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Hi y'all.... I had my band in 2009. I reached my goal weight in 2011 (2 years later), having lost over 100 pounds. I've been in "maintenance mode" for 2 years now, and have been within 7 pounds of my goal weight for the 2 years since reaching GW. A few months back, I started having acute stomach pain. I visited my bariatric surgeon, and we did a whole bunch of tests and decided that the pain was stemming from my gallbladder. Last week I had my gallbladder removed. Surgery went well, and I'm recovering quickly! (It's a breeze this time, since I have "been there, done that" with my bariatric surgery!) Has anyone else had their gallbladder removed? What have been major dietary changes? Have you found it affect your band at all? I'm noticing that I've been a bit gassy this week, but that could just be post-op effect. I haven't noticed (so far) any foods that I cannot eat, but hey, it's only been a few days. I'm very surprised that I am not experiencing post-op band tightness. I thought for sure that when I was retaining Water following surgery, that my band would get VERY tight. On the contrary; it is just as loose as normal. (I think I'll probably go in for a fill, once I'm fully recovered from gallbladder surgery. Just normal, every-couple-of-month band maintenance.) Any info you can share about your post- gallbladder surgery would be appreciated!

I agree with what the others have said above. It's fairly normal to not feel restriction until after several fills. Keep going to the doctor and getting fills, and eventually you WILL feel something! (When you feel restriction, there's no mistaking it!) That being said...it is possible that your doctor is missing your port area and not getting the saline into your band. That happened to me....for the first 6 months (approximately 8-or-so fills) I felt NO RESTRICTION. This is because the physician's assistant SUCKED and wasn't injecting the saline properly. Going this long without restriction is unusual; if it continues after, say, 4 visits and you still don't feel any restriction, insist on a consultation with your surgeon to see what he has to say. No restriction after several visits could be an indication that any number of things have gone wrong (bad injections; a leaky band; malfunctioning port; etc.) So....yes, it's normal after 2 visits, but just be aware that you should be feeling restriction SOON! And don't be afraid to speak up and talk to your doctor if you have any questions or concerns!

In my experience, little, somewhat constant burping after eating, following a fill, is very normal! So is some acid reflux. Of course, large amounts of burping or extremely painful acid reflux (esp. to the point where you want to vomit from it) is NOT GOOD. But yeah...small amounts of burping is all normal. The next time you see your doctor, you may want to ask about a prescription for an antacid, or look into getting some prevacid.

Wow! Thank you for all the lovely responses! I admit, I'm a bit surprised that this thread has been revived after so long, but I'm glad that some people find the advice useful on their own journeys. As for me, I've been at my goal weight and in "maintenance mode" for 2 years now...and I'm doing great! Every day is a challenge, and I still find it difficult to: (1) eat small meals, (2) choose healthy options, like Protein over chocolate, (3) to listen to my body instead of what the mainstream media tells me, (4) exercise more. Despite the every day challenges, I'm doing okay; I'm still in my maintenance zone. YAY for the band! I love how it has changed my life! And I love how it has allowed me the self-confidence to make even bigger and more profound changes in my life, as well. In a lot of ways, getting the band has just been the start of a positive snow-ball effect in my life. :-)

Sounds like what happened to me! Some of the clamps holding down one side of my port came loose. It wasn't noticeable when I had more weight to lose, but man did it become noticeable after a while! http://www.phoenixrevolution.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/IMG_4888.jpg Here's some posts on my blog about different options for putting the port back on... http://www.phoenixrevolution.net/archives/248 http://www.phoenixrevolution.net/archives/1942 http://www.phoenixrevolution.net/archives/248 Hope that helps a little bit! If you have any questions, just holler.

Anume -- You can survive anything for 10 days! It'll be challenging, but at least there's an end date in sight. The surgery is so worth it in the end! Every time it becomes a challenge, just remember all the reasons why you want to go through with this. Write those reasons down and carry with them in your pocket if you need a reminder.

What was your original instructions from your doctor? I was only allowed to do the Medifast shakes -- no solid foods at all. I think some people combine shakes + 1 small meal a day. Are you overeating? Consuming too many calories, too big of portions? Are you drinking more shakes than you were prescribed?

