Little Teapot

B-52: Thanks so much! This is exactly what I needed to hear. I'm learning that this journey is difficult for the impatient!

I originally had the Realize band. My surgeon offers both, and he said he usually just picks one unless his patients have a preference. I did a little research and decided that I wanted Realize. That was in May '11.

Jump ahead to November '11, and I find myself getting the Realize band taken out and replaced with a Lap Band because it had a leak. Yep, I had to have the ENTIRE surgery done over again. Upon finding out that my Realize band had a leak, my surgeon turned to his nurse and said, "We've only had three leaks in the past, and they've all been with the Realize band, haven't they?" Turns out, it is most likely a manufacturing defect...still waiting for the drug company to finish analyzing the band.

I'm not telling you this to discourage you from getting the Realize band. It could have been a flook for me, or maybe just one particular lot of the bands were defective. I'm telling you to question your surgeon further about his personal history with using each band. I wish my surgeon would have filled me in on the fact that he has had three leaks with Realize and no leaks with Lap-Band. Instead, he withheld that information and told me to pick whichever one I wanted. You deserve to know all the info before proceeding with surgery!

Good luck with your decision!

It is, indeed, possible that he did not understand the situation. It's also possible that he was also caught off-guard and his gut instinct was to PROTECT the practice by acting like it was nothing. They worry a lot about things like lawsuits so they have a tendency not to see or hear problems. However, once they clearly understand your concern and also understand that you intend to stand firm until you get satisfaction, they will start jumping. You're reaction was completely normal and understandable. Keep us posted here. I really want to know how it works out.

I had my fill under fluoro yesterday, and there is indeed a leak. It's in the band, not in the tubing as I had hoped/suspected. This means I have to have surgery again to replace the band. I'm pretty devastated right now.

The kicker: I asked my surgeon before surgery if I should choose Lap-Band or Realize and he said he uses them both and they're pretty much the same. He said they've shown the same results. I did some research and decided to go with Realize. Now he tells me he's only seen two leaks in his career, and they've both been Realize bands. They've also both leaked from the exact same place as mine. This is an example of information that would have been useful to me FOUR MONTHS AGO!!!! I'm so upset over this whole situation. I feel like telling him to just forget replacing the band and do the sleeve or bypass. I just feel a little hopeless right now.

Thanks so much for your response. I do plan on calling the office tomorrow and get the ball rolling on this fluoro appointment. I would have insisted on something sooner while I was in the office if I hadn't been crying too hard to speak. I just felt completely helpless in that moment, and I didn't feel like the doctor wanted to acknowledge that anything could be wrong. I don't even know if he understood why I was crying. He probably thought I was crying from pain! lol.

I completely understand how you feel about losing some the the advantages of early stage post-banding weight loss. It's so frustrating to think of how far along I could have been by now. Anyway, no sense feeling sorry for myself. The sooner I get this fixed, the sooner I can get on track with weight loss.

Thanks again Desdemona!

I was banded May 20th of this year and including the pre-op diet, I've lost 32 lbs. My first fill was horrible. There was a resident with the surgeon learning how to do fills. I should have refused, but I'm a student in the medical field, so I know you have to learn somehow. Long story short, he and the surgeon stuck me a combined 6 or 7 times before accessing the port. The put in 2cc's and I left with an appt to come back in 5 weeks or so. I didn't really feel a difference, which I know can be typical on such a small fill. On my second fill appointment, I was seen by the fill nurse. She was able to access the port right away, but could not pull out any Fluid. I was already worried that the resident poked a hole in my tubing, but she comforted me by saying that with all the poking, he may have gotten flustered and still not hit the port. She put in 2cc's said to come back in 4 weeks and we'd check.

