, You're welcome to quote me and use those pictures. You can contact me anytime at Sherazade96@hotmail.com if you would like to know more, contact me, etc. Christine

I'm not 100% sure, Ginny, but you certainly have the right to ask your doctor for the statistics about side-effects and port problems for the Lap-Band. You can also contact the Lap-Band manufacturer directly to ask them for statistics. This is just my own personal opinion...but this port detachment is annoying mostly. I would completely go through the surgery again--INCLUDING the port problems--for all the benefit it has given me in my life. It has been completely and utterly worth it. Of course, everyone has their own opinion and tolerance with side-effects and potential problems. You should certainly educate yourself to know what the potential problems and side-effects are so you are not going into the surgery "blind" so to speak, and so you can make an educated opinion whether they are worth the risk or not. For me...it totally was worth everything.

I'm having a port re-attachment surgery in 2 weeks (I'm so glad that they are getting me in faster than I would have thought). After discussing a LOT of different options we've decided we're just going to put it back where it was originally, in the same spot. I hope that it stays attached this time!!!

I completely lost my sex drive about 1 year after my surgery, and I haven't found it yet. On the other hand, with me losing weight and looking better, my husband wants sex more often. It's not a good mix. :-( I get the feeling that my experience isn't really normal though.

It depends. Can you actually feel the hard, plastic bump? Or is it just tummy swelling? It is normal for the port to be sore a week after surgery. After all, they stitched it to your abdomen muscles, and that takes time to heal! So that's totally normal and eventually the hurt will go away. There are high-profile ports that stick out quite a bit (I think Lap-Band's port is high-profile) and there are low-profile ports that are flatter (Realize has lower profile ports). When you have a lot of fat on your abdomen, it should be very difficult to see the plastic bump of your port. If you can see it even though you have a lot of abdomen, then it could be an indication that your port is not attached properly and is displaced. The more weight you lose and the closer you get to your goal weight, the more apt you are to see and feel your port. This is normal. I'm going to assume that if you just had surgery a week ago that you are not at that point though. Ask your doc about the port the next time you see him and express your concern.

No no no! You don't need to drink that awful barium (white chalky crap) drink that you did for your pre-admission testing. No, during you fill they just ask you to take a sip of bottled Water. When I have my fills, I am lying down on the exam table, but I have heard of doctors asking other patients to stand. I think that's rare though.

I'm 5'2, so I'm pretty short too!!! :-)

Thank you for the article Melissandre! I didn't know that!!! The info is much appreciated!

A typical eating day for me would be like this: 8 a.m.: 1 egg with some diced veggie in it, scrambled with a small glass skim milk 10 a.m.: 10 almonds Noon: Vegetable Soup 2 pm: Small can of tuna fish with spicy brown mustard 4 pm: 1 Protein shake. Or, perhaps some hummus on pita chips 6 pm: Green salad with steak or chicken in it. Lots of greens, not so much dressing. 8 pm: Glass of skim milk and a small piece of chocolate Sample exercise routine: Monday: Rollerblading at lunch; Arm + back weights after work at the gym Tuesday: Cardio day (jogging, cycling, P90X, etc) Wednesday: Walking or rollerblading at lunch; Legs weights and abs at the gym Thursday: Cardio day Friday: Day off Saturday: Fun exercise day. Canoeing, hiking, skiing, swimming, volleyball with friends, etc. Sunday: Yard work or other strenuous housework (enough to get you sweating)

Foods with high protein: Protein shakes eggs Any kind of meat Fish << super good for you Dairy products (skim milk, cheese, yogurt) Beans of any kind Nuts and seeds It totally depends on what kind of calories you are looking to consume, but try to eat a small meal every 2 hours throughout the day, and that small meal should include some kind of protein. A typical eating day for me would be like this: 8 a.m.: 1 egg with some diced veggie in it, scrambled with a small glass skim milk 10 a.m.: 10 almonds Noon: Vegetable Soup 2 pm: Small can of tuna fish with spicy brown mustard 4 pm: 1 Protein shake. Or, perhaps some hummus on pita chips 6 pm: Green salad with steak or chicken in it. Lots of greens, not so much dressing. 8 pm: Glass of skim milk and a small piece of chocolate Hope that helps a little? :-)

Yes it's totally normal and goes away with time. For me, my gas issues went away after about 3 months, and my pooping issues went away a little quicker than that. However, it turned into constipation problems so I had to play with my diet a bit to find foods that helped make me "regular" without interfering with the band.

