5jacks

I'm still here.....and I still remember you from the "good ole days!!" I was banded in January 2007, lost 103 pounds in the first year or so and wanted to lose another 30-40 pounds. I had slowed on the weight loss so went to dr. and they said I has a stretched esophagus. Took out all my fill and waited for about 3 or 4 months and then started putting it back in. In that time I went wild and gained about 40 pounds! Not sure how many fills I've had since then (only a couple) but I'm afraid to keep getting them for fear that I'm going to stretch it all over again. In the meantime I've started gaining weight again and was starting to feel like maybe I should go ahead and make the appt. and face the music!! Had only started thinking about going back to the dr. a couple of days ago and then got your e-mail!!!! Guess that's my sign to make the call. Hope more of us oldies get on here, just like back then, it's always nice to know your not the only one going through it! Thanks for starting this thread!

Is there anyone out there with a February surgery date? I found out last week that mine is on February 1. Was shooting for December 06, then hoping for January 07, now thankful it's finally set for February! My surgery is scheduled with Dr. Malley in Kansas City.

What do you mean by a slight rest? They have taken my fill all the way out due to an esophigal dilation. Am supposed to wait 6 weeks and go back in on July 6 to start with fills again. Guess I'm questioning now what it is I'm supposed to be eating in the mean time?!?!? When I called the surgeons office, they said that anything I ate could go right through so it didn't matter. Guess I'm second guessing that advice and was trying to get input from some of the other bandsters! Thanks for any help you can offer.

Wish I could help....came on here with a dilated esophogus myself and wanted answers! You have me kind of scared now with other things that could go wrong. I'm trying to figure out what kind of food and how much I'm supposed to be eating for the 6 weeks while there is no fill and until they start refilling. Good luck, hope all goes well.

I think we would all do it again in a second. Even though it hasn't been as easy as we were hoping, it's still been easier than doing it by myself! Has anyone figured out why they overeat? If you have could you let me in on how you figured it out!?!?!? Now that I don't have any fill (they start putting it back on on July 6), it's hard to stay focused on eating bandster style. Beleive it or not, my stomach is growling all the time. Makes me think that I don't remember my stomach growling very often when there was a fill. So if it wasn't growling, why was I eating? My Dad says it's just a habit and my mind is telling my stomach it's hungry.......wish my mind would shut up! Juno, How did the visit with the trainer go? Did it end up getting you motivated?? If so then I need to borrow him for a few weeks!

Promised myself I'd check in more often and just haven't had the time! We're farmers and getting crops in has been a 15-16 hours a day thing for about 10 days now. Then in the middle of it there was a death in the family.....with everything that's been going on, not having any fill, the death, crops and ball games for my 3 boys I haven't exactly been watching anything I've eaten at all. Then, when I got home from the funeral today the surgeon had called to inform me that my insurance no longer covers bariatric anything! This is the same insurance that actually paid for the surgery to begin with!! Guess my husbands policy changed and we didn't think to check on it the bariatric part of it. So I'm guessing that the upper GI that they did to determine the esophagus was dilated wasn't covered. Oh, well, on the brighter side of things, they did cover the surgery so I shouldn't be complaining! Have any of you figured out yet why you over ate to begin with. I'm trying to figure out how to make the most out of my band when they start putting the fills back in . I don't want to screw this up again! Are there any books you've found that relate just to lap-band surgeries that you would recommend? I found the one about Weight Loss Surgery for Dummies but it was about gastric bypass too and not sure if the two food plans are the same. Starting tomorrow I'm going to start exercising again.....maybe that will get my head in the right direction. Juno.....enjoy your baby and all the extra exercise you'll get chasing her (I think I read it was a girl?!?) We were looking back at videos of our boys the other day. The oldest one was almost 5 when the twins started walking.....the house was actually cleaner when they were that age! Seems like the older they get the more messes they make. But still wouldn't trade my 9 year old twins and my 13 (will be 14 years old in a couple of weeks) for nothing in the world!!!

Good for you for sticking to something!! I admire you for getting back into the swing of things and not letting it get you down. I have been gaining weight slowly and at about 15 pounds of a gain I made the appt. at the surgeons and found out that I've got a dilated esophagus. They took my fill out and will start the process over again a couple of months. That's why I'm back on here......always seemed to do better when I could research on LBT with what real people are going through. Hoping I can get my head back into this and figure out why I'm not able to quit snacking?!?!? The band helps us lose weight but in the end it's still up to us. Congrats to you for finding a way to lose weight.....no matter what the way is ! !

