leatha_g

Seems to me that 'chew to liquid' means to do your best to masticate the food you put in your mouth. I think most adults competent enough to actually have a lapband will understand that you're probably NOT going to get to 'liquid' but do your best to chew, chew, chew - otherwise, especially in the beginning and when you're really tightly filled, you will definitely get a surprise. We're notorious for taking big bites and gulping food in our obesity. I would tend to think 'chew to liquid' is a phrase meant to reinforce how very important it is to be aware, consciously chew and chew some more..

Been gone quite some time. At least 2 years give or take. Thanks for asking.

Never puked much, thank goodness, but guess I cost my company/insurance about $60k in the process. No wonder insurance rates are so high.. :crying:

Reposted from obesityhelp.com Post Date: 5/9/09 1:29 pm In my case, I actually went for the lapband, loved it and wanted to keep it; however, mine slipped one year out having lost 75lbs. Six weeks after replacing my band (Surgery#2), I then found that I would need to undergo gall bladder surgery (#3). My second band was never as pleasant as the first. It was not seated in the same place and I was never able to get the restriction I needed. I was either over-filled causing esophagitis, or under-filled due to having to let my esophagus heal. I struggled to maintain the loss I had accomplished and wound up gaining about 25lbs back. The cycle of unfill/fill became a rather large nuisance and I got no satisfaction. My esophagus and pouch took a beating and tended to stretch and slip. I was looking at yet another surgery to replace/remove and/or constant and continual damage to the esophagus and fear of stretching the pouch and slippage. Luckily, my first slippage was uneventful with no pain or necrosis of the stomach. Not everyone is so lucky and I had no guarantee my next episode would be as fortunate. I have blood clotting issues and take coumadin and had to be very aware that any bleeding event could be life-threatening. Not wanting to undo what I had done and having spent 4 yrs dealing with the band, I decided to make this journey a permanent one and give in to the RNY I had attempted to avoid in the beginning. I started this Quest in 2002, shortly after the clinical trials for Lapband. I spent that 4 yrs sharing my successes and being one of the original 'rah rah' cheerleaders for the band. I loved it and I loved being a part of a wonderful community of pioneers in this awesome technology. It just turned out that longterm is not always what it seems (or what we dream it will be) in the beginning. Each person's journey is very unique. One has to make the choices that seem right at the time and educate themselves, try to keep in mind that there are NO absolutes with any of these life/body altering surgeries. Avoid placing yourself in any faction that says any surgery is the best over others or that anyone else is in any way inferior to you, your doctor or your choice of surgery. This is not a competition, it is a struggle to save lives and change lives and it is hard to bring your own mind and body together to achieve the ultimate goal. Avoid getting caught up in the 'now' and the honeymoon and see yourself 2 yrs out, 5 yrs out, 10 yrs and 20 yrs. What are you willing to deal with? Do you have the time or money to maintain the band? Will your doctor be within reach if you have a sudden setback? Will you be moving to a different city? Will anyone there take you on as a patient? Will they take you if there are problems? RNY presents it's own set of problems/opportunities? Everything you put in your mouth goes straight to the gut. Some things sit and stay awhile, many will go straight through, sometimes suddenly and inconveniently. Sometimes even painfully. Are you aware that what you could eat pre-surgery may not be tolerable at all post op? Lactose intolerance is very common and can be a pretty painful and inconvenient surprise. Dumping on sugar/fat/carbs can be your friend, but is frustrating. Once you've made the mistake of swallowing something, you can't take it back. You just have to own it for what it is, whether you're at work, out with friends and family, or in the comfort of your home, near your own bathroom, couch or bed. Sometimes it passes quickly, sometimes it can take hours out of your day. Some say it goes away or gets better with time and of course, knowledge of what may cause it and the discipline to avoid it at all cost. At 17 months out, I still have it and I can't say I've become so perfect that I have learned to avoid it at all costs. I am, however, a work in progress. :-) You experiment with what works and what you just can't deal with, especially if you work away from home, travel, etc. You learn to locate bathrooms, probably with all the surgery choices. Do you have the discipline it takes to take the necessary Vitamins and Protein necessary to maintain your health and muscle mass? It's necessary with all choices, but even moreso with RNY. The weight loss can be extremely fast. Are you okay with the sagging skin that may become your battlescars? Are you okay with your face possibly becoming gaunt and bones showing that you never knew you had? Do you have a plan that might be helpful to lessen this, such as exercise? How do you feel about the possibly loss of your girlish curves? Will you want to have plastics done if everything doesn't turn out looking like you had dreamed? Will you be able to afford it? Will your health allow it? These are all just lessons learned over a period of 7 yrs of intense research and experience. I no longer participate in the cheerleading, not because I'm not totally excited that today I wear a size 2 petite (which I'd prefer to be a 6 or 8 or 10) as opposed to the 22/24 I began with, but because I see and have participated and I have learned that there is a future yet to be seen no matter the choice and sometimes, though we all mean well we can and do eventually get to retract some of those 'absolutes' we so eagerly profess early on out of our own excitement or need to be 'helpful' or heard. My most sincere advise is to think about who you are today, what resources do you have and what are your tolerances, your strengths and weaknesses. What could change in the way of those resources and/or where will you be physically? Will the doctor you choose be the doctor you'll still be seeing 5 yrs from now? Do you sabotage yourself now? What will you be willing to do to avoid it going forward? Do you exercise now? Where will the discipline come from afterward if you don't do it today? It is so easy to envision all the great and wonderful things that can come from losing weight and there are many, but none of these surgeries are magic. They sure do help, but there is that reality that it is 'I' who must make the sacrifices and take the risks that may entail and see things as clearly and realistically as possible, not just the dream. Spend as much time as you will looking at all choices. Listen to what new post ops have to say about their 'now', but spend more time listening to those who have some time behind them. There is valuable knowledge to be gained by those who've come through the initial periods of transition, trials, error and successes over the long haul. They can save you a lot of your own mistakes if you can take what they have already learned and apply it to your own unique journey. I apologize that this is so long and I hope it's not a downer. It's not meant to be, but I do believe it's important for every prospective weight loss surgery patient to ask themselves ALL these things and know there is far more to this than just that initial 'YAY I'm losing weight!!' period. I wish you all immense success and a new-found health with whatever choice you ultimately make.

