Hi-

I am here looking for a little insight from anyone who may be able to provide some. Let me say my surgeon is extremely qualified and has done thousands of surgeries. I was actually recommended by others who have had RNY and Lapband done my him.

My dilemma is that I was banded 6/18/09 and went in for my fist fill about 6 weeks later. He does all his fills under fluoro to ensure the band is positioned correctly and there haven't been any slips. He's also extremely aggressive with his fills. Anyway, during my first fill I laid on the table and he told me to tell him once I start feeling pressure. He kept looking at me and finally asked "did you not feel any pressure"? I was like "umm No". He said he put 9 ccs in my band and I didn't feel anything. So he put about .5 more ccs in there and told me let's try it out at 9.5 and to call if I have problems/concerns/etc.. I have a 11mL Realize band. So, at this point I am @ 9.5.

Anyway, about 1 1/2 week later I call and let his office know I am not feeling any restriction and they said I can come back in. I go back in and he withdrew all the saline (to ensure there wasn't a leak) and filled me back up but this time he added about 1.5cc so that puts me @ 11.. STILL NO RESTRICTION WHATSOEVER!!!

So, I call back about 2 weeks later and let them know still NO CHANGE! Yet again I go in for another fill. This time he adds about 1.8 and that puts me @ 12.8 which is more than the 11. I kind of felt a little tight b/c it was a little struggle to drink liquids (I had to gulp real hard to get it down). I went the next day and he removed .8 which put me @ 12ccs.

Anyway, 1 1/2 week later he put .5ccs back in and I still do not have RESTRICTION!!! WTH!! I am getting so frustrated with the back and forth. My doc told me he has NEVER had to do an overfill with the Realize Band (he had a few patients he has overfilled that has the Lap Band) and that my band may be defective. If that is the case and I am unable to reach restriction with the overfills, I will have to have my band replaced.

Has anyone ever heard of this happening or has ANY insight? This is strange as well as ridiculous!

Thanks in advance for your help!

Wow regardless of whether you had restriction or not I can't believe he put 9.5cc in the first fill!

By no restriction, you mean 1/2cup - 1 cup of food doesn't keep you full for 3-5 hours?

What type of food do you normally eat? How much? How long do you go in between meals?

I've got no answers for you. I hope you get some resolution.

Wow regardless of whether you had restriction or not I can't believe he put 9.5cc in the first fill!

By no restriction, you mean 1/2cup - 1 cup of food doesn't keep you full for 3-5 hours?

What type of food do you normally eat? How much? How long do you go in between meals?

I've got no answers for you. I hope you get some resolution.[/quote

Hi-

By no restriction I mean I can eat the same amount before I even had surgery. I usually eat chicken breast, fish, tuna, etc (foods I would call healthy for the most part). I try to eat off a saucer but trust me that does NOT work. I have to have about 2-3 saucers in order to feel full. I can usually go about 2 hours between meals and about 3 hours if I have a small snack in between.

I'm with you. Hopefully, I get resolution to this as well because it's getting real frustrating..

Keep me updated because I'm curious as to what happens! I have an 11cc realize band-c as well

I'm at 9.5 or a tiny bit under with a 10cc band--granted mine were done over a period of 5 fills.

No restriction to speak of. I've been stuck at the same weight for about 6 weeks now.

I feel your pain and wish I could help ye!

I am shocked at the way that you have been filled.Info that I have read states that being filled too quickly causes problems such as slippage.See info below from another website.

I am also wondering if what you are expecting to feel is different to what the doctors expect us to feel. I am still very new at this but I have read that we should not be expecting to feel full as we did previously. Instead we should be aiming for satisfied. Try eating the recommended amount and then stopping and working out if you are still hungry. Not hungry is a lot different from full. This is whatIi have been doing and it works. If I had to eat until I felt full I am sure I would be overeating.

The risk of slippage is also increased by:

• Not emptying the balloon during surgery.
  
• Filling the band too early.
  
• Introducing solids too soon into the diet.
  
• Eating excessive quantities and overfilling the small pouch
  
• Having the band too tight and not allowing food to pass steadily through the opening into the lower pouch.
  
  

Trust me-you would know if you had restriction. Its not mistakable. Sounds like a band problem. I'm having one too-after 18 mos. I've lost 128 pounds so far. Keep being your own advocate.

Cordelia

all I can say is wow! that is unreal!

The OP said that her fill was done under fluro and there was no slippage. My first fill and my last fill were done under fluro and there was no slippage (the person doing it said that my pouch was small)

lbhope2009---from your post, you are following as close to the "rules" as you can. No drinking with meals, Protein first etc.

I've had a handful of days where I wasn't actually hungry 3 hours after a meal--I almost always go for a healthy snack, yogurt or string cheese and I've taken to having a few bites of cold chicken breast for a snack--damn good protein, just not working.

If you are anything like me, you think that somehow you are cheating, but you just don't know what you are doing wrong.

I've never gotten a "oh no, better stop" feeling--I've never pushed it that far, and I wont. Never gotten stuck-never felt "funny" after trying a new food.

I'm happy with what I've done so far, but it's all been done with will power.