Acadia

That's a good process Spot. Mine will put in between 0.5-1.5 cc and make you drink before you leave the office. With my unfill I had a barium swallow so we could see if there were any issues with the band since I vomited a lot when I was tight and everything looked perfect. It was very odd to see my pouch, it hadn't stretched at all and the band was in its original placement. It's kind of cool to watch Fluid go through there. My next fill will be around June 23 and will only be 0.5 cc since 1 cc had me eating only 1-2 Tbsp of solid food at a time. With a 1 cc reduction I'm currently at 3.5 in a 10 cc band and can eat 1-2 cups of food at a time (depending on the food). Based on my previous experience my practitioner and I both think that 0.5 will be the perfect fill. It's definitely a learning experience, you may not know you're in your green zone until you've passed it. But once you pass it - you know. imtoxic: I hope your unfill went well.

I just went through all the tornado warnings so I totally understand. Just be careful tonight and get in first thing in the AM. You may need to insist that your Dr do your fills slowly - 1 cc at at time. If I had a 5 cc fill I would have been completely restricted and would have been at the ER. For me 2.5 cc had me almost totally restricted to the point of not being able to swallow saliva. Slower is better, remember - an unfill generally costs the same as a fill so you're better to get fills slow than go through being too tight then needing a total unfill. I speak from experience, being too full is horrendous. You feel like crap every day.

If you can keep any Fluid down then you can wait until morning. Try something hot like a sip of hot tea. If you can't keep anything down (including your saliva) then you need to go to the ER.

You're welcome. It should go away soon.

Keep in mind that women also have natural weight fluctuations once a month so you may have a week every month where you lose little, nothing, or gain a bit, but the next week you may lose more. I would count on 1.5 lbs/week. That's safe. If you do more, fantastic. If you do less, you can make it up. 3lbs a week is not possible every single week for a year. It's medically not possible without causing your body damage. Also - rather than make your goals lbs, make a monthly measurement goal. Say to lose 2" off of your waist per month. That is a much better goal to work on than lbs. Lbs lost can be muscle. Inches lost are rarely muscle.

It depends on a lot of things, if everything goes well: Part depends on how well behaved the kids are. You will not be able to lift them for at least the first week. Nothing over 10 lbs the first couple of days, nothing over 25 lbs the first week. You will be sore, no piggy back rides, etc. because you'll likely have back and shoulder pain from gas. It's doable, that only lasts a week. Try to have help around if you can. For travel, you can travel. Just remember you'll be on liquids and/or soft food. Pack foods accordingly. And bring a little pillow or towel to put between the seat belt and your belly so you don't irritate it. Now, if you turn into an open surgery or anything goes wrong, you'll need someone around and travel may not be a good idea.

The stoma (hole between your pouch and stomach) is usually around the size of a dime in diameter. food will generally pass through easily if it's chewed well and eaten slowly. This is why you can eat 4 cups of popcorn without issue, it breaks down into tiny little pieces (just add Water to popcorn and see what happens). But, if you eat something that has fibers (meat, fruit skins, citrus fruits) or is gluey (pasta, rice, bread) then it won't break down into tiny pieces and will start to form a 'clump' in and before the stoma. The first bite might go through fine but a few fibers will get stuck. Then the second bite will build on that, and so on. It's like trying to pour semi solid Jello through a funnel. Some will go through but the chunks will get caught. Eventually your pouch is able to work the food through, but that entire time you have food literally stuck in the stoma and backing up in the pouch. So that's why you get stuck. If you want to test the theory - which I don't recommend, but hey, some people like to do that: 1) Drink 1 cup of water. It should go down without issue. 2) Eat a handful of Cheetos (puffs) or 2 cups of Popcorn. Both should go down without issue, they're all air and they will crunch down to virtually nothing. 3) Eat 1 cup of macaroni and cheese, sushi rice, a doughnut, or a soft dinner roll. These will make you feel like you're stuck. Not the first few bites, but a few bites in, not good. Take a drink of Fluid at that point and you'll likely vomit. Not PB, full on vomit. If you're ever seriously stuck there are two things you can do to stop it moderately quickly: 1) Eat 1 Tbsp of meat tenderizer (it's just papaya enzyme), mix it with a tiny bit of water but don't stir it into a glass of water, you'll bring it back up if you do that. This can take 30-60 minutes to provide relief. 2) Take 2-3 large drinks of fluid, you will feel HORRIBLE, you will salivate like mad, and you will vomit. This is a last resort method, but is safer than full on vomiting because you are providing something for your pouch to force out. If you do it dry you risk pushing your stomach up through the band. Relief is instant. The above items aren't ideal, but in a pinch they will work.