Donali! Hugs girlie! Just wanted to sneak in and say it's good to see a friendly old timer's face! Bless your heart, I know you went through alot! I too wound up removing not one, but two bands and went the way of RNY December, 2007. Long journey this has been for alot of us! Hope all has been well for you otherwise. I miss our get togethers! Today, I weigh 100-105 lbs and am actually TRYING to gain weight. Never thought I'd see the day when this board was started! Can't wait to hear how you do with your sleeve. It would have been my first (second?) choice, alas, insurance wouldn't cover and RNY approved, no questions. Either way, we're all still in this battle! Good luck and please say hello to anyone I know that you may still correspond with!

:smile: Kat, I just wanted to say hello and thank you very much for your kind words in this post. It has been quite awhile since I have frequented this message board (or any other) and I too have missed alot of wonderful people who, like myself were here from the time this board began. I met so many IRL - we had some wonderful gatherings in places like Las Vegas and Galveston, Texas. We offered each other awesome support for a truly life-changing experience. We became fast friends and supporters of one another. We cheered for the good and we cried and prayed for those things in our lives which might have gone wrong. In my time of having been gone from message boards, I have learned alot about myself and others. How many hours I spent in the beginning attempting to share my experience, strength and hope for a better future. I do truly believe that many of my hours spent were truly helpful to those who were seeking to learn about their new adventures with the lapband. I think that sharing my experiences with losing, slippage and re-banding probably also provided at least a few some insight into what their futures could hold and that it was not the end of the world if complications did arise. I think my friendship and encouragement to new folks was deeply appreciated and I know that I gained alot of knowledge and insight from others as well. For this, I am grateful to the time spent. I also realized that there were many hours wasted. Precious hours which could have been spent making memories with loved ones or being more productive with my job or actually exercising and getting out in the world to see the beauty instead of being addicted to the chaos which sometimes invades the realms of message boards/chat rooms etc. I have also learned that all things are temporary. We all have our seasons and we all move through them (if we want to grow as a person). I've had many. I began my internet life in chatrooms which supported BBW, initially thinking I could love my fuller figure. I found myself hurt there and scarred by people who didn't have my best interests in their hearts. I learned. I moved out of there, seeking a healthier life for myself due to serious medical complications. I hated who I had become body-wise, self esteem-wise and I began researching the band in 2002. 2003, I was banded and I loved it. 2004, I was re-banded due to slippage, 6 weeks later, I had to undergo yet another surgery for gallbladder removal. I lost a total of 75lbs. I said all those things about never having to worry about weight again. I made statements about how things were going to happen as if I knew the future and I see many do it today. But, the truth is, we never know our future. From one day to the next our lives can change and very certainly does. It is inevitable. So, I've learned that is best to just stick to my own journey, if I can glean a bit of wisdom from someone who has gone before me then it is a good thing. I admit I tend to laugh a little to myself when I see new folks who already have all the answers, but it is the way of human nature, we were all once new and young with all the answers. :eek: As for me, I loved my band. I wanted it to be the thing that saved my life and forever held me accountable. I was banded over a period of 4.5 yrs and it was a good experience, despite the bumps in the road along the way. Over the last 3 years I struggled to simply maintain and eventually gained back 25 of my 75lbs. I knew in my heart things were never going to be the same with the second band as with the first, so this past year I have struggled with the thought of what I could do in order not to regain all my lost weight. My health just could not take going back to where I had began so on December 27th, 2007 I underwent yet another surgery (my 4th) to revise to RNY. The very thing I did not want to do in the beginning. The very thing I had argued on these silly boards about how much better my WLS choice was than theirs ..on and on. Yesterday, I had my one