AlienBandit

I stayed over night. My doc requires all patients to stay at least 1 night. After that night my doc asked me to stay another night because I had too much gas in my lungs and he thought they would collapse but I had to go home and go back to work. I'm glad I stayed overnight as I live alone so it would have been a challenge since I never told anyone about my surgery.

You can ask your doctor to move your port if you comfortable with them. My port stuck out so I asked for it to be moved. It is now under my muscles and only my doc can find it. I thought I could but I poke around and cant feel it.

Right now I have 5cc in my band and am a bit over filled. I did have 6cc and was fine at that much but suddanly more than 3 weeks after the fill it was too much so I had some removed. I had 4cc placed in my band during surgery and could eat a whole horse I thought my band was empty. Sometimes our stomachs cant even make up their own minds

I know its hard to be without your fill but this is a great opportunity to relearn healthy eating again with solid food ( since you have had a hard time eating solids for 2 years. The band is a tool not a magic wand right? This is an example to show someone that we need to work to lose weight not sit and wait for it to fall off. I hope things go well for you. Stay strong and positive

Everyone is different. i am a big baby when it comes to pain so I thought I'd die going back to work but I had my surgery on a Saturday and went back to work on the Monday. Almost all of my surgeries ( except my tummy tuck) I went back to work right away without any problems. Even with my band taken out, lipo etc. Though I did take time off work for my tuck ( mini) I could have gone back to work right away. Strange how I can hyperventilate and lose it at the sight of a needle because I hate pain yet can just back to work so quickly. It is partially my sanity level I guess because I go nuts just resting. I am a very active person so sitting and resting drives me nuts. I guess I should be glad I can bounce back so quickly.

This sounds interesting and I would like to know what others think. For me it makes sense. I have been fighting a cold for some time and even went for a 1cc unfill ( yes a whole cc not .1cc). I was fine for 2 days after that but now I almost feel as much restriction before the unfill and I am still fighting the cold I had at the time of the unfill. Will have to let you know my personal experience once I kick this cold. This situation had never happened to me any other time because I have only had one cold since being banded over a year ago.

I chew gum (like right now). I will have to ask my doc how he feels about this. However I don't think he would object considering once I was in his office and he had offered me gum one time lol

I find if I have only a liquid for breaky and a liquid or mushy for lunch then I am super tight at dinner. If I have something more substantial during the day then I can almost eat a horse for dinner. If I know I am going out for dinner I force myself to consume something more then a liquid or mush during the day. I dont know why I am that way but thats how my band wants to work. I have also found that eating ice cream before a meal somehow makes it easier for me to eat something. Once I went out for dinner ( unplanned) and couldnt eat so I said I was sick so my friend got me ice cream. I ate a little and suddenly was starving and proceded to eat my dinner I couldn't eat a few minutes before :S

I use small forks, and spoons at home. When I go out most restaurants only have spoons and chopsticks but I rarely use my spoon. Eating with chopsticks def makes me eat slower. Sometimes the staff will bring me a fork so I must explain that I am a slow eater. Chopsticks make pulling off eating normal easier. Yes you can take bigger bites of stuff with chopsticks but you can also use chopsticks to take smaller bites if you want.

I think it is better to tell them right away. I met a guy a few weeks before my rebanding and put off dates till after I was eating solid foods again. Our first date was a disaster because he went on about how fat people are lazy and plastics and weight loss surgery are for lazy people. I didn't want to tell him right away but after that topic came up I just lost it. He didnt understand why I cared so much because " I was so thin" he said and then I told him all about my surgeries. Needless to say I never saw him again. He actually said he didnt care much about it but with his bad view of "fat:" people I obviously wasnt interested in seeing him anymore.

I got a fill and then nearly 5 weeks later had to go for an unfill because I got too tight all of a suddan. It is weird but happens sometimes. It can be because of stress etc.

I actually got a fill I believe 3 weeks before my mini tummy tuck. Things went well after my tuck until post op 3 weeks. Things got tight for some reason and I suffered for 3 more weeks when I finally got an unfill. I think if your not quite at your sweet spot don't get an unfill (if your doctor leaves it up to you). If your at your sweet spot I would maybe go for an unfill. I was basically at my sweet spot maybe a little overfilled but could live with it. I wish I didn't get my fill right before surgery because I then had it removed after my tuck. However everyone is different and so are docs. If it is easy for you to get an unfill then maybe don't worry about it as long as your doc says you can get one after surgery. If you live hours away from your doc, cant get an appointment easily etc then maybe get an unfill. My doc is usually easy to get to but literally the day after my surgery there became some problems hence the 3 weeks overfill hell.

