GoingforGoal

Just to keep the topic going.. I find it interesting how some docs have set volumes and others go by the patient's response (ie sip test etc). I would find it frustrating myself if I learned another bandster got a 3cc fill on fill 1 and I got a 1.5cc fill. Take aside the argument of following your doc, safety/benefits blahblah...think about it from just an inconsistency standpoint. I would like to see our medical professionals be more consistent in their practice. I think prolonged fills (like 0.1cc fills every blue moon) can jeopordize a patient's full potential and longterm success. I also think that for patient's paying out of pocket, this is an absurd practice. I am NOT saying patient's get to make the demand of filling up with aggressive volumes mind you. Rather, there should be a protocol through evidence based practice that determines stricter guidelines for practitioners. Just saying

Hello. I got pregnant after having the band for one year. I never had to have my fluid removed. This was based on careful watch of my and the baby's weight gain. As long as the OB-GYN is informed they will monitor your and your baby's weight gain. If insufficient, they may ask that the fluid be taken out (at least in part) to allow for better nutrition. Also, other considerations..if you end up being one of those mom's that vomit excessively, you may want to have all the fluid taken out as a precaution. Not for baby, but to prevent slips etc. Also, be realistic about your nutrition. If you find yourself not eating, not eating balanced and you know this may pose a risk...time for an unfill to allow for greater variety or portions. Hormones can be tricky on the band (for instance some woman find their bands tighter during their PM). If you find your band being more restrictive than normal, have a partial unfill to accomodate. Be in constant and honest communication with your ob-gyn to ensure that you and your baby stay healthy during your pregnancy. Congrats!

Wow, I'm impressed you ladies are on LBT the day of surgery. Hi5. Congrats and welcome to bandland

Hello, Happy the day has finally come You didn't specify what you were nervous about (the actual fill or eating afterwards etc). But I wanted to reassure you that there is nothing to worry about. The fill will be over before you know it. Most docs use lidocaine before the fill so you'll feel a slight pinch from that but nothing after that. Some docs use xray, others dont. Doc will fill you up and have you do a Water test to see if the water passes. If not, unfill is necessary, if yes, than you are set until next time. Most people will get a temporary restriction from their first fill. But usually on day 1 you'll as least get the first hand experience of what it means to have restriction. Hopefully this will be an ahh haa moment where you understand how the band works for you and why it's so important to follow the rules As for eating afterwards, first fill is usually the most forgiving. But it's a great test run to learn what foods work and which don't. Gives you more time to practice adequate chewing and proper portions etc. You'll have to be more diligent as you get more fills. Good luck and tell us how it went

Congrats

Itching is dual caused. First, after surgery your body's immune system releases histamines to start the healing process at the wound sites. These lil buggers can cause an itching frenzy and can often be relieved with over the counter antihistamines like Benadryl. Second, if you are taking pain meds (especially opiods) than those are always a culprit for causing itching, even hives. This is all normal, but be sure to check in w/ the doc for advice on which meds to take.

Thats bunk... I feel your frustration

Belly flops are out lol. Actually the only thing I wanted to add is that for some ppl when they lose most of their fat will have an exposed port. Makes for easy fills but it can also be palpated and manipulated alot easier to. So laying on your stomach may cause discomfort (think back lifts). That is all I can think of. There is nothing physically you should not be able to do so it'll have to be an experiment. Obviously anything that gives you severe pain or lasting discomfort should be nixed off the workout regimen

I am posting this merely as an educational tool. Not to persuade you to keep or change your decision. Normal BMI is considered 18.5- 24.9. Docs will say 22 is your ideal, 24 min goal. I've also posted the other BMI categories below. Per your goal weight, you would be a BMI of 28.4= overweight. Now with that being said, all the numbers don't matter (weight nor BMI) as much as what your weight looks like on YOUR frame. Just keep this in mind as you near goal. For some of us (uh hum ME lol) who have never been thin at any point in their life, it is very difficult to determine what is ideal. Anything under 200 was once a goal of mine. But I am now 150-155 range BMI 23.6-24.3 and can still see room for improvement. I think of this whole process as a river... it's fluid and everchanging. Set lots of goals but understand that setting an end goal may not actually be your goal at all you may reach goal earlier or need to make a new goal to go further Cheers and good luck BMI Categories: Underweight = <18.5 Normal weight = 18.5–24.9 Overweight = 25–29.9 Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater The BMI Tables