So what kind of foods and how much do you eat while the fill is no longer there and you're resting your esophagus? I just found out that I have dilated it and my pouch.....they took my fill out and am to go back in 2 months to start all over. Not sure exactly what I'm supposed to be eating! I never had reflux or problems eating. Guessing I was just too full (4.75 cc in a 4 cc band) and know that I snack too much!! Any help from someone who's been there would be appreciated. Thanks!

They really don't know what causes it. For each person it could be different. It sounded like in my case, the band was tight enough to make me stop eating at about a cup of food but then I would snack an hour or so later out of habit. The food couldn't get through from my meal so then I packed more food on top of it from snacking and stretched everything out. One of the other things she said was that overeating causes it.....I really don't feel like I overeat.....just had started snacking on a way too regular basis! I didn't think there was a problem because I hardly ever got hungry, had restriction on a regular basis and could feel it make the little bubble burp thing it does when you eat something and can feel it go down. I'm going to try and keep coming on here....this is the first time I've been able to get on two nights in a row for a really long time. I didn't even have to put my password in 20 times like I used to!! Hope to get caught up on how everyone is doing and maybe make me more aware of what I'm doing for the next couple of months. I really don't want to gain the weight back that I've already lost. Talk to you tomorrow!

Oh My Gosh!!!! It worked! Okay, so it's been since last November since I checked in. Have been getting hungry more often and noticed that I could eat more (not a lot) but most times more than in the beginning. I had lost 103 pounds but have since gained about 15 pounds of it back. So I went to my surgeons last Thursday and I've dilated my esophogus (sp!). They took the entire fill out for 2 months and then are going to do another upper GI and see if all is well and then start over with fills. Guess my question is....Has this happened to any of you? How did you handle it and do you have any suggestions? I have the 4cc band and there was something like 4.8 cc in it! Going to sign off now, hope I can get back into this tomorrow. Even if I don't I can still read posts.....just can't always comment. It's been great seeing your posts and hopefully tomorrow I can get caught up on what you guys are doing!

I sure hope this works.....it's been waaaaaay too long since I've been on here! Every time I try it says I'm an invalid user and can't post. Won't make this too long so we can see if it works!

I can relate to the new appliance stories.....a couple years ago I wanted a new refrigerator (it was $900!!). Mine hadn't quit but shelves were broke and the seal wasn't good, and I swear it came over on the Mayflower! So of course thats "money we don't HAVE to spend" and I never got it. Father in law was getting ready to hire a man to mow, rake and bale a hay field for him.....I jumped in, mowed and raked it then paid my husband to bale it and sold my share of the hay for a little over $1,000!!!! Now I wish another opportunity would come up because I've got a stove that was a passenger on the same boat......

Tonya, I forgot about crossing your legs....it's still not a pretty thing on me since most of my weight is in my leg/thigh/hip area but it can still be done none the less!! It being slow on here is another reason I don't try to get on any more. Guess that could mean it's a good thing....everyone's too busy with living life to set at a computer!! What has got me interested in trying to work on it a little more is a school teacher that I used to have called me up the other day and asked about the band. She had her surgery today and has been soooooo excited to get started on this journey. Guess a little bit of her enthusiasm rubbed off! Remember when we first started and this was all new and a learning experience each day? We were all trying so hard and didn't want to do anything to "ruin" the band!! It felt good to have a little bit of the excitement back again. Makes a person step back a bit and re-group....also makes me want to finish what I started to show her it can be done! Oh well, guess I'm tired because I keep rambling. Hope others start to join in again, I'll try to check at least once a day. Take care and talk to you guys soon!

