comtemplating

Thank you RickM. This is very helpful. I appreciate you taking the time.

Just found out I need a hiatal hernia repair surgery. Had an upper Gi and the dr said stomach is very small and had a hard time "finding it". Also a lot of scar tissue. I am 6 years post RNY (12 yrs post gastric banding). I kept my 75 lb weightloss off until covid. I lost additional weight during covid due to stress and trauma and now I have gained it all back and then some. So in addition to needing the hernia repair surgery, I want to discuss revision surgery. I am having trouble swallowing pills without them getting stuck, have GERD, and have pain when eating. I am trying to find some names of surgeons to research. I am in Arizona but will travel. The surgeon that I have met with has said this isn't going to be an easy surgery and they won't know exactly what they are dealing with until they get a full look. Anyone been through something similar and have a dr. they can recommend?

Forgot to mention that at each dr's visit I would be asked if I could still eat bread- I always could so because of that I always figured I needed a fill until I could no longer eat bread. It is quite evident that one can have too much restriction and have negative side effects- even if they can still eat bread. Don't use this as a single gauge of whether or not to get a fill.

Thanksgiving last year I started having a lot of trouble with "stuck" episodes. I chalked it up to getting closer to restriction. So I had fill, unfill, fill, unfill from November until May. Months of vomiting. But I kept on trying to reach perfection restriction- all the while I was textbook looking only for slider foods- drinking tons of calories. The weightloss had stopped but each month through May the dr. would say, "you are doing so well" because she was looking at the weightloss I achieved from April to November (50 plus pounds). So my average was on target but the weightloss had stopped. 50 lbs is 50% of what I need to lose and the "expected" percentage that comes with the surgery. In May I took a vacation to Maui and had the worse time ever- could barely eat and started vomiting black acid. In hindsight- I was probably too tight and in the red zone since November but I wanted to keep losing weight. I can't believe that I have wasted all this time not losing- 10 months!!!! So here I sit completely unfilled waiting one more week before I go back for a barium test to make sure everything is all right. I don't know if I have the courage to get another fill because I don't trust my judgement when it comes to needing a fill. This "tool" isn't easy.

So last week I had all my fluid removed after having a terrible episode of vomiting and acid reflux (have had several of these episodes that will follow a period of being able to eat freely with no restriction and then out of the blue complete restriction= likely going on since nov but I didn't put two and two together and thought this was just how the band was supposed to work). The did a partial removal of fluid but when I drank water it gurgled down so we just decided to remove all the fluid as the dr. thinks that maybe I dilated/stretched my pouch. I have been on a liquid diet for one week and will be on mushies for two weeks until I go back for a barium test to see if my pouch shrank. My fear at this time is that my port seems to start to stick out and hurt if I drink too much- not at a time necessarily but a quantity over a long time. What would cause the port to be so painful- does anyone understand the mechanics of this? The fluid should go down my throat and easily through the band- which is appears to do- and then into my stomach- what is causing the pain in the port area?

that is very interesting that there were five other people in the outpatient support group that also have a lapband- that seems a bit more than coincidence. It is worth further exploration..........

Hey- I was wondering what happened to you. I am 100 percent positive that what you are experiencing is normal- this has been a life changing experience for you to say the least. You appear to have incredible insight pretty quickly into this entire process! I think it would be safe to assume that a great majority of us have an addictive personality- so to go to the extreme both ways, whether heavy or thin, is really likely. I remember when signing up for this experience I was asked if I had any history with anorexia/bulemia. My guess is that they ask this because it is a potential for anyone that loses a large amount of weight in conjunction with the addictive personality and poor coping skills we are likely to all share. It is really interesting (and common with poor self esteem issues) to hear you describe how you are not liking the attention you are receiving because of your new looks- it is not uncommon for people to be purposefully heavy to protect themselves from any attention. I get the feeling that you are "coming clean"? You don't owe anything to us but I truely appreciate the honesty as your post will be very helpful for many of us who are not yet at our "goal"- you can be a great teacher/example for the rest of us. With that said- I envy your honesty with your father- I am sure he is proud of you- I think you would find it very beneficial to speak with a therapist. Only the best to you.

Anyone else having terrible trouble with their band when their allergies are bothering them? I think I have finally figured out after several months of fills and unfills and fills and unfills that there is a correlation with my allergy symptoms and getting too tight. I get really thick mucus and congetion when my allergies are triggered- which I believe must "clog" my band. If I take gufenessein then I get some relief but I don't do this every single day. Anyone else in the same boat and do you take OTC medication on a daily basis as a precaution?

Just trying to figure out why documentation states someone with lapband will only lose 50-60% of excess weight. If weightloss occurs when you burn more calories than you eat then why would weightloss stop?

So here I am nine months in and I have never felt what I believe to be "restriction". I have episodes when I may eat too fast or take too big of a bite and I get stuck but I have never had any problem with the amount of food I eat. I have heard people talking about not being able to take one more bite or if they do they have a productive burp which brings it all back up. Is this what the "restriction" refers to and is this inevitable if I keep getting fills?

This has been extremely "tricky" for me and I feel like I have wasted some time because I had a hard time figuring this out as well. With each fill we should expect a different experience- the more fills- the more careful we should be. From what I understand we naturally become a bit more swollen initially after a fill- first couple fills I returned to solids rather quickly but now I have to be very careful for several days after a fill and progress very slowly from liquids to mushies to solids. And now my solids are very different than they used to be- used to be able to eat anything just small amounts- now everything needs to be pretty "wet" to go down. My dr. hints that things are going to change even more and that I eventually will have difficulty with bread and tortillas etc. The trouble that I have had is that I "forget" or "ignore" the absolute need to eat slower and chew, chew, chew. This then makes me get stuck and then the vomiting or spitting up traumatizes the band and makes me swollen and then I pushed the limits and returned to solids again and the cycle goes over and over and then you get so swollen you have to go in and get fluid out. I have never reached over 6 cc's in my 10 cc band because of this cycle I get myself into. My advice- err on the side of caution and stick to liquids and/or mushies if you can for a couple days to let things relax- if no success then you might need to get some fluid out and then wait and get some put in at a later time- again, all of this delays the process so I wish I had avoided it all and been much more conservative as I have learned to now be. Good luck!!

So- since October I have been going back and forth on getting a fill, getting an unfill, getting a fill, getting an unfill, and recently had a fill. And now I feel very little restriction and will be going in to my appointment in hopes of another fill. But in the back of my mind I am worried that I will be too tight and back in for an unfill. This is getting frustrating because I have had no weightloss since October. Is anyone else having as difficult of a time trying to find the "perfect" amount? I was told that the smallest fills I can receive are 1/4 cc- does this sound like your experience as well?

That has happened to me. After I have an episode of being stuck and throwing up I always have to go to liquids for at least 24 hrs to let my band heal-lose the swelling from the trauma of throwing up. The gurgling always happens when I swell up. It is easy to make things worse if you eat solids and get into an eating and throwing up phase and never allow the swelling to go down. I've heard of people having to get all their fill removed and start from the beginning. Be careful and take it really really slow with liquids and then mushies.