Whether it be the band, adkins, or liquid pea soup diet... the point is a diet requires some level of commitment and sacrifice. Most importantly it is what one can sustain that seems to be the most successful diet of all. This is what works for you (super!) but I feel this post was to discourage people away from their band diets. Seemed inappropriate?

8 is typical results. Usually if your doc doesnt place an actual requirement they are just looking for earnest lost. Good luck on your surgery and welcome to bandland.

Great post

Welcome to bandland. The nerves are normal but you'll get through this. We are are here for you!

Counting calories doesn't hurt. I do it because it tunes me into my body's needs. Maybe you are taking in too many cals, too little. But if you log your food and your calories you can very well find out. It also gets you in tune w/ what you are eating..you may be surprised that you are taking in way too much and didn't realize it because we often underestimate cals (even for healthy foods). A great example is Protein. We focus on getting 60-80g min a day right. Well big difference between getting protein from Peanut Butter and protein from a slice of ham. P.Butter is allowed so if you are going by the 'what to eat on the band' rules than you should be fine right?!?!?! WRONG. Awareness of what you are eating and how much you are eating is paramount. Once you get the hang of it and are eating more appropriately it becomes 2nd nature and you only need to look at food content that is new to you. Also remember weight loss= calories - energy burned. If you exercise alot you need more cals, dont exercise you need very little. Are you being honest as to active you are and how many calories your body truly needs. That's hwo a log helps..it can help you fine tune your needs to your body's needs.

Wont really know until you progress to your solids. Start with something super soft to be safe. If you get stuck on first bite type of deal its def too tight. Sometimes your band will be less restrictive after a few days so stay safe w/ some fluids/shakes for now. But if in 2 days its still hard to get fluids down and impossible to get food down you'll need a partial unfill

Wont really know until you progress to your solids. Start with something super soft to be safe. If you get stuck on first bite type of deal its def too tight. Sometimes your band will be less restrictive after a few days so stay safe w/ some fluids/shakes for now. But if in 2 days its still hard to get fluids down and impossible to get food down you'll need a partial unfill

I think the theory is that without any restriction your stomach is more apt to move at this early stage after surgery. However, vomitting is a no no for the duration of your and your band's life. Now it'll occur on occassion..but it shouldn't be induced and if it persists (ie if you are ill) an unfill is warranted to avoid slippage and other damage)

I have Banded 11/2009 pregnant 1/2011

This is a hard question to answer without particulars. For instance, how did you become overweight is a good start. For binge or high volume eaters, lapband can help restrict large volume eating. For fatty/carb eaters they may find those foods to heavy to eat without getting stuck and the band helps minimize the desire for said foods. The band also makes you reprioritize and think of food in a way you probably never had to. Like, who knew you need minimum 60g protein every day. And if you have only a limited volume of food to eat your priority better be to get that protein in first. This by default leads to healthier food choices and minimizes the high cal/fat etc. Also, if you are compliant and keep your band in the green and don't try to cheat the band (ie drink shakes etc) than I found the band as an awesome tool for maintenance. The mind is a tricky thing..you can become complacent. Reach a milestone or even your end goal and than you slack off and weight comes back. The lapband can assist you in all phases of your weight loss. Although you are young, us elders think it's for the best. We can visualize what life would have been life, the improvements etc had we done this in our early 20s for instance.

