Sorry if this thread has already been started but I looked around a bit and couldn’t find one. I think that those of us who are scheduled for September need a place to support each other, help pass the time, and not spam up the boards with a thousand approved threads:tongue2:!!! I am so excited to being this journey. So, how about it? Any lost September banders out there? :ohmy::)

schase1026 and Kimberlyann2009...I am right there with you. I have lost 39 lbs. and my 1 year was Sept 4th. I too just want one more bite even when I am uncomfortable. I do take it alot and end of PB'ing or vomiting. I am trying to work on this. When I over eat I don't want to graze or snack between meals. Go figure it's like taking 2 steps forward and 4 back. Hope to figure this out soon.

We can do this!

Jamie

Hey everyone, today is my Bandiversary. WOOT WOOT! I am so close to goal now. I have to have knee surgery oct.15th and I think that is going to slow me up from losing those last 8 lbs. Honestly, I am very happy right where I am right now. I have never been able to sustain weightloss for a whole year. Whenever I want to give up and throw in the towel, my band is there. I am very pleased with my decision. :wub::w00t::alien:

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:wub::thumbup::alien::thumbup:

Thanks! It has been an uneventful pregnancy which is GREAT! We found out that we are having 2 boys. I have gained 11 pounds post pregnancy placing me back up to 170, which I am very fine with. Without the band I'm sure I would be up 25 or 30. I still get all the nutrients I need in a day, I just focus on getting in the foods that count.

Keep plugging away at that goal weight, I know you will get there!:eek6:

Hi all - belated congrats to all of us on our 1 year! You (we) all have been doing great. I am so happy I did this but like comet below i've had problems too that stemmed from being overtight. I can't seem to handle past 5.5. Anyway I'm down 62 lbs ( gained some back after a complete unfill) but back on the right track) now. This allowed me to get my life back.. I got a cool new horse my riding has way improved and that keeps me going. Though the icecream gets me too! I have about 30 lbs to go I'm back up to 180 now. But thats ok its better than where i started!

Great job! My anniversary was yesterday also, and I am pleased to say that I have lost 83 lbs and am 10 lbs from goal. I agree that the LAP-BAND®® has been a great aid, but it is still a decision everyday to eat healthy. I am having a bit of problems however with not being able to keep a fill. My dr removed all of my fill and will try to add it back in very small doses. She is worried that my band may have slipped. I have not had problems swallowing, but moreso with digesting food. Has anyone else had this, or any problems? Regardless, I will work it. Congrats everyone!

Hi All! My 1 year was Sept 3rd! I'm down 100 lbs and have tapped out at 6.5 cc in a 10cc band. I have done 2 unfills this year with the most recent at 7cc. I have come to a stand still in my weight loss but that is partly my fault. I have not been to the gym in 2 months.

I am however due to have a tummy tuck and mid back lift Decemeber 17 and I am SUPER excited!!! I apologize I haven't read all the postings but are there any other September bandsters looking into Plastic surgery? I still want to lose 30-40 more pounds before the surgery so I can completely go into maintanance phase!

Hi Mia - I'm not ready for it yet. I've got 30 lbs to go. And I think that will take a while. I'm ok in my arms and tummy really the area that can use help is my butt and inner thighs but its not critical. I'm about 65 lbs down.

I've lost 100 pounds, 70+ since the band. I've revised my goal weight to 140.

My last fill was in March! I just went in to get another fill, but we decided to not do a fill. I'm at 4cc.

I have hunger problems 3-7 PM...

My vitamin D was still low, so I need to supplement it. My other blood test results were normal.

I joined TOPS in June to add to my support group network.

Anita

Hi gang not sure if everyone checks in any more - I've stayed at that 60 lbs loss but had more to go - we realized there was an issue and guess what a slight slip and hernia. Just had a revision this past saturday. boy was it more painful than the first go! She was just going to reposition it but too much scarring so needed a complete replacement. We think it is possible this happened when I took a bad fall off my horse in sept it was subtle so not the glaring signs you read about that if you slip you know it. In fact it looked more like a hiatal hernia. Boy am i happy I am in a practice that sees a zillion of these.

Hi gang not sure if everyone checks in any more - I've stayed at that 60 lbs loss but had more to go - we realized there was an issue and guess what a slight slip and hernia. Just had a revision this past saturday. boy was it more painful than the first go! She was just going to reposition it but too much scarring so needed a complete replacement. We think it is possible this happened when I took a bad fall off my horse in sept it was subtle so not the glaring signs you read about that if you slip you know it. In fact it looked more like a hiatal hernia. Boy am i happy I am in a practice that sees a zillion of these.

Hey, great to hear from you! So sorry about the problems you have had. I hope you are feeling better! I totally worry about a slip or some other complication. What do you mean your practice sees a zillion of these? How bad was your heartburn? I get this at night sometimes.

