Alexandra

Yes, you are normal. You should still try very hard to eat slowly and with care, because you might still experience a surprise if you take too large a bite. But before the first fill it is very common for people to feel virtually no restriction whatsoever once they've completely healed from surgery.

I''m thoroughly enjoying this "hell," frankly. I'm not anywhere NEAR as hungry as I was before being banded (again), and just a little food makes me satisfied. The hardest thing is to stop eating before I take too many bites, but I know that is always my demon so it's not a surprise. Happy here back in bandland!!! :biggrin1:

Hi Tina, A fill is a fill, but the size of the band that's being adjusted DOES have a lot to do with it. If it's too small to begin with, adding Fluid to make it tighter will just make problems worse. Back in 2002 doctors had only one choice of band size, but people are not all the same size and so some inevitably got bands that just didn't fit right from the start. I think I was one of those people, too; I could only tolerate a fill of less than 1.5ccs at any time and toward the end couldn't tolerate any fill at all. Now I have the new AP band (my old one was removed due to slippage) and I am hopeful that this one will be for life. There's a lot more room to maneuver and adjust to fit my particular anatomy. If you have no fill and are STILL too tight, then doesn't it stand to reason that a larger band might work better for you?

Hi MJ, The requirements for a letter from a family doctor and a 6-month supervised diet are usually those of insurance carriers, not surgeons themselves. If you're going to be self-pay, you should be able to just contact a surgeon and get started. Good luck!

Various doctors have diffeerent post-op regimens, but ALL require at least a week or so of fluids. After that, soft foods may be taken in small amounts (known as the "mushy" phase) and that phase can range from 1-4 weeks. The reason for all of this is to LET YOUR STOMACH HEAL. It is not a matter of whether you can "tolerate" it or that you are actually going to damage anything if you test the waters. It's just to give your body and band the best possible chance to heal in place, so as to avoid problems later on. Soft fish is not out of line for you; I was banded on the same day and I'm on mushies--including salmon salad and cottage cheese. But I'm staying here for at least another two weeks just to give my body the best chance I can. (Doxie is right about the pre-op, but of course you're asking about the POST-OP regimen.) BTW, NewMe, where were you banded? Did we pass one another in the hallways at Morristown Memorial on the 13th?

If your band is completely unfilled and you are still feeling significant restriction, it's possible there is something going on with your esophagus. Have you had a barium swallow test? Or an esophogram? These are tests that will let your doctor see if there's inflammation, a hernia, or something else going on that is making you feel restriction. Whatever the case, it definitely should be looked at and treated. Good luck!!

Ya know, I was thinking that you must be Irish, because Pat sure isn't! My first husband gave me a t-shirt that said "Irish By Marriage." While I didn't enjoy being married to him, I did enjoy being Irish while I was. :biggrin1:

Band removal is NOT dangerous. And of course it's possible!! Even patients with the worst cases of erosion can have their bands safely removed. It's utter hogwash to suggest that it's not possible or safe. Of course, once your band is removed it will be very difficult to maintain your weight loss. Some people certainly have been successful, but I know from personal experience how easy it is to revert back to old, pre-band eating habits. And that way, at least for me, would lie a quick return to morbid obesity.

First, and this is just a pet peeve of mine, but the correct term is "gastric bypass" or "bypass" -- saying "gastric" as a single word makes NO SENSE!! That means "related to the stomach" and is not even a noun!!! Rant over. In my case, I had two major thought processes going on when choosing. First, I was healthy and wanted more than anything to stay that way. Speed of loss was NOT important to me--staying healthy for my two small children WAS. I'd lost weight quickly in the past (on Optifast) and it really threw me off physically and mentally. I definitely didn't want to go through that again. The other thing was the risk of regain and what one's options are if that happens. With bypass you have been permanently altered, and IF there is anything more to be done it requires another, quite major, surgery. The band's adjustability made perfect sense to me and seems to hold the best promise for long-term effectiveness.

[derail] Julie, you just made me realize something. I'm hoping very much to go back to working in the city soon, and though I never thought about it if I DO get it I'll be commuting and navigating the city streets as a much thinner person than I was. I foresee a whole new set of NSVs!! [/derail]

I had my rings resized when losing them became a real possibility. At the same time I had one of them re-set, so the whole thing was expensive, but resizing a simple band isn't all that expensive. It shouldn't affect the setting at all, if there is on. Rainer, I got my first husband a Claddagh ring for his engagement present, too! He loved it, being Irish to the core.

