cduval04

It's def not my port..... I can feel my port also though...it is a good inch and a half above my port...I can still see the mark from the needle where she filled me on Monday.

hello all, I was banded 16 weeks ago. I have had 3 fills. the first one they put in 3 cc's the second they put in 2 cc's the third they put in 2.5. The month following that fill I lost 7 lbs! I was so happy. So when I went to see the NP, I told her I felt restriction, but I didn't feel "quite there" yet..you know in that green zone...so she put in another 1.5 for a total of nine. After getting that fill, it is very hard to take pills, but they go down if I take them 1 at a time, and I noticed my weight loss has halted, and after reading similar posts on here, I think I know why. I am resorting to crap because it goes down easy, and am probably getting little, if any protein at all in. crap being all the crap I'm supposed to avoid, graham crackers, oreos, chocolate, and frozen yogurt and cereal, I have been living on healthy cereals, but yet still cereal b/c it goes down so easily. So maybe I was in my green zone at fill #3 and I just wasn't familiar enough with my new body to realize it. I mean I did lose 7 lbs in 24 days thats over 2 lbs a week so maybe I was in my green zone, Also, does anyone have problems with fluids going down? Seems to me water would just go right through the band, but for some reason, i can only take really small sips, and I feel like this is hindering my fluid intake. Sometimes on school days, I will go till 4pm and realize I have only had about 12 ounces of water. It doesn't make sense why any amount of fluid would have trouble going down. Is this a sure sign that I am too tight? I don't spit up or froth much, but that is because I have been avoiding any foods that would make me do that (although it has happened about 3 or 4 times just since my fill on march 25th) but I do get the "stuck" feeling a lot and that pain in my chest before the bolus of food travels down to the stomach. I dunno, it seems to me that if the 7.5 was working, and the 9 is not working as well at all, I should get unfilled, but I just wanted peoples experiences. Did people who went "one fill too many" have the same experience? did you have trouble "recognizing" your green zone when you first got there, or did you just know. I know they give you all the criteria for when you are in the green zone, but if you have never been there, isn't it hard to judge when you are there and not just say, i think I need another fill? I guess it boils down to, if I'm finding it so much of an effort to eat the right things that I have to eat around the band with the wrong things, then I;m probably overfilled? or maybe just lazy? I have no idea, please offer some insight. thanks, Carlie

Ya good lord I don't care if you weigh 400 or 4000lbs 130lbs Is a HUGE chunk of weight. You have lost 520 sticks of butter off you my friend-way to go!! (sry I like butter + I like math )

I was wondering what the purpose of going back to liqs for first 24 hours then mushies for next 24 hrs then back to normal after every fill is? is this standard, or is it that kind of depends on your doctor thing? I was just wondering becuase I "cheated" and ate solid food during first 48hrs (I know it was bad) and I was just wondering if there would be any permanant consequenses becuase of my actions.... (i hope to got that answer is no) so, any idea why they "prescribe" this plan after every fill? is there anyone who doesn't have to do this? thanks. 5cc's in an 11cc realize-c band and still no restriction....fills not done under flouro

I had similar issues, took forever to find center. doctor was so frusterated she was cussing . I was laughing at that. she moved the thing for like 5 min and then she said she bent the tip of the needle so had to stick me again....second needle took her just as long...finally she said she found it but she didn't have me leaving very confident...its not the stick that hurts it when they move it around every which way in there that gets you kind of woozy after awhile.....of course the fact that I still have no restriction doesnt boost my confidence either.

I tend to agree with acadia, my office does all their fills "blind" even fill #1 and it does not make me feel confident. they should at least do fouro on the first fill to resolve questions like: did everything heal correctly in place? did the port flip? etc......I dunno, to me it's kind of like driving somewhere where you don.t know how to get to and not using a map/gps I went for my second fill cuz I got 3ccs and was feeling nothing, and I asked my PA if it was possible the NP that filled me last time could have "missed" and she said "not probable, but possible" I wasnt comfortable at all with that answer......I had 2 more put in then and I am still feeling NOTHING.....sux

