This morning I am a little frustrated to read some of the posts by members here in recent days. SO I wanted to start this thread to see if Iam the only one who feels the way I do?

My questions is , at what cost will you got to to lose wieght with your band?

If you know your band is too tight, how long will you wait until you call your Dr.?

If you know something is wrong, how long will you wait until you call your Dr.

If you can not eat nothing but liquids for months, dont you think something is not right and you should call your Dr.? If you have GERD and Reflux so bad you are choking at night & living on liquids dont you think it is time to call your Dr.?

This is so maddening to me to see members here be so foolish about their health, regardless of their wieght loss, is losing wieght in such an unhealthy manner worth risking their bands but more important their lives? I almost lost my life, due to bowel obstruction recently, I knew something wasnt right and I was in the ER the next day and having surgery the next day, if I had not reacted so quickly I would not be here right now posting this thread. I was even willing to give up my band if it meant saving my life.

Come on people be responsible , do not be foolish!!! Value your life a little more then this please. Weight loss is not more important then living is it?

We are not all medical professionals but Iam sure most of know that living on liquids and Pbing everyday , living with severe reflux at night is not how the band was designed to work, common sesne tell us that much.Some are so obsessed with the weight loss they are seeing living like this that they are not seeing clearly the danger they are doing to their bodies and bands. I know for me I did not get the band to be miserable and not eat but only liquids and have reflux every night regardless of how much weight I lose...my life is so much more important and my kids & husband are more important for me to be around to love them then risking it all for a few more lbs lost then the next person who is not experiencing these problems. So Im not losing 1-3 lbs a week but I am enjoying food and feeling good with no problems.

Sorry to ramble because I usually dont let this get to me but it seems to be more evident here on LBT lately more then ever people being foolish and not acting responsible. I'm frustrated to see the lack of responsibiltiy in some people. I'm sure Iam going to get blasted by some with PM hell for this but Oh Well

His response - he didn't mind if I was restricted to fluids and mushy food at this point until I reached my goal weight. He then proceeded, with my extreme reluctance, to put another 0.1ml in my

Tell your surgeon to go and read the Inamed Handbook Page 3 where it clearly states and I quote

" solid food is more important then liquidfood. The Lap Band system will have little or no effect if you only eat liquid foods Liquid food passes through the stomach outlet very quickly anddoes not make you feel full"

I totally agree with you Michelle. I started out the conversation with him by saying that I thought that I had been going about this all wrong and that I needed to be eating small amounts of solid food. I had only lost 1 or 2kg in the previous 8 weeks and I thought that was because I was consuming too many liquid calories and that I needed to eat small amounts of solid food and then the weight would start shifting again.

However, like I said before, his response was to tighten me up even more.

Thank you for this thread. It has given me the confidence and determination to broach this subject with him again at my next appointment (in 2 weeks). I have an awful sinking feeling I know what will happen though. He'll put me on the scales, see that I have lost more weight and tell me I'm doing just fine!!

Sorry everyone is not perfect but...

Not everyone can get a perfect fill everytime. Sometimes it's too tight, yes. Those people need to see their doc quick. But some of us swell more then others so it takes longer to get off of liquids after a fill.

Some people don't realize that not everyone's bodies are the same. I, for example, swell extremely easily. So if I am going to have this band work then I am going to have to deal with liquids when my stomach acts up. If I go and get an unfill everytime my stomach swells then I'll be at my Dr's office waaaay too much.

I do agree that people need to be held responsible for their own behavior. If someone is taking too big of bites or eating too fast then whining about PB's doesn't make since. On the other hand, it may be taking that person longer to adjust to a new style of eating.

Everyone is different, keep that in mind. After reading this post many people will feel uncomfortable about writing about their problems for fear of being judged. I know that I will never complain again on this board knowing that all I am doing is "frustrating" people.

Interesting post. But, I must say that I wholeheartedly disagree.

HamuChan, it's absolutely true that everyone is different. I hope no one feels judged, but rather Enlightened. What I think is MOST important is that we know our bodies and know when something is not right. A close and open relationship with our doctors is the most important factor in long-term health, our own and our bands'. What you describe may indeed be right for you, and that's fine. Your knowledge of the way your body behaves after a fill means that you will know if a problem occurs. That's good!

As your banded life proceeds you will experience lots of changes; overall, caution is always the best approach. Sometimes it's easy to forget that in our eagerness to lose weight and show the world that it's working. All we're saying is that we shouldn't lose sight of the long-term benefits of appropriate band management.

All -- I appreciate this thread and want to thank (especially) Michelle and Alexandra and others for posting your thoughts and comments. I have learned a lot about what may be normal and what may be more of a concern from reading about others experiences. But I have to agree that we must not lose sight of the long-term benefits of appropriate band management and do our best to stay in close communication with our doctors for the most experienced and healthy advice.

Thanks for this great thread!

Yesterday Jessie said something interesting to me. "The Band is NOT meant to be surgical bulimia."

I'm going to go a little against the popular vote here. I totally agree with the premise of taking care of your health, being responsible for the band, being "good" to the band, etc.

However, sometimes there are reasons why we don't act. For example, I'm a single working mom and my doctor is a hike. I've taken off a lot of time from work for doctor's appointments recently... and it's tough. Getting there isn't always easy. (I recently found a doctor a little closer to home/work and that helps.) Second, some people are cash-paying patients... some surgeons don't charge for an unfill immediately after a fill...but will charge if a few weeks have passed. In some cases this can be several hundred dollars. It's the broken-down health care system...where insurance companies don't cover the cost of the band...

And sometimes the office staff at Dr.'s offices might not take the issue as seriously as we would like. When I called once about an unfill, I almost felt like I had to justify the need to come in for a second unfill in three weeks. If they had a sense of urgency, maybe I would too. It's amazing to me how different doctors offices have different views on what's important and what's not. And often, patients follow the lead of the doctors in terms of attitude.

Sometimes we rationalize that what's happening to us (i.e. reflux) isn't all that bad and is bearable for the time being. I'm not saying that's appropriate, just reality. In my case, things change so often that if I wait a day or two, the problem often resolves itself.

Anyway, want to emphasize again that I agree with the whole self-responsibility thing...but just wanted to share some of the possible reasons it can be a challenge.

Elizabeth

8-28-03