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And it got worse. Couldn't sleep as I kept getting reflux, I was lucky to make it to the bathroom a couple of times. It is now nearly 5am , I am feeling like crap, sucking on ice and hoping like hell that my band hasn't slipped. I still have a major pain in my back between the shoulder blades and it feels like there is a lump in my throat.I don't think there is still anything stuck - i did way too good a job of throwing up and that is what has me worried.

Just shows that we are all different. This food does not look appealling to me at all and it wouldn't have even preband. Yes I like pizza but that pizza looks dull and boring, I like lots of veggies and other stuff on mine. My favourite pizza used to be bacon , feta and avo and I could have managed a whole thin crust pizza at a push. Smoked salmon pizza is pretty awesome too. If I did eat a whole pizza then I could never have eaten all that other stuff with it, way too much pastry/doughy stuff. As for 6 cheese burgers !!!!!!!!!!! Preband a juicy real meat burger with a baked potato with sour cream and onion rings would have been one of my ideas of a great meal. Food porn for me would have to be chocolate, cheesecake, creme brulee or some other kind of amazing dessert. I love sweet stuff.

Lying awake in bed due to reflux caused by attempting to eat steak earlier tonight and I get this "revelation". ( Nothing like the clarity that comes in the middle of the night) My mind must have been thinking over some of the stuff I read earlier today and I suddenly realised that the symptoms in this article describe what used to happen to me in my early 20s. There were a number of occasions when I would feel hot, cold, nauseous,shaky have ringing in my ears and want to pass out. In fact the once I was at the pub with my BF who is now my DH and I literally dropped. I was fine 1 minute and passed out on the floor the next. It was so embarrassing as everyone must have thought i was extremely drunk when in fact I was on either my 1st or 2nd drink. At the time my GP said that it was probably a hernia but reading this dumping seems more likely. It was usually brought on by alcohol especially any type of clear spirit such as vodka. Luckily I haven't had those symptoms for years

Now that is SAD!

Had to share tonight's experience, freaky but I am sure you will all have a laugh. Decided to cook steak for dinner. I hardly ever cook it for hubby and I thought I'd be nice to him ( and my kids). Couldn't be bothered cooking something seperate for myself and as my band is fairly loose thought if I was careful it might be OK. Well it wasn't although it could have been the broccolli (soft) or corn ( teaspoon full) that caused the issue. No big deal, I am quite good at bringing things back these days. But we have an issue at the moment with the ground being so wet that we have an excess of spanish millipedes in the house. They are an alien invader and they are a pain. They get everywhere and they leave dirty brown marks everywhere. As most of them are in my bathroom I chuck them down the toilet. It amazes me how long they seem to keep on wriggling under Water ( OK report me to the RSPCA). In fact the other night I jokingly said to my husband that I could write a horror story about some giant millipede coming out of the sewer, it would probably be on a par with attack of the killer tomatoes! I am sure you can see where this is going.......... If you get grossed out easily then stop reading now. Anyway - first attempt at bringing the steak back obviously didn't do a complete job so I am back in the bathroom for a second time. I had also had some red wine so things were looking a little murky( and red wine tastes terrible coming back) when I notice this black thing squirming around in the toilet bowl. Now having your head over the toilet, throwing up and staring at some squirmy thing is not a pleasant experience. Although logic tells me that it had to have been in there from earlier the mind plays strange tricks. All I can say is it must be one hell of an underwater swimmer and maybe I had better get a toilet lid lock as they could be breeding down there!

That is a huge amount of "food". That is if you can call it food - it all looks like greasy, fatty, overprocessed muck!

Not being American I don't know how big your food portions are but I have heard from friends that have visited the US that they are HUGE. You do also seem to have an overabundance of highly processed foods. The ads that we get here are mainly for fast foods such as McDs or Hungry Jacks or things like packet recipe bases (maggi), yogurt, or heart healthy spread. We don't see ads with huge overflowing plates of food very often. I do look at food in restaurants though and wonder how people manage to eat that much. In La Porchetta the starter size pasta's are way too much for me and most people mange to finish the full size serve!

Do not put anything on your wounds unless your Dr says it is OK to do so. This is probably an allergic reaction. I have the same reaction to certain types of glue on some of the medical dressings. Phone your Dr and ask if it is OK to use a topical antihistamine or if they would prefer you to use an oral one.

You should check with your Dr what exercises are Ok at this stage of your recovery. I can't remember how long they recommend to be careful with abdo exercises. Walking etc should be fine.

You may have popped a stitch. Be careful when you get up and down, use your arms to help you not your stomach muscles. The best thing to do when you have a concern is to call your Dr's rooms. They will be able to tell you if you need to come in or not.

Who cares what other people think. Do what you need to do for your own health and the people that don't like it can go **** themselves!

I would be adding more veggies and healthy carbs. A small portion of boiled potatoes would fill you up far better than potato chips and they actually have some good nutrition in them.

Never heard of dumping with the band, it is usually a consequence of a bypass. This seems very strange.

It feels great once you start fitting into smaller clothes. Well done.

What would you consider extremely successful? My starting weight was 74kg and I am now between 50 - 51kg and have been maintaining that for 2 years.

That sounds way too tight to me. You are not eating you are only drinking. If you can't eat solid Protein then the band is too tight. Being this tight is likely to lead to problems such as reflux or a slip. Reflux is actually a sign that your band may have slipped. I think you need to get in to see your Dr and get checked out.

Give up the night weighing. You are likely to be heavier then than in the morning.

Just don't forget to add the calories into what you have used for the day.

You might be too tight and may need a small unfill. How long has the reflux been going on for? Can you link it to a certain food you eat or when you eat or is it constant?

I get all the protein I need from the food that I eat. I have never felt the need to supplement with additional shakes.

Wow they do fill quickly in the US. Here in Aus they prefer to do small fills. I think my first was 1.5ml, then 1ml then not sure what. I only have about 5ml in now almost 3 years later. Glad it is going well so far.

Actually if you are a big sweet/candy eater then a bypass rather than the band or sleeve is probably the best option. One of the side effects that many people with a bypass have is dumping syndrome. What happens is that the sugar hits them so quickly that they feel awful. Sweaty, faint, nauseous or the runs are some of the ways it can affect you. Unfortunately you won't know before the op if you are one of the people that this will happen 2. I also believe that it is not permanent - that after a year or 2 sweets no longer have this effect. I would think very seriously before getting the band though. As the others have said it will not affect your ability to eat sweets. You need to do that yourself. if you are unable or unwilling to do your part then it might end up being a very costly mistake.

It is not going to hurt but remember you have 2 weeks of preop then if you are on the normal schedule another 2 weeks of liquids after surgery, then 2 weeks of mushies then 2 weeks of soft foods before you get back to eating "normal" food. Although this is in reality a short period, when you are going through it , it feels like forever. Why make it any longer than you have to?

Well I know that tattoo's can be dangerous but this is the first time I have heard of lapband leakage as a risk! LOL. I have never been a big fan of tatts and now I have another reason not to get one! Glad that he was able to find the apparent cause of your leak and that it now seems to have been fixed.

No I'm in Aus - the land of koalas!