Coco

Hi All, I got this little piece of wisdom from a longterm bandster on another site, it has more than a few home truths to it hope you all enjoy it. You won’t lose the battle if you aren’t willing to work with the band and do your part but:- You will have plateaus when you first switch to solids until your body gets used to being fed instead of starved. During many plateaus you will lose inches not lbs. Your loss in the first 30-40 days is a never to be repeated experience so enjoy it. Then you begin the long slow journey downwards (not upwards). You will learn the fine art of PB’s and what causes them for you, is it, swallowing air when you eat? Not chewing well or too big a bite…. Eating the wrong foods for you…or not recognizing the no longer hungry after ½ cup (satiation) versus I want to eat more cause I can or it tastes good or I crave (ie: Head Hunger). You will watch your body shrink and will walk a bit taller literally and figuratively……. Start slipping into booths in restaurants, sit in chairs with arms, find it easier to, and have more energy to, walk, go up stairs, clean house and do a million other day to day activities. Slip in and out of bath tubs where the water goes all the way around you instead of damming up…….. and it doesn’t kill you to stand up from sitting on the floor. Watch the years fall off your face and drivers license picture, go to restaurants and order an appetizer and still end up with leftovers to take home……. Go through doubts and several fills/defills until you hit the sweet spot fill level for you. You will have to stop several times along the way to reassess your eating habits, you can eat certain foods and get away with some cheating. Remind yourself that ½ cup of solids 3 times a day only and drink water 1 hour after and up to ½ hour before meals. Eat protein first, fruit and veggies second and non-complex carbs last. Keep the fats, sugars and non-complex carbs low. Still have them just keep them low. And believe it or not a plateau indicates that you need a fill ie: 1. No weight loss for four weeks. 2. You are following the band rules (sometimes we think we can break the rules and still lose weight figuring if we get a fill it will miraculously start us losing without us having to do our part). 3. You are eating foods that are hard and stick in you band for 3-4 hrs, not drinking your calories. You are hungry an hour after eating, really hungry not cravings, and the ½ cup doesn’t stay in the band for 2 ½ to 4 hrs. 4. You are drinking you 60+ fluid ozs water a day and not drinking with your meals. 5. Once you move from mushies to solids. As much as possible get your nourishment from food that is solid. If you have problems with it sticking in your stoma try it again chewing it well, cutting it up finer or chewing it with other foods to keep it from recombining in your pouch and forming a plug (eg. Potatoes). 6. Try to avoid soups or protein drinks if possible, if you are able to eat your protein you will be full longer some people have tight bands in the morning and can’t eat so have a protein drink. 7. Whenever you hit a plateau keep a food diary and log everything, including water, which goes in and measure the ½ cup of solids, it’s amazing how it can grow if you don’t measure it. 8. Try weighing in once a week to begin with not daily. Later move on to once every two weeks and then once a month. When you are losing slowly weight fluctuates daily with hydration levels etc. At least this way you normally will see a loss and not a gain. The losses will be smaller than the first month but they are losses all the same. 9. Measure yourself monthly, often you lose inches before you lose lbs. 10. Don’t compare yourself to others we all lose at different rates based on age/metabolism/food choices/activity level. But we all lose.

Hi All, I've been talking to Patrica Louise today and she has had an email from Jerome asking if any of his patients would be good enough to register their support for him by writing to the General Medical Council stating our satisfaction with our operation and treatment by Jerome so that it may go some way to him getting his licence back and in turn, us getting our preferred doctor back to Dublin. He also says letters of support of him, to that Journalist in the Mail on Sunday would also help. I for one will be writing in support but I don't want to force anyone who feels that they would rather not get involved. I understand that a lot of us want to keep our operation private and therefore respect anyone's decision to distance themselves from this matter. For those of you who are interested in getting Jerome back to Dublin please let me know here, I will be speaking to Patrica Louise later to discuss maybe one letter and lots of signatures or possibly an email address where people could send their support, I'm not sure how yet so any suggestions would be great. ***************************************************** Kermit, Love the new ticker.:biggrin1::biggrin1:

Hi Allure, :wow2: Way to go Allure, welcome to the losing side.Here's to the restriction staying now its found you.:biggrin1: Looking forward to hearing about all the food related issues that you are about to experience.:biggrin1::biggrin1: NO MORE LURKING keep talking, good, bad or indifferent. ............................................................................................................................................................... Hi Patrica Louise, Greeting from LBT. Now you've discovered how to talk to us I look forward to reading about your band, have to say you take first prize for the most unpredictable band ever, Allure you get 2nd prize.:biggrin1::biggrin1::biggrin1:. PL look forward to meeting you tomorrow.