I am having this same type of pain by my belly buttons (slightly below), except its on my right side. my port is on the right, but the pain is lower and further to the right than my port. I have heard that the pain receptors in the belly are really bad so a lot of times when belly pain happens, the source of the pain is not always exactly where we feel it. i believe the term for this is called "referred pain"

hello. was banded on 12/20 went in for first fill on 1/31 where they put 3 cc's in my 11cc realize-c band. (not done under flouro). I am not feeling much restriction and have only lost 1lb since the 31st (13 in total since pre surgery weight) so I am going back on friday to have it filled more. my question is about..well..my colon to be frank.....don't even know if it's related to the surgery, but a few weeks ago I got a pretty localized pain in the lower right side of my abdomen sort of next to and below my belly button. It seems to be getting a little worse every week, and appears to be positional, and related to whether I have eaten or not. ok.....sorry this is sorta gross but worrisome to me.....my bowel movements are ENORMOUS and when I say big I mean like 16-18 inches (no I didn't measure it but I have an 18-inch ruler at home and it looks just about the length of that) and my last one was probably the diameter of my entire large intestine (yes I did look that up lg intestine is 5 ft long 3 inches in diameter) I had these types of BM's a couple times before surgery, but they happened rarely. But now, my last 4 BM's have been like this, and they are usually two toned, half light brown half dark brown. Usually happens once a day. My mom has been a visiting nurse for 30 years gone into probably thousands of peoples homes and she looked at one and said she had never seen anything quite like it in all her years of nursing...now that scared me because the stories she comes home with...well let's just say I thought she had seen everything there is to see when it comes to gross. Before you call me an obsessive poop looker with too much time on my hands, keep in mind poo can be a huge indicator of your health, just as your pulse and temperature can be. (yes I also am a daily Dr. Oz show watcher ok there I admit it after all, he is the doctor who taught america to look in their toilets) all kidding aside though, this along with the pain scares me. I am going to GI and GYN on friday, but does anyone have any words of wisdom for me or shared similar symptoms? Bowel obstruction or something? thanks in advance, Carlie

hi all, I was banded on 12/20 and had my first fill on 1/31. it was an experience...took her a good 10 min. to find the center of my port...the first needle she actually bent..so I got the pleasure of being stuck twice. She said I had something called a seroma...a little "sack" of serous Fluid that commonly develops after abdominal surgery so she was trying to get through/around that..... she was very repetitive in saying that I would not feel the full effects of the fill for a few weeks, because the fluid had to take time to distribute evenly..at the time I am writing this, the post directly below mine is titled "delayed action" fill so I guess I am not the only one with questions about this. I am worried though because instead of feeling more restriction, every day that passes I actually feel less. (I think I was playing it extra cautious the first couple days). She said to me that usually if patients call crying for another fill sooner than 3 weeks, they will not do it, she said she did it once and ended up over filling that person because the first fill kicked in after the second and then her band was way too tight. but I am thinking of calling anyway, because of the fact that I am feeling less restriction as time passes. I don't know whether the lack of restriction is because I have not given it enough time, or simply because she did not fill it enough, as they tend to be conservative on fill #1 because everyone's different Should I call, or is this normal and I should just wait a little while longer to see if I feel any "delayed" restriction? How many of you on your first fill ended up having the delayed restriction and how many of you ended up just not having enough fluid in there. So hard "getting to know" your new stomach! btw I have a realize-c band.

I called the office and found out she put 3 in my band.....what is up with all these people having it done under flouro, at least the first time it makes sense (like to see if everything healed in place before they go blindly shooting saline in there, and frankly I'm a little upset that that's not the way they do it at my hospital....it would ease a lot of my nerves to know that everything healed where it was supposed to. about the delayed action thing, I was only told it by my NP and then I saw it in the sticky at the very top (first thread first post) of this fills forum...and then a few threads below mine was one titled 'delayed action fill' here. I dunno I guess everyone is just a little different, my worst fear of course being that I will never get true restriction or that something in my band is mechanically wrong, leak, kink etc. but it is said that 90% of what you worry about never happens, so I will keep worrying!

