This thread if for those of us who belong to the wonderful Toronto LaparoscopicBAND Centre or will soon become a part of it!

Here, you can voice any concerns... talk about support group meetings, events or anything that comes to mind.

Indroduce yourself!

www.tlbc.ca

Beautiful pics Carla. Great attitude towards the food. Congrats on losing 3lbs on vacation. WOW!!!

Hey all..

i got banded before there even was a TLBC. seems like a million years ago now, at Scarborough Grace Hospital......By Dr's Y and J.....at the time i was the youngest in canada to ever get the band... and so it was a big hoo haw and i had a film crew and all this fuss made over me with W5 News and such.. and i think that made my experience much more terrifying.....

its been many years since i had the surgery and my weightloss has come to a halt.... so im here looking for some advice from everybody who is willing to give it!

I have the old style band.. i think its only 5 cc.. im not too sure since i only ever had a fill once and it was quite a few years back. The good doctor put in 1 cc... i hung out for a while.. and then went to hang out with my friends for the weekend..... over the course of a few hours i started feeling not so good.. and by the late night came around, i couldnt even swallow my own saliva.. i wasnt driving at the time... no lisence....so i ended up going to the ER at the local richmond hill hospital.. and they had never seen a patient with a lapband before.... so none of them would take the fill out.. none of them even knew how to do it.. i even showed them the little card i had in my wallet identifying me as a banded person and explaining the procedure etc etc.. but nobody could do it... i went quite a few days being very sick, very dehydrated, and in complete panic, untill monday when i could get to the clinic at Scarborough Grace and Dr J saw me instantly.... and within 3 seconds i had the best release of my life..... a murky looking needle full of 1 cc worth of used saline.

i tried getting a fill one time after that.. and the same thing happened.. couldnt swallow.

im now at a point in my life where i wanna have a family with my partner.. and would like to be in peak condition for this to happen..

i was ok with my weight loss being at a plateau for a while.. but then started slipping back into pre-band habits... its just too easy to fall backwards after the band becomes a part of your body... and not a huge restriction like it is the first year post-op.....

my stats were

5'10 tall

338lbs

now im 6'0 tall and 218lbs

i wanna be at about 160-170 for my height and stature....

any advice? help? info about the smaller size bands and what i can do to "play nice" with it?

sorry for the long windedness of this post but i was just happy to find this forum and have people to talk to about this! nobody up here even knows i had this done years ago!

thanks in advance for your responses!

Raychelle

WOw, what a story. I can completely understand your frustration. If it were me I'd go for a fill again.. the band is there and healthy right... Go in for VERY small increments and take it up slowly...

If 1cc made you constricted then try for a .75 fill, then the next one get .25 or even .10.. they can even do .05 fill these smaller bands are tricky huh?

Best of luck

If I were you, Cure, I would make an appointment to see Dr. Yau at the TLBC in order to discuss everything with him. He will have suggestions as to how to go about getting your fills, how much fill you should receive per visit, etc. He will know the capabilities of your band as contrasted with the newer models and so will be able to give you good advice. On a personal level, he will likely also be interested to see you again seeing that you were one of his first!

And, by the way, the fill nurse at TLBC is fabulous. She is in and out of your port with that needle before you have had a chance to notice. She has also got a great personality.

I agree with Green. TLBC recommends in their literature that all banded patients of theirs return once a year for them to check on the band and how the patient is doing. You should get an appoint ASAP. They have a tremendous support group network that can help you restart your journey. Good Luck

Doddie

Raychelle - your stats are amazing!! You've lost over 120 with the band so far ??!!!

You've received some great advice above - so please do make an appointment and keep coming back here to let us know how you are doing. I'm sure you'll enjoy the support.

Wow Raychelle what a story!

You should be proud of yourself for having lost that much weight and not gaining it back. I agree with all the suggestions our friends have made. You need to see Dr. Yau (our friendly band guru) and he will steer you in the right direction.

Keep us posted and good luck.

Carla

lwood tomorrow is your surgery. Best of luck and let us know how you are doing.Welcome to the banded side.We will do lunch someday.If you want to talk pm me ok.I will be thinking of you tomorrow.

LWOOD

I hope your surgery went well and you are being extra nice to yourself today!

(((hugs))) from us bandsters

Hey all..

i got banded before there even was a TLBC. seems like a million years ago now, at Scarborough Grace Hospital......By Dr's Y and J.....at the time i was the youngest in canada to ever get the band... and so it was a big hoo haw and i had a film crew and all this fuss made over me with W5 News and such.. and i think that made my experience much more terrifying.....

its been many years since i had the surgery and my weightloss has come to a halt.... so im here looking for some advice from everybody who is willing to give it!

I have the old style band.. i think its only 5 cc.. im not too sure since i only ever had a fill once and it was quite a few years back. The good doctor put in 1 cc... i hung out for a while.. and then went to hang out with my friends for the weekend..... over the course of a few hours i started feeling not so good.. and by the late night came around, i couldnt even swallow my own saliva.. i wasnt driving at the time... no lisence....so i ended up going to the ER at the local richmond hill hospital.. and they had never seen a patient with a lapband before.... so none of them would take the fill out.. none of them even knew how to do it.. i even showed them the little card i had in my wallet identifying me as a banded person and explaining the procedure etc etc.. but nobody could do it... i went quite a few days being very sick, very dehydrated, and in complete panic, untill monday when i could get to the clinic at Scarborough Grace and Dr J saw me instantly.... and within 3 seconds i had the best release of my life..... a murky looking needle full of 1 cc worth of used saline.

i tried getting a fill one time after that.. and the same thing happened.. couldnt swallow.

im now at a point in my life where i wanna have a family with my partner.. and would like to be in peak condition for this to happen..

i was ok with my weight loss being at a plateau for a while.. but then started slipping back into pre-band habits... its just too easy to fall backwards after the band becomes a part of your body... and not a huge restriction like it is the first year post-op.....

my stats were

5'10 tall

338lbs

now im 6'0 tall and 218lbs

i wanna be at about 160-170 for my height and stature....

any advice? help? info about the smaller size bands and what i can do to "play nice" with it?

sorry for the long windedness of this post but i was just happy to find this forum and have people to talk to about this! nobody up here even knows i had this done years ago!

thanks in advance for your responses!

Raychelle

Hi

I'm curious how you went from 5'10 to 6'0????????????????

Just like weight makes your feet larger it also affects your height, maybe?

LWOOD

I hope your surgery went well and you are being extra nice to yourself today!

(((hugs))) from us bandsters

Hi

I'm curious how you went from 5'10 to 6'0????????????????

She mentioned that she got the band when she was young. Perhaps she grew a couple of inches after she go the band due to her young age.

Just a theory. I just finished watching CSI so I am acting all Gill Grisim, although I relate more to Nick Stokes.

Andrew

Well, I have good news and bad news. I mentioned earlier on this thread that my band hasn't slipped and the hiatus hernia seems to have dropped back into place but my voice still sounds lousy, eh. This has been going on for months now and I can hardly talk. I saw my doc the other day and she is gonna refer me to another specialist. I also have bronchial problems which never did clear up and so I am now back on a raft of inhalers. Ugh! Of course I am now worrying that I have cancer.

The good news is that even though I have been unfilled since last August I haven't gained any weight. In fact, I have lost about 7 lbs since my defill. I weighed myself while at the doctor's office and I weighed 143; this was dressed, with boots on and a very full bladder!

Good luck to you Green and congrats on the weight loss.

Lwood how are you doing?