TimeTraveller

I've just resolved myself to the fact that hiccups are going to happen at every single meal from now on with the band. I get them pretty strong when I eat too fast, or, when I really didn't need to eat to begin with. Other times, it's a sign that my band hasn't loosened up for the day (normally tight in the mornings and at night).

Dr. Suggs banded me on 03/28/2007 -- I was among his first male patients, and have done very well with the band. I agree with all the positive things said about him -- he is absolutely the best! After losing more than 80 pounds over two years, I put 10 back on between April and August this year after a vacation this summer and a couple of conference travels for work. Went back for my 8th or 9th fill two weeks ago, and I'm now at full capacity. I have the VG-10 and I have 10ccs. It's definitely too tight, but I've dropped 8 pounds back off in just two weeks, so I'm apprehensive about going and having some Fluid taken back out. Dr. Suggs has a chart in his office that shows when a band is too tight -- symptoms are "night coughs" and regurgitation (acid reflux), both which I'm experiencing while trying to sleep unless I skip eating and drinking anything after about 3:00 PM. That's not always possible, so I wonder if anyone has any suggestions for supression of these symptoms? I've tried Gas-X to try to stop the acid reflux, and it works about every other night. Last night, I literally coughed all night long -- sleeping about 2 minutes at a time, then waking up to cough for about a minute before dozing off again until I repeated the cycle. Any over-the-counter suggestions? I want to prolong the inevitable of having to have some of the fluid removed back out, while still losing weight in the process.

Hmmm. Good question. Let's see if there are any regrets for the nearly 75 pounds I've shed as well as other things I have lost since having the surgery nearly 14 months ago... High Blood Pressure (cured!) Acid Reflux (cured!) Plantar Fascitis (cured!) sleep Apnea (cured!) In that same time though, I have gained some things along the way: Respect from my family, friends, neighbors & co-workers Respect for myself and a huge sense of achievement A rediscovery of attractiveness which I thought my wife would never have for me again :sleep: A long forgotten wardrobe from the '80s (well, I suppose that some things are best remained lost!) Yeah, I'll take what I've gained over what I've lost any day! :eek:

Wow -- this is almost as if I wrote it about myself. I'm experiencing the exact same thing. Two weeks ago, I went in for a fill. I have the VG-10 band and had about 9cc's in the band. I had had hit another plateau and had not lost anything in a few weeks, so I went in for a 0.5cc fill to bring me up to 9.5cc's. Almost immediately after that fill, I no longer felt any restriction whatsoever with my band when I ate. I thought it just had to be in my mind, so I gave it a week. Still the same, so I gave it another week. After two weeks, I called and they took me in immediately. I went back yesterday to have it checked, and my worst fears soon were realized -- my band has leaked almost 3cc's in 15 days. My doctor was speechless and doesn't quite know what to say. He put in 1cc yesterday, and I go back in 2 weeks to see what's the progress. I still barely feel any restriction since yesterday, and now I fear that after 13 months with the band, I'm about to have to have it replaced/repaired, and my doc says that there is no warrantee on these things. Anyone else with these rare symptoms or situation? What did you do? I was a self-pay patient because BC/BS didn't cover the surgery until 3 weeks AFTER I had the surgery. But I've lost 67 pounds in 13 months, and I have't yet met my goal (still have 40 to go), so I don't know what to do about this setback. Advice?

I have a VG10, and my doc put 1cc in at surgery. Got my 5th fill this week, which brought me up to 8.5cc and I'm having a lot of trouble eating & drinking now. Trying to wait it out to see if it's just swelling, but all other fills have leveled out after the first day or two. It's been 4 days as I write this, and I'm trying to determine if I need to go in Monday for an unfill or not.

