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Completely opening the band



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Candle, I've only seen him once - at the initial consultation. What I did like is there was no "hard sell." It seems like he has a very good staff.

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Pizzaman - I have also wondered about what the band would be like unfilled. I think my biggest problem with the band would be only eating a cup or so of food at a time for the rest of my life. I love salad and raw veggies and I hate the idea that I can't have much of that for the rest of my life! 1 cup of salad is not much! So I have wondered if I were to stay at goal for a while and totally changed my eating habbits if an unfill would work? The great thing is that we can try and see how it does. I believe there is a gal from Australia on the site who's band is either unfilled or has a very small fill and she eats whatever she wants but also eats really healthy and she looks fantastic. (She also works out a ton) So I think we need to work the band,get to goal and then see how things are going. What I love about the band is that it can be tailored to each individuals needs. Good Luck! :whoo:

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This is the BEAUTY OF THE BAND!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, Pizzaman you can get totally unfilled and see how you do, and then if you start slipping into complacency you can get a bit of a fill until you reach the level where you CAN eat ONE piece of pizza....... but can STOP at a piece.

I think what Laura (fairy) was saying is that getting unfilled is somewhat scarey as that normal pre band hunger will return. She wasn't trying to be mean about it........ :)

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You will know much more when you are about 3-4 weeks post surgery. That is the time you will have the band with relatively nothing inside. It varies for each person.

I am actually on my 3rd fill and although the restriction is getting more, I am still not at my sweet spot. I am actually trying to take note of where the perfect maintenance spot will be for me (that will probably change over time but thought this was better than just draining completely.)

BTW, I can eat everything I want as well - just smaller portions. pizza, rice, etc.....this is probably why my weight loss has been slower than I would have liked.

Good Luck.

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Pizzaman:

I completely understand what you are asking.

I too am hoping I can remove the band once I have reached my regular weight.

My plan is to slowly unfill and then see if I can sustain my weight without any restriction. If I can do that for a period of time, I plan on removing the band completely.

The first priority is losing the weight ... then unrestricting, and then finally removal.

Good luck!

Tang

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Have you talked to your doctor about that?

I ask just because if you read the Inamed handbook, the band is not a temporary tool. It's to be in for life..

My doc said he would never take the band out unless there were medical problems with it, he would just take out the port and seal off the tube.

Make sure your doc is ok with that, if that's what you want to do with it :)

Pizzaman:

I completely understand what you are asking.

I too am hoping I can remove the band once I have reached my regular weight.

My plan is to slowly unfill and then see if I can sustain my weight without any restriction. If I can do that for a period of time, I plan on removing the band completely.

The first priority is losing the weight ... then unrestricting, and then finally removal.

Good luck!

Tang

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Laura:

I plan on asking my doctor about this ... why my point is why promote this as a reversable process if they are not open to reversing it.

Either way, first things first, lose the weight and maintain the lower weight.

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To be honest, Im hoping to deflate my band when I reach a healthy size. Im not going for what my doctor considers a great weight, Im going for a healthier me. Once I loose and learn, I plan to rejoin the human race. But thats how I feel right now. I might get so used to having the band that it may be second nature later in life. Too early to say, but at least I have those options.

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I asked my Dr about removal after I got to goal, he asked me if I had ever dieted before and failed...well DUH...lol...then he asked me why would I cause another failure if I didn't have to? Yes, I would like to think I have learned a new way of life but to be honest the band keeps me straight. Why risk it?

I was going to have all saline out, and then decided that too was a bad idea. I have had some taken out, but not all. I like my security blanket! :D

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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

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        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

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