bburleigh

that is good news...keep up the good work....I am 63 years old, should have done this 20 years ago...never knew how easy it was...exercise is the key...keep the calories between 800-1200 daily.:smile:

Only one fill, 14 weeks out, 31 # and feeling good...exercise is working, not hungry much...can see the difference...50# to go.:bored: Eating mostly what I should but sometimes eating other things in moderation. Water aerobics helps a lot, treadmill is good but boring. Anyone else banded in March?

I have lost 26 lbs in eight weeks and think I should be doing more than that...going for my first fill in two weeks...use treadmill several times a week and now Water aerobics in the pool...:redface:

I too took a laxative 3 days ago and since have had pain down under my port...could this be bolus obstruction?

Be VERY careful with what you take for Constipation when you have a band:

1: Obes Surg. 2004 Aug;14(7):1022-4.

Bolus obstruction of pouch outlet by a granular bulk laxative after gastric banding.

Herrle F, Peters T, Lang C, von Fluee M, Kern B, Peterli R.

Department of Surgery, St. Claraspital, Basel, Switzerland.

BACKGROUND: Constipation is an occasional problem after gastric banding and is often caused by insufficient liquid intake. As a result, the use of laxatives is widespread in such patients. Depending on the laxative, improper use can lead to bolus obstruction above the band, as occurred in this case. Case Report: A 59-year-old female with uncomplicated laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding presented 2 months after surgery with food and liquid intolerance and dysphagia after ingestion of a granular bulking laxative. Despite deflating the band, the bolus could not be washed out. Endoscopic extraction was required, revealing a 4x2 cm bolus of the laxative and a small compression ulcer.

DISCUSSION: Patients not complying with nutritional recommendations after gastric banding may have insufficient liquid intake and, consequently, constipation. Under these conditions, the use of a granular bulking laxative entails the risk of esophageal obstruction above the band.

CONCLUSION: Nutritional counseling after gastric banding should include the recommendation of liquid intake of at least 1.5 l/day. If constipation occurs, osmotic or paraffin oil laxatives should be used instead of bulking laxatives.

Publication Types:

* Case Reports

PMID: 15329197 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

And drink MORE water! Everyone!

:thumbup:He sounds like he is money hungary and wanted the by pass to make the extra money. To accuse you of smoking, so what....I know they don't want you to smoke but to badger you about it is unprofessional. 52 lbs and to keep it off is great. I was told the Lap Band loss would be between 40-60% the first two years...sounds like you are on track.

Okay, so I have two topics here to discuss and they kind of go hand in hand. First a little background on my story. I was banded on 3/12/09. I am 5'2" and started my journey at 233 lbs (BMI 42). This morning my scale (naked and on an empty stomach) said 178.00 so that gives me a weight loss of 55 lbs in a year. I am thrilled with my weight loss because I know that I would have surely gained in that year and I have not consistently lost over a years period like that without losing/gaining/losing/gaining.

I went for a one year visit with my surgeon on Monday 3/15. In preparation of my visit he wanted me to have an upper GI which I did. He wanted to check the placement of my band and the restriction. He was getting a little concerned about how tight my band was (9 cc's) before he would ever consider any more fills. Makes sense to me.

So I go for my appointment and I tell the nurse that basically my band is fickle. Some days I feel like I am exactly where I need to be and other days I feel like I could be just a little tighter as my portions sometimes are a little bigger than I'd like. Not an every day thing but happens on occasion. I was in no way begging for a fill.

So surgeon comes to the door and motions me out of the office (no hello BTW) to follow him. I follow him to a computer screen where he shows me the my upper GI and shows how well my band is doing, says hes happy with the placement, all looks good and that I have some good restriction. I'm still okay with that because I wasn't 100% convinced I needed adjusted. I really just wanted to talk it out and find out where I should be, but I think he automatically was on the defensive that I was going to insist on a fill. As we are walking back to the room he says to me "you smoke?" To which I reply "No." He then says "well, I smell smoke, does someone in your house smoke? So I kind of shrug my shoulders because I'm confused by this and say, "Well, I don't smoke but yes, my husband is a smoker." I'm confused though because I came from work to the appt. He then goes on to say "Well, the one thing I can smell is smoke and you smell like smoke." So I again say, "well, I've never been a smoker, in fact I lost my mother to COPD, and my sister and father to lung cancer. I'm not a smoker." Well the subject finally drops but what gets in my craw is that I can tell he still doesn't believe me. First thing that bothered me about the appt.

Then we move on to talking about my diet, what I've been eating, he tells me my choice for the afternoon lunch was horrible (3 chicken fingers and some mashed potatoes). Which, okay, I can agree with that. But I remind him of the other meals that were good choices. He then proceeds to remind me that "you would have done better with bypass but YOU wanted the band". So I tell him that I'm very happy with the band and I say "You know Dr. X, I've lost over 50 lbs (it was 52 at his office) in the last year, don't you think that's good. So he tells me that it's okay but not exceptional and how only 5% of his patients are bands now the rest bypass. The thing that really got me was that I could tell that I am a disappointment to my surgeon. I think he only views me as bringing his statistics down which makes me really upset because I think I should be applauded for what I have accomplished and not made to feel bad. He ended up giving me a .5 cc fill (which I told him I was surprised he was giving me that much) and he had me drink some Water (first time ever) before I left the office. I think he thinks I'm insistant on fills (only one visit was I ever insistent) because I don't come in and say I'm at my sweet spot. I never throw up, rarely feel stuck and at times still felt my portions were too large. But I guess because I wasn't telling him what he wanted to hear, I'm not successful and he's taking it personally or something. The whole experience was so negative I just don't know what to make of it. If your surgeon acted this way, how would you feel?

Second question, since he told me that he's only doing minimal bands now, and said the stats for the whole state of Michigan for bands were "lousy", are we becoming a dying breed to bypass?

I did the diet and lost 13 lbs and my surgery was 30 mins beside the recovery room...it does make it easier on the patient.

You are right, he has no bedside manners, cool cut and dry. In a period of 3 months I saw him one time before my surgery then his staff took over. Dr. Kang is great.

Guess if he did a good job he does not need bedside manners but I always like a little more jab with my doctors.

I was banded on 3/11/10 by Dr. William Richardson at Ochsner Hospital in New Orleans La. He came highly qualified.

So far so good, spend one night in hospital where I did not sleep because they were in every hour on the hour for BP and temp. Came home yesterday and resting well. Tolerate little skim milk in Protein this morning, few ounces of chicken broth, tiny noodles chewed up and proper. So far no need for pain meds, nausea meds, only using Tylenol pain for kids. Works fine.

I am 63 years old weighed 246 lbs, lost 21 lbs in past 8 weeks. Looking forward to a long process of losing weight to get to my goal of 160 lbs. This old girl will feel new in a few weeks.

Beverly Burleigh:smile2:

hello, I am scheduled next week for Lap Band surgery next week and was wondering how bad was the port and the surgery itself.

Beverly