I know my doctor had different prices for self-pay patients, so I KNOW that they would talk to you when it comes to payment options. However, your BMI is pretty low...they required me to have a BMI of 40. Still, it wouldn't hurt to have a consultation. It'll be a 2 hour drive for you to come to Schenectady. Talk to Ellis Bariatric Hospital: http://www.ellishospital.org/bariatrics/our-bariatric-surgeons.aspx

Yes! I was successful after a bad start! I didn't lose a single pound for about 6 months following surgery. It turns out my dumbassed Physician's Assistant wasn't actually injecting the saline into my band, so I wasn't getting restriction. For those 6 months I felt like the biggest failure, like I made the biggest mistake in the world! I then demanded to see my surgeon (I received my fills directly from him afterwards) and then started to see results slowly. It took me a total of 2 years to lose the weight after surgery, but I made it to my goal weight eventually! Hang in there and be patient! If you get frustrated, be honest and talk to your doctor about it.

I think your doctor can also give you a novacaine (localized anesthetic) shot in the stomach before going at you with the big needle. I had that done once, but found the novacaine needle was more painful than the big needle, but perhaps you'd feel differently.

I agree with what the others said -- it depends on your doctor. I have a friend that got her band done in Mexico. She got a HUGE fill pretty soon after her surgery, and she only had to get it tweaked once after that. I suppose that works out well because Mexico is a long way to go for a fill from New York. (This was when the surgery was new and there weren't many doctors doing them in the USA.) On the other hand, I went in for a bajillion little fills during my journey. I can't imagine my surgeon ever agreeing to giving a BIG fill if he has the option. So yeah...I think it just depends on your surgeon and circumstances and whatnot. Talk to your doctor about it -- the worst thing that can happen is he'll tell you "no."

The adderall could be causing the band to feel tighter if the adderall causes you to retain water. The gastric band is absorptive and can actually absorb water--causing it to feel tighter. That's why a lot of people find that the band is tighter in the morning or when you have PMS. So when you're taking adderall, be sure to drink some extra water to flush any "bloat" out of your system. And make sure you're not eating salty foods. If the tightness continues, you should ask your doctor about it.

Don't worry! Your doctor will be able to find it. In the begginning stages of the band, it'll be a little bit more guess-work for your doctor to find it. He'll have the general location in mind, but he'll need to "jab" around a little bit with the needle to find the exact center of the port. (I remember my doctor jabbing around, which was uncomfortable but didn't actually hurt unless he jabbed my abs. THAT hurt. The rest of the time it was just weird.) As you lose weight, the port will become easier to feel, easier to find, and perhaps eventually able to be seen through the skin. (You can see my skin bulge ever so slightly where my port is.)

http://www.phoenixrevolution.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/gastric_banding_incisions.jpg You can't even see the scars on me, really, without really looking: http://www.phoenixrevolution.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Port2.jpg You can see the largest of the scars here: http://www.phoenixrevolution.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/IMG_5098.jpg

My blog reader Kris was able to link me to an article explaining why our gastric bands feel tighter when we are stressed (or PMSing). How very interesting! The article can be found here. The answer is that the gastric band is a semi-permeable membrane that actually can absorb fluids in the body! Often times patients will come in because their Lap-band feels too tight. They find more difficulty with some foods, and are uncomfortable. They ask me “does stress cause the band to tighten?” The answer is, yes, it does. The biology of stress is this: when you have stress, be it physical stress (like an illness) or mental stress (like your mother-in-law coming by for a short two week visit)…the body reacts by retaining fluid. You may notice that wedding rings are tighter, and there is more swelling in the legs at night. The balloon of the adjustable Lap-band is a semi-permeable membrane, meaning it is osmotically active. In plain English: the more water you retain, some is transmitted to the band, so it swells. If a patient has 5.5 cc in their band (we measure it) and they come in and it feels tighter, we find they have 6 cc in the band. Where did the ½ cc come from? That is from the extra water the body is carrying. Since the balloon on the band is semi-permeable it will retain more water also. This is the same reason that most people find the Lap-band to be tighter in the morning. In the evening you may notice you have some swelling of your ankles – by gravity your body water has gone down to the legs. In the morning that swelling is gone, and the water has gone back to the central compartment of the body where the band is. If we measure the band in the morning it can have 0.25 to 0.5 cc more in it (which can make a difference). This is also why we don’t like bands being too tight. People need room for stress – of all kinds. Leaving room in the band to allow for this, means that patients will have fewer difficulties. Upon further web searching, I see that there are several scientific studies that have been performed that have verified this claim, such as this one here. This knowledge makes me realize two things: (1) When your band is too tight or too loose, don’t go running to your doctor to get it fixed right away. Give it a little time to see if the saline levels balance themselves back out. Also, (2) If you experience a “looser” band, it doesn’t necessarily mean that your band is leaking or is broken. First try increasing your fluid consumption and see if that fixes the problem. If there is a noticeable decrease in “restrictive feeling,” then go see your doctor.