Hi all! I had my surgery on 10/9 and didn't feel much restriction until my fifth fill on 1/13. I had only lost about 15 pounds until that point and was kind of disappointed.

Since then, I have dropped another 20 pounds and am very happy about that.

However...about 3 1/2 weeks ago, I ceased being able to hold much of anything down. I had enjoyed my last fill for a few weeks, but then it seemed like everything I ate came up. Everything caused me pain. It was even difficult to get down an entire Slimfast. I was losing weight though, so I just chalked it up to maybe choosing the wrong foods or eating too much, even though I could barely finish 3 chicken nuggets.

Last Thursday I had 1 snack pack of chocolate pudding for Breakfast, 1 cup of mashed potatoes for lunch and about 1/2 cup of Soup for dinner. I just wasn't feeling right and pretty much threw up everything. (Not giant throw ups like when you have the flu, but little by little spitting everything out until its all gone and there's no more pain).

I went to a play that night and sat in pain for 2 hours, knowing I needed to continue throwing up...at intermission, I went outside and went to spit out whatever was bothering me and out came 2 large chunks of a dark brown material. I thought I must have gotten down to the bottom of my stomach and was throwing up the pudding I had eaten earlier that morning.

The next day, I was also unsuccessful at holding anything down and at about 7pm, up came some more of the dark brown liquid/gel substance. I hadn't eaten any chocolate pudding that day so I started to worry that it might be blood.

I went to the ER and sure enough, it was blood. They gave me an IV and did some x-rays but found nothing wrong. My doctor's office was closed until Monday, so I stayed with liquids all weekend and went in first thing Monday morning.

I thought maybe she would remove 1/2 of whatever she had filled me with last time, but instead she took out 4cc's (I had a total of 6, so I am left with only 2) and did a barium swallow so she could see what was going on.

Because of all of the vomiting, my stomach was all swollen over the top of the band, although the band had not slipped at all. She put me on liquids/mushies for 2 weeks and I will go back on 3/31 to do another barium swallow and see if everything has gone back to normal. If not, they may need to do another procedure which scares the hell out of me because I was a cash pay and already forked out $17,000!!

I was just hoping someone else had gone through this and could give me some insight because a) I am scared that I will need another procedure and :ohmy: I am so pissed that I had to have 4cc's taken out because I am STARVING now, just like before I ever had the surgery!! I am going to a family party next weekend and certainly didn't want to gain any weight back between now and then, although I know that it is preferable to puking in a bottle the whole weekend.

Anyone wanna tell me everything's gonna be all right????

Thanks for listening. Any input or advice will be appreciated.

Jilly - First of all you need to stop worrying about gaining weight. You were vomiting blood. That is VERY serious. Your doctor did the right thing by taking out that much fill. You need time for your stomach and pouch to heal and the two weeks on mushies will help with the healing. I'll bet that's all you'll need to get things back to normal. Even if your stomach is not 100% better, if it's improved, I'll bet your doctor will want you to continue on mushies to continue the healing rather than do another procedure. Your surgeon knows you are self pay so discuss alternatives to a new procedure if it comes to that. Maybe get a second opinion. I think you'll be fine - just take it slow and easy. And remember, it's about your health - not a number on the scale. Take care and good luck.

Your lucky you were able to get your fill out. My ordeal started with a fill that completely closed off my stomach. Followed by two days of puking dark brown liquid which was blood, followed by hospitalization and emergency surgery. So hopefully your ordeal ends there and you don't go through what I did.

It will be fine. I was not happy about having to have fluid removed either. They took 3cc out of mine. Be prepared that when they do start putting it back they won't put all 4cc back in at once. Probably only 1/2 to 1cc at a time. You were too full is the problem. I had "stretched " my pouch as well, but when I went back for my check up it was fine. You are at a crucial point though. You need to be very careful. You want the band to be full enough, but not too full. I am finding that you can go along for a month or two and then when the weather changes you may need to have a little taken out. I think it is better to have 1/2 or 1cc taken out than than to wait and have to have 3 or 4cc taken out because we have stretched out pouch and need to allow room for it to heal. Hang in there. When you go to family functions, try to be careful of food choices. You won't gain your weight back in one day though.

Thanks for everyone's replies...turns out I had a hiatal hernia. They only figured that out in mid-July after many months of horrible pain, vomiting and severe esophageal burning.

I had the hiatal hernia repaired on 8/5 and finally, in the last few days, I am able to hold down food. I have no fill whatsoever and will be going in possibly in the next few weeks, to get one.

It's been a rough road.