Hi guys, I haven't been around much lately as I am planning to leave my husband (painful but necessary :cry ) - I have missed you and reading your wonderful posts - I just 'dropped by' to ask a question...

I have finally (after six mths of waiting) got my surgeon to agree to give me a fill and I have had 2 now - but I dont think they are working properly. He said that I was filled 'nice and tight' and I shouldn't be able to eat bread, but I can still eat a quarter pounder and large chips!!! Its true that I was still full 5hrs later but should I be able to fit so much in my pouch?? I wasn't being deliberately reckless when I ate this - I cut the quarter pounder into quarters (funnily enough) and monitored my level of fullness as I went - and I could eat it all. I was very full at the end but didn't feel like throwing up or anything. I thought we were only supposed to be able to fit about 1/2 a cup of food in there. What do you think - have I stretched my pouch? Any thoughts about what I should do?

I'm at pretty much the same stage, maybe my fill has kicked in a bit more though. We had McDonalds the other day out of sheer necessity and the salads there are soggy and disgusting. So I ate a cheeseburger and small fries, slowly. I was full after that, well and truly so I can certainly not eat as much as I did prebanding. I'm not sure I would have gotten through a quarterpounder, but I'm pretty sure what I eat is just going through without much hindrance. I find I've got the hungries in the afternoon and I'm starving by midday for lunch again so I definitely need more in there.

Compare it to the old days. If you're anything like me you'd eat the quarterpounder and fries and then an hour later decide you'd blown it anyway and keep on eating for the rest of the day. You say you were still full 5 hours later, so that's probably a good sign. If you just eat the burger and fries and then go through to dinner, that's one up on the old days Lou, it all happens in tiny steps. Its frustrating to not be where you want to be but if you think about it you probably have made good progress towards gaining control of your eating.

I doubt you've stretched your pouch, I reckon you just need to be filled more and it takes some people longer than it takes others. Most of what I've lost I lost while I still had restriction following surgery, its slowed down so much now and I just want to get it moving again.

I hope you're OK and that these big life changes will see you right.

hi loopylou:)

u said u have had 2 fills sometimes it can take 3 or more

wot are u filled at?

wot size band do u have?

it also sounds to me that u need another fill so make sure he does give it to u

after my first fill of 1.5 i could eat 3 slices of pizza:(......but now with my second fill i have more restriction and can only eat one slice of pizza:)

goodluck with your next fill

I would say that you are wide open! However, it depends how long it took you to eat these items and did you chew really well? Shawn

I would say that it is fairly normal to be "wide open" still after only 2 fills.

Depending on the size of your band, and the size of the fills your doctor gives, it can take some time to get to your "sweet spot"

Was a post just deleted on this thread? Or have I finally lost my mind? lol

yes...it looks like a post has been deleted

Hey,

I have wondered where you have been. Sorry to hear about the split, I will be thinking of you.

As fro fills it took me 9 to reach good restriction, up until about the 7th I was still wide open as well. Dont worry to much, it will come...I am not sure what band you have but if you have the big band like me then restriction may take longer and more fills. Most of my Drs patients with the band are finding restriction at about 7 mls some more some less.

Good Luck and Hugs

So sorry to hear about your news! ((((hugs))))) I'd say, call me if you need to talk, but well, for the cost of that phone call you could probably come visit me in the garden spot of SE Idaho... (((((hugs)))))

Your story with the quarter pounder reminded me of the joke, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. You can probably eat anything if you take enough time.

You did this 5 hours after your fill, right? Well for some folks it takes a while for their fill to kick in, and say, by tomorrow night, you will be lucky to get in half of that.

Some bandsters can eat bread when they are at a "proper restriction" level. Each band is different. When I'm filled to the point where I can't eat bread, I'm too tight and have trouble eating anything. Just part of the weirdness of me.

If, in a week, you can still eat that much food, or more to the point, want to eat that much food, you might need more fill.

Also, you are under a lot of stress. For some of us, stress makes us tighten down like a vise-grip, others get wide open. You might be one of the ones that gets wide open under stress.

So be kind to yourself right now. You are going through one of the hardest things people go through. I want to tell you to not worry about your weight loss right now, because most people gain weight in times of stress. We will be here for you.