Hi everyone. It's been awhile since I've visited this board, so here's a quick reintro:

I got banded with a VG band on 9/4/06 with Dr. Ortiz in Tijuana. Surgery couldn't have gone better. I did my pre-surgery weight loss as was requested, and had nearly no discomfort post-surgery. I didn't eat or drink anything I wasn't supposed to during the weeks after recovery.

That is the good news. Now the bad...

Because it had been stressed not to worry too much about weight loss post surgery, I didn't worry too much about what I ate prior to my first fill. I ate what I could tolerate, and I could tolerate everything. EVERYTHING. I didn't go on a binge or anything, but I wasn't on any strict diet, either. Having said that, it was time to kick the band in

, and at week 6 post-surgery, I got my first fill.

And my 2nd fill.

And my 3rd fill.

ONLY at my 3rd fill did I notice even the most slight difference with food. If I tried to eat something VERY doughy (think blueberry muffin), I ran the risk of bringing it back up. Other than that, I could eat everything.

Now ever since surgery, I hadn't had anything carbonated, and for the most part, I waited an hour to having any liquids. I wasn't stupid-- even though TJ was cheaper than the States, I didn't want to piss away my health or surgery money.

After doing my little whatever lap band spirits there might be that this next one did something. I just had my 4th fill last Tuesday. I now have 7.1cc flowing through my VG band. The evening of my fill, I couldn't get ANYTHING down except MAYBE for a small sip of Water. I finally figured I was too swollen from earlier to get anything more down, so I gave up for the night.

Since then, I've had a few more episodes, but only today do I feel that picking the right food, and being over sensitive to signs that I've had enough is working. I definitely have trouble drinking cold liquids (room temp is fine, and coffee is heaven!). Today I got down two eggs (pan scrambled) for Breakfast, and a small pizza slice (I mean small--4 inches long, 2 inches wide) for lunch. It's the first day I don't feel light headed or lethargic from lack of energy, and I don't feel like my body is in starvation mode. I'm still fighting the MENTAL hunger, but I imagine I'll be fighting that for a helluva long time.

I haven't updated my tracker below at the time of this posting. I don't recall how much I weighed at time of surgery, but I'll track it down and update it soon. Until then, I appreciate any feedback or comments you have to give.

Oh my god, this is me, I seem to be following your footsteps, I go for my 3rd fill this Friday, I'm hoping for restriction cause I can eat way too much. Thank you for posting this. Let me know how this 4th fill works for you. I have the same size band as you do.

I also have the VG band and was banded 1/31. I have only had one fill which was suppose to be 4 cc but I am not sure that is how much he put in since it was done via flouro. I see him tomorrow to find out if I can get another fill. In the last three weeks since my 1st fill my weight has been up and down give or take 7 pounds. I feel that I am not being successful sometimes when I read about everyone elses success but I also have to remind myself that many of the folks have the smaller band and with their fills they seem to get some better restriction right after the fill. Hopefully I will feel some restriction after my second fill. I hope I do not have to weight for a 3rd fill.

Good luck to you.

James, congratulations on getting some restriction. My wife had to go back for 6 fills. She is now at 12.75 cc. She's tight in the mornings. At lunch, it depends on her anxiety level from work (her boss is a pr!ck). For dinner she can usually get down about a cup or so. In all her time with the band she has only had two episodes with sliming (no pb's yet). The only suggestion that I might make is, be careful with the bread products. Pizza dough, crackers, pastas have a tendency to "ball" up. Lose well!

I'm going back for another small fill on Tuesday. You have to be patient with the larger volume bands as it does take quite a few fills on average before you reach the proper level of restriction. Try and pay attention to signals to distinguish between REAL hunger and eating for the sake of eating. You're on the road to success.