I have been plateaued for nearly a year, going up and down within a 10 pound range. Right now I am at about 53 pounds lost - my original goal was to lose 80, but now I'm just hoping for 70. I feel great though, I'm working out with a trainer and feel strong and healthy. I am wearing a size 12 easily, and I finally fit into designer jeans!

I would love to hear from everyone else too!

Hey Gen good to hear from you too!

I meant the practice does a TON of surgeries a year so they have a bunch of experience. So I was stating I felt I was in good hands as statistically speaking they see it all. I haven't had a full detailed conversation w/ doc on it but and let me make clear that even in light of problems this is the best thing I've done (I know people read these things and think the worst but i wouldn't trade it for anything in fact my big fear is losing it). Like you i wanted to lose 90 I lost 70 but put on 10 over the last year because it just wasn't the same. the same fill level was now giving me too many problems where I could not sleep at night due to reflux. If the loosened it I was too loose so never just right like goldilocks - tightented it then it would be too tight w/ night reflux resulting in my having to throw up to be able to sleep. The NP i sometimes see, told me that was a sign of hiatal hernia never being able to be in the green zone anymore. He sent me for an esophogram when i was tightened it nothing was going thru and it looked borderline slip... he loosened it to see if when it calmed down we could see the hernia. SO loosened after 2 weeks the film looked perfect (maybe when they started measuring before and afters the band looked like it was sitting lower than b4 which would indicate something if they were grasping) but not anything obvious they were really trying to find something. Went into surgery based on clinical really and my choices were that they could not tighten the band I would need to live w/ it lose as it is creating problems (so whats the point then - its not doing what it is supposed to do).

I think what happened to me was more an exception the NP watched the whole thing and he said it was a very interesting case. The Dr said it was more of a surgery (they had to replace the whole system) than planned due to ahesions and scarring that part is all normal but i had more than usual. There was a bit of a slip she explained it but i was too drugged up will get more color but she said it was subtle but it made her feel better that the problem is addressed, as she said statistically revisions have a 30 pct failure rate. Now the slip could have happened when i fell off the horse we talked about that - i fell off my new horse Federer in Sept and got flung into a wall like a doll it was a very severe fall and I came out of it ok (just some slightly torn ligs in my arm; tricep muscle; and fractured fibula) it sounds alot but i didn't miss a beat. I felt some spasms going on in that area and we agreed that 'if its a slip you would know it'.

my night heartburn was very very bad. i HAD to be on zegrid all the time and even then i would cough up and choke and throw up. During the day i felt like at proper restriction but nightime another story. Part of this was that my pouch was expanding from the pressure so that was allowing me to eat more and not push it thru ... the acid makes the esophagus not work well either. I have no clue it sounds all complicated to me.

I am good where I am too into size 12's. I could be working out more just ride my horse on weekends. Happy where I am just been told i need to lose more by docs and i can't. I weigh in at 182 so I do have a lot of muscle mass I think that makes me heavier but still a size 12.

I'm feeling better now - surgery was this past saturday (the recovery on this is longer than the initial and the whole thing was 30 times worse for me). ALso i initially had the SILS now i have 4 incisions so maybe that is part of pain but definitely the fact that they had to deal w/ scar tissue in removing the band to put in a new one creates a bigger pain factor. Same deal 10 days liquids 10 days mushies. Going away 2 weeks after the surgery so that was a concern but it should be fine.

Hey, great to hear from you! So sorry about the problems you have had. I hope you are feeling better! I totally worry about a slip or some other complication. What do you mean your practice sees a zillion of these? How bad was your heartburn? I get this at night sometimes.

I have been plateaued for nearly a year, going up and down within a 10 pound range. Right now I am at about 53 pounds lost - my original goal was to lose 80, but now I'm just hoping for 70. I feel great though, I'm working out with a trainer and feel strong and healthy. I am wearing a size 12 easily, and I finally fit into designer jeans!

I would love to hear from everyone else too!

It's so good to see some posts on this site!

Good to read how you are doing.

I'm going along okay. Need to get down 5 pounds, and as you know, that might not seem like much, but it may be impossible to get them off again! Shouldn't have gotten them in the first place....

I have a TOPS goal weight, though, so I want to keep my status there.

Anita

it is so nice to see everyone pipe up and post after all this time..

I am down to 180 from 247 since surgery and honestly have been here since March of LAST year...nothing moves the scale more than 5 pounds up or down....

I am 5cc and the Dr said that is all I need....I* have become Malnutritioned, lost most of hair, have skin issues, you name it..it has been a long, hard journey to get to this point and quite frankly I am tired of trying any more...

I would have loved to be 150 before my 50th birthday but that is only 5 weeks away so I know now that is NOT going to happen...all the walking, starving, and Water in the world won't work that kind of magic!

We all know that having this surgery was the easy part, losing the first 50+ pounds was not so hard, but KEEPING it all off or going to goal is a real struggle...

Here is to another 18 months of success to us all!

