donali

I guess if leaving it as it is and being careful is an option, I don't understand why taking all the Fluid out and having the band NOT "fix itself" would automatically require surgery... I mean, having all the fluid out shouldn't make the problem worse than it is now, and if it doesn't fix itself, why would you be any worse off getting your fill back and living with it slightly slipped and being careful? Not that I recommend leaving the band slipped either way, but the options as the doc outlines them seems hypocritical to me. Either the slip needs to be fixed, or it doesn't. In option A he says it doesn't. In #2 he says it does. The bottom line is you are having problems due to slippage. They are only going to get worse - reflux is not something to mess with. And, if you are throwing up, and you already have a slight slip, you could get into an emergent situation if more of the stomach comes through and totally obstructs you, or worse yet, if your stomach torques and cuts the blood supply off from itself. If you were having no problems/symptoms, I'd be willing to say go with it and be careful... But you're having problems, so I think the more responsible advice would be to get all your fill out and hope it corrects itself - many times the small slips do correct themselves with this kind of treatment. And if it doesn't correct itself... Well, it really does need to be corrected, because YOU'RE HAVING PROBLEMS! So sorry. This is my best most responsible advice.

Yeah, Michelle!! You've done so well, against so much adversity. I'm so proud of you!!!

I can't tell you why, but I can tell you that I was one of those whose fill kicked in about 4 weeks later.

Yeah, Maureen!!! Congrats!! I was looking for links on proper placement of the band, 'cause I wanted to say that a slight angle was normal, but my browser froze up and I never got my answer. I do think it is supposed to be on a slight angle, but I could be so wrong. Anyone else? Anyway, whoo hoo on no erosion!!!

Pretty much learned what Sue says - I'm crazier than a coon when it comes to food. When I learned I had to be unbanded, I had to be BRUTALLY honest with myself about my relationship with food. The band made it impossible to overeat too much - that was what I really needed it for - that, and the help on feeling full on smaller portions. Or, if not full, exactly, at least "done eating". The key for me is... When my hunger was in full force and I was in binge mode, I was sucking down zillions of calories in binge foods, because I chose very calorically dense foods to binge on. Large deep dish pizzas, whole buckets of KFC, plus the biscuits and honey, or the dipping bread sticks, or a family portion of buffalo wings with a cup of blue cheese dressing. All followed by something that had pure sugar in it. Forget the calories - the chemistry of the food I was eating was really what was killing me. Refined carbs raise your blood sugar, which calls out the insulin, which converts all that blood sugar into FAT, and all that FAT I just ate into FAT, and crashes you back down again into hunger and cravings to repeat ad nauseum (literally, sometimes). So, the brutally honest part is... Even with the band, I would have binge modes come on (just couldn't do much to binge), so I KNOW they have nothing to do with hunger. I think the binges were usually due to simple compulsion, but sometimes emotions were the real driving factor. So, KNOWING that I was going to occasionally hit binge mode again without the band, I had to admit to myself that choosing to binge on calorically dense foods was going to be the death of me. I am no longer allowed to order pizza delivered to the house. I'm allowed to eat pizza - don't get me wrong - but I have to buy it by the slice. Because if I order a WHOLE large deep dish pizza in binge mode, I WILL try and eat the whole thing. And I am too cheap to order and pay for more than two slices at a time. The KFC is easier to avoid, and when I really want fried chicken I can order by the piece at Albertsons. But it's really not that good, so it's not too hard to talk myself into a roasted chicken instead, because I love that crispy skin. So I get it home, and first thing I do is peel off all the crispy skin and eat it. Eating the rest of the chicken isn't going to do that much more damage, and I usually don't want the whole thing anyway (because even the roasted chicken really isn't that good... lol). Plus I didn't get the bread or coleslaw, so it was basically just a high Protein meal, and I feel stuffed (which is, I guess, what I go for in binge mode). I also don't keep potatos in the house anymore. I have to watch the rice kick, 'cause I would live on white rice and butter if I could, or Pasta and butter, but I haven't had any cravings for that in over a year. Pre-banding I would not have thought that these binges could have made such a difference, but apparently they did. Plus I did cut out a lot of the bread, rice and pasta I was consuming pre-band. I can't get into the "6 slices of buttered toast with hot sweet tea is a meal" mode again. So my downfalls were bingeing on calorically dense foods, and eating multiple portions of high-glycemic carb foods with fats as a meal. Just changing those two things allowed me to drop 100 pounds in 17 months. And those changes weren't drastic - nothing is off limits, but I am much more sane about what I'm eating, whether it's bingeing or not. Pasta can NOT be a meal for me... but it can be a side dish if a really want it. The same with rice and potatos. The candy thing came under control when I stopped thinking I couldn't (or SHOULDN'T) have it. When I want it, I have it. But I don't keep it in the house. And except for my big bag of self-mixed bridge mix, I don't bring bags of snacky stuff into the house - I have troubles moderating portions on that stuff. Luckily I'm cheap, so it really kills me to spend 75 cents on a 25 cent candy bar... lol Okay, enough rambling.... Sorry, got carried away...

No truer words have been spoken... You rock, SUE!! And super congrats on your maintenance without a fill! Whoo hoo!! And I just got a little stuck on some hamburger. Casper ROCKS!!

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lol

Hi Betty - I loved my band too, and still would recommend it as a first option to anyone considering weightloss surgery. The band worked EXACTLY the way I expected and hoped - it was just the tool I needed to help me lose my first 100 pounds. Even though I didn't get to keep my band, I will always be grateful that I was banded.

Hi SP - Although fills are integral to band success, it is possible to continue to be successful without them. Even (gasp!) without the band itself!! Even if your weightloss slows, if you eat nutritiously 70% of the time, move your body a little bit, and eat a little less in general, you will be losing weight, albeit maybe slower than you'd like. But you're already eating less than you used to, so your weight is going to naturally go down. Focus on making healthy choices and learning to stop eating when you're full, and eat only when you're physically hungry, and those are the main battles you face, whether you are filled or not. Good luck, and I hope that you find a fill doctor soon. In the meantime, continue to make healthy permanent lifestyle changes, and they will stand you in good stead, even if the band isn't helping as much as it eventually will.

Debra, LOVE your photo!! Sal - I adore your avitar... lol

Uh... EWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol

Alex, that's wonderful, and truly deserved. Taking the time to tell you that shows why he's so beloved.

OMG!!!!! ROTFLMAO!! At the same time, this is so sad.... lol

My counseling was a 50 minute session once a week for three months that ended with 5-10 minutes of hypnotherapy. Then I paid for 3 months of group support, which was 50 minutes once a week for 3 months, but about 1.5 months into it the program was discontinued. My counselor was specifically trained for this particular kind of work, and had gone through the program herself, so completely understood on a personal level what I was going through. So although her struggle was on a smaller scale (she had to lose and maintain a 40 pounds loss), she had been just as distraught over her out of control eating as I was about mine. Alex - I <3 you too...

Didn't you just say in an earlier post that you were putting yourself on warm liquids, because ICE Water wasn't working??? <thunk thunk> Try a hot popsicle... It does sound as though gastritis is a possibility, after all the possible culprits you listed. I have to join the growing crowd... PCP... If it's gastritis, wouldn't Pepto Bismal help? Something tummy soothing? Chin up, girl. You probably pulled something doing wild monkey sex like our girl DeLarla. And I agree with Leatha - what is this?? Make single women cry week??? I'm not technically single, but we're separated by a continent and an ocean... sigh...

