Throwing in the towel

stella · August 30, 2006

NewSho,

Glad you posted! I was filled on 8/4/06 and have not been able to eat anything solid since. If I do take a bite of something, chiken, egg, whatever, it can only be one bite and most of the time it gets stuck and is painful or turns into a PB. I can keep Soup and goldfish crackers down ok but am sick of that and want to eat veggies! I cant get to my Dr. for at least 3-4 more weeks. Do you think I should just hang in there and hope for weight loss to loosen the unpredictable band up?

Iulizbug · August 30, 2006

Stella,

I would try drinking something hot before you eat like tea to prime your band to help get solids down a bit easier to avoid PBing. When I am espc. tight this is a must for me. There is NO way right when I get up at 5am I can eat solids so I have Protein Shake but by 10am I am ready for some and usually the tea beforehand helps me get the food down better. As long as you are able to keep most solids down I would wait until your band loosens IF you are loosing 1-2 lbs a week. There is always a bit of saline that is dissolving naturally w/in your body. On avg I am loosing .2 cc a month so that is why I don't like getting an unfill if at all possible. Just my 2 cents though--If you are not loosing weight like you would like to, I would get a tiny bit out.

~Liz~

03/10/06

241/170/160

5'7''

current fill: 3.2ccs/4cc band (3 fills)

Nykee · August 30, 2006

What I didn't realize before surgery and wish to god I would have read somewhere was how easy it is to cheat....
I'm not saying I have no will power but I honestly do not like many healthy foods and didn't realize that junk food would go down ok while healthly food would cause pain.

I was under the impression that the band would restrict all food and that I would eat less. I was hoping to not care so much about "candy" or "ice cream" or "milk shakes"... well it turns out when I'm hurting and hungry those are the things that actually go down. That just sucks!!!

I had a few weeks of pure heaven with the band where I didn't care at all about food.... I didn't want anything because I was in constant pain from the PB's. I actually liked that feeling...

then I learned how well ice cream went down and since I wasn't eating hardly anything I figured a scoop wouldn't hurt.... now it's like I'm fighting the addiction again. The addiction of junk food that the band didn't help with.

Sooooo my advice is if you are a person who likes junk food this might not be the right surgery for you.

PS... Yes I'm a rule breaker, I ate mushies before I was supposed too becuase I was friggin hungry and isn't that why we all got the band because we were friggin hungry and couldn't control what we put in our mouths?

I'm just tired of being hungry or in pain! I wish I could just find some simple foods that are solids and not candy... that keep me full without pain.

This is my story too!

Its very frusterating..

PamRN · August 30, 2006

Excellent post NewSho, very well said. You have definitely hit the nail on the head. You will help a lot of people have a better understanding with that explanation.

deelefluer · August 30, 2006

Thank you, thank you, thank you NewSho! Your post helped to alleviate some of my doubts and fears. At 39yrs, 5'3", 270pounds...I need to do something! Dieting has not helped at all. Through the years, I have gained and lost so many pounds....it's disgusting....and probably why my bmi is at 49.

I've been checking into LB because, after visiting my doctor with concerns about my weight, she suggested the surgery. I will have my initial appointment on September 26th.

I too, hate to exercise...lol...but, knowing that it is necessary, I get in at least 30 minutes a day. Like several of the posts I've read, I am not a big sweets person. I just eat way, (way, way way) too much...lol. I am hoping that the band will help me to eat less.

Dee

Vera · August 30, 2006

BJean, realistically you must take all aspects, complications, realities. The band is only a tool, there is work involved, and many bandsters including myself deal with reflex and heartburn. I will state what happen to me in this regard because I think the information is valuable. I was banded 8/03 with an AMI Swedish band (larger capacity band similar to the VG in size) with that band I never experienced heartburn or reflex ever. Then it developed a kink in the tubing and a slow leak that was repaired. I was re-banded in 3/05 with a 9.75 Inamed band because the repair failed. Within weeks of re-banding I’ve had heartburn almost every day since.

I have completely changed the way I look at food. Protein Water Protein. I do get hunger; I do fight the food demons and I fail.

Lastly I have accepted that I will not loose any more weight. I am maintaining and that is all I hope to do. I do wish to keep the band for my life time, but if the heartburn gets worse or I were to develop gastritis or even erosion I have faced reality and would have to have it removed.

BJean · August 30, 2006

Vera- Looking at all this, I think it might be a realy good thing to know if we could get the members here at LBT to reveal which LB they have and how much reflux and PBing they have experienced. We could do an informal study and see if Iamed bands have a higher incidence of kinking and PBs than the other two you mentioned.

My doc only uses the Iamed. When I went to his seminar and saw how long the conduit is from the band to the port, I asked him if that could be adjusted for shorter people. He looked at me like I had 2 heads, laughed and said it is not adjustable.

It's one of the things that gives me nightmares - worrying about that tube and where the heck it canl be in my body without bothering any organs nearby or it getting kinked. Afterall, we are supposed to be thinking this thing is going to live inside us for the rest of our lives, aren't we?