Hi Kermit, Well done you, delighted to hear of your success. I'm getting there with my restriction, at the mo I have about 4.75mls in and am trying to stick with that at least until after Christmas if I can. I've started swimming lessons and am going twice a week so lets see how long I can keep that up for.:rolleyes:rolleyes I have restriction in that I am eating smaller portions but I've not had any pb's or sliming for which I'm truly grateful.:biggrin1::biggrin1: Keep up the good work and keep us posted. Anybody out there lurking........ sign in and have chat. We can feel your presence.

:bump2:bumpin for ireland

:)Practically everyone who's been banded that I've spoken to has had this fear. You're not on your own. The first thing I thought when I woke up was, I'm still alive. Yea.

Hi Ailbhe, :welcomeB: this is a great site to research the band. Have a look at the pros and cons so that you can decide if its the right road for you. For me with all the ups and downs I've had with my band, I don't regret it for one moment. I would do it again in a heartbeat. The band is the first and only thing that has worked for me, I like many people have tried, weight watchers, slimming world, low carb, high carb, cabbage Soup, south beach etc. The only thing that has worked for me is the band because it physically stops me from over eating. Yes I was nervous about the op, who wouldn't be, the thought of not waking up afterwards had me having doubts whether the op was worth it or not. I had to weigh up the pros and cons and the pros won. Good luck with the research and keep us posted.

:bounce::bounce::bounce:Bumpin for Ireland

Dini Don't worry about the weight loss at the moment, you are doing fantastically well. 51lbs in 5months. That's 10lbs a month. I was done 6 months before you and I've only lost 62lbs so relax a bit. Don't weigh yourself more than once a week there's no point. Are you eating enough, sometimes if your not getting enough calories your body goes into starvation mode and holds on to everything it gets. Check you cals and make sure you're eating enough.

Hi Dini, First of all, Lu is the tall thin nurse and I think she has blond hair. She is only there every second Friday and every Saturday morning. As for your port pain, I would make an appointment pretty sharpish, I mean you shouldn't have just started to get pain there now, so long after your surgery. Definitely worth having it checked out. My heartburn is gone and its due to Lu taking out the half ml. Considering the amounts I can eat at the mo though I will have to go back in next Sat for a 1/4ml. Hope you get yourself sorted soon. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi Emerald, Obviously in Poland 1ml means 2ml.:angry Very busy today and didn't get a chance to phone ACS but first thing tomorrow.

Hi All, Well, my heartburn came back with a vengeance after my fill on Thursday so I phoned ACS on Sat. morning to see if I could have a defill. I was told that Lu was fully booked and that Jan was available on Monday, I explained that I was in pain and really needed to see someone immediately. She took my number and said she would ring back. She didn't, and so I drove in and said I'd wait to see if Lu would see me. Lu was very busy and trying to catch a flight so I was delighted when she made time for me. JUST AS WELL! I explained to Lu what was going on and told her that I had 2mls in my band according to Jan but that I felt there was maybe 1/4 to 1/2 ml more than that. So Lu got to work and aspirated all the fluid to check how much was in there and to my absolute amazement and shock there was almost 5mls in . Lu put 4.5ml back and so far I've no heart burn, but I can't believe that Dr Jan has written up my chart saying that I've 2mls in and there I was with 5. Its not unbelievable its bloody downright disgraceful that this sort of thing can be going on. I'm the third person that I know of that has been overfilled this past week. I tell you now, Lu is the only person I trust with my band now. I shall be speaking to Debbie about this as its just not good enough. Ok rant over.