I second that toast! I just figured out that I had an additional procedure done when they fixed the band - called a plication I am reading up on it in this site. They pleat the stomach.

it is so nice to see everyone pipe up and post after all this time..

I am down to 180 from 247 since surgery and honestly have been here since March of LAST year...nothing moves the scale more than 5 pounds up or down....

I am 5cc and the Dr said that is all I need....I* have become Malnutritioned, lost most of hair, have skin issues, you name it..it has been a long, hard journey to get to this point and quite frankly I am tired of trying any more...

I would have loved to be 150 before my 50th birthday but that is only 5 weeks away so I know now that is NOT going to happen...all the walking, starving, and Water in the world won't work that kind of magic!

We all know that having this surgery was the easy part, losing the first 50+ pounds was not so hard, but KEEPING it all off or going to goal is a real struggle...

Here is to another 18 months of success to us all!

Hello everyone. I havent been on here probally for a year. I went to a weight lss class wth a friend and realized how much I miss the support.

I am down 86lbs since I started my weight loss journey. I havent loss anything in 4 months though. I have difficult doc that insists I do not need a fill. He insists none of his patients are higher then 5and a quater ccs.....I know he is looking out for me and I trust him I jst think tht he is to much on the side of cautiion. I think I eat to much at a sitting. I have always thought this since I had the band. For instance I can sit down and eat a new your strip steak and a small bake potatoe at a sitting and I think thts to much.. I would love your opionion on this. I have trouble eating chicken and pork roast and bread.... I have 5 ccs in my band Not sure how big my band is though.

How do u know a band slipped I was curious on that. Also I have had a pain under my port site off and on for a couple weeks. Opinions?>

Im so glad you are all doing well...

Hi Karebear 86 lbs is nothing to sneeze at! Great! Well my experience has left me more confused than ever cuz it was all so subtle! kinda freaky actually and I could have lived w/o the surgery if I could have been happy w/ the weightloss and not sure where she would have decided to keep me filled but probably less than where i was which to me meant i would probably regain everything over years and while I was a size 12 (was as low as a 10) - doctors wanted me to lose more weight due to other issues (fatty liver; etc).

I agree you are able to eat too much and boy has this been a learning experience. I learned that you can eat too much and still be tight - thats esophagal dilation. The food is filled in ur pouch above the band. But let me ask u this are you where you want to be weight wise? If so it is probably ok. The tightness people live with is very personal decision

Key note to take away is really pay attention to the heart burn and talk to your doctor about it (rather I should say acid reflux). My doc explained it beats up on the esophagus and makes it not work well.

Another thing I learned - after weight loss it is not so uncommon to have a hiatal hernia come back - telling signs are going from yellow zone to red. (again w/ a very strong team helping me and me going in every 6 weeks or so it was not so blatantly obvious nor obvious in films where it was black and white).

Slips - I fell off my horse and asked how do we know if it slipped - and usually there are big signs and something like constant throwing up or trauma would cause that. My fall was a fairly severe fall worse than any car accident and I considered myself lucky i didn't have anything seriously wrong - well needing surgery would qualify for seriously wrong if that is in fact what caused it. Do you throw up a lot? I think they described a subtle slip w/ me could have been from the horse fall or it could have been from nighttime reflux which would cause me to throw up. I had two periods where its been bad last year and just recently which resulted in the revision. My signs were that unfilled it looked normal on the film but filled it did not and it seemed like it would flop around when tightened; but in reality once they were in there they could see subtle slip (and i was unfilled going into the surgery completely).

I bought what looks like a great book called bandwagon written by someone who is a bandster ( a fiction writer).

For me even w/ all this medical support it often isn't so black and white. I had to really trust my surgeon and I don't know if i mentioned this but they did the new procedure on me as well Plication. Goodbye bandster hell and hunger even when unfilled - hope there aren't any long term negatives but w/ all of this i guess there are trade offs. I think it is so new not sure i would recommend it but my surgeons practice are all very experienced and in my situation it seemed to call for it (they are not doing that many of these or haven't yet i should say). Again trust here or foolish but I'll hope for the best. At some point I have to call on faith in things to work out for the best.

Hello everyone. I havent been on here probally for a year. I went to a weight lss class wth a friend and realized how much I miss the support.

I am down 86lbs since I started my weight loss journey. I havent loss anything in 4 months though. I have difficult doc that insists I do not need a fill. He insists none of his patients are higher then 5and a quater ccs.....I know he is looking out for me and I trust him I jst think tht he is to much on the side of cautiion. I think I eat to much at a sitting. I have always thought this since I had the band. For instance I can sit down and eat a new your strip steak and a small bake potatoe at a sitting and I think thts to much.. I would love your opionion on this. I have trouble eating chicken and pork roast and bread.... I have 5 ccs in my band Not sure how big my band is though.

How do u know a band slipped I was curious on that. Also I have had a pain under my port site off and on for a couple weeks. Opinions?>

Im so glad you are all doing well...