pennreporter

Unfortunately, schmoozjack, the deal with the band is that you still have to diet. I hate to be Debbie Downer but if you've not no weight at all, it sounds like food choices have not been great. Where I had my band done they will not do the band for everyone, because not everyone is a successful dieter. I have a program on my iphone called lose-it. I still journal and log food. I had lost 75 lbs until my band slipped and had to have all fill removed. I'm now on my devices and I have to say it's not easy because I have no restriction and can eat anything and everything. I forget how easy it is to get back to my old routine. I can't wait until my revision surgery so I can get back on plan again. But seriously (even with my transgressions right now for the past two weeks), keep a journal, count calories and if you are keeping calories at a losing level and you're not losing, you might want to meet with your nutrionist. Trisht

Well, my revision surgery is July 9...I think I posted wrong date. When they did the fluoro before removing fill and then after...band was all the way down towards the bottom of my stomach. After fill was removed, they did the fluoro again, and the band had popped almost back up to where it is supposed to be. They consider just giving it all a break and then readding fill, but they're opted to go back in and restitch it. They seem to think that's why it's slipped because the stitches came out. My daughter's doctor (one of top in the country) said the biggest issue with banding is the port placement and the stitch placement. Suzanne I can tell you that I was throwing up a LOT the past two months, eating unhealthy because so little would go down...of course, ice cream always went down. But the last week NOTHING would go down, not even ice chips and I was throwing up blood. So I'm looking forward to the revision and hopefully having the band work properly. But I know it takes a couple of months to get my fill back up to where it needs to be...so that part is a little discouraging. Guess I'm gonna have to do what I hate to do ...EXERCISE...lol But I would really address the issues with your doctor...it doesn't sound everything is working just right. Trisha

I didn't have the reflux until the last week when everything was getting blocked. But surgeon did tell me that to really try to be cognizant of abnormal changes in kinds of foods that I can't eat. The last few months, it would change on a daily basis...like one day I could eat cream of wheat and the next day I couldn't. He said there will always be certain foods for certain folks that don't agree with them, but it shouldn't change expecially for slider foods drastically. Once the fill was removed, my band popped back up into its proper position. So they're hoping it's just the stitches that have come loose and that the band is all okay. good luck!! Trisha

Hoping, I just found out my band has slipped...nauseated is not necessarily the sign of a slipped band. I think mine actually slipped a few months ago because I had .5 cc taken out and it was fine for a few weeks and then gradually kept getting tighter and tighter to where Soup wouldn't even go down. The last five days (last week) ice chips wouldn't go down, saliva wouldn't and the throwing up was retching up blood because clearly no food/liquid was being taken in. They did an x-ray at ER, then a fluoro before fill was taken out and one after fluoro was taken out. They could proceed with just trying to fill it again, because after fill was taken out the band popped back up to where it was supposed to be. So they think the stitches holding it have come loose. But my surgeons are relatively inexperienced with banding so they really don't know. So I go back in for a revision and they will check it out and make sure that everything else is okay while they're in there. But if you're not throwing up and not being blocked, I would say probably not slipped but a fluoroscopy and/or an x-ray would be the definitive way to tell. good luck trisha

Well, I got my schedule for my revision surgery....July 9th. So I will have a month on my own with no fill. I will say for the first few days I've eaten anything and everything but now I've gotten that out of my system and I'm back down to controlled portions and HAVE TO EXERCISE this next month. When they go in the will check everything out to make sure my band is all intact, which is good. Kind of like a tune-up :thumbup: If there's anything they can see wrong with the band at that time, they will replace it. The port is fine as far as they can tell. But I did have the conversation with the surgeon that in the future if what I can eat changes radically from day to day...like one day I can eat Soup and the next day I can't eat the same kind of soup, then that's not normal. I guess the guilt my mother instilled in me my whole life led me to think that clearly there was something I was doing wrong..:smile: But the plus side is I don't have to do the two week liquid diet but after puking for five days straight, even that wouldn't have been a problem...:tt2: Wish me luck guys trisha pennreporter

Congratulations Sweetbean!!! The facility/hospital where I had mine done will not do bands on folks who need to lose over 100 lbs. It's people like you that should make them eat their words. But, then, again, they're not big proponents yet of the band for anyone. Again, way to go...just imagine what it will be like this time next year!!! Trisha pennreporter

