tvlbunny

Oh boy do I sympathize with you. I was banded the day before you and I have had 7 maybe even 8 fills and I would say that I am just now getting closer to restriction. This has been MUCH harder than I ever expected. I promise it will get better but even then it still kinda sucks, IMHO. Hang in there...just think where you will be this time next year and where you would have been had you not been banded. You're doing fantastic!!!

I'm a low BMI'er -- the weight loss has been slow...VERY slow. At this point I can't say that I would do it all over again. You'll see people on here who say that their weight just dropped off, I can definitely say that I have had to fight for every single ounce I've lost!

I have the Realize Band, it holds 11cc's. I have 10.1cc's in my band currently and I would say that I have some restriction but not a lot. I have an appointment with the doctor next week to figure out what next steps are since I still have a long way to go with my weight loss and I'm nearing the band's capacity.

I have the 11cc Realize band also and the first fill was 4cc's the 2nd & 3rd fills were 2cc's. 4th was 1cc, 5th was 0.5cc and 6th was 0.6cc. I have 10.1cc's and only a small amount of restriction, but I'm already nearing the band capacity and want to try to make it work where I am, since I have a long way to go. Thankfully my doctor allows fills every week or it would have taken me 6 months to get to where I am now. Good luck!

I have 10.1cc's in my 11cc Realize Band. I feel like I could still use a little more but I'm going to live with this, since I'm just starting out and have a long way to go. Moral of the story is that it can take quite a bit to get good restriction.

Hmm, they have to be keeping track somehow? I would absolutely insist that they tell you, or at least show you how many cc's they draw up every time. They need to know how much is in there -- I have 10.1cc's in an 11cc band and I'm only 10 weeks post-op. I'm getting close to band capacity already with a long way to go for my weight loss. Without someone keeping track they could just keep going and going.

I gained 3 pounds my 3rd week post-op. I was so embarassed to go in for my first fill, but the nurse said that it is very common. It takes time, you need to be patient and give it some time. I realize it is very difficult being that you voluntarily subjected yourself to this kind of "abuse", both physically and financially, but I promise everything is is normal. I've only lost 15 pounds in 7 weeks and then the nurse said, you've averaged 2 pounds per week already. After thinking about it, I'm very happy with that. It'll only take 6 months to get to my goal at that rate :biggrin: You're doing great, just hang in there!

It is crazy how different every doctor is. After 4 weeks post-op my doc allows a fill every week until you reach restriction. Additionally there aren't any food restrictions in place...everything is fair game immediately. He said that he used to do the liquid/mushy requirement after fills but after studying thousands of patients he found absolutely no benefit to it. I have an 11cc band and in three weeks I've had 8 cc's put in. I had my 3rd fill today and I think that I'm finally on to something.

I've had 2 fills, with my 3rd tomorrow and I haven't felt any different when I've gotten them. I usually have my appointments at 7am on a Monday morning, go to work, eat breakfast and continue on my day with no problems. I don't feel any restriction so maybe that will make a difference in how I feel, but I doubt it.

Had my first fill today, which makes me exactly 4 weeks post-op. Had 4cc's put into an 11cc band. I can go back every week for a fill from here on out until I reach the "sweet spot".

I went to Taco Bell about a week and a half ago and as I was waiting in line, the car in front of me backed into me. I felt that was a very agressive, yet appropriate sign that I should not be eating fast food. So, nope, no fast food here, but I have eaten out at a couple restaurants.

I know exactly what you're talking about. I was banded the same day as you, I didn't have a pre-op diet so I gained weight prior to surgery I've lost 10 pounds since but nothing in a week or so. My scale is in my bathroom so everytime I go potty, which is a lot thanks to all the water, it screams out at me to hop on Clearly I need counseling or an exorcism for my scale. Oh and some antidepressants for my anxiety/depression caused by my lack of weight loss...OMG, I'm falling apart.

I'm in -- I added my info on the spreadsheet and it looks like it saved. Good luck everyone!