I've missed reading all your posts more than I knew!! It takes so long for my dial-up to "get up" that I usually don't even bother. Glad to hear that all the tests came back with benign results!! That's always a good feeling!!! I read a few of that last pages to get caught up a little and seem to be about where everyone else is right now. Was banded Jan. 18,2007 and have lost 102 pounds....still have between 30-40 pounds to lose. Am disapointed that I can't seem to lose that last bit but after this last weekend will keep reminding myself how far I've come. Made a list of all the things I've done in the last 18 months that I couldn't have done before the band: 1. Can sit in a chair in any office/store/restaurant I walk into. 2. Can wear my husbands clothes and can buy clothes in every store I walk into now! 3. Rode roller coasters with my kids. 4. Kids love the fact they can get their arms around me with "lots of extra room Mom". 5. Can make it through a very busy day and not be worn out or have ankles swollen. 6. Went to the Garth Brookes concert and was able to sit in the theatre seat (not like when we went to see Larry the Cable Guy and I had to sit in a folding chair in the handicapped section). 7. I actually got up on water ski's a couple weeks ago (used to many years ago and had tried about 3 years ago and didn't have the strength in my arms to haul all myself up!!). 8. I'm 40 years old and have never been on an airplane because had heard it was hard to fit in the seats.....well, my 13 year old son qualified to shoot in the World Archery Shoot in Ellicottville, NY last weekend. We're from Missouri and we flew out to Buffalo and drove to the ski resort where the shoot was. I even rode in the ski lift and wasn't afraid of it breaking. Then was able to walk down the ski slope with ease!! There are many more small accomplishments but these are the BIG ones!! Guess I'm just trying to say that maybe we're looking at this all wrong. Maybe if we make lists of all the things we've achieved and see how far we've come then it will make us try harder to reach the next goals?!?!? I'm going to try and keep getting back on here....I really do miss "talking" to all of you!!

I haven't PB'd once since this new fill! I've also only been hungry (growling loudly sort of hungry!!) a couple of times since then. So guess it worked but I'm still not dropping weight like I wanted to. Lost about 5 pounds and then gained 1 pound of that back. One of the reasons I was trying to hit it hard and try to eat right and eat less was the "sad girls" and the floppy wings. I wear tank tops in the tractor (cause of no a/c) and pray that none of the neighbors stop by. Even my family who are used to the flopping wings can't help but look at them when my arms go out or up. Was wanting to drop this last 30/40 pounds so I can start on the PS's. Then again, the thought of someone cutting up my girls almost makes me sick to my stomach so not sure if I could actually go through with that!! Husband says it's his insurance and he gets to pick the first surgery.....uuuummmm wonder which one he'd choose! By the way, thanks for responding....was thinking that I'd said/done something and was being shunned or something!

Am I going to be the only one on here?!?!?! Still doing quite well with this last fill. Have lost 5 pounds in 6 days....I know a lot of that was fluid so we'll see if it keeps going down on the scale! So far with the exception of one day the calorie count is at or under 1000 each day. It's hard to beleive the amount of snacking that I had started doing without realizing it. Tracking food calories/protein really is something that is important for me. It also helps that the rain has finally let up long enough for us to start planting crops for the season.....spending all day in a tractor makes it a little easier on the snacking! And with the A/C not working in the tractor there is a lot of sweating and water drinking going on too! Would love to have company on here.......

Thanks guys! My fill was Tuesday and I've really tried hard to get back on track with no snacking and eating small bites. So far since Tuesday (and it's Friday morning) I've lost almost 5 pounds! A lot of that was just bad eating on my part and too much snacking but I don't care.....as long as the scales are moving downward I'll take it! I'm only getting in about 600-900 calories....not sure if that will hold up or not but so far I've not been hungry and as long as I'm eating slowly it works. I'm going to try to be a better bandster buddy and get on here daily....just letting this all out really does help! THanks again!

Sorry to say I haven't been on here much lately. Trying to catch up on everything that's been going on but with dial-up that could take a few weeks!! I've also not lost anything for a little more than 6 months....decided to change all that and went in for another fill yesterday. I'm now at 4.6cc in a 4cc band! The doctor did a barium swallow and checked everything out and it was okay so that's good. What's scarey is I'm just about out of fill space. Would like to lose around 40 more pounds before this ride is over! Does anyone else feel like we're wanting or expecting too much? What I mean is, shouldn't I be happy with 100 pounds lost? I feel so much better about myself and am much healthier so why am I not satisfied with my accomplishment? Hate to complain on the first visit back but this is the one place where everyone knows what a gal's talking about!! Is anyone else filled that full or does anyone else feel like I do?

I wish I would of known how much the band was going to change my life....forever!! I wish I wouldn't have been so scared to "make the leap" and have it sooner. Wish the first few years of my kids' lives weren't with the "old" Mom but the new one that has energy to do things with them! Are you seeing a theme here?!?!?! I still need to lose another 40 - 50 pounds but at this point I'm able to eat anything I want....just not as much, and not gain weight. Never in my life have I been able to do that. If I wasn't on a strict diet I would slowly gain weight. Sure I probably need another fill but at this point I'm able to eat meals with the family and not gain weight. So until I'm ready to step it up a notch and start exercising I'm going to enjoy this ride. Good luck and just do your research on before and after care....everyone is different and handles the band differently. Don't go into this with the attitude your going to lose X amount of weight.....go into it with the attitude that your going to get healthier, no matter what the weight/size is that you are, when you get to that healthy spot be happy with it!

I tell myself every day not to snack....not to eat junk food and so on. Doesn't seem to matter if I do or not, so I do!! Know that it isn't healthy but can't seem to stop. I seriously think it's time to start exercising and I despise exercise! We live on a farm and by the time chores are done outside, then house chores are done inside I just can't seem to get motivated to "work out". Love going to the gym but it's 20 miles away so not feasable to go cost wise. Looking back at what I've just written they are all excuses......

Hi all....guess I'm usually a fair weather friend....as long as things are going well I comment a lot. Now that things aren't so hot I tend to "check in" with you guys and then feel ashamed or something and don't respond to anything! Anyway, still haven't lost any extra since Thanksgiving! There is definitely restriction, just not sure if it's not enough or if it's me eating out of habit?!?!?! Still haven't started exercising (you can't lecture me any more than I've lectured myself!!) and it doesn't seem to matter what I eat, the weight still stays with in five pounds back and forth. That alone makes me think that the fill is good enough because I am restricted enough to not overeat a lot. I still eat just about anything I want, after the last fill the Diet Coke is to a minimum and the bread doesn't happen hardly at all. Not sure what I want anyone to say.....just feels good to vent a little to people who understand! Thanks for "listening" and know that I check in on you each and every day and my thoughts are with you through the good and not so good times!

It's quite normal to be hungry for the first few months after surgery. The band is there but hasn't been "activated", that's how I always tried to explain it. Try not to totally destroy any weight lost so far and just know that as soon as you start getting fills it will get better. My doctor told me at the beginning that it's quite normal for the first few months to gain a little weight. Drink lots of water and eat low calorie foods when the hunger gets bad. Good luck!

I know....if there was a Diet Coke Anonomous I would be the chapter leader! Was so excited when I got the band that it wasn't hard to quit the DC for 6 weeks. Unfortunately my Doctor doesn't have a problem with the carbonation and I was hooked again. My doctors basic theory is, if it works do it, if it doesn't....don't! Diet Coke doesn't taste quite as good and does leave me feeling bloated and uncomfortable since this last fill.....hoping this will be the thing that FINALLY gets me to quit, or at least slow down a bit! Cindi....good luck on the horse! Last time I was on one of those (had to use a gate to get up on it by the way) it saw the barn and ran....and I do mean ran, all the way back to the barn. At the barn it was where it wanted to go, stopped quickly and I kept going! Haven't been on once since and I'm perfectly fine with that. I hurt so bad the next day I couldn't get out of bed! angyl...I would also like to know what the nutritionist says, if you don't mind! It's always interesting to see what each doc/specialist has for input.

Wish someone could answer all the restriction questions!! I'm with everyone's comments about what a "good" restriction is. THe last Dr. appt. I went to they took all my fill out for the first time. Everything was in that was supposed to be there (4.0 cc). Had me go on liquids for a couple days, that jump started the weight loss, 5 pounds in 5 days! This last fill was definitely a changing moment for me, just took a drink of Crystal Light and it took a bit to go down. Diet Coke, which is a staple drink of mine, doesn't seem to work very often at all now! Was still able to eat about half of a Rueben sandwich but it took a while and I was very careful. WE've all done so well, I think it's just a week to week thing that we'll figure out as we go along. Also, have to add.....I went roller skating witht the kids and the local 4-H group last night! First time in 25 years that I'd even attempted, loved every minute of it and didn't fall once! The muscles are a little sore this morning and was having small cramps in my legs last night. But with all the soreness it felt sooooooo good to be able to do things with the kids again, things that in just one short year ago I would of never even attempted! Hope everyone has a good day!

So Sorry!! Don't have any good advice, just know it happens to us all sooner or later. How is your water consumption? When I'm doing everything else good but still not losing water is usually what I'm lacking....seems Diet Coke isn't the answer!!