It can stick around for a week or so - but, if it's ever bright red with fresh clots, get to the ER.

A note - my first and second fills were 1.5 and 1 cc respectively and with the 1 cc fill I was too full, vomiting almost daily. Took out the 1 cc yesterday and doing much better, I can actually eat. In a month I'll go back and have 0.5 cc put in. Your Dr. never should have put 4 cc in without having you drink something after to ensure you could drink the whole thing. And not just a sip - a good 1/2 c.

You are way too tight - go back asap for an unfill. Get at least 3 cc taken out. Tell your Dr you want to drink a glass of Water in the office while the needle is in so he can take more out if necessary. If you don't go in for an unfill immediately you're risking having your band slip.

It can be related to a lot of things. For women, monthly cycles (even if you don't have a period) will still contribute, most women experience a week or more when they are tighter than other times. It could be from allergies, a slight inflammation reaction. Could be swelling from acid reflux (take something like Prilosec OTC for 1-6 months to retrain your stomach to produce less acid). Monitor what you're eating, your weight, and how you feel each day for three months and you'll see a pattern.

That sounds a lot more like gall bladder pain than gas or something being stuck. Gall bladder pain usually starts like a tightness, then gets worse. You may start sweating, feeling like you need to throw up, feel like you're having a heart attack. It will probably be one of the worst pains you'll ever feel. No position will relieve the pain. You may have issues breathing. Then anywhere from 10 minutes to 4 hours later it will just stop. And you'll feel fine but exhausted. This is something to pay attention to. If it happens again make a note of what you were eating that day. High fat foods, dairy, chocolate, caffeine, they all trigger attacks. And it could be hours later when the attack comes up. If it happens again make an appointment with your doctor and ask for an ultrasound of your gallbladder or HIDA test. It's best to find out for sure and get it dealt with early if it is a gall bladder issue.

What's your caloric intake?

Take this experience as an opportunity to see how well you're able to cope without restriction. Once you lose all of your weight you may be at an ideal point to have most of your fill removed and learn to live without a fill. This is an opportunity - not a hinderance.

Agreed, too tight. As someone who has suffered through being too tight for two months due to insurance and billing issues I strongly recommend you go in as soon as possible to have an unfill of what you had put in - or at least 1/2-3/4 of what you had put in.

I went for dinner last night with a friend, got veggies and rice with tofu. Had one bite of tofu, a piece of greens, and a fork of rice and that's all I could eat. And I could only drink a few sips of water beforehand. It was horrible. I know I'm too tight but with billing discrepancies an unfill could cost me between $12 and $750. Yeah, I'm still getting that worked out. Until I know I'll stay too tight.

"Regular coffee and caffinated [sic] sodas do not count as fluids and for every cup/can you drink I was told you have to drink another 16 oz of Water to make up for the loss because of the caffine. (not saying this is a fact, just what I have been told)" That's actually not true. Though you will urinate a tiny bit more, it's not enough to warrant drinking double the amount to make up for it. Per the Mayo Clinic: Recent research shows that this is not true and that caffeine only has a diuretic effect if you consume large amounts of it — more than 500 to 600 milligrams (or 4 to 7 cups of coffee) a day. However, adding cream and sugar to anything (including the sugar in soda) makes it not worthwhile for drinking.

