Alexandra

Congratulations! :rockon:

IMO it's because our bodily tissue is not made of plastic; it's living tissue and reacts to increased pressure in various ways. I have the exact same experience with fills kicking in weeks later; I think my stomach tissue "retreats" or thins out directly after the fill in response to the pressure, and then "returns" to its pre-fill thickness. THAT'S when I feel the increased restriction. I have no medical background but I've shared my theory with several surgeons and they all think it's as plausible as any other explanation.

I'm all for people posting threads like "Jane's Big Day is Monday!!" so others can post their thoughts of support and encouragement on them. But to my mind starting a separate prayer forum (or for that matter calling them "prayer requests") is unnecessarily exclusionary. Not everyone prays or feels comfortable offering prayers, but I'm sure ALL of us want to offer our support to people going in for surgery or who have other trying situations arising. Let's try to be a big tent, OK? Another board I'm on is really big on support, and every day you'll see threads by and for people who can use prayers and good wishes for various reasons. But the threads aren't labeled as such; the prayers are offered in the threads by those who are so moved. Other people send whatever thoughts and wishes feel right to them. It seems to me that putting "prayer request" in the titles might not invite everyone to participate. I'm certain that's not the goal, right?

I'm sorry for your loss, Carlene. I'm sure it was a very difficult decision but you did the right thing for your love.

Everyone Is Different! There is no way to predict how much Fluid will result in restriction for any given person or how many fills it will take to get there. Comparisons get us absolutely nowhere. Rant over. :biggrin1:

Northernsun, beverages with caffeine are worth about 2/3 of what non-caffeinated beverages would be worth with regard to your fluid intake. Go ahead and indulge, just be aware that the diuretic effect means you need to take in even more liquids.

:pound:

Hi Sarah, Thanks so much for sharing your story! If I were in your shoes I think I too would be seriously considering band removal. You're absolutely right; it's not normal or healthy to be unable to eat solid food. You're not the only one who is unable to tolerate much fill. I'm completely unfilled right now and have been for most of this year. To my surprise, it seems that I've never had a fill of more than about 2.0 in my 4cc band. But even in my empty state I still have SOME restriction, though nowhere near what you seem to be describing. My issues seem to stem from allergies; times of more allergic irritation to my sinuses are the same times that I have needed unfills in the past. Fall and spring have both been problematic for me this year, but I seem to have reached a happy place with allergy medications and have hopes that in the next few months--if I need it--I'll be able to get and keep a super-tiny fill. Perhaps you could benefit from having your band replaced with the newer version, the VG band? One size does NOT fit all, which is precisely why Inamed designed the larger band. If you'd been banded later, maybe that's the size your doctor would have chosen for you in the first place. Your anatomy may just be a sort that needs a larger band. In the meantime, please take care of your health! There's no reason you should have any malnutrition issues; Protein shakes and supplements are adequate for the most malabsorptive RNYers so you should be able to prop up your own intake that way. Congratulations on your terrific achievement with the band! It's an ongoing challenge, though, and you're doing the absolute right thing by investigating and considering your options. Please let us know how you're doing!

Hi Cowgirl Sue--welcome to LBT! Sounds to me like you might just need another fill. Sometimes after we've lost weight we notice our restriction lessening a bit; that's the reason people may get multiple adjustments along the way. You don't say how long ago your last fill was, but if it was more than a couple of months why not ask your doctor about adding a little bit more? If your last fill was very recent, give it another couple of weeks and see how you feel then. I know that when I get a fill, the immediate result seems to be a lessening of restriction, followed by increased restriction as much as three or four weeks later. My theory is that my stomach retreats in the face of increased pressure, and slowly goes back to "normal" as time passes. So it takes several weeks for my fills to "kick in" and I know I'm not the only one who experiences that. Congratulations on your loss so far!

We can't vote until the 7th. I can't WAIT to go, though; this is the first election in my adult life that I am passionately hoping will really change things.

The First Amendment protects us ALL, even those who think Christ was just a good man. Back in the late 18th century no waves of immigrants or revolutions of social thought had yet changed the fabric of American society, but our Framers had the amazing foresight to allow for that possibility.

We have a member who relocated to Malawi after being banded. If she can do it, ANYONE can. :biggrin1:

Normal, normal, normal, normal, normal, normal, normal. Got it? NORMAL! :cool: What's not normal is 26 lbs in 9 days!! That's three months' worth of loss right there; if you don't lose another ounce until next year you'll still be ahead of the game. Congratulations on your banding!!

Another New Jerseyan here applauding the decision!! Of course, it remains to be seen what our legislature comes up with by way of regulations, but at least the principle has been affirmed. State-sponsored discrimination is FINALLY going to go the way of the dodo....someday.