Darcy - Wishing you all the best in this. You should NOT be feeling pain! xxoo

Wow... you can feel it all the way up into your rib cage??? **eyes wide in awe**

Marie, you are so cute to call me "so successful in your weight loss in a really short length of time." Believe it or not, I fall smack-dab in the middle of "average" as far as expected weightloss with the band, which is 1-2 pounds per WEEK (that's 4-8 pounds per MONTH). There are others on this site that have been wildly successful, as far as amount and quickness of loss - Babs and ShellyJ just to name two offhand. In the 75 weeks that I was banded, I averaged a loss of 1.34 pounds a week. The miracle to me was how easy it was. I did not count, or measure, or diet, or kill myself with exercise. I did check out what I was eating on www.fitday.com every once in a great while (usually on one of my long plateaus) just to see where I was coming in. Most of the time I consumed 1400-2000 calories a day, with most days falling between 1500-1700. I did fall into a routine that I still pretty much follow, although now that I am unbanded I am trying to add in more salads/veggies, as they were sorely lacking in my daily banded menu. I try to drink a quart of Water on my way into work each day. Somewhere around 8-10am I have a cup of lowfat cottage cheese mixed with about 1/4 cup of bruschetta sauce (diced tomatoes, basil, garlic, olive oil). For lunch I would have 4-6 ounces of meat that I had pre-cooked and vacuum packed with my FoodSaver and threw into the freezer. While I was banded I rarely had anything besides my meat for lunch (hence the usual constipation... ) I try to drink a quart of water on the way home. For dinner I would have either a quart of Protein shake (Trader Joe's unflavored soy protein) blended with ice, Vitamins, flax oil, sweet-n-low and a banana, or 1/2 of a two item combo from Panda Express (mandarin chicken, 1/2 fried rice, 1/2 noodles), or 4-6oz of meat with steamed cauliflower, that kind of stuff. I try to drink a quart of water in the evening. For Snacks I would have a SF/FF yoghurt, or some nuts, or some cheese. I regularly had sweets and high carb stuff, but not usually every day. Maybe a donut each month, 10-20 Cookies each month, 2-3 candy bars each month, a serving of rice or potatos 4-6 times each month, 2 slices of pizza each month, crackers with Peanut Butter 5-6 times a month... I go through phases of craving things - one month maybe I'll have a full bag of Cheetos, and then not have them again for three months. This month I'm craving nuts and chocolate, so I made my own bridge mix with mixed nuts, choc covered almonds, choc covered raisens, plain raisens, plain cranberry pieces and plain almonds. I've been having maybe 3-4 cups of this a week starting last week. I just try to be cognizant of what I'm eating, and where that puts me in my calorie range. Mom and I walk the mall at a brisk pace 3 times a week - takes us 20-30 minutes to make one full circuit. I think the very most important thing I learned while I was banded was that PLATEAUS ARE NORMAL. In the past if I'd been "dieting" and didn't see results each week it would send me off on a binge. With the band I couldn't do that, and I knew I was eating pretty much the same number of calories each week, give or take, and the weight was coming off. Slowly, but surely. Not every week, not every month... But it DID come off, in fits and starts. My best advice to people is to learn to eat when you are physically hungry, stop when you are full, try to find other things to do besides eating in the meantime, BE KIND AND GENTLE TO YOURSELVES, and lean towards making healthy choices. THIS JOURNEY DOES NOT HAVE TO BE DRASTIC TO BE EFFECTIVE. I was always doing something drastic - my goal was always as quick as possible in the shortest amount of time possible so I could go back to "normal". Now eating as I outlined above IS normal for me, and it isn't drastic, or depriving. Many people cannot be satisfied with 1.34 pounds a week AVERAGE. They're thrilled when they lose 5 pounds one week, and then desperately unhappy when they lose nothing more the next two weeks. This is dieting mentality - letting the scale control how you feel about yourself and your progress. Don't get me wrong - I get on the scale everyday - but it doesn't affect me the way it used to when I see 5 pound fluctuations - because I know I'm doing the same thing over and over again. I still get thrilled with the -5!! But I don't get filled with angst over the +5 like I used to. I know it's normal, and I just keep paying attention to the basics. I do look forward to the day when I feel secure enough that I don't feel the need to weigh at all. Ever. I don't know that I would be able to have a calm about this journey if I hadn't had those 6 months of compulsive overeating counseling. It really and truly helped me. I don't think without it that I could now be at a semi-peaceful place about food. The band reinforced all the lessons that I learned in counseling, but the counseling is really the foundation of my new attitude about food. Banding just helped to show me how crazy I am/was, just like Sue says. It really showed me my compulsion, and how strong it is even when physical hunger is absent. I don't know if my way would work for anyone else, but it worked for me, and so far I am able to keep doing what I did while I was banded. I feel I need to be a little more vigilant about bingeing, and what I choose to binge on, but so far I haven't really had any "true" bingeing episodes like from my past. I hope this helps someone!!

Biker Babe DeLarla... Has a nice ring to it...

Whoo hooo!!! Alex!! You go girl!

AAAACCCCKKKKK!!!! !@$%%#!$#$! 9 year old husbands!! Honey, I am so sorry. I have no advice. He needs a frontal lobotomy. Or is that a bottle in front of me? You GOTTA keep your dream home - giving that up is just not an option. He's too young to be going through his midlife crisis. Perhaps this is just his way of getting more attention - you know he's been wanting attention, and children will settle for negative attention over no attention at all. **hugs**

Incorrigible... Simply incorrigible... **shakes her head in defeat**

How many times does it have to be said?!?!?! Fill amounts CAN'T be compared. You may be closed off at 1.8. tsk tsk tsk Penni, I know you know better than this...

Glad you're feeling better, Nancy!! Any excuse to have a little Peanut Butter, eh? I should have specified the creamy kind, not the chunky kind.