Hello,

I have been a member for a while but have been guilty of mostly "lurking" with a few posts here and there.

I was banded in Charlotte NC on Aug 6th 2007. My band was done at CMC Mercy by Dr kuwada. He was wonderful and the surgery went off with no complications.

My BMI was 38 and I had borderline co-morbities. I started out at 219lbs and have been a slow and consistant looser. I am currently at 169 and have about 19lbs left to go to my goal weight of 150. I have 3.5cc in my 10cc band and my last fill was in March 2008. I have good restriction. I have increased my exercise to help with the weight loss. I am fine with the slow weight loss, anything worth having is worth working for.

I am the mom of 4- ages 19,16,10 and 7. They keep me busy. The oldest is a member of the Coast Guard. We are currently living in the Tampa Fl area.

I had my surgery at Mercy Hospital on May 29th (Dr. Gersin - he is in the same practice with Dr. Kuwada). Unfortunately, I have been struggling to lose any weight - I didn't feel any restriction at all until I was at 6cc in a 10cc band. But, I have lost over 6 lbs since I finally felt restriction with the band - so hopefully I am now on the way. In fact, I had to have an unfill at my last appt. because I was having so much heartburn. Hopefully, it won't affect my weight loss.

Hang in there. I had to have some of my 2nd fill removed because I could not even swallow anything. I guess that might be why I am ok with the restriction I have. I dont want to go through that again. Four days of total restriction, no fun. I am not in a race to lose the weight, sure it would be nice if it would just fall off but that is not going to happen for me. I am committed to my goal and i will get there. I hope things pick up for you and you can reach your goal soon!