I relocated across Australia 3 months ago, so I got my old dr to send a referal to a new dr here where I now live so I could get continued aftercare.

My band has been loose for about a year, and there isn't much I can't eat. I very rarely get stuck. My band has felt looser and looser every month. Then about 3 weeks ago, it's like it 'disappeared'. I couldn't feel it at all. My appetite returned in full force and without restriction, I have been enjoying it a little too much . I gained 5 lbs in 3 weeks.

So when I saw my new dr yesterday, I mentioned that I couldn't feel my band. He then decided to withdraw all the Fluid in my band, and found that I only have 6cc in it, when, according to my old dr's notes, I should have had 8.5cc in it.

But because I still had fluid in it, I should still have some restriction, so he is concerned that I'm not feeling anything at all.

He therefore suspects either I have a leak and have slowly lost any restriction I once had, or my band has eroded.

He added another cc to my band, and lo and behold, I'm feeling something today. Only barely, mind you, but I can definitely feel my band again. So I'm hoping it means it's just a slow leak and not erosion after all. But either way, he's booked me for a gastroendoscopy next Tuesday so we can found out for sure what it is.

So please, cross your fingers for me that it's not an erosion.

P.S. In the meantime, I'm back on the wagon, exercising (which I'd already restarted recently) and now watching what I eat again. I intend to lose those 5lbs and maintain no matter what the outcome of the gastroendoscopy is. I have worked too damned hard to lose the weight to gain any of it back now. I've kept it off for 12 months with a loose band, I can do it now.

Glad to hear everything is fine, I had the same thing happen to me last month. It was definetly a scary thought. Now they have me going in every month for a fill, and the dr is monitoring very closesly what goes in and out. It takes a little longer to get a fill, but I'd rather they monitor this close that have a real complication!

Glad that you had good news. Jachut next time you are over this side of the world give me a shout.

Hey Lellow, would you believe that I've just gotten home from seeing my surgeon and I too have a small prolapse/pouch dilation. He wasnt too worried, but told me to take it VERY easy and we could probably baby the band along for a very long time that way. He said it was up to me if I want to go the whole hog and do liquids for a while. Personally I think I will. I'm still weighing less than I did when diagnosed with cancer, but 10lb more than I did a year ago and I'm not liking it much, methinks a liquid diet and a little weight loss would work wonders.

Do you think you let go of those really stringent eating habits at all? I know I did. First nine months unfilled, I got used to eating what I liked and eating normally again and I never really went back to bandster habits. I just took a monster gulp of coffee, I drink while I"m eating all the time, I often eat past satisfied to full (even though that's not much food).

anyway, I know we can both do it. Its not such a big deal. It only becomes a real problem if you let it. And if an unfill needs to happen for either one of us, then so be it, I know we can handle it.

Oh hell yes, I let go of the bandster habits. The last 12 months, I've been pretty unrestricted so I have been enjoying it. I eat what I want, drink what I want, and I've maintained pretty well.

It's probably only been in the last month when I couldn't feel the band at all anymore that I thought, oh wow it's like not having a band at all! I started eating til I was full at almost every meal - I couldn't even remember how that felt before this - and started gaining past what I was comfortable with (2kgs). That's when I thought, um ok, maybe I need a fill now.

But the truth is, I didn't need a fill to lose it. I've lost that 2kgs now already so I know I was just be being an opportunist and I can still stay the course if I need to.

I am happy to hear, though, that you only have a leak and a small prolapse too. While it would have been better to have nothing, this is not the worst case scenario at least. I reckon too that a liquid diet might be what needs to be done. Might be a good starting point to get back into bandster habits again at the very least. If it prevents the need to be unfilled, even better!

I'm thinking I might start mine on Monday. Weekends are hard for liquid diets. That's my reason and I'm sticking with it.

And yeah, I'm sure we'll be fine no matter what. You and I have the same 'we're not giving this up so easily' attitude, I think!

Had soup for dinner, lol. Bought some Optifast when I went to pick up some prescriptions - asopposed to protein shakes i actually like Optifast and do make smoothies with it from time to time. Wine is a liquid, as is coffee. And afterall, this isnt about weight loss per se, no need to really starve. This wont be so bad....

I picked up some Optifast too. I don't like protein shakes either - bluergh. And yeah I won't stick to just 3 shakes like a diet - I'll have as much liquid as I need to not be hungry, coz yeah, I figure it isn't about trying to lose weight but to give the band a chance to reposition. Coffee, tea, soups, wine etc are all still on the menu for Monday!