Ok so I have bought all the powders highly recommended on this forum including Syntrax fuzzy peach nectar, optimum nutrition gold standard whey (Cookies and cream) and another one by optimum nutrition called hydro-whey which is good also, and it's not that they don't taste good, its just that I cant drink even 8 oz before I start to feel gross, sick, bloated and gassy. So, I remembered I went to a really good naturalist a while back when I was having issues and she ran the "ELISA" testing on me which tests not for acute allergic reactions (called IgE antibodies), but delayed intolerances/sensitivities (IgG antibodies) which can range from anything to gas, bloating, cramps, to muscle/joint aches to neuro issues like mood swings/irritability. So, I looked at the results which I had not reviewed in quite awhile, and it says I have severe antibodies (>5x the normal amount) to milk products and moderate antibodies (>3x the normal level) to eggs, yolk and white. Now my mom argues with me that I could always tolerate milk and eggs fine before surgery, but I always tell her it's not that I tolerated them, but I really didn't care if I spent a half hour on the toilet if it meant that delicious pint of ice cream (I know, true confessions), and I also made the point that I think I took A LOT more of the offending substance to affect me so that I did care (because my stomach was much larger), and I usually didn't get to that quantity. And my third argument to her, and I have no clue if this has any credibility, but I did tell her that maybe I didn't notice it that much b/c I was eating so much other crap, bread, Pasta, oats, fruit, veggies etc. etc. and when I first got the results back for "milk" sensitivity I just thought "oh I can take a Lactaid and I will be fine", but then just learned yesterday that milk intolerance is NOT the same as lactose intolerance. Lactose is only an intolerance to one part of the milk-the sugar, which is called the lactose. but milk is made up of whey (which is the watery stuff, and makes up 20% of the Proteins found in milk, and casein, which are the lumpy white globs seen in sour milk. Therefore "milk intolerance" is very different that "lactose intolerance." and unfortunately there is no way to avoid symptoms like with lactose intolerance, you just have to avoid milk products. sorry if you already knew all that, but I found it interesting b/c alot of people who get tested and have a "milk" allergy or intolerance just think they are lactose intolerant, which is what I did. so then there are the eggs, which I don't have as high of a sensitivity level to, but I would like to avoid. which leaves soy. Now I do have a history of breast cancer in my family, and I know soy messes with your thyroid and also mimics estrogen (and my doc thinks I may be estrogen dominant already), but I also know that for the next couple weeks, I have to get my Protein in somehow, and this seems to be the only way, because the only proteins I know of are milk protein concentrate/isolate, egg white, whey isolate/concentrate, (which is made from milk), and soy isolate/concentrate. My antibody level to "soybean" came back completely negative. I also I don't think by taking soy protein for a few weeks until I can eat solids is going to give me breast cancer. I think it is long term use that many professionals advise against. So, I really don't know why I gave all that info, (maybe it will help someone else, and I had also been asking for whey powder recommendations and I wanted to explain why I am all of a sudden now asking for soy). But because the only powders I didn't mind the taste of were recommended by users on this forum, and I know NOTHING about the world of soy protein isolates/powders, maybe there are some soy lovers, vegetarians/vegans who can give me some good tasting ones? thanks and merry christmas/happy holidays and for those of you that are a day or two out, today is day 4 for me and I am just today starting to feel "normal" again, less bloating, etc.

am week 7 post op but just wanted to say that soy protein tasted awesome going down, but about 1 hour after I got super nauseas, I bought the one with Spirutein and I think that may have been the ingredient that made me feel sick.....after that I gave up on the protein b/c I had tried so many and there was only like 4 days left in my clear liqs so I called the doc and she said I could add skim milk and carnation instant bfast. other than that I survived on broth, jello, gatorade and sf popsicles. My family had ham for christmas dinner...I had red and green jello yay....<img class="bbc_emoticon" alt=":ack2:" src="http://www.bariatricpal.com/public/style_emoticons/default/colorful/ack2.gif">...but thats over and I've lost 12lbs since 12/20.....I kinda expected to lose more but my first fill was only a week ago yesterday...so before that I was spending time in bandster hell....felt restriction with fill for like 48 hrs but now it has gone...I hope it comes back I know fills can have that delayed action thing....we will see...I forgot to ask her how many cc's she actually put in stupid me<img class="bbc_emoticon" alt="" src="http://www.bariatricpal.com/public/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif">......is there a protocol for first fill on the realize-c band?? maybe that should be a question for a new thread kind of getting off topic here....<br>

victoria this is exactly what happened to me, I had my very first fill last Monday and felt restriction for about 48 hours (during which I lost 2 pounds!) then it was gone and I was so confused...needless to say I have gained about 1 of those 2 lbs back...but my fill was only a week ago today, so it was nice to hear how your story worked out...I hope I start feeling some restriction sometime in the next week or so.

