leatha_g

:eek: Sorry to hear of your troubles. My experience has been, this far out, that the esophagus does indeed suffer some 'atrophy/damage/change' in the long run due to having been restricted. I am currently less filled due to esophagitis/reflux issues and I'm very concerned that I may not be able to be re-filled again - ever. Which leaves me wondering, okay.. so I have this band, but I'm now unable to retain the restriction I need to maintain or lose additional pounds. What a bummer.. My particular doc sort of give me the 'this may be all you get' speech, so I'm unsure as to whether I should even attempt to get any further adjustments. I understand your concern, but perhaps if you just allow the rest for a few weeks, practice the eating behaviors that helped you lose up until this point, then you can go back and a new small fill will be okay for you. I hope this is the case!

Definitely have to get your arm underneath you and get your legs off the side. This too shall pass!

I had a bikini bod once. I'd love to have it back, but for the life of me.. the body I traded in at 19 is simply NOT the body I'm getting back after losing weight. Our bodies adjust to carry the additional weight, bones re-shape, etc. Now, I do wear a suit to do my aqua aerobics. I'm still a fluffy mama and wouldn't wear it out on my yard washing my car, but yea, IF I ever got back to the 118 lb little minx I once was...sigh.. that WAS um 30 yrs ago. I think at this stage I'd look pretty silly to alot of folks trying to go back to something that once was... :grouphug: I'm just darn lucky to be alive and in much better health and I'm okay with that.

I hate it when some dummy honks and the light hasn't even turned green.

:clap2: Woohoo! You'll be on the road now!! Take advantage while you can!! Protein, protein, protein, water, water, water, exercise, exercise, exercise!!

Just from my experience. I had a hiatal hernia repaired on my second banding surgery (it's been speculated that had I fixed it on the first, I may not have had to have the second.. go figure). I absolutely was unaware of anything 'different' from the first surgery as far as recovery time, pain, etc. Don't fret, but be glad you get it taken care of on the first go-round! :grouphug: Good luck to you!

Darn tater tots, they're gonna kills us one way or another... :grouphug:

One has to wonder why a doctor would vary his protocol from that of the maker of the band. Hmm.. So, who's got the most at stake here. The maker of the band who surely doesn't want a lot of bad publicity because there are slippages all over the place or a doc who's business it is to do surgeries, including repositioning, replacement etc and gets to charge every single time.... :confused: By the way, I don't work for Inamed, but the question does come to mind. A doctor contacts Inamed in order to become certified to install bands and be trained how to do so. Then, he takes what he's learned and modifies it to his own agenda?? Modify the rules for eating, add a stitch here or there or leave one out. Perhaps you stumble on perfection, or perhaps you've now put your patients at risk for more complications? If I were questioning my doctor. This is the one thing that I would certainly question. Anyway, I'm sure the poor person who started this thread has been able to make her own deductions and has made a grown up decision as to whether she wants to start out 'cheating' or not. Truth is, most every single person here has cheated, does cheat or will cheat, but it's good if you're informed. That way you get to make a conscious decision of whether you want to venture outside the lines and you also take ownership of any complications that may or may not result from that. Just so you know, however, slippage doesn't come in the form of 'ohmygawd, I ate a whole hot dog, a piece of pizza and drank a coke and now I know my band has slipped.' It's a much more subtle thing, in some cases you have no symptoms at all. Many of us only learned our bands had slipped as we went for fills and saw it under flouroscopy. I can't say I know any one person who can pinpoint when their band slipped or one particular episode that would have caused it, so please do not be fooled into that comfort zone of ' I ate all that and my band is still fine.' Because that is just not always the case. I think we have many folks here who can attest to that, unfortunately. :eek: There will be plenty of time to test your band. It's meant to be for life. My advise would be to baby it as much as possible in the early days, especially the healing days because although there are people that vary, the general consensus is that there is a reason for healing time - to allow the scar tissue to anchor the band into place, not JUST the stitches, but the entire band is being 'seated' into the scar tissue. If you move into eating solids too quickly, this anchoring process becomes hindered and possibly you now have LESS of the scar tissue than is necessary to keep the band from slipping up and down on the anatomy and eventually it UN-Seats itself from it's proper place. Then, you get to go have 5 more incisions to reposition it, if you're lucky. If you're not so lucky, the stomach has been strangulated to the point of cutting off the blood supply and the damage is such that you don't get to replace the band and you may even have to have additional surgeries to bypass the dead portion of the stomach. I don't know about you, maybe I'm a naysayer, but to me, that's scary. But, we may have more control over that than we even realize. Perhaps??

