Ok... sooooooo apparently i am the only one getting this done in Nov! Insannitttttttty. Im very new to this... so if anyone could help me making my thing a lil prettier.. i'd appreciate that too. :help:

Good morning everyone, it's nice to have my fellow November bandsters to lean on, especially when the fear factor kicks in. The slow and steady way is really going to take some getting used to but it is really what we signed up for. I think it will go in spurts though. If we eat, and I do mean really eat, in the correct way we will more then likely lose quicker then we may be now. Such a learning process huh? I will let everyone know what the doc says about repositioning the port. I think it really would be a good idea but then again, here comes the fear. Take care everyone and good luck! Don't get too large of fills. Take it slow and steady. Let's get used to this thing!... which a week ago I would have told them to yank the darn thing out! I'm going to give it another shot.

Blessings to you all, Dianne

Hi again everyone! Glad to hear how others are doing.

Sades- so sorry you had an experience like that!! I feel just terrible, I had one really uncomfortable visit and it makes my hands sweat everytime I think about it...I can't imagine what you went through!! Hopefully you wont have to experience that again!!

Well since my last post I've lost 3 pounds...which I am happy about....that is 3 pounds in a week which is much healthier than the 7-11 pounds a week I was loosing...lol...I feel like I have my brain back and now I can work harder at the gym. I think working out has really been the key to my success because as I am loosing the weight it is helping me tone up...although my belly button looks kinda funny all folded over and long...haha...it looks pretty funny but I still plan on having kids one day so I am not going to worry about any excess skin until after I have kids...My mom, who is a size 5 and got a tummy tuck and boob job last year keeps trying to talk me into a tummy tuck but I have to be honest...they don't look natural...you could be big everywhere else but you have a flat tummy and an odd looking belly button..lol...I'll deal with the skin!!

Is anyone else experiencing and excess skin issues?? Anyone considering reconstructive surgery?? My boyfriend has made the comment that my body feels softer now...but I think he likes it better than the stretched out feeling of my skin...I like it better...and don't really mind it.

Anyways I'll quit rambling!!

Take Care Nymphs!!

Rachel

Hi Rachel, it was Dianne who had the bad experience. I'm not sure that I would consider PS because the thought of going under and the pain does not appeal to me. I have some problem areas, especially the upper thighs & boobs that I would like done but I won't know for sure until I have lost more weight. I guess if I was younger I would definitely consider it but at my age things were starting to drop anyway. :glare: Let us know what you decide.

Hi Ladies!!!

For me I will probably consider it but the pain is definately something I will not look forward to. But it will be quite a while until I can tell what if any parts I want done for PS. I was so overweight that I feel like it will be almost inevitable that I will have to do it!

My divorce was recently finalized and I am almost 31 years old(My birthday is next month!!!). I would like to get married again some day and that would require dating, and I think that would be so much easier for my self image to not have to deal with excess skin...especially after I would have lost around 240lbs (at least that is what I am shooting for)

All in all I will just have to see!

Take care to all you November bandsters and always keep in touch!

April

That's a big goal April but you look like you're well on the way. 31 is still so young and I agree it would be hard to deal with excess skin when trying to date someone. I feel that way about my upper thighs because even now they are looking a bit iffy. I was scared enough going under for the band but having to do it again and with more pain I believe has to make me think twice. I guess the best people to talk to are the ones who have been through it already, I'm sure they'll have a lot to offer. Good luck with the next stage of weight loss.

April: There is a whole section on the forum for PS. People that are scheduled to have it or have recently had it, post their experience and some with B & A photos.

Hi Rachel, it was Dianne who had the bad experience. .

I guess I got lost reading all the posts after hers...sorry...guess I don't have my brain back!

:tt2:

I'm still looking for mine !! :redface:

I recently had the unfill and a re-fill to 5 cc's in my 10 cc band and I am not feel a ton of restriciton. I can pretty much eat anything and I am falling back in to my old habits of not chewing too well because for some reason I am not finding that I have to. I chew a little and swallow and I am fine nothing gets stuck at all!!!I am hoping that is not a bad sign that I am not going to be able to get good restriciton any time soon, or worse yet that there is something wrong like a slipped band?!?