I don't have a problem really eating sweets here but as soon as I eat candy or most other things from Canada/US I get indigestion. Though this can be disappointing it is a good way to motivate me to not want to eat things like sweets.

Your stomach is still healing from surgery. You don't want to get fills too fast or too big because it can cause problems and hurt your stomach. Most people don't feel restriction until after a few fills. Before you get to that restriction really shows you that the band is a tool and not a magic wand. You must work with it and help it with your weight loss. Try to keep up your Protein and lower your carbs etc. Don't get frustrated if your not losing a lot of weight. A lot of doctors say that if you lose weight the first few months it is a bonus because that is really a time for healing.

Thats great you are able to recover so fast. I went back to work day 2 post op my surgery and though it was a little tough it wasn't that bad. I am a teacher so walking and standing for a while helped me recover quicker I think. It is possible to go back to work right after surgery if you feel up to it. I found it helped the recovery because I wasn't lying down in bed all the time

I found out I had PCOS nearly 10 years ago when I was a teen. Diets would work but I could never keep the weight off. Usually when I lose weight my stomach is the last to go. Even when I was 20 pounds from goal my stomach looked terrible still. After lots of gyming and some lipo it looks better. There are photos of my blog. Good luck on your journey and know your not alone!

I'm 25 and banded. My highest weight was 220 when banded I was 210 I'm not 149 and I was to be 135-40. I did have a lot of excess skin but with lots of exercise and some lipo my body has changed a lot. It has been some time since my lipo and my body is still changing. I find the gym helps a lot. There are photos on my blog if you want to see someone of similar weight.

i got erosion 4 months after surgery. It was super small and we're not sure how it happened. I know others who got it more then a year after surgery. Everyone is different just remember to follow your doctors orders very closely

Some people have asked this question and I think most dont get an unfill. I had a kind of mini tummy tuck and had a fill 2 weeks before the tuck. I didn't get unfilled before the surgery but then 2 weeks after surgery I started having problems eating and now 3 weeks later, 5 weeks after surgery I am going for a slight unfill. Was it because of the tuck? I have no idea honestly. This is something you should discuss with your band doctor. All doctors have different opinions

I agree using smaller eating items helps a lot. I bought glass dishes, bowls and utensils that were small some time ago. I am so used to eating out of them the other day when I was measuring items to make bread I realized that the bowl I was using I assumed was one cup in size was really not even 1/2 a cup I couldn't believe how much a full cup actually was! Eating in smaller dishes has really changed how I look at food and how much I eat.

I have to admit a tummy scar is something that freaked me out as well. My doc didnt want me to get a tt because he knew I didn't like scars. However he then decided he was going to give me a little mini tummy tuck that wouldn't be as extreme as a full tummy tuck and my scar is super low there is no way anyone would see it unless I showed it to them. You can meet with a surgeon and discuss these things with them. If you want to see photos of my scar its on my blog. It is not a normal tummy tuck mind you.

If you can't keep down liquids even hot ones at any point during a day then your over filled. Sometimes in the morning we bandsters are too tight to eat anything but that should pass after a while. If it is dinner time and you still cant eat anything even as simple as yogurt you really need an unfill. Of course after a fill you should take it easy and do atleast 1-2 days of liquids before getting back into eating. However if its been over a few days and your still not able to eat then you need an unfill. The longer you wait the tighter you can get. If youre throwing up a lot that can cause a slip. Trust me being overfilled for a long time isnt fun!

Erosion is when the band pushes into your stomach. I had this happen to me but caught it early on. After a few weeks of meds my stomach got better but I removed the band so my stomach could heal. Home From The Hospital And Photos a quick search on the internet and you'll find that erosion is "when the band penetrates the stomach wall and enters the stomach. Normally placed lap bands surround the outer stomach and constrict it. " Erosion can be caused by the band being too tight, sutures too tight, your stomach walls can get weaker by bad food choices ( ie not following rules by your doctor), spicy food alcohol etc. The guidelines set by your doctor should be followed closely. Though it is not hard to go down the bad path it doesnt mean you should it can cause problems.

Here are some photos of my scars and when they were incisions etc. My friends have seen my stomach while we were at the beach and no one ever asked. 77kg to 69kg Is a HUGE Difference Band and Lipo Scar photos Photos 4 Weeks Post Op Tummy Tuck

First of all you can ask for a low profile port. If it still sticks out once you reach a certain weight you can have your port moved. My port was noticeable ( though no one ever asked) but I had it moved under my muscles. Now I can't tell where it is unless I lie down and poke around. There is still dead space you can see in photos if you look at my stomach but it doesn't look that bad.