I had a pretty bad sore throat and of course, the medication takes alot out of you. Not sure I'd schedule anything. Can you make that decision after you see how you're feeling??

Trish, I'm really sorry to hear of all this trouble you're having to endure. I can't imagine your suffering, although I've had my share of issues. Nothing compares with the frustration and concern you must have. Unfortunately, I've not been able to read this post from the beginning and I don't want to start beating up your doctor if I don't know the whole story, but here's my thought. Three strikes and you're out!! It appears you've had surgery to replace a leaky PORT?? Then, tubing leak? Now they've taken the port out and you have a hole to pack?? Please update me, if I'm wrong. What is your doctor's take on this. Does he seem to think this type of problem is common? Is he becoming indifferent towards you? Not sure what type of insurance you have, but when I had UHC HMO, my pcp got on the phone and FOUND me a doctor who would take care of me, here in Dallas. They spent an entire day, doing the legwork for me. PPO would be different. Have you contaced any doctors in the DFW area? I know it's so far. :confused: However, there are many very experienced Dr's here who have been taking care of banded folks much longer than some of the outlying areas. Dr Benavides comes to mind, Dr Hamn and Cribbins won't touch anyone who was banded by another surgeon. Dr Veninga may. Dr Provost is ILuvHarley's doc, not sure about his take on this type of thing. I'll be thinking about this and I'll try to go back and read the whole thread, but in the meantime. IF you were able to get some of these to see you, I would be more than happy to do anything I could, such as picking you up at the airport, driving you to the Dr office, you could even stay at my house to help out with your expenses, but YES, my thoughts are, if your current doc is NOT aggressively following this, you need to get thee to another doctor, pronto!! God bless you girl, and God bless Paula for messaging me and asking me to come see. Ain't she a keeper?? :pray2: Keep your chin up, but please stay on top of this. I'm very concerned about infection here which can effect your entire band and body. :eek:

Just a poor girl here, Honda Accord, 2004 model, I think. Platinum grey...

The pouch is actually calibrated to hold about 4 oz of food in the beginning. Will soft foods move through and allow for more?? Yep. Try using only a dessert plate or a cup to eat out of. This will help with portion control, at least. One of the more knowledgeable fill nurses, Jessie Ahroni, out of WA state has this theory about how 'it's not how much you CAN eat, it's more about seeing how 'little' you can get by with'. I know, easier said than done, but we did embark on this journey to lose weight, right?? Welcome! Don't be too tough on yourself. Don't weight and measure, use the guides, like a cup or saucer and don't go back for seconds. Eat what is on your current list of 'allowed' foods and you'll do fine!

You can certainly get restriction with your first fill. The amount really has no bearing. It's all about how YOUR band fits around YOUR anatomy. I would at least give it 2 weeks or more before I attempted another. In many cases, the fill doesn't really even 'kick in' until later down the road and you sure don't want to be over-filled right off the bat. There are some docs out there who are more or less aggressive, but I think, generally, 1cc is what they use for the first fill, just to see how you respond. Good luck!!

I'm with you. Somewhere along the way, I gave up friends and outside activities that I enjoyed as well. I think it was the depression and lack of self-esteem that came along with my weight gain. The more I gained, the less I exposed myself to others, especially emotionally. It's tough to face that head-on and work through what might have gotten you there. One step at a time. Local support groups, church, exercise classes. I have begun water aerobics. I've gone to CURVES. I've gotten myself back into church where I get a whole lot of support and genuine caring from people who don't owe me a thing or who don't know the first thing about my past experiences or judge me. It's baby steps, but it's do-able. Good luck in regaining your confidence and getting back out amongst the people. :rant:

You GO GIRL! Way to go!!! Remember to reward yourself with something nice!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx