mrgrta

I am taking a vacation to a foreign country this summer. Right now, my band is so tight that I can't enjoy anything for breakfast, protein shake for lunch and minimal soft foods for dinner. I often PB with such small amount of food and feel like I'm constantly running to the bathroom to slime. It is a miserable feeling. I certainly don't want to be in a foreign country if I should get something stuck and can't get myself unstuck. I have made the decision to get a slight unfill before my vacation. I'm not planning to gorge myself on food, but just want an enjoyable experience without being miserable the whole time I'm on vacation. This is not something I ever plan to do for birthdays, office parties, etc. Just my two cents.

I have two questions. What is the reason that you can't take Aspirin or NSAIDs with the lap band. I'm supposed to take an aspirin daily for the next 30 days because I had surgery on my leg for varicose veins. Also, I have noticed that over the last 2 weeks that my restriction is gone. I have 5.5 cc in my 10cc APS band. I haven't had a fill in 3 months and have only lost 5 pounds during this time. Total weight loss in 7 months since I got the band has been 40 pounds. Any thoughts?

Hi. I have an APS 10cc band. Today I got my 3rd fill. My doctor doesn't use flouro or lidocaine. He justs does the fill blind and no numbing medicine. He can usually hit the port on the first or second try. Today it took 3 times. The first two times were very painful and I could feel the needle scraping something. When he removed the needle it was bent. He got a new needle and hit the port the third time. All of a sudden, there was a large gush of blood. He had to hold firm pressure on the site for about 5 minutes. Now there is a bruise in the area. Do you think he could have damaged the port?

I had my surgery on 9/24 and have lost a total of 25 lbs. I have an APS band that holds 10cc. My first fill was 4 weeks post op with 4 cc placed in the band and my second fill was yesterday at 9 weeks post op. The doctor decided to add 2 cc to the band. I sipped some water in the office and it went down slow but without difficulty. My dr wanted me on clear and full liquids for 4 days, then 4 days of mushies, then 4 days of soft foods, then back to lap band diet. I went home last evening and tried to eat some creamed soup. I took about 4 bites and got the heavy chest feeling. For the next 6 hours I was in agony. I vomited 4 times and the last time was pretty violent. I called the office at 2am and my doctor was not on call, it was another surgeon that doesn't do bariatric surgery and wasn't familiar with fills/unfills. I am an RN and trust me, if I would have had a needle and syringe, I would have unfilled my band. That was the worst night of my life. I kept spitting in a bowl because I couldn't swallow my spit. I went in this morning and the dr took out 1 cc and instantly I felt better. I am now able to drink water and broth without difficulty. My question is: How would I know if my band slipped? Is it possible to have a slip after 4 vomiting episodes? Thanks for your time.

There is a Dr. John Price at St. Luke's Hospital that does fills. He has been in KC for 1 year. Moved from Louisiana.

I have the AP small band. My doc said that it holds 14cc and the AP large holds 18cc. I had my first fill today. He put 4cc of fluid in. I could feel the fluid going in and immediately had a tight feeling in my chest. I had to drink water in the office and I kept feeling a "gurgling" in my throat. I didn't vomit and had no trouble keeping the water down. Now, everything has relaxed some and I feel better. I was told to drink full liquids for 3 days, pureed foods for 3 days, soft foods for 3 days, then regular lap band diet. I guess I'll know in a few days if I have restriction or not.

Hi. My doctor doesn't require the sleep study, however, the anesthesiology doctors at the hospital require it for all bariatric patients. They don't want any suprises when putting patients to sleep. I didn't have any symptoms of sleep apnea, but still had to have the study done prior to surgery. It turned out that I was diagnosed with mild sleep apnea and that in turn helped me get approved for my surgery by the insurance company. Kat

I was just wondering if anyone has had problems with eating Peanut Butter (in moderation) with the lap band? If you melted it in the microwave to a liquid form, could it be eaten during the full liquid phase? I thought this would be another option of getting in the required Protein grams. Just curious. Kat

I can totally sympathize. I was banded also on 9/24. The first 3 days I didn't have any appetite whatsoever. I had to force myself to drink fluids. Now, my stomach is constantly growling. I'm sick of the Protein shakes, pudding, and can't even look at a box of Jello. The only thing I'm halfway enjoying is the cream Soups. I just try to keep myself focused on the prize. It will only been a few more weeks before we can eat real food again. You don't want to do anything to ruin the lap band before it has time to work. Hang in there!! Kat

Hi. I have hypothyroidism and I just had surgery on Monday. My dr didn't say anything about it. Kat

I had surgery on Monday. I am 3 days post op and I still don't have any appetite. On days 1 and 2, I could barely drink 1-2 oz of Fluid at a time. Today is the first day that I am able to drink more, but I am still not hungry. Congrats on your surgery!! Kat

I am 2 days post op and starting to get worried. My incision where the port was placed is turing red and warm to touch. There is no drainage and no fever. I am supposed to go into the office tomorrow and have the nurse look at the wound. Has anyone else had this happen before? I hope this doesn't mean that I have to have the band removed. Kat

Well, thanks to everyone here on this board and all of the encouraging words, I rescheduled my surgery for 9/24. Just got back from the hospital today, and other than feeling sore, I'm doing great. I have absolutely no appetite though. I'm forcing myself to drink so that I don't get dehydrated. Thanks again everyone. Kat

Well, I chickened out of my surgery last week. After 12 months of medical supervised weight loss programs, sleep study test, medical records, psych eval, etc., I was finally approved by my insurance company in August for lap band surgery. I was so excited I couldn't stand it. I followed the liquid Protein diet to a tee and lost 12 lbs in 2 weeks. However, 1 week prior to surgery, I started reading the threads on complications and I totally freaked out!! I canceled my surgery the day before I was scheduled to have it done. Now I'm sitting here thinking that I have made a huge mistake. My approval is good for 12 months and I can get back in next week if I want to have it done, but after reading about vomiting, slipped bands, erosion, PBing, minimal weight loss, I can't help but be scared. I have two small children at home that need their mommy to be around, and honestly if it weren't for them, I would have been on that operating room table without a doubt. I am so scared that something will go wrong. Sorry for the long rant, but I can not make up my mind. Kat

Hi. My surgeon has 14 years of experience with the RNY procedure, but has only recently begun doing LAP BAND. I think to date he has done 15 of them. My question is do you think it would be safe to have a surgeon perform this procedure who has only done 15? Kat