AlienBandit

Your in Korea:) do it the korean way start with a coffee date, do a drinking date, maybe hit up Indian ( mostly creamy things can avoid Pasta, bread etc easily) and then move up to bigger kind of restaurants.

Hey! band erosion can be caused by many different things like spicy food, caffine, alcohol, smoking, rapid fills etc. There is no one way to determine what causes it. 7cc is what Dr Kang usually gives as a first fill though I declined to get that amount with my first band and I will again with my second band only because a) I had erosion once before I didnt find big fills helped my hungry I felt the same full filled and completely empty c) I only have 10 kg to lose so I am in no rush to lose a lot of weight fast. As for me I was a very rare case (if your referring to me) and even the doc was surprised to find erosion ( it was only the size of a pea as he caught it early). As for Protein powder and such I have found it in itaewon so if you want to go sometime we can meet up one weekend. I am not sure how much it would cost though maybe a little pricey but trust me it is great :eek:

If you feel it is right to tell the guy your dating then go ahead and tell them. I have been banded, de banded and then banded again and there is a guy I have kind of been seeing the whole time. The poor man must be confused, first I never ate a lot of dates then I did and now I am on liquids so I am avoiding dinners with him al together. I haven't told him because I am not exactly sure where I stand with him. Another guy I was dating right after I got debanded I told because we were more exclusive and it didn't even phase him. He was great helping with excuses etc when we went out with friends who didn't know about my surgery. Now there is a new guy who wants to go on a date with me and now he has to wait because I just got rebanded so I have to go through the liquids, mushies etc before we can go for dinner. He doesnt know about the surgery and I think it would take me a long time to tell him that I had surgery because he is basically a complete stranger to me right now. Personally I feel more comfortable telling people that I have known for a long time. Telling an acquaintance is a little hard for me. Just follow your gut. Everyone I have told ( some co workers and friends) have all been supportive so it gives me hope that a guy I'm dating won't judge me either

After my first fill I felt funny too. It takes a few days for the saline to settle in your band and your stomach might be a little swollen. Rest and don't try to force yourself to eat anything. If you don't feel better after a day I would call your doc and ask for a slight unfill.

First of all be careful with rapid fills they can cause band erosion. Second of all be careful with acid reflux i had it one time and went to my doc who did an endoscope check ( no other test can show erosion) and low and behold I had erosion. I was 7cc in my 10cc band at the time. Getting fills so fast in those 4 months i was banded could have caused the erosion. Also you might have 10cc in your band plus air which can cause some eating problems. Maybe you should ask for an endoscope exam. xrays and swollows to see if liquids pass through your stomach will not show erosion.

Its strange that your doc didnt tell you the max capacity of the band. yes an APL holds 14cc and an APS holds 10cc I have the smaller one and would never need it filled to the max. As for making you do many small fills, it is because it is safer for your stomach. Rapid fills can cause erosion and trust me erosion isnt fun. My doc barely charges anything each time I went and will go for fills so it is not only your doc that makes you go often for small fills.

I knew of someone that had very bad band erosion too. She had the surgery on a Sat, stayed at the hospital til the Wed and then went back to work the following Monday. I think 1-2 weeks should be good for recovery time unless your erosion is super super super bad. ( emergency removal case). After removal you dont really feel any pain at all. A week after my surgery I went to a ski resort, had a massage, went drinking with friends etc. It was the lipo I had to stay longer at the hospital for not the erosion. However if you are required to have a draining tube you must stay at the hospital min 5 days I believe. It feels good to be rebanded just going through all the pains and such of the first week. I am back on my feet faster then last time but thats because I am experiencing different pain ( no gas more surgery pain). I wish you the best in your journey.

I had one small episode of acid reflux for a few hours one night after I took too big of a gulp of Water. When I saw my doc for a check up I told him about it and about my tubing pain. The tubing hurt because it was too close to the surface of my skin. My doc did an endoscope just to check my stomach since it had been 4 months since I was banded and found erosion. If you want more details of my time then check out my blog in the feb-mar section. There is also a pic of my erosion there too.

I was banded oct 10 2009 and my doc found a tiny bit of erosion feb 2010. We decided to remove the band to let my stomach fully heal. I had the band removed Feb 20th as well as had some lipo on my stomach. I stayed in the hospital Saturday-Monday, stayed at home on Tuesday and went back to work on Wednesday. I felt fine again almost as soon as the band was removed. I spent a week on liquids and after that everything was great. I was told to wait 3 months for a new band but I waited 5 months instead and just got rebanded 3 days ago.

I had that band too for a few months. It doesnt have saline inside? hmmm Ill ask my doc what he used then because he always called it saline.