month post-op visit and I have lost 32lbs. Things are different than with the band, but not all as different as those of us who profess to know all have so often proclaimed. I don't have constant diarrhea. My recovery time was about the same. I did have alot of pain coming out of surgery due to having to have my band removed and the hiatal hernia repair that was done while getting my last band REDONE. The doc said the whole band was prolapsed and the hiatal hernia repair had all fallen down which was probably why I couldn't even tell I had a band in and felt I was having esophageal problems for the past few years. Today, I feel good. I eat very little, but so far, I have had no nausea whatsoever. I cannot drink the Protein shakes like I always did with the band, so I have to focus on real Proteins which is the way I like it anyway. I am lucky to have had the band because I had already learned about taking small bites and chewing well. I already had the practice of focusing on protein, so I had a leg up in that area. To me, it's just the next chapter in the journey to save my life from obesity because I know that I was no good at doing it myself or I would have gotten control of it before all this began. I take chewable Vitamins, such as Flintstones and the B12 I have been taking all along. I do have to take Calcium Citrate in addition to the others due to malabsorption issues, but at my age, I should be taking Calcium anyway, so I don't feel I'm encumbered my 'massive' supplements as is often propagandized by those of us who may or may not read too much. lol I do not know what my future holds, any more than I did the day I was banded or the years after. I do not know what my future holds any more than if I never had WLS at all. I just know that for today, I am continuing the fight to maintain the quality of life I feel I deserve and I would encourage anyone else to do the same, whichever route they find themselves on. I have contemplated dropping in and just giving this update, but procrastinated for various reasons. But, I do truly appreciate you remembering me in your kind post. I wish us all continued success and humility in this journey for life and peace in our hearts. God bless.. Leatha RNY 12/27/07 175lbs today.

I take 3mg daily with no issues whatsoever. I simply went off coumdin 5 days before surgery and took Lovenox shots in the interim and until my Coumadin level was stabilized again afterwards. No problem.

So sorry about your news Alexandra. That really is a downer, I know. You've come this far, however, and I know you won't go back. I have faith that once you're over the initial disappointment, you'll prevail one way or another. Good luck with your battle!

Have you seen Dr Maese?

Alexandra, I sure hope you get a call today which will allay your fears. The waiting surely is the hardest part. I totally understand your pain. I have been dealing with this fill/unfill thing now for nearly 3 years. As of today, I have regained about 18lbs myself. I know alot of it is that I've slacked off the on the exercise I was getting due to travel, etc. But it has been well proven to me that exercise is a major MAJOR part of sustaining that weightloss and tone I had attained. I certainly do chose the wrong foods more often without decent restriction and curse myself even as it enters my mouth. Strange behavior indeed. I seriously HAVE to detox my body of refined sugars and starches in order to get my head back in that mode that allows me to maintain or lose at all and unfortunately, my body is just not one that is forgiving of any indescretion. :confused: Sad, but a fact. To get myself back on track, I really must think of it as being 'allergic' to certain types of foods and avoid them at all costs. I keep telling myself that, but every day is a struggle in practicing. Lately, everyday I lose the struggle. :eek: This past weekend, I moved my friend here from Georgia. She will be living with me and she's all about cooking and eating healthy. She is very concerned for my well-being and attained health. So, we packed ourselves up and went to aqua-aerobics and had a great time with it. So, hopefully, I can get myself headed in the right direction with some support from a friend. I simply cannot go back to where I came from. I truly hope you get your new band and get back on track. You've done a great job thus far and you know what it took to get there. WE can do it. WE MUST do it, for ourselves first and for everyone who loves us. Don't beat yourself up too much! Good luck!

Aww, poor doggie. That sounds really painful for him and I completely understand how hard it is to watch and feel so helpless. I sincerely pray the Lord give you both peace and the strength to endure whatever may come.