kcweir

Thanks so much for the input everyone. I'm off to see the doctor in a couple of hours. Definitely going to have some saline taken out so I can sleep at night and going to ask him to get the ball rolling on moving on to a sleeve. I have not been vocal with the doctor about my problems because I don't want to lose the band and gain any weight back but I'm at the point where I just can't take it any more. Even if I have to jump through insurance hoops for months, I'm going to start jumping now!

I would love to hear some opinions about my situation. I had my lapband put in five and a half years ago. I have been truly loved it but have had problems with it from time to time. Port sight pain is pretty much constrant since I had my tummy tuck two years ago but I just choose to ignore it. Recently, the night choking and reguritating has gotten to the point that I just can't take it any more. Even though I sit practically straight up I'm woken several times at night drowning in liquid from my stomach. I'm twenty pound higher than my lowest weight of 155 and fear that if I take the Fluid out of my band or remove the band entirely I will just end up back where I was in 2009. I came to these forums looking for some information on revising to a sleeve. Honestly, if the sleeve had been available to me back in 2009 that would have been my choice but it was not an option. No I read so many scary stories about what kind of damange my band could be inflicting on me right now and my syptoms don't make me feel any better. I have already made an appoitment with the bariatric doctor at my hmo to look in to everything. My questions for everyone here are these: I currently have an HMO, I had a PPO when I got the lapband. Would the HMO pay for a revision to a sleeve even though I am currently not obese? I don't want to have to remove the band, regain the weight, then get the sleeve! Thank you in advance for any help you can offer.

I am scheduled for surgery next week to fix my deviated septum. Has anyone had surgery after the band and not had it unfilled? I'm at such a good level of restriction and I don't want to mess it up!

It's been just over a year now since I was banded. The last month or so I've been in serious need of a fill, and I just had it done on Monday. I'm enjoying the new restriction and finally watching the scale go down again after stalling for six weeks. I'm now down to 171 pounds! I've lost a total of 70 and have 30 more to go, hope to have that off in the next year. I'm really enjoying shopping now for the first time in years. I'm getting rid of all my big clothes because I'm very confident that I won't be going back this time. I love this band!

I couldn’t believe my scale this morning, 192.4! I’ve lost a total of 49 pounds so far, only one pound from half way there. My last fill really did the trick for me, I’m comfortable most of the time and even though I still can’t eat a whole cup of food at one sitting, I’m held over after eating for at least four hours. This must be the sweet spot everyone talks about. I had a fabulous vacation with DH earlier this month to celebrate my 40th birthday. We flew to Cancun and stayed at a gorgeous hotel on the Rivera Maya called The Valentin Imperial Maya. I highly recommend it. I discovered a new favorite dish that is terrible for me but was so wonderful tasting called Lobster Thermidor. I’d never heard of it before but DH had. It was decadent and saucy and perfect. I ate it twice while we were on vacation. Even with that and the daily doses of yummy alcoholic beverages, I came home three pounds lighter. DH gained 8 pounds, but has already managed to take it back off in less than two weeks. Men! I was able to do the physical excursion that I was so excited about on my birthday. I would not have even attempted this when I weighed 240 pounds. We hiked through the jungle, rode a zip line over a lagoon, hiked some more, repelled in to an underground cave filled with crystal clear water called a cenote to swim, hiked some more, climbed to the top of a Mayan Pyramid, hiked some more, and collapsed. Such a fun day! It was definitely the highlight of our trip. I didn’t like looking at the pictures they took of us during the excursion though. I was still by far the biggest woman on the trip, and my fat legs oozing out through the repelling harness was not a pretty sight. I’m not going to let that bother me because I did something so remarkable and I know that with the help of my band I will never be this weight again. It’s only going to get better from here! Kimberly

I couldn’t believe my scale this morning, 192.4! I’ve lost a total of 49 pounds so far, only one pound from half way there. My last fill really did the trick for me, I’m comfortable most of the time and even though I still can’t eat a whole cup of food at one sitting, I’m held over after eating for at least four hours. This must be the sweet spot everyone talks about. I had a fabulous vacation with DH earlier this month to celebrate my 40th birthday. We flew to Cancun and stayed at a gorgeous hotel on the Rivera Maya called The Valentin Imperial Maya. I highly recommend it. I discovered a new favorite dish that is terrible for me but was so wonderful tasting called Lobster Thermidor. I’d never heard of it before but DH had. It was decadent and saucy and perfect. I ate it twice while we were on vacation. Even with that and the daily doses of yummy alcoholic beverages, I came home three pounds lighter. DH gained 8 pounds, but has already managed to take it back off in less than two weeks. Men! I was able to do the physical excursion that I was so excited about on my birthday. I would not have even attempted this when I weighed 240 pounds. We hiked through the jungle, rode a zip line over a lagoon, hiked some more, repelled in to an underground cave filled with crystal clear water called a cenote to swim, hiked some more, climbed to the top of a Mayan Pyramid, hiked some more, and collapsed. Such a fun day! It was definitely the highlight of our trip. I didn’t like looking at the pictures they took of us during the excursion though. I was still by far the biggest woman on the trip, and my fat legs oozing out through the repelling harness was not a pretty sight. I’m not going to let that bother me because I did something so remarkable and I know that with the help of my band I will never be this weight again. It’s only going to get better from here! Kimberly

