hi folks

thought that i would introduce myself my name is Dee. I was banded here in the uk back in june of 2005 and i ahve lost a total of 6 stone 2lbs or 82lbs and i ahve lost 5 dress sizes.

it has not been a simple path as i am sure that many others will say. i Have had 2 fills and have 7mls in a 10 ml band I had my second fill in january and i can still tollerate only fluids. My service provider is not willing to give me an unfill and becasue my health authority pays i can not do anything to change that, so i try to get as much nutrition in as far as fluids that i can.

I am a single mum to 4 children and i work with teh homeless my life had become so restricted so this year to be able to regain life has been a wonderful blessing for me i can now do so many things that we once denied me simple thingws like walking and having a bath things that everyone takes for granted my confidence has sored and at the moment i ahve anew battle on my hand that is to get my drivng licence i ahve a test in a week of so hopefully i will be a legal driver after that.

i use a forum in the uk that has been a total God send to me first registered on here but i ahve only been reading so i thought that i would post and introduce myself

other than being over restricted and not being able to get solid food in it has not been too bad between my fills in in january i did try soild foods but i kept pbing which was not good and my stoma became inflamed and swollen and increased my restriction so i am hoping that 4 weeks off foods will give me a weight loss off my stomach and so reducing my restriction.I am not due to se my service provider till may/june time so need to struggle on till then in the first week i lost 7lbs but this week i have not lost which is strange becasue i am on around 800 cals and under a day one thing that i find strange is that pre surgery if i was under 1000 cals a day i would ahve dropped weight now i find that i need to get under 800 on a daily basis in order to lose weight now so if anyone has nay tips i will love you forever

well that is possibly enough for now

love

dee:kiss2:

Hi Dee, welcome to LBT. I'm shocked to hear that they won't give you an unfill. They are aware that you cannot eat solids and havent for 3 months now? That is not healthy and I'd be yelling at the top of my lungs until someone listened to me. The reason youre not dropping weight now is because your body is in starvation mode, clinging to every ounce of nutrition it can (stored fat). If you are losing weight, youre losing it in muscle.

Are you drinking Protein shakes? You need to be getting in a minimum of 60 grams per day. I'd suggest even up to 100 grams since you arent getting any solid foods. And be sure to get whey protein. Vegetable Proteins such as soy are hard for the stomach to break down, so the body only absorbs about 30% of the protein.

Can you puree things like bean Soups, chicken breasts, cottage cheese, fruit whatever? If you can get it to liquid form, it might be gross but it's better than starvation. And you'll start losing weight at a healthy rate as well. And be sure you're taking good daily Vitamins and Calcium suppliments.

I just can't believe they are forcing you to stay like this. PB'ing like that can damage your band and/or your stomach and esophogus (spelling?). Please yell louder!

hi susan

i have yelled and screamed

isw my service provider last week and he said that if i did 4 more weeks on fluids and then slowly reintroduced mashed and tehn soilds it should give teh stoma time to settle as it is his opinion that it is swollen and inflamed from constant pbing as in his opinion it is not possible to over fill under xray we all know as we are living the path that it is but he is not willing to listen

as far as supplements my general parctisoner is fantastic and is tryignt o sort out supplements

as far as protiens and calcium is concerned i tend to add extra dry milk powder to soups which i tend to make myself i add milk powder to milk shakes and i use things like lentils and stuff as they are quite hig in protiens

i have almost 3 weeks before i can try soild foods again

i am not too fussed and i am not missing food to be honest as i ahve got used to not eating real foods so i am not missing textures that sounds really sad

i can no longer tollerate meat even in liquoid form i am often sick so i am using alteratives such as cheese spread in sop that is quite nice

now that i am back on to fluids i am not pbing so hopefully resting the pouch an d alowing the swelling to go down will help and i will be able to tollerate food once agai

thanks for your reply

dee

xxxx

hi dee could you tell me the website that you go on in the uk im also in the uk and im new to this .i will be haveing my band on the 31st off this month .i hope your feeling much better now .susan x

hi susan

the uk web site tht i use is http://www.wlsinfoforums.org.uk/wlsinf/modules.php?name=unreg

it is experincing a few tec probs at the mo a victim of its own sucess

but keep trying becaseu most of the time it works

if you wanna pm me and we can natter and exchange emails if you want

where are you being banded and who is your surgeon

dee

xxxx

Hey Braveheart,

Hm, well it sounds like they are trying to help you get better and haven't just abandoned you. I'm glad to hear that at least. Still, it seems rather odd that they won't take out some of your fill. From what I've heard, that's a natural step to take if there's been irritation. Sounds to me like it's irritated because of being overfilled in the first place! Very frustrating for you, I'm sure. When you do go back in, be sure to post and let us know what happened ok? *hugs*

hi

i do not go back untill may

my biggest problem is that i am on such limited cal intake that i now gain weight even at an intake of 800 cals a day and a 5mile walk

being unwell through malnutrition is not easy becasue i have no energy

i spoke to an independant dietican and she has told me that my matbloism is so stuffed up that it is going to take months before i see a steady weight loss and i might regain some of what i ahve lost how frustrating is that

i feel like i am floundering in the dark

dee

I'm really shocked your service provider is allowing you to continue this way. Have you considered going public...? It's amazing what some NHS Trusts will do if you threaten them with negative publicity... i know, i work for one. It means revealing personal facts (i'd say WLS was a pretty personal thing) but if you are prepared to publish the details, it will make the service provider look so bad it may spur them into action.

Just a thought!

I too am a member of wlsinfo.org and am getting very frustrated with the tecnical problems. However, i;ve heard the moderator is, so i will be patient. Still glad i joined, i'm met some lovely people through the chat room when i can get on.

D'OH! I've heard the moderator is ILL, that's what i meant to say.