I was just curious, how many of you actually got weighed ON your surgery date b4 you went to OR? Is this more common than not, or vice versa?

thank you so much for this tip. I have severe allergies to dust mites (IgE antibodies came back at 20x the normal limit). Shortly after starting full liquids abt 9 or 10 days post op my post nasal drip got really bad, and it was deep in my throat not something I can blow out or even hack up, whenever I blow my nose the pressure from doing so gives me a headache. I think what may have made it act up initially is my much higher than usual dairy consumption. I do not like any Protein shakes, so have been eating fat free yogurt, milk, FF SF pudding, cottage cheese, creamed Soups, my entire diet is pretty much dairy which I have since read is a HUGE culprit for PND. I also have an air purifier in my room, which I set to high every night, is has helped with the dust, but I can tell the humidity in the room is VERY low. SO I am thinking of getting a humidifier. I am also sensitive to drugs and don't like taking too any antibiotics cuz yeast acts up, so I prefer natural. Thank you for telling me about neilmed, I am def going to try it. Tried the neti pot, and it works, but you are right it is annoying and takes practice to get your head just right, holding your head at the wrong angle it will come out your mouth haha.

holy *** melissannde, I don't mean to change the subject on this thread but I just saw your band date as less than 2 years ago and you've lost 173lbs?....I just thought that deserved a public congrats!!!!!!! That is amazing.....I am just starting on my journey and would have to lose about 150-160 to get to "normal" bmi---it seems like worlds away. Any tips for success? (how old are you? everyone in my group was saying "you're young you'll lose it fast b/c I was the youngest in my group, not that older folks can't lose it)

haha....it would be interesting to hear how you guys are doing now....I had the same darn thing. fine in hosp. then a few hrs after being home I was nauseous ALL THE TIME. I was banded on the 20th didnt get better till about the 24th...I think day 4 was a big turnaround day in terms of less pain, smoother breathing, and being able to "feel" every sip I know exactly what you are talking about...your chest hurts for a minute it feels really tight then goes away

true confessions, I am on day 7 post op, and last night and tonight I had some nuts after my parents went to bed. It really sucks, cuz all this week I have been returning and trying new Protein powders and (I think I've tried 9 in total, whey, soy and egg) and they all start to make me feel sick after 3 or 4 sips, though I tried and liked them pre-surgery), so for the last 7 days I have probably gotten not much more than 60grams protein in TOTAL and they told me to get 60grams a DAY (that would be 420grams by now! So I have been living on broth, Jello, sf ice pops and Water + Powerade zero for a week! I was soooooo good I didn't cheat at all until last night...I'm really trying but I am getting NO nutrition which is probably why I am craving the nuts (salt, fat and protein) I am calling my dietitian 1st thing tomorrow about the protein thing, but I am so afraid that I have displaced it. I am REALLY going to try NOT to go off plan anymore. I go to full liquids tomorrow which opens up A LOT more choices so I think it will be way easier not to cheat b/c I will have something besides water in my system As far as fullness goes after 1/3c mixed nuts (less last night) I def could not eat anything else because I feel I would be sick (and I certainly could have b4 surgery of course), but I don't feel sick and although I am thirsty I am going to try hold it on the fluids for an hour (or at this stage should I actually drink NOW because then my stomach wouldn't have to churn as hard?) I didn't know some surgeons filled during surgery so I didn't even think to ask that. I just hope I didn't cause any slippage....I'm really worried