Anyone else had a large unfill and then a re-fill and not get restriction, or food stuck like you used to when your band is half full???

Hi Smilin Apple, I also had an unfill and a refill just recently. My unfill went down to 2cc's from 7.5cc's in the 10cc band. I had an awful experience with the band being waaaaay too tight. I was okay with the 7.5cc's previously but felt like I was still eating too much. I went back to the doc to have him put more in. When he withdrew what was in the band, it was down to 6.5cc's. So we just put it back up to the 7.5cc's and it was awful the next day. The following evening I was in the hospital ER not being able to keep my own spit down. Dry heaving and the works. Anyway, that is when my doc (the next morning) came in and took it down to 2cc's. We started over from the get go. I just had another fill. I'm up to 6.5cc's. It seems to be okay but not really enough restriction. I probably need another fill in which I'll be having on June 4th. Maybe we'll go up to 7cc's. I too feel like I am able to swallow larger sized bites. The old habits seem to come back, not chewing well enough and too big a bites. They go down easily most of the time. Occassionally though it gives you a reminder that there is a band down here! haha. Anyway, what I think for you is that you should be having more put in your band. I would go very slow with it though. Don't rush things. My doc said that the bands can be very finicky. Just take it slow and go and have a little more put in. Good luck to you and let us know how it goes! Dianne

DLW- Thank you!!!

Don't know if I mentioned this before but one of the surgeons in the Bariatric group at my hospital did my fill one time and when he thought he removed everything he could and it looked like was 1 cc short so he assumed it was leaked or absorbed.

But when I went back to see my surgeon 1 week later guess what he found it. Now that has happened to me 2 times. My surgeon says that sometimes the fluid will find and air pocket or something and then when it looks like they got it all to see how much is in there to inject it back in, they don't really have it all. So that is probably why it was showing less than you were supposed to be and then when they put it back you were too tight.

That is just my guess.

I am definitely trying harder as to watching myself when I am eating and trying to chew better, my biggest concern was that I wasn't getting food stuck, which I would have before when I felt I was right there around my "sweet spot" if I didn't chew properly. Now being only a 1 cc from that original fill level and not feeling ANY restriction made me wonder if that was a "technical" problem with the band. But I am sure all will be fine.

I know I have a great surgeon who took a ton of precautions to keep the chance down for too many complications such as sewing the port in place as to prevent it from flipping around. He also sewed the sides of the band to my esophegus/stomach to prevent it from slipping too easily. It's a technique I guess they learned recenty. My hospital has only been doing LapBands for about 15 months ad I had mine 6 months ago. They really did a lot of research as a group as to some of the best techniques to use prior to taking on LapBands, since before this all they knew was Gastric Bypass which they had been doing for years.

Ok enough rambling I guess I just needed to say all that to convince myself that I am fine....haha!!!

Thanks again for the encouragement!!!

That totally makes sense to me about the fluid finding an air pocket or something. I bet that is what happened to me. Maybe this is why we have to have multiple fills and unfills until we get it just right. But then..... we lose weight and here we go again because the tissue the band is around has shrunk too. It's nice to be able to adjust things though isn't it. Having control over that is really pretty awesome. Good luck, Dianne

I agree, that is one of the best parts about the band is being able to adjust it. No matter how long we have had it in place we can always adjust depending on different life circumstances for anything from it being too tight, too loose, pregnancy or anything else you can think of.

Well I hope you have a wonderful day and I will keep you updated on how things go when I get my next fill in 2 and a half weeks.

Have a wonderful holiday weekend Smilin Apple. Don't eat too fast or too much! :-) Dianne

Have a wonderful holiday weekend Smilin Apple. Don't eat too fast or too much! :-) Dianne

Thanks Dianne - You too!