ElfiePoo

What would I do? Find another doctor most likely. If I had to wait 2 weeks to see my doctor and another 3 to get a fill? What a PITA...and a waste of time. If I think I need a fill, I just make an appointment, although they're pretty busy so it usually is a week or two until I can get in. For that reason, I've been making regular appointments every 2 weeks figuring I can always cancel if I don't need the fill. Then, if I need a fill, they do it right then and there. .

I'd go to the ER. They could at least do a scan to determine if you have a blockage of some sort. I'd also call around to other bariatric clinics/surgeons to see if they accept your insurance since ultimately, if this is a band problem, only they'll know how to deal with it. A general surgeon is likely just going to suggest removing the band completely and that may not be necessary. Problems for 6 months and now this? What is in your current doctor's head that he hasn't addressed this issue!?

Yes and yes. I'm not quite 3 months post op and I am rarely aware of my port any more. .

Ashley, I had no restriction on my first fill of 3cc or my 2nd fill of 3cc. The next time they put in 2cc and I couldn't eat solids so after a week they took out one. Restriction for a week and then nada. They put in another .5cc, restriction for a week and now nada again. On Thursday they'll put in another .5cc and I'll be back up to the 8cc where earlier I couldn't eat anything but liquids. I think it's just a game of Russian Roullette that our bodies play. Some days we're more restricted than others or perhaps the fill was too aggressive (particularly when we're close to that sweet spot). My doc told me that even though I couldn't eat solids when my fill took me to 8cc, he wouldn't be surprised if I needed 9cc or more to get that sweet spot since I had no restriction at all with 6cc and aggressive fills. After having no restriction for the last week, I woke up yesterday and couldn't eat solids for most of the day. I'd eat a bite and it'd go down hard enough that I knew if I kept eating I'd get stuck, so I just drank a Protein shake instead. There are times when I think that if I had to do it over again I might seriously reconsider a gastric sleeve so I wouldn't have to mess with these fills but it's a much more invasive surgery with a higher risk of infection, etc. and as a diabetic probably not something I'm willing to risk. A bypass though...uh uh. As far as I can tell, quality of life drops dramatically for a vast majority of these bypass patients because they're now dealing with medical problems directly related to the bypass. Have you checked out the gastric sleeve? .

Just as a curiousity...why do men always say 'the left one'? Is it somehow more valuable or less valuable than the other? :confused:

This is such good advice. Sometimes we 'forget' all the little things we've tucked into our mouths during the day and they do add up. Oh how they add up. My 17 year old is taking college classes and has to drive 45 minutes one way every Monday evening to his classes. Since he's still a pretty new driver and the winter roads are bad, I go with him and just sit in the lounge with my crochet for 3 hours until he's done. Well I discovered their little cafe makes a sugar free chai that is phenomenal. I've been drinking 2 every Monday night figuring they were sugar free and 'safe'. Bahahahaha!!! Wrong! I asked them last night if they had the nutritional info on these things and a 'regular' which I've been getting has 350 calories because it has heavy cream in it and that's where all the calories are coming from!!! :confused: So I've been drinking 700 calories *above* my usual 1500. Good grief. .

A plateau can mean a couple of things but it basically comes down to calories taken in vs calories being expended. If you take in more than you're expending, you gain. If you expend more than you're taking in, then you'll lose. Keep in mind that as you lose weight, it will take fewer calories to maintain that weight, so you'll have to reduce the calories you're eating...or expend more. For example, to maintain 260 pounds at my height, age and current activity level, I would have to eat about 2100 calories (roughly). To maintain a weight of 140 pounds, I could only eat about 1800 calories. Not much of a difference, but enough of one that it can stall any losses. Also, depending on the type of exercises you're doing, you may be building muscle which is denser (and thus weighs more) than the the same volume of fat. If you look and feel like you're losing weight (clothes hanging more loosely, muscles looking more toned, etc.), that may be the problem (I'd like to have that problem though). I posted a thread called "calculating your daily requirements" with a formula for calculating your daily food requirements...or you can go to the Mayo Clinic site and put in your height, age, activity level and the weight you'd like to be and it will calculate how many calories it would take per day to maintain that weight. .