I went to the Vitamin shoppe today and decided on spirutein, it is a blend of rice protein, pea protein, and soy protein isolate. I bought the banana one. I didn't have high hopes for it, infact I didnt have any hope at all for it because so many I've tried have not worked. But I was wrong, it smelled like a banana split, and it was really good. Like not just "its tolerable but I have to get it down" but I actually enjoyed drinking it. It came out green tinted cuz of the pea protein, but tasted nothing like peas at all. It only has 14 grams per scoop, but I figured some protein was better thank no protein at all. After consuming it, I perked up like a watered plant (I have had zero protein since sunday). I too am concerned about the soy, b/c of my fam history of breast cancer and my thyroid issues, but as I said I only have till tuesday and then I can start eating yogurt and ff sf puding, and strained cream Soups, and other thin pureed stuff, so I wont need to rely on the soy as my sole protein source-I mean-one vanilla chobani has 14g protein! (i hope i tolerate the yogurt ok, if not I will have to find an alternative). and then when I get on solids a 3 wks, I wont need it anymore! they encourage you to get ur protein from solid foods like fish and meat etc. they don't want you to rely on Protein shakes and say they should not be used for meals unless you are really pressed for time. So its not like I will be eating soy for the rest of my life (b/c I am not a vegetarian like a lot of people here are), just a few weeks, so I am not really worried.

its been the same with me, lots of rumbles, nausea (don't know if its from the miralax) and the added bonus of diarrhea.....

on the label it says 1-3 days...i took it at night and the next morning i am embarrassed to say i had "lost control" while sleeping.....ever since then i have been having diarrhea.....i'm kinda sorry i took it.....but i have taken it b4 surgery many times and it has worked well. maybe it was the fact that i mixed it with chicken broth, the very high salt content added to the laxative effect.

omg this is exactly what is happening to me (was banded on 12/20) but I couldn't describe the feeling in words. Nice to know someone else has this!

Right after surgery and the day after in the hospital. I was doing better than expected. I actually could not wait to get home and have my gold standard Cookies and cream whey Protein. About 3 hrs after getting home, I removed the scapolamine patch from behind my ear (didn't know it was 72 hrs thought it was 24. A couple hours after removing it, I got nauseous and have been ever since. Every time I even look at the Protein powder, I want to puke-not b/c they taste bad-but because all of a sudden the didnt appeal to me at all. However, I tolerate Jello, sf ice pops and broth fine. My dr said the most crucial thing immediately post op is Fluid. Prob is I can't even get that in either I'm sposed to get 64 and I can barely get 32 in. I asked her to PLEASE prescribe some of the Patches for me, and she said they don't usually write scripts for those but prescribed me zofran, another anti-nausea med. I've taken it twice (4mg dose) and it's really done nothing except make me indescribably itchy, and give me headache and diarrhea) I can't be having that with so little fluid intake or I will end up back in the hosp. I tend to be very sensitive to EVERYTHING and did have some issues with motion sickness pre-op ( I ride the bus & train a lot to commute) I have tried nauzene chewables and I have those sea-bands that press on the accupressure point for nausea, nothing is working, only that patch helped. Even when I do get hungry, I only want jello pops and broth and cannot tolerate the protein. I ordered the unflavored powder from bariatriceating.com hopefully it will b here soon and I can put it in broth until I graduate to mushies in 4 days then I can start putting it in pudding, yogurt etc. Did anyone have prolonged nausea like this after removing their patch or just since u woke up? What can I do about this, b/c right now I NEED more fluid and I know that. It seems every day I wake up I feel worse than the day before. Tips, please? I don't know why she can't just prescibe me the patch, maybe I will cal her again and tell her the zofran is not working ***side note: I have cankers all over my tounge, is this a reaction to something in my roxicet or more likely from a lack of essential nutrients? Anyone else have this? Thanks in advance. Btw, the gas is finally starting to exit me.

For whatever reason, they don't want to give me the patch. They told me to get OFF the roxicet that is a huge cause of nausea, and eat and drink everything at room temp and hot and cold can do that.....this sux...it's like I'm both nauseous AND hungry at the same time, I know that makes NO sense at all, but that's the only way to describe it....I really hope this is all worth it in the end....only good thing is I have lost almost 3lbs in 3days

I am in the hospital on my 3rd bag of saline.....each one is 2000mL (for those of you not familar w/ the metric system thats about equal to 1.5 gallons...I have tried to pee 3x since I woke up from sugery at 10ish this morning....each time it feels like I'm going to....but nothing comes out after I sit for 5 min...they did an ultrasound of my bladder and said it is pretty darn full.....they are going to put a catheter in me and REALLY don't want that.....has this happened to anyone? surgery was at 7am its now 6:15pm last minute thoughts?? why can't they just give me a diuretic?