I'm still keeping the surgery a secret from most people in my circle. After 6½ months since my surgery, I finally crossed the 40 pound mark this week. People are definitely starting to notice and ask, and I've tiptoed all around the subject, basically saying the same "eating less, exercising more" routine. I will admit that while the band gave me a huge jump-start the first month (19 pounds), the rest of the time have been a real struggle. I really don't feel like the band restricts me from eating too much except maybe in the mornings. I'm tighter in the morning and get hiccups really bad no matter what I eat. But by lunch, I can pretty much eat as much as I want and so I have to really pull the reins back. I'm careful on the types of foods I eat, as certain things will just cause major hiccups and causes a scene at restaurants. But greenbeans, salad, mashed potatoes, etc. go right through with no problem usually. My ownly weakness seems to be chips. Can't seem to do without them at a restaurant meal when the rest of my family's having them, but I don't have much trouble turning down bread these days, which was always a weakness before. Anyway, over six months and 40 pounds down, my secret's still safe for the most part. Thanksgiving & Christmas will be a major test though -- both in people recognizing my weight loss and whether I can keep my willpower sustained. I'd love to be another 15 pounds lighter by the first of the year which would put me over the half-way mark towards my goal.

Go for it. Stick to the light stuff (soup, rice, etc.), but since you have no restriction yet, you'll likely do just fine.

*Ahem* Well, after dropping nearly 35 pounds so far after banding, I can honestly say that I've noticed an "improvement". Seriously, I've heard this theory before from various sources, and I do believe it's true to a degree. Something about having less fat allows the blood to circulate down there better (i.e., not nearly as much blood is drawn away to my thighs & stomach). In actuality, I believe I'm just regaining my "normal" size back that I had been slowly losing over the years as I gained more & more weight. But now that I've crossed the 30 pound mark, I will attest to the fact that things are, um, "fuller" than they've been in quite some time. "Marital fruit" is so much better these days, and I'm not nearly out of breath as I had been. I can't wait until my tummy's completely flat so that I can hold my wife closer during intimacy like I could two decades ago! :whoo:

I lost 19 pounds the first month after my surgery, but in the nearly 3 months following, I've lost only another 13½ since. I've got the VG10 and had been very concerned that since I wasn't feeling any restriction, that I must have messed up my band's placement and that it had somehow slipped. I went in two days ago for my third fill (previous two fills were 1cc each), and convinced my doctor to give me 2cc's instead of 1cc this time because I had not lost anything since my last visit and could still each like a horse. FINALLY, that did the trick! I now feel the restriction, and have already dropped 3½ pounds in just two days since the 2cc fill. After recently learning that Blue Cross/Blue Shield began covering Lap-Band 24 days after I self-paid for the operation, the 5cc's I have in the band now makes me feel 100% like it was worth the $12k out of my pocket and that I'm finally getting a return on my investment. Looking forward to getting the most out of my band over the next several months as I learn the ropes of careful eating like so many of you already have made part of your daily lives.

5 weeks post-op & 22+ pounds lost and counting, only my immediate family, my boss, my preacher, and really close friends know my secret. Eventually, I too will likely embrace being a "Lap-Band poster boy", but I decided that I didn't want to be under a microscope by everyone at work & church. It is indeed a private matter that only I control who knows my secret. My wife knew 6 months pre-op, but I told my kids only 1 week pre-op, as well as my parents & siblings. Told my boss the day before surgery just in case anything went wrong, I didn't want him to be blind-sided. I didn't tell anyone else until after my surgery, because I didn't want friends trying to talk me out of it. I have a lot of "thin" friends & coworkers who have been trying to encourage me to get on a regular exercise schedule for eons, and some would have given me the tiresome "eat less and exercise more and it will come off by iself" speech that thin people who don't know what it's like to be overweight believe. So far, 100% of the people I've told have been incredibly supportive and have kept their opinions to themselves if they think I've done the wrong thing. Regardless, there are some people that I probably will never personally tell -- they'll just have to figure it out themselves or hear it from someone else that I've trusted not to tell. I just don't want my weight to be the constant subject of conversation if I happen to hit a brick wall & plateau for a lengthy period of time. I prefer that people that I don't see on a daily or regular basis not know about it until I've made some really obvious considerable progress several more months down the road. I am looking forward to my next high school reunion, knowing that this time, everyone will be whispering behind my back about how much weight I've lost instead of how much I've gained!