I had my band unfilled yesterday as they found out it had slipped. The throwing up will take it's toll on your band. I really think I had been slipped for quite some time. I would have some fill taken out and it would be fine for a while and then just gradually keep getting tighter over the next few weeks, have more removed and the same thing. They did a fluoro and the band was almost towards the bottom of the stomach and the pouch was very large. Then removed all the fill and did another fluoro and everything was back to where it's supposed to be, maybe just at not the right angle. So they want to go back in and reposition it and restitch it. So quick outpatient surgery. But when it finally reached its worst point the throwing up was out of control, ice chips wouldn't even go down, to the point of throwing up nothing but blood the last eight hours. This started last Sunday and Thursday morning finally went to ER. In my mind I kept thinking it would pass. So my recommendation is to avoid as much as possible the throwing up. Clearly if you're having it fairly frequent then the band is too tight. So I will have a month to up my exercise and at least try to eat healthy. When the band is too tight, you really have very few food choices and not always the healthiest. Ice cream always went down well...lol Not disheartened at all. I just know I'm going to be more aware of my body and the restriction tightness. Trisha

What a year it has been!! Mine was June 1. Unfortunately, I have to go back in for a revision. Seems as my band has slipped but I'm not disheartened. I'm unfilled now. So I will have a month probably before the revision and I'm anxious to see how I will do. Although the past week I've been so sick and so much throwing up that it will take probably four or five days for my system just to feel normal. I think the band had been slipping for about four or five weeks. I had a half cc removed because it was still too tight. It was fine at first and then just kept gradually getting tighter but as long as I stayed with "safe" slider foods I was okay. Then last Sunday all hell broke loose and vomited even ice chips. But still in my mind I kept thinking okay give it a few days it will calm down until early Thursday morning I was throwing up tons of blood, which I don't know much about medical but I knew that was not good and went to emergency room. So all is good now. Once the fill was removed, it was very strange that the band popped right back up to where it is supposed to be...had fluoro before and after. So they just need to go in and put in another stitch to hold it in place. Not placing blame on anyone or thing...just know I need to be more in tune with my body and if I'm throwing up even on small stuff, I need to lower the fill. But on the bright side, I'm 10 lbs from goal. I've met other goals...wanted to be in a size 10, any size 10, not just the stretchy ones, lower meds, and get caps on all my teeth...so life is good. I'm still not at a "healthy" bmi which will be another ten pounds. So this next month while waiting for revision, will be a challenge to up my exercise and really eat healthy. I don't think I've really eaten that healthy in a while because when the band is too tight, you're very limited on choices. The big lesson I've learned though is that, as we all know now, it takes really not very much food to sustain ourselves. My daughter who is also banded is reading a new book called Women Food and God (not a religious book) which she's all excited about, which delves into knowing our bodies and why we eat food when we're not hungry. Because at some point we all have to go into maintenance and the bands have to be loosened up. So I will let you guys know if I recommend the book after this weekend. She really feels like it's helping her because at some point it has to be not about the band anymore. the band helps get it off but then it really comes down to us and our choices to maintain that weight loss without really dieting the rest of our lives. Okay, I've rambled on enough....Happy Bandiversary to all!!! trisha pennreporter

Found out yesterday my band had slipped. Not sure if I blame the band, myself or the surgeon. Guess it doesn't really matter. I've had problems with too much vomiting for quite sometime. So that could be my problem of not loosening up the band. But clearly the stitch came loose that holds the band in place. My surgeon had only done 5 or 6 bands at the time he did mine ( not my choice, limited on who I could use with my insurance company, he had done lots of bypasses). So the revision will be easy. Once all the fill was removed, it was very strange how the band completely changed locations back up to where it should have been, just maybe a not quite the right angle, but it was almost like a 45 degree change. So they just need to go in and put a few stitches to hold it in place. So I will have about a month of no fill, although this doesn't concern me too much as I had really had lots of problems with restriction, it just kept getting tighter and tighter, which I'm sure was the band slipping now in hindsight. So my system needs a break and some healing time, plus I'm almost at goal, within 15 lbs. So I'm not deterred at all and not blaming it on any one things. "stuff" happens. Trisha p.s. bandiversary was June 1, my original goat was to reach goal by my birthday on June 23. I won't quite make it but that's okay, too. I wouldn't even be remotely close without my band.