It doesn't matter what you do so long as you're moving and exercise! Go to the gym, ride a bike, take dance lessons, do P90X, to lunges in your kitchen while cooking....whatever! It doesn't matter in the long run. What DOES matter is that you have FUN with your workouts so you continue to do them on a regular basis. If you're bored with the gym, then find something more enjoyable to do. Try P90X. When you get bored with that, sign up for spinning lessons. Or yoga. Or a bootcamp. Whatever...just MOVE! But as to your question "does it work," yes it does (or, rather, yes it should0. P90X combines high-intensity interval training for a highly effective cardio workout, plus strength training, which is really the best of both worlds when it comes to working out. It'll blast calories + build your muscle so you get toned and lean.

Okay, I'm not a dietician or personal trainer or anything, just a regular schmo, so take any advice from me with a grain of salt... But I am a HUGE advocate of finding your OWN calorie setpoint. Don't go by P90X. Don't go by the United States food and Drug Administration (USFDA) and the dumb food pyramid. Don't go by a dumb chart on your doctor's wall. Not a single one of those charts knows YOU, your medical history, your genetic pre-dispositions, your metabolic rate, and so on. Instead, find your calorie setpoint based on your own individual body. You're going to have to play with it a little bit to truly learn what works for you. I personally recommend playing around with 150 calorie increments. For example: So if you're currently eating 1400 calories a day, plus exercising, and not losing weight, try lowering your calories to 1250 calories per day for a week and see how that goes. If you are still not losing weight, try raising your calories to 1650 per day, for a week, and see how that goes. If that still doesn't work, try lowering your calories to 1100 calories. And so forth. You get the point. By the way, don't be afraid of going lower. Medical studies have shown that people who have restricted their calorie intake much below national averages typically get sick less, live longer, sleep better, have less risk of cancer, have healthier lives, etc. (Google the CRON movement sometime if you're interested in reading more.) The idea that you have to consume massive amounts of calories every day is based on the USDA trying to create perfect "ideals" for the average human (which is really just dumb) and is influenced by heavy lobbying by all kinds of agricultural departments (bread, dairy, meat, processed food, corn syrup industries, for example). So take those calorie recommendations with a HUGE grain of salt. Instead, find what works for your own body.

I think your doctor did the right thing by taking a little bit out. Really, 0.5 cc out of the 4.0ccs she put in is a very small amount that she took out. When you go back in a few weeks, ask for another 0.5 ccs and see how that feels. I think it's normal to feel a little pressure in the chest when you eat, so long as you can actually swallow and keep food down.

Here's what to expect: You're laying there on the table, you lift up your shirt, your doc may have you do a half-situp to make your abs solid (easier to find the port that way). Then the doc will bring out this ENORMOUS needle that's like the size of your head and you're going to want to panic and hyperventilate from the size of the freaking thing. Honestly, just close your eyes and turn your head away. When the needle enters your tummy, it feels a firm pinch with someone with fingernails--you'll feel it, but it really doesn't hurt much at all! The doc probably won't find the plastic in your port right away, so he might have to jab a little or wiggle the need around until he finds the right spot. Even that doesn't hurt really; it mostly just feels weird. The whole thing should take less than 20 or 30 seconds. Then the doc will put a band-aid on you, have you sit up, and ask you to take a sip of Water. Always take a sip of water at the office to check on the tightness of the band; if you can't swallow a decent chug of water, then the band is too tight. And that's it! That's what you should expect. What's REALLY strange is that the fills actually get significantly more painful as you lose weight. You wouldn't think so (because there is less flesh to go through, right?) but OMG, the last two fills I got my eyes really teared up from the pinch/pain. I miss the first few days when the fills didn't hurt! LOL! I hope that's not too much info; I just like to let people know what to expect, for better or for worse! :-)

