kareyquilts

Congratulations on the drains. You begin to feel human again once they're gone!

Lori: Thanks for your kind thoughts. Frangi: Have you decided for sure if your going ahead with the thigh lift?

lellow: You're going to great. I've never heard of staphysagria before. Is it a homepathic remedy?

I have had a lapband for almost 3 years. During that time, I have lost 120 pounds. Last summer my band slipped and was replaced in the same surgery. I had a miserable 4 months of pbing and vomiting before I finally realized that the problems weren't me and something was wrong with my band (I'm a slow learner). Since getting my new band I have had a lot of nausea. ALOT! It doesn't seem that the new band had ever reallly worked well, but I have had some restriction and been able to maintain my weight. I just found out Wednesday that my band has slipped again! All the fluid has been taken out of the band and I find that my appetite has really picked up. I'm so afraid of gaining weight back. My doctor has suggested the vertical gastric sleeve and I am seriously considering it. It seems like a drastic move, but the anxiety of gaining weight is very strong. I'm wondering if those that have had the band removed have been able to maintain and or lose weight, if they had an alternative surgery or they wish they had had an alternative surgery? I would appreciate any and all feedback. My doctor is willing to do the revision for free. Just not sure what is the best thing to do. Thanks!

I had my arms done too and I was shocked when I came out of the OR and I couldn't even feed myself. The arms feel so heavy! Of course that doesn't last for very long, thank goodness! I have mixed feelings about them, too. I like that they are so much smaller, but I'm really not crazy about the scars. Oh well! Glad you're doing so well. It really is life altering!

I'm wondering about a couple issues that some of the experienced sleevers might be able to answer. After the initial liquid diet can you take pills and vitamins again? What about fiber? I tend to get constipation and try and eat alot of fiber. Thanks.

Wassa: Just read your thread on how to pick a Mexican doc. What a service you have provided to others. I'm feeling very overwhelmed at this point. I guess I have a lot to discuss with my doctor, who said he would do the revision surgery for free. I don't know his track record, etc. I called his office but the receptionist had no idea how many sleeves he'd done. She told me to look on their website for information. I want to have my game plan before I go in for my fluro in 6 weeks to see if I'm still slipped. I'm feeing a lot of anxiety right now. I've got remind myself to breath! Since having my unfill, my appetite has come back with a vengeance, so I am even more determined to get the help that I need. If I need to go to Mexico and feel that is the best care, than that is what I am going to do. I really appreciate the support I feel here and am looking forward to following eveyone's journey! Peace!

Oregondaisy: I believe it will be about the same time as your scheduled for. My ob doc said that one of her patients had 3 lapbands and is in a class action law suit against the makers of the band because of nausea and problems with the band. Has anyone heard of this? I tried to google it and find out more information, but didn't get far.

I'm so glad that I found this thread! I will be following your journey closely. I just found out that I have slipped for the second time and will probably get the sleeve. My doc offered to fix the slip but 2 lapbands is enough for me. I'm sick of all the problems. I have followed the rules and still having problems. Life doesn't seem fair sometimes. It's reassuring to get in touch with others who are going down the same path. That is what I really appreciated about lapband talk from the beginning. A feeling of community. Anyway, I'm wishing the best. I believe I'll be a few weeks after you.

Miram: I totally understand your feeling of being done. That is why I'm lagging on the thighs. Just don't know if I want to go through it again, but I really really hate my thighs. Right now, I'm having problems with my band again! Just had fluro on Wednesday and it looks like my band has slipped again. They took out all the fluid and will recheck in 6 weeks. Doc didn't give me much hope about my band and said I wasn't a good canidate for a new one, since I have had 2 slips. He suggested I go solo or consider getting the gastric sleeve. I am so bummed and so scared to gain any weight back. Having 2/3rds of my stomach removed really freaks me out, but that is probably the route I will take. It just sucks. I have been very vigilant about following all the rules, etc. Oh well, I guess there are alot bigger problems in the world than mine. As far as your wedding goes, you just need to do it! Don't get bogged down in the details. Have fun and enjoy it, there is no right or wrong to it and you won't make everyone happy no matter what you do! Take care and heal.

Mimin: How the heck are you doing? You are becoming a plastic surgery queen! How are the wedding plans? I think I will get my thighs done in the fall. Glad to hear that yours went well!

I saw my band doctor today and he looked at my band under floro. My band has slipped. I will probably have to have surgery in about 6 weeks. They took all the fluid out of the band today and will look at it again in 6 weeks to see if the stomach just dilated to the side. He doesn't want to place another band, after 2 slips. He did talk to me about the gastric sleeve as an alternative. I am so bummed out! I don't understand why this happened to me AGAIN! Doc said that there is probably something about my anatomy. That some people just have slips and are not good canidates for the band. Well it would be nice if they figured that out first! I was going to get my inner thighs done, but I guess that is on the back burner now!