Hey, Poconomum, we're almost neighbors. I'm in Tobyhanna. But on the subject of ccs, I've been on the cc rollercoaster for about 3 months now. I had mine done at a facility that does very very few bands and are truly not believers yet. So I attribute some of my rollercoasting to their inexperience. I went in and was taken up to 7cc (or so I thought)....struggled with it for about six weeks and then he takes me down to 6cc (again so we thought), too loose, back up to 7.5...still not enough restriction, back up to 8cc, then again the problems of being too restricted...so back to 7.75, another couple of weeks of horrible restriction. This time have the PA do it instead..he pulls out 8.5 ccs aggghhh. So he takes out .5. So who knows how much I really have in there. The PA doesn't go by what number is supposedly in there. He goes by how much he pulls out and then puts back in .5 less because evidently for them, it's hard to be exact. Again, I attribute a lot of this to their inexperience and the HORSE NEEDLE they have to use. :ohmy: Now, I know I'm probably still very swollen and irritated from the last four days of hell (ice chips wouldn't even stay down), but if this restriction lasts I'll be a happy camper. Half a sausage patty and half an egg and I was done and didn't have to run to the bathroom and throw up. Could even drink my coffee afterwards...whoo-hoo. Sorry Poconomum you haven't lost. Where did you have yours done? I had mine at Geisinger Danville and really have counted calories more than ever. I have an app on my iphone (free) called Lose It that I use almost daily..not so much the past few weeks because nothing was staying down except ice cream.. I'm at 80 lbs from the beginning of the program, not from surgery, probably 57 from surgery in June 2009. My goal was to reach goal by my birthday this year. So pretty close. God forbid should I exercise...lol Do you have any support groups you go to? I don't go to any but I have a band-buddy that we had ours done within days at Geisinger and we keep in touch weekly. Of course, she exercises like a fiend and has done remarkably well considering all of her health conditions. I've considered going to the group in Stroudsburg. Good luck to all Trisha

West LAGirl, at 6.5 ccs I didn't have any restriction. My fills went 3cc/2cc/2cc (actually the last one was 3cc by mistake). Then I've been tweaking it for the past one. One more tweak downward and I think I will be in a good spot. I had to lose 10 percent of my body weight pre-surgery. I was 218 on day of surgery. I'm at 165 now. So my weight loss hasn't been huge but I gave myself a year. I take a lot of the blame because I hate to exercise. Winter is not good for me because of being indoors. I do much better in the summertime. My average weight loss as been a pound a week, but that's not consistent. I average 12 pounds for three months when I go to nutritionist. A friend had her surgery one week after me and she's lost 10 more lbs than me, but she exercises every day. I know that's my biggest stumbling block. I've also found if I don't keep my Protein count up, I don't lose as well. So I have an app on my iphone, Lose-It, it's free. If I keep calories down around a thousand and my protein as close to 60 grams as possible, I do much better. Gawd forbid should I get a half hour of exercise...lol. So hang in there. Trisha

I have an 11 cc Realize Band. I was at 8cc, too tight. Went back and went back down to 7cc, too loose. Went back to 7.5, still not enough. Then back again and back to 8cc. It's not as tight this time as the first time, but I'm thinking 7.75 is going to be my comfort restriction. I go back to surgeon on 4/5 and will have the .25 cc taken out. But very strange that the 8cc the first time was almost unbearable and it's almost tolerable this time. But still what I can eat one day will not go down another day. So I'm very cautious and on what I eat. But through the past 6 weeks of tweaking, not much was happening on the scale...because of course when it was too loose, I hit Taco Bell more times than I should have :wink2: Well, that's little ride is over :) Good luck to all. Trisha

Well, I haven't been on here much since we started the challenge. I've had to tweak my band a few times and still need .25 removed, but that won't happen until April 5. But at least the scale is finally starting to go down again. I was too tight and then too loose and then not tight enough and now back to almost too tight again...thank goodness they only have to stick once to find the port each time...lol But I was stuck at 168-172 for about a month with the band being too tight and then when it was loosened up, well, let's say I was at Taco Bell a few times a week eating nachos...so that little adventure is over :wink2: I'm back to being almost too tight but not as bad as it was. So hopefully I'll be back on course for my challenge. Good thing is that I have my 42-mile bike ride on May 5. So whatever I lose will be a plus before the ride. Hope everyone is doing well!! Can't wait for the snow to go away here. Will be nice to be able to get outside more. Trisha:thumbup:

Well, since I have the Realize band and my daughter has the Lap-Band, I can say, in the end, I don't know that there's any difference. Mine is 1 cc bigger than hers. So that just makes a difference in the amount of fill it takes to get to restriction, and even that is dependent on the individual. I will say the only difference esthetically is that I can see where my port is. It kind of sticks out at that spot, but that may also be due to my surgeon had only done five bands at that time and my daughter's surgeon had done 4k. If I was 25 and still wearing two-piece bathing suits, it might be a concern but at 58, it's not a problem. I can't see hers at all. I can even barely feel it. Trisha

Kaninag, great link...Lol If they can't see that, they must be almost as blind as I am without contacts..lol So we're only about ten weeks away from Challenge end...the time will fly and it will be here before we know it. I actually did my stationary bike this monring and did well on journaling. If I don't journal, it's real easy to add calories with some "slider" food (chocolate, pudding) and before I know it I've added 4-500 extra calories. Good luck to all!! Trisha

welcome Rayne...are you on your pre-op liquid diet yet, or does your doctor make you do that? Not all do. We'll be saving you a place on the loser's bench. There's usually also a group for people having theirs done in each month. So if you haven't joined one yet, you may look for that. I'm part of June Journey's 2009. Good luck and welcome!! Trisha:thumbup:

wow, KLL, that's a helluva trip. I wish I could afford to take the time off for that but being single and having used up retirement to take care of my crazy parents before they passed, I will end up being the greeter at Wal-Mart and working till I drop...lol. My daughter has been banded also but she did hers a year before me. So I knew what I was getting into. But I find it incredibly interesting at how every person is different and how differently we all react to fills and fill levels. I had no restriction at 5cc (Realize band is 11ccs). And mistakenly was taken up to 8cc where I did nothing but have issues. I'm hoping this level, 7.5 is a keeper. Today is my first full meal since the fill yesterday. So we'll see...as long as it makes me feel full, I can live with that. I don't miss the bread, rice and steak. Good luck and maybe your daughter will change her mind...but it's still early and ten pounds lost is ten pounds she didn't have before. Trisha

Kll, I don't know about the bathing suit thing. At my age, I don't really care about all that...it will be just nice to not have to go through the anguish of looking for 1X or 2X bathing suits :biggrin: I've done the cross country trip from Vegas to Pennsylvania. As much as I love traveling by car, that one was not pleasant...in a Honda, pulling a trailer with three dogs who were car sick at some point or another during the adventure. Surprised I didn't burn the transmission up in the car. The Grand Canyon is great. I've been a few times...it's hot hot hot though if you hit it in the right month. What fill are you at Kll? It took 3 for me, but then I was too tight, but I stayed at 7ccs for five months. As it turned out it was actually 8cc...can't imagine why it was tight...lol. So had 1cc taken out last week. That was too much and went back and had .5 put back in. This one may do it for a while, but when you get more fill in there you really won't get hungry, or hopefully you won't. I still get head hunger but not stomach hunger. I would do it again in a heartbeat...my only downside is my insurance/surgeon is very inexperienced, so it's been kind of a learning process for us both. But he's a sweetheart and I trust him, he just hasn't done many bands and believes more in the bypass...hopefully I will change his opinion :thumbup: Your cross country trip will be great from the direction you're heading. I've done Dallas to NYC twice and it's a beautiful drive. Tennessee is great, just wished I'd had enough time to go to the Smoky Mountains. Good luck Trisha

Welcome to the newbie bandies!! You won't regret it. Banded where are you going in NY? May is a great month to be there. May is when the bike ride is, 32k riders, going through all five boroughs and bridges, plus there's the Walk for Cancer which who knows how many walkers there are for that, but the weather usually is pretty good, although last year was sucky...rained a lot. But just think all the walking you'll do will be great exercise. I don't live in the city anymore but my daughter still does, who is also a bandie (she was my guinea pig, did hers first). Good luck to all. Trisha P.S. Pulling off my snow boots now to go get on the exercise bike...part of my challenge is to ride the stationary bike every day until the weather is clear enough to ride the road bike...