Well, that appointment was yesterday. I was incredibly nervous about finding out if those 2cc's were still in my band. There was a surgeon there to do my fill (not my surgeon). He accessed the port right away. I felt him pushing and pulling the syringe, and then he said "Hm." I looked up and he said, "well, I can pull out what I'm putting in, but nothing else." I started bawling like a baby right there on the table with a needle in my stomach. The doctor didn't seem to care, but the nurse there tried to comfort me. Long story short, he put in 4.5 cc's and said to come back in a month. He didn't even want to acknowledge the possibility of a leak until I brought it up again. He said it's possible, but maybe the nurse didn't really access the port last time. Yeah right, I know she did because she pulled the saline in and out just like he did. If his 4.5 cc's aren't in my band when I come back in four weeks, then I most likely have a leak and will have to have surgery again to repair the tubing. I feel crushed right now

By the way, my fills have never been done under fluoro, but I'll most likely be insisting from now on.

Would anyone who has gone through tube replacement surgery be willing to share their experience?

Eh, that's not necessarily true.

My tube wrapped around my port and was punctured by the needle during a fill. I lost all restriction and had to have a surgery to replace the tube and port.

What can you tell me about having tube/port replacement surgery? Was it a similar experience to the original surgery. I will most likely be having leaking tube replacement soon. Thanks.

I was banded on May 25 of this year. I haven't had any complications. I've had 2 fills with no success. I can eat whatever I want bread, Pasta, meats, and I can even drink carbonated drinks. I can still eat the same amount of food as I did before surgery. I weighed 232 in May and now I am down to 197. Let me give you some info on my first fill. My doctor had a tough time trying trying to find my port. He was poking and poking and poking with that needle. He finally got through. Filled me to 4cc. Well about 3 weeks later...still I could eat whatever I wanted with no restriction. So I got another fill. This time it was much easier for him to access. One stick and he filled me to 4.5 cc's which was all I could take because we tried at 5 and I couldn't get the Water down that he had me drink. It's been about 4 weeks since that last fill. I believe that when he was trying to give me my first fill he poked around so much that now my port is leaking and that's why I am still not feeling any restriction. I personally think that my band doesn't have any liquid at all in it right now. OR...another thing I was thinking about was if I had stretched my pouch. Has anyone ever had any problems like I am having? Thanks for your input!

Wow Jessie, my story is SO similar! I was banded May 20th of this year and including the pre-op diet, I've lost 32 lbs. My first fill was horrible. There was a resident with the surgeon learning how to do fills. I should have refused, but I'm a student in the medical field, so I know you have to learn somehow. Long story short, he and the surgeon stuck me a combined 6 or 7 times before accessing the port. The put in 2cc's and I left with an appt to come back in 5 weeks or so. I didn't really feel a difference, which I know can be typical on such a small fill. On my second fill appointment, I was seen by the fill nurse. She was able to access the port right away, but could not pull out any Fluid. I was already worried that the resident poked a hole in my tubing, but she comforted me by saying that with all the poking, he may have gotten flustered and still not hit the port. She put in 2cc's said to come back in 4 weeks and we'd check.

Well, that appointment was yesterday. I was incredibly nervous about finding out if those 2cc's were still in my band. There was a surgeon there to do my fill (not my surgeon). He accessed the port right away. I felt him pushing and pulling the syringe, and then he said "Hm." I looked up and he said, "well, I can pull out what I'm putting in, but nothing else." I started bawling like a baby right there on the table with a needle in my stomach. The doctor didn't seem to care, but the nurse there tried to comfort me. Long story short, he put in 4.5 cc's and said to come back in a month. He didn't even want to acknowledge the possibility of a leak until I brought it up again. He said it's possible, but maybe the nurse didn't really access the port last time. Yeah right, I know she did because she pulled the saline in and out just like he did. If his 4.5 cc's aren't in my band when I come back in four weeks, then I most likely have a leak and will have to have surgery again to repair the tubing. I feel crushed right now

By the way, my fills have never been done under fluoro, but I'll most likely be insisting from now on.

Thanks for the responses guys. I just needed to hear that what I'm going through is normal. I just need to be patient with myself.

I'll take any input I can get. You don't have to have a Realize band to help!

