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Welcome Lap Band Veterans!



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Hi Everyone, I am new but I am a vet. I had my surgery on Jan. 22, 2002. I am like everyone else cos I had tried every diet known to man. Since surgery I feel so much better. I got off of my diabetes meds for 7 years. But since I have a terrible history of diabetes, I went back on insulin. But I take small doses of insulin. I don't ever regret getting the band. I have been able to keep most of the weight off. That is a miracle for me because I was constantly hungry. I give thanks to my surgeon who saved my life and made it possble to help other people reach their weight loss surgery goals. I can help others and learn from the" Vets". I am happy to belong to such great bandsters. I wish everyone continued success in there journey.

:)

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Welcome back Mony!

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Hi mony! Good to hear from a long term successful bandster.

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Welcome!Mony. Congrats on your maintenace!

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I adore hearing veteran bander stories. It seems to be a huge combination of better food. Better exercise. Following your bands up and down moods. Hydration. And just for me. Hanging in there everyday. No overeating or I will lose the food. Then I'm hungry and my band is upset. And me And I don't want to "fight" my band. Seven years last month and still learning from this site. Thank you

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:) I have the Book and this is a reminder to finish reading it! I got interrupted after several chapters and put it in the bedroom bookcase when cleaning. . . . thanks for the flashback.

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July 13th was 4 years for me. I have not been here in a long time and I miss it. Will be fun to see people I have not seen in a long time. Have been doing good keeping the weight off. On some meds that cause some weight gain so trying to battle that but need the med so seem to be managing it. How is everyone? Everyone in my support group has moved on the other operations and I am the only Band but it is working for me so I am keeping it.

cheri

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I'm 11+ years with my original Lap-Band :D

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Hello - I have had the Midband since 2004. I lost all my weight successfully and over the past 8 months I have gained 40lbs. My band will not hold a fill. A fill only lasts about a day or two. I am hungry a lot and don't feel sated after I eat. I have tried eating around 1300 - 1500 calories a day and my weight does not budge. My surgeon does not know what is wrong. I have had a 2 day leak test - no leak. No hernia, no slippage none of the typical problems that can arise.

My port was pressured tested under exploratory surgery and it is fine. I am looking to experienced bandsters for help and support. Am I in the right place?

Thanks!

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2004, yes you are but what's a midband? What do you mean a fill only lasts a day or two? You mean you feel no restriction or satiety after a few days? Or, does the saline leach/leak out?

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Hi - a Midband is the brand name of the type of Gastric Band I have.

My band will not stay restricted which would indicate leaking but my surgeon says it isn't. Have had 2 different CT scans with dye. After a day or two my band does nit maintain restriction and I can eat anything.

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I am going to try the 5 day pouch test. Trying to get to the bottom of my band problems. My band only has a 2 cc fill in it now as it locked at 4cc. Normally I take 8cc.

What is the correct procedure for detecting a leaky band. My fills were only giving me restriction for about 2 days. I have had a 2 day dye test under CT scans and exploratory port surgery. They could only access about 6" of tubing and pressure test the port in this procedure. All looked good. Feeling despair.

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What does your band being locked at 4 mean?

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    • Aunty Mamo

      Iʻm roughly 6 weeks post-op this morning and have begun to feel like a normal human, with a normal human body again. I started introducing solid foods and pill forms of medications/supplements a couple of weeks ago and it's really amazing to eat meals with my family again, despite the fact that my portions are so much smaller than theirs. 
      I live on the island of Oʻahu and spend a lot of time in the water- for exercise, for play,  and for spiritual & mental health. The day I had my month out appointment with my surgeon, I packed all my gear in my truck, anticipating his permission to get back in the ocean. The minute I walked out of that hospital I drove straight to the shore and got in that water. Hallelujah! My appointment was at 10 am. I didn't get home until after 5 pm. 
      I'm down 31 pounds since the day of surgery and 47 since my pre-op diet began, with that typical week long stall occurring at three weeks. I'm really starting to see some changes lately- some of my clothing is too big, some fits again. The most drastic changes I notice however are in my face. I've also noticed my endurance and flexibility increasing. I was really starting to be held up physically, and I'm so grateful that I'm seeing that turn around in such short order. 
      My general disposition lately is hopeful and motivated. The only thing that bugs me on a daily basis still is the way those supplements make my house smell. So stink! But I just bought a smell proof bag online that other people use to put their pot in. My house doesn't stink anymore. 
       
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    • BeanitoDiego

      Oh yeah, something I wanted to rant about, a billing dispute that cropped up 3 months ago.
      Surgery was in August of 2023. A bill shows up for over $7,000 in January. WTF? I asks myself. I know that I jumped through all of the insurance hoops and verified this and triple checked that, as did the surgeon's office. All was set, and I paid all of the known costs before surgery.
      A looong story short, is that an assistant surgeon that was in the process of accepting money from my insurance company touched me while I was under anesthesia. That is what the bill was for. But hey, guess what? Some federal legislation was enacted last year to help patients out when they cannot consent to being touched by someone out of their insurance network. These types of bills fall under something called, "surprise billing," and you don't have to put up with it.
      https://www.cms.gov/nosurprises
      I had to make a lot of phone calls to both the surgeon's office and the insurance company and explain my rights and what the maximum out of pocket costs were that I could be liable for. Also had to remind them that it isn't my place to be taking care of all of this and that I was going to escalate things if they could not play nice with one another.
      Quick ending is that I don't have to pay that $7,000+. Advocate, advocate, advocate for yourself no matter how long it takes and learn more about this law if you are ever hit with a surprise bill.
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    • BeanitoDiego

      Some days I feel like an infiltrator... I'm participating in society as a "thin" person. They have no idea that I haven't always been one of them! 🤣
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    • ChunkCat

      Thank you everyone for your well wishes! I totally forgot I wrote an update here... I'm one week post op today. I gained 15 lbs in water weight overnight because they had to give me tons of fluids to bring my BP up after surgery! I stayed one night in the hospital. Everything has been fine except I seem to have picked up a bug while I was there and I've been running a low grade fever, coughing, and a sore throat. So I've been hydrating well and sleeping a ton. So far the Covid tests are negative.
      I haven't been able to advance my diet past purees. Everything I eat other than tofu makes me choke and feels like trying to swallow rocks. They warned me it would get worse before it gets better, so lets hope this is all normal. I have my follow up on Monday so we'll see. Living on shakes and soup again is not fun. I had enough of them the first time!! LOL 
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    • BeanitoDiego

      Still purging all of the larger clothing. This morning, a shirt that I ADORED wearing ended up on top. Hard to let it go, but it was also hard to let go of those habits that also no longer serve my highest good. Onward and upward!
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