Well, we have four people so far on the challenge spreadsheet....assuming we all even come close to our challenge goal, WHAT A WAY TO START THE SUMMER!!! Trisha P.S. Kll, if you're still getting hungry then your fill probably isn't enough yet, but it will get there... P.S.S. Also forgot to list to save info before you leave the spreadsheet site. I'm doing the challenge because of a 42 mile bike ride on May 2 but also I'm doing a goofy cruise at the end of September...my friends and family think I'm crazy, but I'm doing the Richard Simmons Mardi Gras cruise to lose. It's my first cruise and I'm having to do it as a single and didn't want to get stuck with a bunch of other senior citizens..(I'm older than all of you guys but not ready for an AARP cruise yet...lol) but what a concept to be able to wear a bathing suit for the first time in 15 years!!

Went back in and had PA put .5 cc back in band, but can't really tell yet if there's a difference as I always do a soft food diet on the first day. So I'll know tomorrow, but PA did say to come back in if I felt I still needed maybe a quarter, to go gradually back up on the fills. He did say that even thought I was really tight at 8cc, that taking some out and going back up to 8cc, that it might not be as tight going back up if I lose more weight before I go back to 8cc. So we'll see how the 7.5 goes. Would prefer to not go back up to that level of tightness. Trisha P.s. there's also a thread on here, the Cinco de Mayo Challenge..to see how well we can do by May 5!!

I've created a spreadsheet on google docs, just not real sure on how to link it all up. If it works and anyone has suggestions or if the original poster needs me to send it to her so she can link it up differently, just shout out. I'm so clueless sometimes on this stuff. Let me know if you're able to add your info on it. http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Am_4vTB_UwtudFkyNEthemRTNlNNb09xRlNsS0V6SHc&hl=en

I sure wish I could help you. I know in June Journeys we had one for a thanksgiving challenge but I don't know who made it up. I'd love to join in on the challenge. I'm 25 lbs from goal and have a 42 mile bike ride coming up on May 2 and I would love to do it for the first time ever at as close to goal weight as possible. It's the 5-borough bike ride in NYC, with about 32,000 bikers. Both times I've done it I've been 70+ lbs overweight. So my goal is to ride my stationery bike twice a day until the snow goes away and then get out on the real bike. So I'm there with you. Hopefully someone on here will know how to do the spreadsheet. Trisha (Poconos, PA)

I can't do bread, Pasta, rice...only crispy things like crackers, maybe a taco shell...the bread has been a good thing because that's a huge weak spot for me. Not eating rice or pasta is also a nonissue for me. Also can't do steak or dry chicken.. But I can eat popcorn...go figure. Trisha

I was banded June 1, '09. I had three fills which brought me up to what I thought was 7cc in September. My weight lost is satisfactory but the fill was extremely tight, lots of throwing up PBing, getting stuck and not so healthy food choices...ice cream goes down real well...lol. Went last Tuesday to have some of my fill removed. When he brought it out it was 8cc (out of an 11 cc band). I only wanted to have .5 cc removed but because I had been so irritated , he took a full cc out...so supposedly I'm at 7cc...well, when I was at 5cc I had absolutely no restriction at all. I'm kind of feeling like that now...can eat just about anything...so I go back in on Monday to have some more put back in, but this time the PA will be doing it. My surgeon is extremely inexperienced at the band..he does mostly bypasses... and he even admits that he was not pulling all of the Fluid out so that some was being left in the tubing and he was compensating for that...so basically he's not real sure what he's doing, but I trust him in the sense that I do think he's a good doctor, just new at the whole banding process. So I have no clue what I'll end up at come Monday, I guess it depends on how much they pull out to see how much is really in there. I know I don't want to be as tight as I was...that was a pretty tough 4.5 months.. But I'm on track with where I expected to be with weight loss, especially since exercising is not real high on my priority list, although that has to change because I have a 42 mile bike ride coming up in NYC...so my sluggy butts gotta get on the stationary bike and ride..:smile: Good luck. I don't regret having surgery done (even when PB'ing...lol) Trisha