When I was first banded I had no issues with breads or Pasta. After my first fill bread became an issue, rice was a problem, and pasta was very difficult and resulted in getting stuck and PBing almost every time. After my second fill, I can't eat any of them easily. Bread only if it's toasted so much it's dry and rice only if it's very dry and I can only have a couple of grains per bite. Pasta causes way too many issues to bother - even something thin like kraft dinner type noodles - two bites of whole grain pasta like that and I'm PBing. I imagine I'm a little too full, but at least it stops me from eating foods that I shouldn't be eating anyway.

For the first week don't expect to get to 64 oz per day. Surgeons generally recommend 4-8 oz the first day (the day you have surgery), 12-24 oz the second day, 24-36 oz the third day, 36-48 oz the fourth day, 48-64 oz the fifth day and a minimum of 64 oz per day going forward. Increasing your Fluid intake slowly gives your body time to readjust. Start with hot tea in the morning, then go for cooler liquids throughout the day, hot broth, etc. If you start your day with a hot fluid your band will open up a bit and it will make things easier.

If you're getting it with even the slightest bit of food (regardless of what the food is) then your stomach is producing way too much acid and you need to stay on a Protein pump inhibitor and it's likely that you're a little too tight so the acid isn't able to get back down to your big stomach. Are you keeping a food diary to see what triggers it for you? I used to find that plain oatmeal (odd I know), acidic foods, spicy foods, fatty foods all caused severe reflux. But with fruits, veggies, and other more inert items, no issues. It would be interesting to see if there's a pattern, even a very slight one. For example, do you get indigestion when you eat Jell-o? It's one of the more inert foods available.

Popcorn is a slider for a lot of people (including me). Even at the over-filled spot I'm at now I can still eat 3 cups. But 3 cups of movie theater popcorn will be about 300-400 calories depending how much butter you put on it. It may be best to bring Water, small fruits, granola (though that is also high in sugar), veggies, and if you do get a snack at the theater try for chocolate covered peanuts (they're crunchy enough to be broken down without getting stuck and have good fat), licorice (small bites and chew it well - it won't bind together to get stuck), or a slushie if your theater has them.

I'm 5'4" and my Dr. said I can expect to get down to 150 (100 lbs loss). My preferred weight is a body builder 125 for competitions. But I'll see how I feel as I lose, at some point you'll just know what the right weight is.

The rash is likely from iodine. They put an iodine mesh on your abdomen when they do the surgery (that's what you see in the movies that looks like plastic on the body when they cut into it). I had it as well. The rash is usually in the same shape as the mesh - a square or rectangular shape with well defined edges up your side. And it usually won't extend onto your breasts (other than potentially the underside). For the pain, you can have pain for weeks, it all depends on your body and how it heals and how much attention you pay to the pain, how much you coddle yourself. If you cater to the pain it will last longer (this is why they get you up and out of bed quickly after surgery). Move more, do more, and your body will heal faster. For the burping, that's common. You'll have that for some time. You may want to ask your doctor if you had a fill (active or passive) when you had your surgery. If you did then you may have too much in you, resulting in the persistent burps.

Restricted - I can eat 1/2-1 cup of food (depending on the food) and not be hungry for 4-6 hours. Over eaten - feels like food is caught in my throat and I need to vomit to bring it up. Or feel like I need to. When I do bring something up, instant relief. Stuck - feels like a hard dull pain in my chest, a similar feeling to how it feels when you actually get something stuck in your throat, that all encompassing pain. Once it clears there is immediate relief.

Are you taking an antacid or a Protein pump inhibitor? The latter is preferable. Something like Prilosec OTC, take it for six months to allow your 'big' stomach to reduce its acid production since it isn't getting as much food as it used to.