I was banded 5 weeks ago today, and my weight seems to teeter-totter between 1-3 pounds daily depending upon what time of day I weigh. What's weird now is that I seem to weigh less in the middle of the day after 1-2 meals than I do when I first get up in the morning. All of my life during any other diet, I've always weighed less buck-naked first thing in the morning, but now that I'm banded, I'm finding that often I weigh 1-2 pounds less by mid-day (before supper) even partially clothed and I'm completely baffled by this since by that time of day, I've got at least one meal in me and LOTS of Water. For example, yesterday after walking a mile or so with my wife around 5:00 PM before dinner (two bowls of tomato basil Soup -- still have no restriction yet), I weighed 1½ pounds less then than I did this morning at sunrise before having anything! Weird, but I'm completely thrilled with the results so far -- 22+ pounds in just 5 weeks! I get my first fill 12 days from now...

Yes, same here. Mine began about a week after being banded March 28. It's not unbearable, yet, but I thought if it had been gas from the surgery, it would have surfaced immediately, not a week later.

Yep, same here. I had no idea I had sleep apnea until the first study (mine's moderate too), then had to go back for a second study to test with a CPAP before they'd do the surgery. Been on a CPAP over a month now. Not as bad as I thought it'd be, and now that I'm 2 weeks post-op, I'm already finding that my snoring has lessened since dropping almost 15 pounds. May not have to have the CPAP more than 6-8 month...

Feel the same way. I'm almost two weeks post-op, and without a fill, I feel like I could easily fall back onto my old ways in a heartbeat. I'm not having any pain now -- but feeling hungrier and hungrier each day. Everything goes right on through like the band's not even there, which had me worried until I read some other testimonies here on the forums. The only thing keeping me afloat during the liquid phase is the wonderful support of my wife & kids (and the fact that I've dropped 14 pounds in only 13 days helps a LOT too!). I'm having a hard time getting ahold of the high Protein foods right now. Been drinking a couple of "Ensure"s each day, which gets me 24 grams, but I know I'm falling way short of the 60+ my doctor wants. I'm currently keeping my surgery a secret from friends, coworkers, and everyone at church --- just letting everyone I'm around know that I'm on a "new" diet (which everybody keeps asking me what it's called), but ordering Soups at restaurants and not eating any of the chunks in them is getting old really quick. I can't wait to get to solid foods again and have a fill -- then I'll finally feel the inner effects of the surgery and know where my new limitations are.

My doctor said that my band should last about 20 years before having to be replaced / removed. Hang in there. I'm currently on Day 8, and the discomfort from the surgery has almost completely gone away. I'm just trying to figure out how I'm going to make it another week on liquids....

As long as it's not an indication of a blood clot, I can deal with it. Thanks!

Had my band installed two days ago, and am experiencing numbness on my upper right thigh. Thought at first that it was because I had to sleep on my back since sleeping on my stomache is currently out of the question. Perhaps a pinched nerve?

Same here. First thing tomorrow, I'll have my band. :nervous Nerves starting to kick in... But anxiously looking forward to seeing what the second half of my life will be like without all the baggage...

Yep -- a classic by The Spinners, most recently featured in those OfficeMax commercials featuring actor Eddie Steeples ("Crab Man" on NBC's My Name is Earl)... [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc_O5CdS9cI]YouTube - Office Max - Rubberband Man[/ame]

It's by the one-hit-wonder Alicia Bridges: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul0Ck5P8rKY]YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.[/ame]

Anyone using Dr. Suggs in Decatur? Hoping to schedule my banding for the last week in March and have my final consult next week. Just got put on a CPAP last week since it was determined during the multitude of tests that I have a moderate case of apnea. Also had to begin taking medicine for high-blood pressure again. Just hoping everything leading up to surgery will be worth the effort in the end.