Hi Dawn, I think my original band was too tight from the start, too, though perhaps not as tight as yours. After three years I definitely started suffering regularly from reflux and heartburn, and unfills only helped for a while. My band was finally removed on 4/9 after a slip was diagnosed. Last week I had a new band put in, the new AP band. I don't know if I have the large size or not, but even the small one is a good deal larger than the original 4cc band I had. So far so good--I know it's early days but right out of the gate I am MUCH more comfortable than I had been after the initial surgery four years ago. I hear you about healing, and agree that's very important. Removal probably makes sense for you at this time. But don't close the door on replacement if it's an option for you. Good luck with whatever you decide, and I hope you heal up completely!!

Abkin/Bertha here, too. Check out advancedlaparoscopicsurgeons.com

Yep, I'm knocking on the door of bandster hell. My appetite is coming back, and a Protein shake just is NOT cutting it. Last night I went to an expensive supermarket and bought salmon salad, chopped chicken liver, whitefish salad, premium yogurt, goat-cheese brie, all sorts of those yummylicious things I never buy normally because they're so expensive. I also got new small Ziploc containers so I can bring my yummy mushies with me. Experience tells me the way to avoid counterproductive and dangerous pigouts is to not let myself get too hungry. I've lost less than 10 lbs on liquids but I am not going to worry about losing any more at this point. Starting this weekend exercise will be back in my life and maybe that will help, but for now I'm just concentrating on staying not-hungry.

The last few weeks I've been completely preoccupied with a work issue, but suddenly TOMORROW is my rebanding! I'm sooooooo ready to get cinched again, sooooo ready to stop closing in on an upward spiral. Holy hell, if this episode has proven anything to me it's the I NEED A BAND. So this is it. See y'all on the flip side!! :whoo::whoo::whoo:

Rainer, I COMPLETELY relate to what you're going through. My best approach was literally to get an MP3 player and CLOSE MY EYES when doing my workout. After a few visits you realize that really, people AREN'T looking at you. And in any event, I'm certain you will be surprised at how many bigger people you'll be working out with. That's the difference about the Y--it attracts normal people to exercise, not sexy tight bodies paying a lot to see and be seen. If your Y is anything like mine, any time of day you'll see a wide variety of people working out. You might also want to try a class that is designed for people who are beginning or trying to get back in the swing after a baby or injury or whatever. My Y has a class called "Back In Shape" which is a gentler sort of aerobic class. That's what I started with, and was very happy to find larger women and lots of older women in the class with me. Doing something like that in a group really helped build my self-confidence, I found.

I take Trader Joe's High Potency chewable multivitamin and minerals. They're fine, not supposed to be yummy but certainly palatable enough.

I'm doing great! My doctor's post-op instructions are pretty flexible: 1-3 days clears, 3-5 more days of full liquids, 2 weeks or so of mushies. All stages are dependent on how everything feels. Right now I'm on full liquids and adding a little mushy stuff here and there. I don't expect to go on full mushies until this weekend, when my family leaves for vacation. I feel great!! Thanks for asking!

Thanks, Wendy & Sunta!! Each day is a little bit better; by this weekend I expect to be feeling 100% myself. Yay!

I think this bears repeating. I COMPLETELY agree. :nod:

It's so easy to make a judgement based on what we see in a message-board post. I'd like it if we can all remember that this is a very PERSONAL journey we're undertaking, and what works for us may not work for someone else. I know it's hard to bite one's tongue when questions seem absurd, but really, we should be "tending to our own knitting" (Love that!!) and not worrying about what other people are doing. Personally, I'm fully aware that a "lifestyle change" is necessary, but I'm also completely realistic about what I am able to do. Hell, if I had what it takes to make a "lifestyle change" on my own, I wouldn't have been banded in the first place. Banding in itself IS a lifestyle change; it just takes people different amounts of time to climb that learning curve and achieve what they set out to. Some never do. All we can do is keep trying, and supporting one another along the way.

Congratulations, Chris!!! You did and are doing great!!!

I'll take care of it for you.

I'm doing great, thanks for asking! A week out all my bandages are off, I'm only feeling a twinge here and there, and working my way toward the wondrous mushy diet. On the topic at hand I completely understand how if being banded makes one miserable it makes sense to have it out. But I'm THRILLED to be rebanded and look forward to eating normally--and lightly--again.

The first time I had the surgery I just told people I was taking a few days off for personal days. It was midsummer, everyone else had been taking vacations here and there and I figured it was my turn. No one I hadn't told personally about it was aware that I'd had anything done when I returned the next week. This time I said I was having "minor abdominal surgery." In my small office it's no secret that I've lost a lot of weight, but I don't relish discussing the details with my three male bosses. So I just gloss over it and no one is rude enough to pry.