Hey All,

I am starting this thread for anyone having their band done next week. I am scheduled for surgery on the 11th. I am so excited!!! I have visited a lot of threads on here and have met some incredible people with incredible stories!!! Have met some not so welcoming people to threads too but we won't focus on that Anyway, just want to keep connected to people as we go through this journey. Anyone interested come on board and let's do this together!!!! Good luck all and God Bless!!!!!

Hello May Bandsters!!

I'm exactly four weeks post-op today. It's unbelievable! I still remember going for my first consult visit, it feels like yesterday!

I've lost 17 lbs since surgery and I am ecstatic! I'm wearing jeans to work today (jeans!) that I haven't worn in years, and they aren't digging into my tummy!! That alone is worth celebrating.

I had my first fill on Tuesday. It was a little more uncomfortable than I thought, but nothing bad. I have 2.5cc's in my 10cc band. I had performance anxiety while he was adjusting me. I kinda wanted him to put more in, but when he asked me how tight I was I think he could tell I was lying! We settled on 2.5 which is maybe a little looser than it could be but I really didn't want to go back for them to remove .1 or something just so I could be comfortable. Besides, I'm losing so I'm happy.

What are all your doctors saying about exercise?? I'm so motivated to get up and go but I haven't heard a conclusive answer on when. Since the fill, my doctor just keeps saying, "When you're ready." When am I ready? I don't want to disrupt anything. Is anyone here already exercising hard core?

Hey yall- How is everyone doing with their weight loss??

I had my first fill last Friday (July 2)- I have no idea how much he put in- He didn't say, and I didn't ask. I figure there's no need in worrying about how much is in it, as long as it's working. So far, I have gone from 240 to 217- I lost most of that the first week- Only 1 pound the month after that, and 5-ish pounds since my fill. Since my fill, I have noticed that I can stay full longer- I don't get full any faster though, and that is bothering me a little- It's mainly will power that's keeping me from eating everything in the house, and I doubt it will hold up much longer. I don't go back for another fill until August 13- They're really making me mad about procrastinating with my fills- The doctor tells me to come back in a month, and the secretary makes my appointment for 6 weeks instead. I know I'm not the brightest crayon in the box, but where I'm from, a month is 4 weeks! Then when I ask about it, they say the doctor is going to be out of the office the 2 weeks prior- Well, why not move it UP a week instead of pushing it back?? Then, I call the next day with some excuse as to why I can't come in the scheduled day, and they move it up a week (Yes... the week that the doctor is supposedly going to be out of the office) I just paid these people $15,500, and I feel like they are jerking me around. They were all about getting me into surgery quick, fast, and in a hurry, but now that they have my money, they want to make me wait forever between my fills- They know I'm only paid for a year, so why are they bullshitting with me?? So yeah... I'm really not happy with that AT ALL!! But- I am trying to bite my tongue, and be happy that it's kind-of working now.

I've been exercising quiet a bit here lately- Got my Ab Circle Pro out of storage, and my exercise bike- We can't afford a gym membership right now, so I've just been doing it here at home. How is everyone else doing??

I too had issues with scheduling my first fill. It was supposed to be June 15, 1 month after surgery. But on June 14 the surgeon's office called to say they couldn't do it my scheduled day because the surgeon was going on vacation and didn't like to schedule fills in case something went wrong while he was gone. Shouldn't they have figured that out when they scheduled me?

I asked them if I could see his partner if something went wrong and was told "no, we don't like to do that" and then they tried to reschedule me for July 13. I told them that it was absolutely unacceptable to have to wait 2 months post-surgery when I was only supposed to wait 1. By that point, I could eat pretty much anything and everything and had no restriction at all and I wasn't losing any weight. So they finally were able to fit me in for this past Tuesday. At my weigh-in Tuesday, I was at the same 13 lb weight loss from after my post-op diet so that was kind of disappointing but at least I didn't gain.

Hopefully now that I've had a fill, I'll start moving down the scale again. I still don't feel much restriction so I might try to go back again next week. My doc does fills under fluroscopy and he put 5 cc in a 11 cc Realize band. He numbed my stomach so I couldn't feel the saline going in (other than pressure) but that lidocaine shot stung like hell and I have a pretty substantial bruise there now. I wonder if it will be like that every time?

I too had issues with scheduling my first fill. It was supposed to be June 15, 1 month after surgery. But on June 14 the surgeon's office called to say they couldn't do it my scheduled day because the surgeon was going on vacation and didn't like to schedule fills in case something went wrong while he was gone. Shouldn't they have figured that out when they scheduled me?

I asked them if I could see his partner if something went wrong and was told "no, we don't like to do that" and then they tried to reschedule me for July 13. I told them that it was absolutely unacceptable to have to wait 2 months post-surgery when I was only supposed to wait 1. By that point, I could eat pretty much anything and everything and had no restriction at all and I wasn't losing any weight. So they finally were able to fit me in for this past Tuesday. At my weigh-in Tuesday, I was at the same 13 lb weight loss from after my post-op diet so that was kind of disappointing but at least I didn't gain.

Hopefully now that I've had a fill, I'll start moving down the scale again. I still don't feel much restriction so I might try to go back again next week. My doc does fills under fluroscopy and he put 5 cc in a 11 cc Realize band. He numbed my stomach so I couldn't feel the saline going in (other than pressure) but that lidocaine shot stung like hell and I have a pretty substantial bruise there now. I wonder if it will be like that every time?

My doctor didn't numb mine at all, and it didn't hurt any- I could see it filling up on the x-ray machine, but I couldn't feel any difference.

2 months is absolutely absurd! As long as we've waited to get this surgery, do they really think we want to wait any longer that necessary to get it working at it's best?

I don't get it!!

Yeah, believe me - I raised hell! I was so mad and it still took 3 extra weeks to get in. How hard is it to find 10 minutes in a day? My co-worker that got it done with the same doc said just to keep on them and if it's too loose, try to get back in ASAP so I think that's what I'll try to do, rather than wait until my next appt on August 4.

I get my 1st fill July 13th and that is 2 months after my banding. The delay was because I was out of town. I feel better reading that several of you have had a slow-down in weight loss also. I lost quite a bit pre-diet and right after but now I seem to eat more than I should too easily. I have to make myself stop or I could just eat like the old days. I hope the fill will help "remind" me to eat slow. I will let y'all know how the fill procedure goes.

I get my third fill on July 13th. I have really slowed down my eating and most likely will not ask them to add any more to my band. I've lost 30lbs in six weeks. I've slowed now but expect that to come and go. Good luck to you on your fill.