I had a feeling like that a few weeks after i got banded the first time once I ran out of medicine. My doc said it was common and because of the tube they put down my throat. It took about a month to go away. Sometimes he would hurt to even talk to swollow thats hard for a teacher

one of the reasons fills are so far apart time wise is togive your stomach a chance to get used to the restriction. Getting fills too fast can be BAD BAD BAD. I had erosion 4 months after surgery and one of the reasons we believe is because of my fills which I got too fast. In the 4 months since surgery I went from 0cc in my 10cc band to 8cc in my band by the time the erosion was found. If it wasnt for my doc doing a random endoscope check we would not have found it so soon. Be careful fast fills can be good in the short run giving you restriction but a couple of months from now you might find that you have erosion or problems with your stomach.

when I got banded I went back to work 1.5 days after surgery. I am having a new band put in tomorrow ( Saturday) and will go back to work on Monday. I am a teacher so my job isnt about heavy lifting etc I just have to stand on my feet a lot. It will help with the gas I hope which I remember taking forever to go away.

Why no dairy? Also caffine can cause acid reflux which can cause band erosion. Alcohol can also cause band erosion. 4 months after my surgery I had band erosion and I was a coffee drinker and enjoyed alcohol as well. I am definitely changing my eating habits my second time around already stopped drinking coffee and alcohol its' been a week and I am still dying for coffee. Surgery in 3 days though so I want to do better this time. My doc also doesnt see a problem with coffee and alcohol though we are being cautious because I already had band erosion.

There are a few threads about blogging. Just search them to see others who blog. I was banded in South Korea and started my blog to help others banded here as well. Now it can be good for anyone to read because I have had a few bumps in the road like erosion, losing my band etc. Just follow the link after this msg. The last few months I have been without my band and doing some lipo but in 4 days I will be banded again.

I am happy to say that I am being "reborn" in 5 days when I get my new band. I am also happy that in the 5 months I have been without my band I haven't gained a pound! So now I get two band birthdays Oct 10 2009 and July 10 2010

search flying on this forum and you will see most people dont have any problems flying with the band. The first time I flew the next morning my stomach felt different but just kind of like I had done a little ab workout the day before no big deal. I fly quite often and it never bothered me when I had the band.

what colour was the Fluid exactly? It seems like the only time there is discolored fluid is when the port or tubing is leaking. Hope you can figure this out. If I talk with my doc soon I'll ask him.

since my last post here in December so much has changed. my doc found erosion in Feb and I had the band removed. I am happy to say that in the 5 months I have been band free I am finally getting a new band on Saturday! Luckily I havent gained any weight since Feb that is a huge miracle, mostly thanks to my doc who insisted I get a balloon placed in my stomach. I can't wait to start losing weight again! I am only 10 kg from my goal weight:)

I had erosion as well about 4 months after getting the band. It wasnt serious though only the size of a pea. My doc accidentally stumbled across it after doing a random full check up with an endoscope check ( i needed my tubing to be moved so he decided just to check my whole band since the tubing was hurting me a bit). After some meds my stomach healed and I didnt need the band removed but i chose to have it removed so my stomach could heal. I am getting a new one July 10th. I am sorry you have had so many problems. I dont know what caused my erosion but since it was so small and 4 months after surgery we are sure it didnt happen during my surgery. Just know your not alone. Some of us are the unlucky few who get the short end of the stick in these situations

a chest x ray and a buran (sp?) swallow won't show the doc whether you have erosion or not. It will only show whether Fluid can pass through your pouch to the lower part of your stomach under the band. I would request a endoscope where the doctor puts a camera down your throat into your stomach. This is the best way to check for erosion. Some doctors use this as a last resort because they can not do it themselves and must send you to another doctor to check, plus it is expensive to check. I had erosion and my doctor who is qualified to do endoscopes checked me one day when i complained of a few hours of acid reflux. He found erosion the size of a pea. If he hadn't done that then we would not have found the erosion for a few more months ( when it would obviously have gotten worse) because I had no problem eating or drinking. It was really random and a complete surprise to find. I hope that you figure out what is wrong and it can be fixed easily.

a lot of doctors prefer the other weight loss surgeries because they dont require so much after care. With the band you must go many times for fills check ups etc and this can be annoying for some doctors because they don't make a lot of money off the after care. If you prefer the band then i would switch to another doctor who will be more supportive of your decision for wanting the band.

I am so in for this challenge. I hope to be at goal for Christmas I dont get rebanded for another 2 weeks so I think I should be able to reach my goal weigh loss of 10 more kg by then.

you want to weigh more to be approved for surgery? That might work for weigh ins but they also weigh you before surgery ( in hospital outfit) and if you weigh less they might suspect something. Also you dont want to say you weigh more then you do because they will give you more drugs then your body needs and that can be harmful.

I blog as well. I started it so people who are banded in Korea could see life through another bandster but then it turned into reading the experience of a bandster who has had erosion, lipo, balloon etc. There are many different things and challenges that can happen to bandsters that might be interesting for you guys to read. Since then I have also basically turned into the foreign bandster rep for my doc as people ask me about him all the time. The topics that last few months werent mostly about banding because I lost my band but I am getting banded again soon so it could be good to read about someone being banded twice.