Just read a post by Bama53......I started to reply and my reply started to get long (go figure) so instead I started my own post...but this is in responce to Bama53, that got me motivated.....

When I had my last fill I encountered difficulties.....,.......I immediatley started to blame the band, thinking I may be too tight...even called my Dr. after a few weeks....fortunately he talked me out of getting Fluid taking out, , but instead explained to me the band will CHANGE my life...and that a lifetime of eating the wrong foods the wrong way are now showing itself...exposed to the light!

I learned I could not possibly be successful with the band and still hang onto some (many) of the old ways...the ways that made me fat and almost killed me....

That was over 3 years ago....and everyday it just keeps getting better, and healthier...because now, since the band limits what and how much I eat within a given day, thanks to the restriction, I have become a real food junkie..making the best of what I can eat....always looking for the best, natural, nutritious foods out there...giving up things that now disgust me to even think about, like cheeseburgers and pizza. I sit and stare at TV commercials and can't believe what they are shoveling to us...where is the nutritional value??? No wonder there is an obesity epidemic...

And don't even get me started on eating out in restaurants....all I can think about is John Lennon's song....Little Piggies...."Have you seen the little piggies with their Piggy wives, clutching forks and knives....."

I read posts here every day about people with the band getting a fill, only to get an un-fill because they are getting stuck - sliming - regurgitating......., then struggle with food and hunger and come here to seek advice..,......so they go and get another fill, then are unhappy again and get it taken out...it is an endless cycle.....unhappy they are not loosing weight...the band is a failure...I'm a failure....

They fail to realize there are other factors involved...

Whenever I go to my Bariatric center, the PA there always has funny stories for me...as an example, she would tell me about people making appointments, asking for fluid to be taken out, the staff thinking their must be a serious problem....only to earn they want it so they can enjoy their upcoming vacation, a Family Wedding, holiday, you name it!

We laugh...not at the patients, we pity them, and it is sad....but at the absurdity of it all....do you want to loose weight or not? You did have surgery just for that reason, right?

They started teaching me and telling me to follow the "Rules" long before I even had my surgery....just for this very reason. I was told that there will come a day, that will be the only way I will get by when the band is properly adjusted....

Of course I can always get a little fluid taken out, start to eat and enjoy the foods I want (or think I want) then I can go sign up for Jenny Craig, or Weight watchers again, and be just like all the others....and come back here a year later asking for advice...

Like someone else said, it is a Choice!

Sorry, just wanted to get it off my chest...and I am in no means telling other people what is a truth...for that you have to find on your own....it is just my experience....no one else s....

Thanks. I needed this reminder!

Great post...and thanks...sometimes we need reminded why we had this surgery.

May I be nosey and ask how many cc's you have in your band?

Thank you!

Thanks--I am not nearly so far along (just got my fill up to 6.5, think I'm getting into green zone) but I can tell what you are saying is true. if I start to eat fast or too much (old habits not dead yet) I get tight--or even get a esophageal spasm (yikes those hurt). It's my band telling me to stop/slow down. Never dreamt of getting it loosened--it's the whole reason I had the surgery, after all. As my doctor preaches, it's only a TOOL to help me get get healthy--the rest is still up to me.