I spent the day Saturday with my sister, attending a baby shower and having dinner at my house. The conversation was almost exclusively about weight. I still haven't told a soul about the LAP-BAND®® except my husband, and I almost cracked under the guilt pressure I was feeling that day. I can say that I haven't lied at all about how I'm losing weight, but I am not telling about this one amazing tool that I had installed. I did tell my sister how much my weight had gotten up to (241) and she was amazed that I'd ever been that heavy. I have always heard that I carry my weight well, and I suppose that's true. I actually thought that my sister looked pretty heavy this weekend and she told me that she weighed 173 and had just lost 5 pounds on Medifast. I thought that at this point I look thinner than her but she's only a few inches shorter than me so this may be that my own perception of how I look at this point is not realistic. I never seem to think that I look as bad as I do until I'm confronted with a picture of myself. Anyway, we talked about what my goal weight was going to be and she told me she thought I was quite thin on my wedding day 13 years ago. I remember that I had starved myself down to 145 for that day and I agree, I was very comfortable with how I looked that day. Of course I came back from the honeymoon at 153 and never looked back! Anyway, I think that the 140s is a more realistic and reasonable goal than my original 130, so I am changing it to 141.4 to make it an even 100 pounds that I want to lose. I love even numbers, I'm an accountant and something about them makes me happy. When I told her that I wanted to lose that much weight in 2 years time, she said that was great, especially since I hadn't had gastric bypass or anything like that! Yikes. No reply from me, I just moved on to something else. I feel so guilty for being less than honest, but I don't think that my sister would even qualify for the surgery if she wanted it at less than 180 pounds, so I don't think it would be a help to her even if she knew. Maybe that's just my selfish justification for keeping my secret. What does everyone else think?

I spent the day Saturday with my sister, attending a baby shower and having dinner at my house. The conversation was almost exclusively about weight. I still haven't told a soul about the LAP-BAND®® except my husband, and I almost cracked under the guilt pressure I was feeling that day. I can say that I haven't lied at all about how I'm losing weight, but I am not telling about this one amazing tool that I had installed. I did tell my sister how much my weight had gotten up to (241) and she was amazed that I'd ever been that heavy. I have always heard that I carry my weight well, and I suppose that's true. I actually thought that my sister looked pretty heavy this weekend and she told me that she weighed 173 and had just lost 5 pounds on Medifast. I thought that at this point I look thinner than her but she's only a few inches shorter than me so this may be that my own perception of how I look at this point is not realistic. I never seem to think that I look as bad as I do until I'm confronted with a picture of myself. Anyway, we talked about what my goal weight was going to be and she told me she thought I was quite thin on my wedding day 13 years ago. I remember that I had starved myself down to 145 for that day and I agree, I was very comfortable with how I looked that day. Of course I came back from the honeymoon at 153 and never looked back! Anyway, I think that the 140s is a more realistic and reasonable goal than my original 130, so I am changing it to 141.4 to make it an even 100 pounds that I want to lose. I love even numbers, I'm an accountant and something about them makes me happy. When I told her that I wanted to lose that much weight in 2 years time, she said that was great, especially since I hadn't had gastric bypass or anything like that! Yikes. No reply from me, I just moved on to something else. I feel so guilty for being less than honest, but I don't think that my sister would even qualify for the surgery if she wanted it at less than 180 pounds, so I don't think it would be a help to her even if she knew. Maybe that's just my selfish justification for keeping my secret. What does everyone else think?

199.2 this morning! Yay me! I really didn't think that I would ever get there. I chose the band partly because I didn't want the weight loss to be too fast, or obvious, to other people. I guess I got what I wanted. Love my band!

199.2 this morning! Yay me! I really didn't think that I would ever get there. I chose the band partly because I didn't want the weight loss to be too fast, or obvious, to other people. I guess I got what I wanted. Love my band!

I made it to a 40 pound loss finally. SOOOO close to onederland! I had my best fill ever on Tuesday and I hope this restrictions lasts for a while. I have 8.3ccs in my 10cc band now. I've planned a vacation with my husband for my 40th birthday in April. My goal was to be under 190 when we leave, but I don't expect that to happen. If I can make it solidly in the 190s I'll be happy. Part of the trip is going to be climbing a Mayan pyramid and doing a zip line through the jungle! I need to hit that treadmill hard for the next three weeks so I'm up to the task.

I made it to a 40 pound loss finally. SOOOO close to onederland! I had my best fill ever on Tuesday and I hope this restrictions lasts for a while. I have 8.3ccs in my 10cc band now. I've planned a vacation with my husband for my 40th birthday in April. My goal was to be under 190 when we leave, but I don't expect that to happen. If I can make it solidly in the 190s I'll be happy. Part of the trip is going to be climbing a Mayan pyramid and doing a zip line through the jungle! I need to hit that treadmill hard for the next three weeks so I'm up to the task.