Congratulations, babs!! That is wonderful news, and gives hope to all bandsters that perhaps we can keep it long-term. Thanks for letting us know!!

A healthy marriage is a healthy marriage, before or after the band. Losing weight might give room for other issues to grow and become more prominent, but IMO if the couple is on a good strong foundation weight loss (or gain) shouldn't make any difference. Sure, things will change. My husband has had to adjust the amounts he prepares for dinner, and has learned that I'm not always interested in big Pasta dinners. But these are minor things, and we've never had problems with them. At one point before my surgery my husband did confess to being a little concerned that he'd be insecure if the rest of the world found me more attractive, but as soon as he said it he realized it amounted to an insult and retracted the comment. He knows and trusts me, and realizes there is no reason to think I'd be a different person just because I'd lose weight. Many things come into play here, of course, and not every situation is the same. But in general, I believe that a strong foundation of marriage has nothing whatsoever to do with the partners' body types.

The key words here are "medically necessary" and "emergency." Insurance, if it's any kind of responsible coverage, will pay for medical care any emergency situation no matter what the cause. It probably won't cover fills if it didn't cover the band in the first place, but if you're having a serious complication it should cover the steps to correct it. That said, it's unlikely that you'll ever experience that sort of situation related to your band. Will your insurance pay for removal if you have erosion? That might depend on the light in which your doctor casts the necessity of removal at the time it happens. You could call and ask the carrier what their approach would be if you had another sort of implant, a breast implant or something like that, and it ruptured. Would the cover the medical care in that situation?

Congratulations, Kyleigh! You're doing wonderfully; best wishes for a long and happy band life!!

It's a mystery to me why doctors seem to gloss right over the importance of sticking to liquids during the healing phase. If they told us WHY we have to do it, it wouldn't be such a burden! Obviously we want to give our bands the best possible chance to succeed and stay with us over the long term, and healing in place properly is KEY to that. Mark, your stomach is a muscle and if you've ever injured a muscle you know that immobility is called for. solid food makes the stomach move around, and you want it to stay as still as possible during the healing phase. So follow your doctor's advice and stick to liquids as long as necessary. Congratulations on your banding!

My advice is only to not beat yourself up about it. If we were able to eat like birds prior to having restriction, we wouldn't have needed the band! It's most important to eat healthy foods during this time, since you're recovering from surgery and are setting your body up for an extended period of significantly reduced calories, but I don't really see the point in actively trying to LOSE weight while it's so hard. Concentrate on what you're eating, not the quantities. You know the bandster mantra: Protein first, then veggies, then carbs. So work on making that a permanent part of your life. That's plenty to keep you busy while you're waiting for your next fill. Leaving our MO lives behind means changing many habits, permanently. It's completely unrealistic for anyone to expect that they can all be changed overnight, particularly when we are not yet getting the help we need so desperately. This is what led us to the band in the first place! Don't beat yourself up because you're not a miracle worker. You're doing great!!

Tee hee! Here's one I never thought about: Just now I was cleaning up and organizing my many bookmarks, something I don't do nearly often enough. In the category "shopping" I deleted a dozen saved sites for PLUS SIZE clothes! Won't be needing those again, nosirree!!

Hi Terri! You did great, and welcome to LBT! I'm sure you'll get lots of thoughts and advice about Mexico and financing, though I have nothing to offer on either. Just wanted to say hi and welcome!

The alcohol may have contributed by allowing the LES (lower esophageal sphincter) to relax more than it usually would as you sleep, and thus permitting material still in your pouch to migrate upward into the esophagus. This is just an amateur theory, mind you, but stopping drinking is one of the many suggested treatments for reflux so it makes sense to me.

From age 10, when I spent the summer in diet camp, to age 40, when I lost 40 lbs using ephedra, I've tried many different approaches to losing weight. They all failed in the long run because ultimately there was nothing to prevent me from eating more than I needed more often than not. And the weight came back on. Banding is the ONLY thing that has helped my body KNOW when enough is enough. And it's the only thing that has helped me maintain the weight loss for any length of time. I'm totally in love with my band.

I did shakes for a long time after banding too, but they weren't elaborate like yours. (Sounds good!) I just used a Kashi mix that I got at Trader Joe's and shook it up in a bottle with milk. I would drink it on my way to work. While very satisfying, I realized at some point that I was getting something like 350-400 calories in that way! I was filling a 24 oz bottle and it was just way more than was called for, but less than that and it didn't keep me full long enough. So I switched to Protein bars and that's still my favorite easy breakfast.