What do you think?:paranoid

BJean · August 30, 2006

Stella- Mind telling us which brand of LB you have?

Iulizbug · August 30, 2006

Hi BJean,

I can't answer for Stella but I did see that her surgeon was Dr.Ortiz, as was mine and to the best of my knowledge he only uses the 4cc/10cm Inamed band. I asked about getting a Vanguard but he told me he only uses the smaller one. I am not sure if that is a good thing or not. Good idea on the reflux/PB poll. I don't have reflux thankfully (yet) but I do PB if I am not very careful when I eat my solids. I am fine if I can stop myself and put away the food AS SOON AS I get the slightest bit full. If I keep going at all b/c I am very restricted it will almost always end up in a slime or PB. So I have kind of gotten sick of eating really. I eat to stop the hunger and that is it. It is not worth the pain to overeat.

~Liz~

03/10/06

241/170/160

5'7''

marys · August 30, 2006

BJean, I absolutely asked the same thing about the tubing - I still wonder where it is in my body and what does it do = sit there, flloat around? I worry about that as much as the band, and the port. Also, Iulizbug - Dr ortiz does now (at least since my surgery date) uses the VG band too - yes, most get the 4cm band but i know many others he operated on that have the biggeer band.

BJean · August 30, 2006

Liz: you're describing exactly how I hope I feel one day. I want to have eating be more trouble than it's worth.

Mary: thanks for the reply. I didn't know that the VG was larger. You'd think that it would produce more problems because of the size, but it might be that the opposite is true.

marys · August 30, 2006

Here's a little bit more about the band/size - this is from lapbandforum (Dr.. Ortiz's site) as a topic of interest in the last few weeks...

======

I found a few things I thought I'd post. Here is a picture of the vanguard band compared to the lower capacity band.

http://www.core.monash.org/placement.html

And some info from another site:

There are two issues here:

1) Band size

2) Fill volume

There are three sizes of Inamed Lap Bands. As I understand it, the size refers to the inner diameter of the band.

The 3 band sizes as per Inamed are 9.75 cm, 10.0 cm, and the VG (the Vanguard, which I believe is 11cm, but all the reps call it VG, no-one calls it the '11')

Fill volume:

The 9.75 and 10 cm bands can hold a maximum of about 4cc of saline.

The VG holds a max of about 10 cc of saline.

In medical circles I've always heard the Lap Band referred to by its size. For example, today in the OR we used "two 10's and one 9.75."

And another comment from one of Ortiz's coordinators...

The 4cc band is the 10cm band. The larger, VG band, holds 10cc's and is 14cm long. Dr. Ortiz uses the 4cc band for most patients. For those with a higher BMI, or for those that carry more weight around their mid-section, Dr. Ortiz may use the larger VG Band (10cc). Sometimes he makes that decision while you are in surgery, but you will be informed if anything other than the standard 4cc band is used.

Pretty interesting stuff - mary

BJean · August 30, 2006

Great information! It helps to have that info. Now I will know to ask my doc about it before the surgery. Thanks a bunch.

BJean · August 30, 2006

Jack: You're a very eloquent expressionist. You had me at re:

Seriouisly, I can totallly identify with some of your pre-band wicked ways. I cannot remember what real "hunger" feels like. Except now that I am doing the pre-surgical Protein shake thing, I've been rumbling worse than an actor at a West Side Story rehearsal. And reading your relevations has made me envision a sack of burgers and a coupla pizzas sitting here waiting to get-in-my-belly! :faint:

But paying attention to what you're really saying about being a success at bandation is what has grabbed me and won't let me go.... get the biggest steak and 'tater on the menu, that is. :hungry:

I'm very seriously impressed with your attitude and your success. l only hope I can follow in your footsteps. I'd dearly love to be inspiring some newbie who is as scared as I am, right about year from now. :huggie:

Keep up the good work - it honestly means a whole lot to a many of us who are trying to understand and latch on to a positive LB attitude.

DevilMayKare · August 31, 2006

To be specific here... my main complaint (that really, I try not to make, but since ya asked...) is that the band does NOT make me feel FULL.

It makes me feel like I am CHOKING--but while the top part of my tummy will PB with another bite the bottom part of my tummy is HUNGRY.

I suppose someone may think it's in my head, but it sure as hell feels like it's in my tummy. When I had "proper" restriction so that 3-5 well-chewed bites were all I could eat at the time I just felt like I was starving. I started living on potato chips and ice cream because that was about the only thing that I could eat enough of to not feel hungry--but not have to throw up. It seems like some people are able to get their bodies to interpret what I feel as choking as fullness. I sure wish I could.

That's the basic reason the band diet just isn't working for me. I thought I would feel satiated with less food and I do NOT.

That being said I've been on a Protein fast for the past 20 days and have been losing nicely while feeling FULL. I'm really happy that I'm going back down, but this I could have done without the band.