My biggest concern is that after the banding I won't feel normal. And by normal I mean anatomically. Right now I don't feel my stomach or esophagus. I sense swallowing but that's it. Just like everyone else. I fear that after the banding I will feel pressure, discomfort or otherwise not normal. Does that happen? Or do you feel that same as before banding both when not eating and when eating. I know all about the portion size, chewing, etc..I'm not talking about that. Can anyone enlighten me. Thanks.:biggrin:

Well its only been two weeks for me but Im starting to feel normal, the cool thing for me is now I eat just a time bit of food and I feel full, and not hungry all the time, so I guess I dont feel normal, normal for me was alway hungry.

Dont worry about it, get it done and get healthy.

i was worried about actually being able to feel the band around my stomach... but i don't.

my band is tight... maybe a little too tight... so yes, i can feel the food sitting in my stoma but usually when that happens it usually means i didn't chew good enough and i'm going to PB.

what bothers me the most is that i can feel my port. i swear there are some days that it sticks out and i feel like an over-cooked turkey. the port doesn't hurt but if you were to run your hand over the right side of my stomach area you would most definately feel my port.

Yes, you'll feel your port, your feel the effects of restriction like tightness and mabye being stuck every once in a while. I feel normal in every way. I don't (and never have) see these additional physical feelings I've never had before as anything to be fearful of. But that's what you're signing up for, isn't it?

I just got banded on Monday, I don't feel a thing. When I woke up after surgery, I was thinking maybe something went wrong and I didn't get the band. But no, I got the thumbs up from the doctor and later saw my incisions for confirmation. I don't feel my port, don't feel my band... I don't feel the least bit different, other than the affects from the surgery.

If you felt completely like normal after the surgery, then you would eat like normal. The whole idea is to not do that anymore. While I don't feel any different when I am not eating, I definitely know I am banded when I eat. The band conditions you to stop overeating through discomfort or the fear of discomfort. Eventually your brain reinterprets the feeling to one more closely aligned with feeling normally "full" but it takes a number of months. Most of us are food addicts, and if we didn't have a really good reason to stop eating, we wouldn't, full feeling or not. The band gives us that really good reason.

I got banded on August 20th and as of right now everything feels completely fine, nothing different at all...I am not sure if that changes when you start to eat real foods, or when you get a fill but so far so good! As the swelling is going down, I THINK I can feel my port a little bit, but that doesn't bother me

I am not aware of the band around my stomach except in relation to my eating. I don't feel like there is something constantly squeezing my stomach, like you might feel a belt around your waist. And I also don't feel my port, although that will probably change as I lose fat in that area. I feel as "normal" as I did before the surgery...as far as normal goes!:biggrin:

I think for the most part I feel normal. I mean other than feeling for my port and knowing it is there things are the same. I had my first fill today after 4 months and when he was checking it under the fluoroscope it was really the first time that I felt that the band was in me and that was because he filled it up to make sure it was sitting in the right spot.

My eating habits are different - but I want those to be different and for me, they still have a ways to go. Old habits are hard to break and I have to keep working at it.

I was banded June 18. My surgeon was excellent. I can't even feel my port when I try. The Dr tried to help me find it but I couldn't. He seems to know exactly where it is cause he did the fill in his office without xray or anything. Went perfectly, no pain or nothin'.

The only non-normal thing you may experience is increased belching. It is very difficult to control cause the air must come out. I have noticed however, that I'm not nearly as gassy as I used to be before surgery. My family is very happy about that.

Just remember, that you are going to have something done to you so you won't be the same. You'll be very normal, but it may be a different normal that you were before. It won't be uncomfortable and is certainly nothing to be concerned about. After the surgery and healing period, you'll often forget you are any different than anyone else.

God bless!

In the begining I too was a little weirded out that I'd have this foriegn object in my body - but was quickly reassured after reading these posts There are so many developments in the medical world and with all the other implants, for the heart, or artificial limbs - this is the same type of thing. I too was wondering if I'd feel the band or the port always letting me know that I had surgery - but for me I feel nothing! If it weren't for the aches and incisions I felt for the first couple of days, I'd say "show me an x-ray to prove I have the band, cause I feel no different". There were bearable aches in the port area for a couple of days but I never felt the band and now two weeks later I feel nothing - except the great satisfied feeling after eating only 1/2 a cup of food It's nice not to be starving all the time and not having to eat meals intended for 2-3 people just to get full.