Congratulations! Nice to have it over and think about the recovery. You're going to love your new body!

I'm getting excited for you. You are going to love it!

Whatever happened to Becky, who shared your thread? She had the medial thigh lift and her after pictures were great. I too, would like feedback on this! I say you need to once again, trust your surgeon!

Love shoes! Happy Shopping!

lellow: You really should take before pictures. I still look at mine to reassure myself that I look better and that the pain was well worth it. It's especially helpful right after the surgery. You don't have to share them with everyone else, thought it would be helpful to others.

You're looking great! Thanks for sharing!

Lynn: I would love to see some pics also. Glad to hear that you are pleased and would do it all over again. I'm meeting with my ps next Wednesday and will get his recommendations. Glad you're still doing well!

Deep breathing is very helpful! Sounds like your getting organized and that is a good thing!

Frangi: Yes, I did have lipo around the knee area. It looks much better than it did. From some view points, it almost looks concave, but when standing the knees look much thinner. It's been 4 months and the area is still a little tender. I sleep on my side and I have to put a pillow between my legs so my knees don't touch. It's not unbearable or anything like that, it's just tender. I would do it again and wish that lipo would fix the rest of my legs!

That's great. I'm definetly wearing board shorts with my bathing suit, but maybe by next summer!

Frangi: In a perfect world our damn skin would go back the way it's suppose to!LOL! I'm tired of surgeries, too! That's why I'm not getting the inner thighs done right now. I just can't make myself do it right now, but I probably will. Looking forward to your surgery though. (I think that's another LOL). You're going to look freakin fantastic and I don't think you'll be sorry because after it's all said and done your legs and EVERYTHING else won't bother you anymore and you're going to look just great. I'm sure that living on an island and wearing a bathing suit is also highly motivating. In Utah (it's snowing right now), I can hide the skin. Keep us informed about how it all goes.

Frangi: Yeah! So glad that you like your revision. I too had a funk after my last surgery and then knee surgery. I feel like I'm just getting out of it. These things take their toll physically and mentally. I hate my inner thighs also. Doc says surgery is the only way to correct them, but unlike you, I'm just not ready for it. I'm still doing a lot of physical therapy for my knee and need to get it stronger before I rest from exercise for a month. I also am just getting back to weight lifting and pilates and I think this is helping me mentally. I am so interested in this procedure. I would also have the groin incision. I think I may do it in the fall. I am probably havins so more lipo on my arms and maybe a few other choice spots in April. After my brachioplasty, the ends of the incisions are a little pointy and lipo will supposedly fix that. I love my tummy tuck revision. It looks better than the first time around, too. It's just amazing what can be done if you can tolerate it! Glad you're feeling better. I'll be watching how everything goes for you. Thanks for keeping us informed!

Laurigee: Thanks for the support. I think I will post more pictures soon. It's hard to put yourself out there, but I think it is helpful to others. My band slipped this summer and I had to have it replaced. The signs which I ignored because I didn't know any better, were difficulty almost eating anything and pbing. I would have days when I could eat and alot of days that I couldn't. I thought that I just wasn't chewing well enough or that I was eating the wrong things. Every once in a while I would have pretty significant throwing up episodes, and then I would put myself on liquids for a few days. This began 5 days after my first tummy tuck. My lapband doc thought I had the flu and took most of the fluid out of my band, which helped for a while. Then I had a fill and starting having intermitent problems. Meanwhile, my daughter's wedding was coming up and I just put up with stuff. By the time that I realized that maybe it wasn't me, but my band, I couldn't stop throwing up. It became a life threatening situation because my stomach came up into my esophagus. Morale of the story, listen to your body and follow through with things. It's not normal to be pbing all the time and not able to eat solids. My doc said that the main causes of slips are too tight of bands and over eating. I believe that mine slipped when I had the port changed during my tt. I guess that I'll never know for sure. Certainly, my ignoring all the warning signs contributed to the seriousness of the situation. Now, I'm not feeling alot of restriction with my band, but nausea is another sign of slippage. I have a lot of nausea right now. Under fluro my pouch sits over to the side of my band. My band doc says it looks like a slip, but we are watching it, I have another fluro appt in 2 weeks. I would like to think that I can control my weight without the band or getting the sleeve. I have been the same weight within 5 pounds for about 6 months. I've been thinking about it a lot, but I'm just not totally confident that I can do it without some help. If my band has to come out again, I will not be able to get another one. I'm researching more about the sleeve. I don't know what I will do. Don't worry about your band, it will be probably be just fine. If you have any warning signs however, just take care of it, so you don't have a problem. I still deal with hunger on a daily basis. I think that we just have to have strategies, like eating things that are lo-cal but give us a feeling of fullness like fiber and fresh fruit and vegetables. My doc likes volumetrics and so do I. Again, thanks for caring.