Two problems

I went to see my surgeon today and we decided that because I could still apparently eat normal sized portions and that I hadn't lost any weight (which is also a problem) my third fill today, 2mls, and now I have 6mls in the band.

But when I got home and tried to eat, I could only manage three bites of chicken before I started to get severe pains in my throat and ear, something I thought meant 'too full down here!' and needed to throw up some.

And now tonight, I can't put a mouthful of Water into the pouch without feeling that same pain. And it really really hurts, on a scale of 1-10 it is probably 8.

And the other problem- I haven't lost weight. I am eating less. I don't have the same foods as before, I don't eat bread, I don't eat white rice anymore, I take multivitumns ...or I did before these pains started... and I have been pretty good about eating the right things. But I've only lost 1kg in the past three weeks even though my portions were only a third of their old amount. And I am sure that my body is changing somehow, I'm now wearing a top I haven't worn since I was 15 and it fits when it didn't fit right a week ago.

So has anyone got advice? I think that maybe I should do that swallow test again... but I don't know what to do, it's 10pm and I'm still feeling that pain ten minutes after drinking one mouthful of water.

And I can't give up on the band because it is my last hope, if this fails then I'd rather remove the stomach completely than to continue on like this.

Well, I See You Tried To Eat The Same Day After Getting A Fill. My Surgeon Told Me To Remain On Liquids For The First 48hrs Then Go To Pureed On The 3rd Day Then Solids As Tolerated. Adding Fluid To Ur Band Can Cause Irratation And Swelling So That's Why They Recommend To Stay On Fluids Those First 48hrs. I Also Understand What Ur Frustration Is When You Barely Eat Anything And Still Don't Loose. That Happend To Me For About 2 Months I Barely Ate But Was Only Loosing Oz's. I Even Felt The Restriction All Day Until Evening Then It Seemed Things Just Opened Up. So I Went And Got A Fill. Now It's Been 6 Wks Since This Last Fill And I'm Way To Tight. I Can Barely Keep Water Down. I've Been On Pureed For The Past 6wks And Throw Up Daily. I've Lost 18lbs In 6 Wks But I Know This Is Way Unhealthy So I've Scheduled To Get Some Fluid Removed On Monday. I Don't Want Erosion Or My Band To Slip Praying That It Hasn't Already. It Gets Very Frustrating For Me Too. I'm So Thristy At Times And Just Want To Drink Water And When I Try To Take A Mouth Full It Comes Right Back Up. Maybe You Should Try To Go On Liquids For A Few Days And Let Things Calm Down. If That Doesn't Work Maybe You Should Go Back And See What Ur Doc Says. Maybe There's To Much Fluid In Ur Band Now. Best Of Luck!

My surgeon never said that about having to go back onto liquads which annoys me a bit... but that does make sense.

In fact, he even made a point about solid foods, listing off all the forbidden 'if it doesn't need chewing then don't eat it' foods that I shouldn't have. Urgh!

A bit off topic, but I'm suddenly wondering what the hell he's thinking. o.o First two attempted fills, he just jabbed the needle in there and tried to feel around for the port. Which hurt like crazy. (We ended up having to do it under MRI) And yesterday, when I asked him about what type of band it was... you know, size, how much mls, there's different types... he looked at me with a 'She has a band but she doesn't know what it is?!' look and proceeded to pull one out of his desk to show me a lapband.

-frustated-

And after the surgery, he forgot to tell me that you had to ignore the pain and cough up the gunky stuff... I found that out a few days later from this forum.

This doctor is definitely not from the conservative school of thought.

My doctor recommends for ALL patients, after a fill:

3 days Clear Liquids

1 week full liquids

1 week soft foods

Go to solid food as tolerated.

Wow, seriously? My surgen kept insisting on 2mls every two weeks... which is hard on me, that's $130 a fortnight when I only earn $400 a fortnight, but I was lucky and got the first two done free with the MRI at the public hosptial under the public healthcare... but yea, he insists on doing it quickly.

Would explain why the chicken went down so badly.

Most docs tend to put you on liquids for a few days after a fill. For example, my doc does two days of clears, two days of fulls, two days of soft, then reintroduce solids.

Keep in mind, many experienced bandsters just can't tolerate chicken. That's one of the harder foods to eat.

What if you go on liquids for a few days and see how it goes. If you ate chicken and barfed then you likely have some swelling. That means it is even harder to eat food the next time around, thus... more barfing.

When you get a fill there is some natural swelling that is to be expected just from the fill itself. That's the reason for the gradual food stages.

Good luck! Hope you feel better soon. I wouldn't worry about the band not working. If it isn't working in a few months with appropriate exercise, diet, and restriction then it would be time to take a look at what is wrong. But honestly, you are still a newbie with your first real restriction. You have months to go before you know if you have problems that would mean revision surgery.

I'm still having pains so I'm going to go see my surgeon in a few hours.

But I've lost 5kgs since Wednesday! O_O

Ses -

I'm really surprised that your doc would want to fill you every two weeks! My doc and all others I've heard about have to be nearly begged to fill after a month or so. That may be something you need to consider. Doing it too fast doesn't give it time to heal from the previous fill. Also sounds like your doc has the typical bedside manner of troll.

Good luck sweetie and we are all here for ya!