I also have a Realize Band, and I also have a dislocated port. I believe that the port was improperly installed since I had surgery, but it wasn't really noticeable at first. Each port is attached to your body (usually your abs) with four little clips. You can kind of envision where they are located by looking at this pic: Anyway, with me, since surgery I believe 2 of those clips were improperly put in. This caused problems accessing my port; the first 4 or so fills I had, the nurse practitioner didn't get the liquid into my band at all because the port was crooked. (Later I started demanding to get my fills directly from my surgeon, and he was able to work around the crooked port.) Now I'm 2 years from surgery and I have been investigating the best way to get my port replaced. You'd be surprised at how many different options there are out there for a port revision! Last week I popped a 3rd clip on my port, and let me tell you, it's REALLY noticeable! (super big picture....click on it to see my port sticking out) http://www.phoenixrevolution.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/IMG_4888.jpg The danger of this is pretty obvious: when you've lost a lot of weight and have less fat to protect the twisted port, it can very well erode through your skin and pop out. I encourage you to discuss a port replacement surgery ASAP. Deal with it now before it becomes a problem. Hope that helps a bit!

Well, you ARE feeling restriction so the fills are working. And you're feeling tightness and having puking episodes, so we doubly-know that the fills are working. If you're not losing weight my first thought is that your diet is off; can you schedule a time to meet with a nutritionist to go over your food journals? If you give us an idea of what you are eating, that will help us figure out if it's a food thing or something else going on. What you are experiencing is very unusual, so don't stop trying to figure out what's wrong and how to fix it!

Thanks everyone! It's been a really amazing journey. If you're interested in reading more about my weight-loss/gastric band journey, visit my blog at www.phoenixrevolution.net. I also have a lot of information on my blog (link at the top of the page) about the surgery, what to expect, how it works, common questions, etc. I hope it is helpful to people that are considering the surgery!

You're right! That's funny! I've updated my settings. Thanks for the tip!

Yup! I am a patient of Dr. P at Ellis Hospital's Bariatric Center. I reached my goal weight and am indebted to Dr. P for all his help and support. I definitely give Ellis a thumbs-up! They also handle all the surgery scheduling, insurance nonsense, etc., so all I had to do was literally just show up for all the pre-op, surgery, and follow-up visits. They made it really easy.

Hi there Just Trying! I'm here to help in any way I can! My name is Christine and I live in the Albany, NY area. (I was in Rancho C. last September for a wedding though. Beautiful area!) I am 2+ years out from surgery, have lost 100+ pounds, and reached my goal weight. I have been where you are at! I'm happy to help in any way I can. You can email me at Sherazade96@hotmail.com if you prefer. Ask away! (And don't feel like you're losing your mind!!) Cheers! Christine

Hi! My name is Christine and I live in the Albany, NY area. I can help answer any questions you might have! I was banded a little over 2 years ago, lost 100+ pounds, and reached my goal weight. I've been exactly where you are at! Let me know if you have any questions. You can always email me at Sherazade96@hotmail.com. Cheers! Christine

Hi, I could use some advice. I was banded on Feb. 27th. I lost 26 pounds prior to getting banded, and ZERO pounds since getting banded. I had my first fill last week. I am scheduled for my 2nd fill next week (2-week increments). (I have a 10cc band. 2 ccs were put in during surgery. Last week they gave me 2.5 ccs.) I have not lost any weight. I don't feel any restriction. I have had a problem 3 times now where I didn't chew properly and the food kind of got "bottled up" and I had to burp a lot until it got moving again. I have been making moderately-healthy food choices....fish, steamed veggies, low calorie foods and drinks. I cut out diet pepsi entirely, which was a HUGE feat for me. I don't seem to have ANY problems with food choices; what I mean is, I have no problems getting some foods down that others seem to, like carby items. I have not gotten into my full exercise routine yet (prior to surgery I worked out 5-6 days a week) but I'm starting to bicycle a little after work and will start getting back to the gym this week. I wish I was losing weight, but I'm not wholly surprised that I'm not, since prior to surgery I ate well, exercised regularly, and only GAINED weight. I'm starting to get worried that maybe my band slipped? When should I start seeing weight loss? What should I do differently? I know I need to start exercising more, but that'll happen gradually, starting this week. Does anyone have any advice? What's going on with me? Why isn't this working?

Thanks Catemc, I'll try that.

Jersey, your "holes" or stitches sound just like the ones I have.