Nothing can prevent the sagging skin. The only redemption is to workout and build muscle which will help fill the void where fat once lingered. However, in most cases, you will not build as much muscle as there was fat and therefore you will continue to have sagging skin. How much depends on how large your stomach was from being overweight. Other factors include age, how long you have been carrying the excess weight and a bit of genetic predisposition as well. An overall weight lifting program is better than targeting one part of the body.

Oh god, there just is no way around this. So if you can ignore the fact that some ppl are hypercritical about using straws, my suggestion is to use one. If you can bypass most of your tongue it does help to minimize the flavor. It will taste like crap regardless, but it may help. Pinch your nose while drinking it may help as well. Perhaps have a really strong odor in the room (like coffee) as a distractor as well). It's all about sensation overload or minimization after all lol. I have no clue what flavors they come in, not like any of them is enjoyable ahhaha. Sorry that you have to go through it all (I wish they would just give us gtubes and tube feed us for these procedures personally lol)

Hello I started at a BMI of 35 now I'm somewhere around 23 after a loss of 100 lbs. When I first started the band, I was very diligent with my rules which laid a strong foundation for how I eat today. I consider everything at this stage to be about 100% compliance. Not only are you healing, but you are also resetting your body. Don't mess with the formula to much. This should be your mentality until you reach that fill that puts you into the green zone. Before green you are apt to eat too much, gain weight etc so it's just not worth messing w/ your diet too much. Now with that being said, once you are in the green zone this is what life will be like with the band. You should notice a huge change in the quantity you can eat. Than you need to experiment with what foods you can/cannot eat to have a real understanding of what your tolerance is. From there, you can make better decisions in social settings that won't set you up for a stuck episode etc. But in reality, you can make choices around that understanding at that point. I can eat just about anything, but that doesnt mean I do daily or even frequently in general. Rather, I make allowances for myself. If I know Im going out and we'll be drinking or having bbq or even cake galore I eat small portions before and after to try to minimize my caloric intake. When I do have a drink, it's small drinks and no more than 2. Or I take bites of cake instead of whole pieces etc. It's almost like everything becomes finger foods. If you take the time now to establish good habits than this becomes 2nd nature in the future. On a 2nd note...social awareness. Sometimes (espec. in the beginning) we are worried about what people will notice and how we will be perceived. I will say most of the anxiety is in your head. The beginning is touch because there really is no way to disguise eating liquids-mushies all day long. But once you are on solids there's many clever ways to get around the fact you are banded. In the scenario where you are with strangers it's easy just to say that you just ate but will join them for a lite bite. If these are friends you frequent regularly and do not wish to let them know you are banded, than my very first suggestion is to not center all your social activities around food. Why not coffee get togethers instead or engaging activities. But when you are eating together, take small portions and eat. They'll perceive you as eating. If they comment on your small portions just say yeah I'm trying to lose weight. Enough said. Social life is defined by the individual. If you use to drink excessively before band, if you all you did was go out and eat w/ friends etc than realize to be successful those habits must change as well. (I'm being extreme but there are plenty of ppl on here who did and still do and they dont lose weight because of it). Lastly, I dont think a low BMI makes it more difficult to lose weight as a previous poster suggested. None of us will lose if we make poor choices.

Started at a BMI of 35, lost 100 lbs and am now scheduled for cosmetic surgery. Loose skin is caused by many variables (where did you hold your weight, how long have you been overweight, age, genetic dice etc). It is unlikely carrying large amounts of weight without having some excess skin. The question is how much you'll have and what you feel comfortable with after you lose the weight

I had to do an unfill once due to an aggressive fill. Unfill's can be partial so you may not have any setback at all. Usually docs only do full unfills when there has been extreme restriction causing zero allowance for food/water intake (translation: inflammation that will need time to resolve without any restriction from the band hindering that process). But if you get filled and you just feel too tight, doc can take out as low as 0.1cc (higher as needed) to get you to the right spot again. good luck

Something lose and comfortable. Swelling is common so wear your grandma panties, a tank instead of bra even slippers opposed to shoes. I wore sweats (oversized) easy on and easy off appropriate for going in and out of the hospital with.