Had my surgery on Aug. 6th so I'm 16 days post-op (I can't believe how fast the time has gone by!). I did one week on liquids, one week on mushies and as of 2 days ago "everything" is fair game. I have felt so wonderful from the beginning that I regularly forget that I just had surgery. I gulp my Water as fast as humanly possible and have also been starting to do the same with my food :thumbup: I didn't actually get hungry until about 3 days ago and now I want to, and have been, eating everything. My first fill is on September 3rd, then can get one every week until I get restriction. I haven't really lost that much weight, but that's ok, since I haven't really been trying either. The only problem I've had has been my incision becoming irritated because of clothing rubbing against it. I've started covering it up during the day and that has helped a little.

So I've been craving pizza for months, even before I had my surgery I really wanted it but my will power prevailed...until last night. I talked myself into getting some pizza. I drove to Taco Bell/Pizza Hut and got in line, next thing I know the woman in front of me put her car into reverse and hit me. Wow, this was a pretty agressive way to be told that I shouldn't be eating pizza! I am so done with anymore thoughts of pizza...

I have one incision in my belly button and it was stitched. Acutally I was complaining to the nurse two days ago about how the very top of my incision is getting irritated by clothing rubbing against it and she told ME to pull the top stitch out! Ewww, I almost threw up when she said that. After that I did look at it and my stitches are long gone, the incision is just a little angry from all the "rubbing".

Haha, I was about 5 days post-op and I stood over a pot of very yummy looking chicken soup that my mom made. I looked at it longingly for about 7 minutes and watched as others came and got some, sat down, and ate it. I finally picked up a piece of the most heavenly looking piece of chicken and started eating it. I chewed and chewed and chewed...then, spit it out. Spitting out food was probably one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, when it comes to food, in my life! Dammit, now that I can have chicken I really want that piece of chicken back...of course not already chewed though.

The 2nd night I was able to sleep on my right side and the 4th night I was able to sleep on the left side.

I had to be there at 8:30am and my surgery was scheduled for 9:30am but they were about 1 1/2 hours late. I went in for surgery at 11am out by noon and in the car on my way home at 12:30pm. I'm not sure if they are always this fast but everyone just kept saying, "I can't believe how well you're doing". Although when they brought me to the back around 9:15am they were discharging someone else and I know that surgeries don't start until 7am so, I'm guessing they usually get 'em in and get 'em out. No barium swallow required.

Not sure if you can see it very well, but here it is...

I had the single incision -- the incision is AWESOME, it went down one side, of the inside, of my belly button and up the other. I would post pictures but to be honest you can't even see it. I'm only 9 days post-op, but when it is completely healed you won't be able to see any difference from what my belly button looked like before.

I had my surgery on the 6th and felt good pretty much immediately. I definitely didn't feel "normal" but felt really good. I took my pain meds for about 36 hours regardless of the fact I wasn't in pain...I mostly just wanted to sleep. I never had any gas pains or any problems. Every day was a significant improvement from the previous day with day 3 being fantastic! I went camping 4 days after surgery and didn't have a problem at all. I've been more sore for the past 2 days than I was for the previous 2 days because I did some hardcore sweeping on Wednesday and that worked all the muscles I shouldn't have been working. I had my post-op appointment today and like I told the doc, "it wasn't a big deal at all". I had my surgery on a Thursday and was definitely back to my old self and would have gone back to work on Monday had I not gone out of town.

Hmmm, interesting...I got one too. I had some fluconazole lying around and that took care of it quickly.

I feel absolutely incredible -- I went camping 4 days after surgery and was a little worried on how that would work out, but didn't have a problem at all. I really felt that camping was a true test of how I was feeling because it's a lot of work. I haven't had any problems at all. I highly suggest having your surgery on a Thursday then going back to work on Monday. The only thing that has happened is that I have been feeling so good that I completely forgot about this whole "watch how much you eat thing". Before camping, I measured out every meal and made sure I didn't exceed 1 cup of anything. Well, while I was camping I had some pureed chicken noodle Soup and completely forgot about there being a max limit to my tummy and I must have drank 20 ounces of the soup. Owie -- I was extremely uncomfortable and needless to say full for about 36 hours! Word to the wise, don't put your Soups in a coffee mug; you have no concept how much is in there and you eat/drink it like Water, not food!

I only have one incision -- I just had my surgery a few days ago so I haven't seen it yet since it's covered with gauze and a tegaderm patch. It can't be longer than an inch since that's all the space the gauze is covering. The doc said he was going through my belly button but I can't be sure of that until I actually see it.