I think if most people would clarify with their doctor what they mean by 'snacking', they'd find their doctors and nuts are referring to junk food snacking. There is absolutely *nothing* wrong with eating a healthy Protein snack (cheese, hard boiled egg, etc.) mid-morning, mid-afternoon and mid-evening. Not only are you working at getting your protein in, but you're also helping to keep your blood sugar stable. When our blood sugar swings, we crave and we're hungry. Going too long between meals starts the swing. Personally, I'm too busy to stop and eat but I know I need that stabilization, so I drink an EAS ready to drink Protein Shake for my mid-meals. They're 110 calories, 4 carbs and 17 protein. If I have time and I'm where I can do it, I'll mix up an Isopure chocolate shake (GNC) because for 1 scoop, they're also 110 calories, 1.5 carbs and 25 protein. On the days when I forget, I can look back at that day and know exactly where it all fell apart. .

Hmmm....let's see...scars or a buddha belly and 120 pounds overweight....hmmm.... Yeah, I think I'd still have to go with the scars. They aren't that bad anyway.

Probably a wise move for any of us who don't lose weight with the band, assuming we do have restriction and the band is doing its job. The fact is that even if the band is giving good restriction where we only eat about a cup of food and are not hungry for 4-5 hours, there is still nothing to stop someone from continuing with their bad habits of drinking sugared soda pop, eating sweets or high calorie slider and/or junk foods or even (as it appears one bandster is doing) eating until they're full and then throwing it up and starting all over. .

It will vary. I can put on 8 pounds of water weight at that TOM and it will disappear just as quickly as it appears.

We don't magically lose because we had a band put in. We lose because the calories we expend is more than the calories we're taking in. To muddy the waters a bit, if you're building muscle from working out, this may also account for no loss or even a gain, because muscle is denser than fat and so weighs more. If you've noticed your clothes hanging looser and better muscle tone despite not losing, this is probably the reason. And stop feeling like a failure. This is a journey and with only a couple cc's in your band, it's not even doing its job yet. Hang in there...it gets better. .

The number of fills do not matter. It's the amount of fill. You can have 10 fills but if they're .5cc each time, you'll still only have 5cc in your band and most people don't have restriction with that little amount. I'm at 7.5cc and don't have it. I won't go into the downside of bypass since the others did it so well, but losing or gaining weight is about calories in vs. calories expended. If you're going to the gym every day and jogging a mile and eating as little as you implied above, a loss of only 18 pounds over the last year does not compute. Even if your body had kicked into starvation mode and was more efficient at conserving those calories, you would still have lost far more than 18 pounds. It sounds as if you're still eating to excess which means you do not have restriction yet which means the band hasn't even been working. Your surgeon seems to be jumping the gone on it (or you) having failed with it. If you have it in your head that the bypass would be the 'easy way', I would recommend checking out some of the bypass forums on the web...and pay careful attention to those who talk about the medical problems they've had since having the bypass. I know 11 people personally who had the bypass and only *one* has lost all of their excess weight and does not have any medical complications. Of the remaining 10, three are dead as a result of the surgery (one in the first year, two within 5 years). Except for the one, all are still fat and all are dealing with medical condictions directly related to their malabsorption. You're young. I would give the band another try. You said you have until 2011 and this is something you should not hurry into...particularly with how little you have to lose and how young you are. .

You don't know that you stretched your pouch...and it sounds like you didn't even have restriction so your ability to eat most likely has nothing to do with stretching your pouch and more to do with the fact that the band hasn't even been involved yet. Quit beating yourself up. This is a learning process. Now you've learned that just getting the band put in isn't enough. You actually have to get it filled to make it work. So...nothing lost. You still have the band...now you just have to get it working. Looks like there are some good resources here for finding a new doc. Good luck to you. .

I was back at my desk the next morning, although I ended up going home for a nap midday and then coming back in the afternoon for a couple more hours. By the 2nd day after I was fine. However, I work for myself so was able to set my own pace. In some offices, it may be a 'desk' job but it can still be demanding mentally, even if not physically...and you still are dealing with the anesthesia in your system. If you can, take a couple days off...your body will thank you for it. .

Interesting because that's not what I've been told. I was told that when you have restriction, meaning you are 'full' after a cup of food because your band is tight enough to keep it all from sliding through (we're talking good food choices, not slider foods) just as if you weren't banded, the nerves in that area now tell the brain you are full and there is no hunger. Maybe 'head' hunger, but not true hunger. .

Yep...I had no restriction after my first and second fills (3cc on each fill). I had about a week of restriction after my third and fourth fill, but now at 7.5cc I am once again without restriction and I'm hoping next week's fill will be 'the one'. .