I was banded on May 20th of this year and I've had one fill so far of 2cc's. I'm down 27 lbs, but only 6 lbs lost in the last (almost) two months. I feel like I never even had surgery. My second fill is tomorrow, and I hope it's an aggressive one. I'm curious as to what other realize bandsters have experienced with the effectiveness of their fills. How many cc's until you "felt" something? Were you ever worried that you'll never lose weight successfully with the band? I know everyone is different, but I need some hope here! Please tell me I'll eventually feel something from my band!

It is annoying when I'm looking at a cute top and then realize it's a maternaty shirt. What gets me the most though is that there are such cute and trendy looking maternity clothes available and ugly crap for plus size. I always feel like we're being punished for being fat...like we don't deserve to be big and look cute..unless we're pregnant. Ahh, hopefully this will soon be a former annoyance.

So I had surgery on May 20th and am down 27 pounds so far. I work at a hospital and some coworkers were just congratulating me on my success so far. I work in X-ray and I got this elderly patient who looked at me and said "I hope your baby wasn't in the room with us during the procedure." and she pointed to my stomach. FAIL. Went home and cried.

I was banded on May 20th and am down 25 lbs. I've have one fill of 2 cc's in a 9 cc Realize band. I'm feeling a little discouraged since my fill, because I feel hungrier than ever! I'm not feeling any type of restriction, and I've let my head hunger take too much control this week. I have a 4th of July cookout to attend this evening then I'm back on track! I just need to remember to be patient with myself.

Does anyone know the science behind this phenomenon?

So, I haven't even been banded that long, and I've only lost 18 lbs, but I'm starting to worry about what my relationship will be like with my husband when I lose a significant amount of weight. I'm already becoming a more active person, and I've always been more outgoing than him. I'm worried he won't be able to keep up with me. I want to get out there and see/do everything, travel, and be adventurous. I just don't know what the future will hold. (We just had our five year anniversary and we don't have kids yet just to fill you in on our status).

So I guess my question is: Have any of you experienced relationship trouble as a result of your weightloss/lifestyle change?

Ok, I'm thinking maybe for some of us it's just hard scar tissue that we're feeling. At least that's what I think it is for me.

Hey, whatever works, right?

Why aren't you allowed to have Beans or salsa?

I was banded on May 20, 2011 and I can feel my band right at the bottom of my bra line. I haven't been able to palpate my port though.

I have six incisions as well. One above my belly button, four in mid to left abdomen, and one long one at my bra line. People say the long one is usually where the port is, but I'm pretty sure that's not true in my case. One of my middle left incisions has a lot of bruising around it and that area is still pretty sore, so I'm assuming that's where my port is.

I went back yesterday, and luckily I have to wear scrubs. That has worked out really well because my jeans were rubbing one of my incisions too. My biggest incision is right where my bra hits though, and that has been a little bit uncomfortable. Too bad I can't go without a bra!

Just go under the "General Lap-Band Surgery Discussion" forum and there's a topic titled "Who Has Lost Over 100 Pounds?" There are a LOT of lap-band patients who have lost over 100lbs, many of them within a year post-op. I was recently banded and have over 100lbs to lose and I found those posts particularly inspirational. We can do it!!!

Thanks Cindy! My name reflects my figure: short and stout. Are the pintos and cheese at Taco Bell pureed like refried Beans?

Deli- You're welcome! Do you have to stay on liquids for three weeks?

Ahh! Sushi or sashimi sounds like heaven right now! I'm on week two of three of mushies and I'm definitely ready to eat some more soft foods. I haven't really strayed too far from mushy food except for some chicken and tuna salad that could have been a little more pureed. Sashimi would be so satisfying. It sounds perfect. The portions are small, the Protein is good, and low in calories overall. I'm so jealous right now! lol. I bought some artificial crab meat the other day and it's just sitting in my fridge. I don't know why I thought I should buy it, because I know it's more of a "soft food". Maybe if I chew it really well...

You're welcome guys! It keeps me feeling full for a long time too.