I have 7.5cc in my band and no restriction but I do have problems with a too tight band in the morning. I just do a Protein Shake and by lunch, it's fine. From reading other posts here, it sounds like this is pretty normal. I think the only thing we can do is to take that first bite cautiously...small bite, chew well and then wait to see what happens. If that bite seems to go down hard, I stop eating and wait for it to resolve itself. Then, depending on why I think it went down hard (forgot to chew enough or maybe band is too tight because that particular food shouldn't have gotten stuck), I'll either take another bite of just head for a Protein shake, Soup or something else that will go down ok. .

No problem getting my Protein in. I eat my meals 5 hours apart and between each meal, I drink a low carb/low cal Protein shake that has 25gm of protein. It keeps my blood sugar stable thus keeping me from being hungry and I get 75gm of protein plus whatever I get in my 3 meals. .

Let me get this straight. You are two years post-band, have only had one fill, and you haven't lost any weight...*but* you still weigh the same as you did two years ago? Well, honey, give yourself a big pat on the back! How many of us have gone two years without gaining even a couple of pounds! *If* there is a danger in stretching your pouch, it will come after you've reached some sort of restriction. Most likely, with only one fill (especially considering how conservative most docs are with that fill), you haven't had any restriction which means the last two years has been pretty much like not having a band at all. I wouldn't worry about it. I would, however, find a bariatric clinic/doctor in your area and make an appointment to start getting fills because for most of us, the weight loss doesn't come until the band is actually doing something besides sitting there and looking pretty...and that generally doesn't happen until we've had a number of fills. My doc is pretty aggressive and I'm up to 7.5cc in a 12cc band and I no longer have restriction. I get another fill next week and I'm crossing my fingers that it's the one that will give me permanent restriction. .

I found it interesting that to maintain the weight I want to be (140) vs the weight I am (232), there is only a difference of about 500 calories per day...if my activity level remains the same. The problem for me is that I only need 2033 calories to maintain my 'current' weight, given my height, age and activity level. Good grief...that's like one McDonald's meal. No wonder I've struggled with my weight! Crud. Now I have to decide whether I want to starve myself the rest of my life...or become a lot more active than I want to be. .

To calculate your own personal daily caloric needs, the Harris Benedict Equation is the most accurate way of doing so. Women Multiply your weight in pounds times 4.3 Multiply your height in inches times 4.7 Add these two numbers together and add 655 to them. Multiply your age in years by 4.7 and subtract them from number you got above. This is your Basal Metabolic Rate. MEN Multiply your weight in pounds by 6.3 Multiply your height in inches by 12.9 Add these two numbers together and add 66 to that. Multiply your age in years by 4.7 and subtract from the number you got above. This is your Basal Metabolic Rate. WOMEN & MEN Multiply your basal metabolic rate by the number that corresponds with your activity level. Sedentary: Do not exercise at all and sit at your job all day, multiply times 1.2 Somewhat active: Exercise 2-3 times a week or walk while on your job, multiply times 1.375 Moderately active: Exercise 5-6 days a week, multiply times 1.55 Active: Exercise every day and are active at your job, multiply times 1.725 Strenuous: Exercise every day and are extremely active all day, multiply times 1.9 This is the number of calories you need per day to maintain that weight. So, if you know the weight you *want* to maintain, use that weight in your original calculations.

This is pretty much what my doctor told me, except that it was 6 small meals a day to keep my blood sugar stable. I generally eat 3 solid food meals and Protein shakes mid-meals for the other 'mini-meals'. When I have restriction, I'm somewhere around 1200 calories. Without it, I'm closer to 1800 or so. Studies show that women who keep their calories between 1200-1400 generally lose weight faster than those who drop their calories below 1000 because when we drop below 1000, our bodies become more efficient at conserving the calories we eat. If you've hit a plateau it means that you are not expending more calories than you're taking in. Remember that as your weight drops, your calorie requirement will change as well. We drop *a lot* of weight in the early days because it takes a lot of calories to maintain that weight and we've cut them drastically. This changes as we get closer to our goal weight.

I bought a box as a last ditch "maybe I won't need the band" effort, but they didn't do anything to make me full either. Question...if they didn't work, why would you want to use them now?

My 'recipe' (and I use the term loosely) book for my postop diet included a blendered cheeseburger. Put half a hamburger bun, the burger and all the condiments you want into a blender and then blend with some beef broth until it's the right consistency. Blech. I just drank protein shakes through the puree and mushie period but then I was lucky. My doc only made me stay on each phase of the postop diet for 2-3 days at each phase. Oh, what does it look like? Take a trip down the baby food aisle of the supermarket and pick up a bottle of 'beef'. Looks like someone ate a steak, swallowed it and threw it back up. :biggrin: .