Hi All, I was in town with my daughter on Thursday and on the off chance I phoned ACS (well Debbie to be exact) to see if it was possible to see either Dr Jan or Lu the nurse for a fill. Debbie said it was no problem and I arrived down at 12.30pm. I was asked to sit in the waiting area and I had just picked up a magazine when one of the girls from the office came out to tell me I would be seen to very soon and asked if I would like a coffee or anything:faint:well I had to look around to check if I was in the right place. I replied that I was fine and within minutes Dr Jan came to get me. We had a very pleasent chat about my band and he agreed to give me a fill. I had expected him to suggest half a ml at most but he gave me 1ml. When I was leaving his room he walked with me asked me to sit down while he got someone to get me a glass of water :faint:. Whats happening in ACS they almost acted like proffessionals. Anyway I have 2mls in my band according to Jan I think I have 2.25 but we'll see. So far I have had a couple of bouts of heartburn. I'm going to stay on the fluids for more than two days if I can because I really, really, really want to get this band up and running like the last one and get proper restriction where I can eat a little and not have heartburn all the time. A little warning to anyone with 5mls in their band which was done by Jerome. Make sure that you don't have anymore than .5mls in at any one fill. I was told this by Jerome when I had 5mls in my first band, he said now you're at 5mls it will only be half ml fills from now on and 7mls is the max in the band he used even though its an 8ml band. In the past two weeks I'v heard of a couple of bandsters who have had to have emergency defills due to over filling. BE WARNED. Sometimes less is more. Well thats all from the house of Coco. Wishing you all comfortable restriction and shed loads of weight loss.:bananalama: Have a nice weekend.

Hey Emerald I would phone and ask what the story is with your band now, if the doc hasn't told you when to come back. You were banded in April and you would have had 2 or 3 mls in your band at the op and usually it 1ml fills after that if you can remember how many fills you've had and add 2 or 3 and then minus 3 you had out you should know how many mls is in now. Either way phone them and find out what your next move is. Glad you're feeling better but you want to keep losing that weight.

Hi Dini, That's fantastic to be so close to your goal weight. I'm sure you'll get real close by Christmas, maybe stepping up the exercise at this point will help. I've been having problems with acid since I had my band repositioned and Dr Jan the new surgeon emptied the band and sent me for xrays which came back clear, now I have to have my band filled with small fills spaced apart. I currently have 1.5mls in my band and am thinking of having another small fill maybe .5ml done next week. I have a funny sort of restriction, I can't eat bread, well I can but I get bad cramps in my lower stomach minutes after I've eaten it:wacko:. Anyway I can eat, but not loads, my pouch seems to empty quite quickly so I am eating more often than when I had 5.5mls in my first band. I am a bit put out about it, but at the same time when the band was emptied and I was eating rings around myself it made me appreciate this wonderful band, so I'm prepared to take my time so as not to mess things up and risk losing the band altogether :eek:. I found the new doctor a bit iffy the first time but the second time he seemed a lot nicer. I worry that he could be having difficulty taking on Jeromes patients, particularly as he uses a different band.:phanvan:phanvan If your still having difficulty with food I've read on this site on the recipe's page that a lot of women just liquidise their food and have it like that, so put your chicken in the blender with some sauce/milk whatever and have it like that, sort of like a thick soup. It might work. It also makes it easier if you don't have to cook separate meals for your family and yourself. Just blend up what they are having.:hungry: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi Marge, :welcome: to the site, this is a fab site for anyone researching the band and this thread in particular if you're planning on having it done in Ireland. My band was done with Jerome but I have dealt with the new Dr and I've been happy with him so far. Its early days but we'll see. I believe its the best thing I've ever done and wouldn't change it for the world but I understand you wanting to know more about the surgeon. Its easy enough to decide the band might be right for you but how do you check out the surgeon. Other than personal experiences I don't really know. I suppose you could google him. If you decide to go to ACS for a consultation ask them to put you in touch with some of his patients, and make sure they have had the op done by him. It would be nice to speak to a few so that you can get more than one opinion. Good luck with your journey and keep in touch.

Hi Dini, Great to hear from you, glad you popped back. :wave: You're doing so well with the weight loss, :welldone2:I'm delighted to hear you got the slight defill. It will make all the difference and now you've done so well you can continue to eat healthily and maintain you weight loss. Do you need to lose more or are you at goal now? If you're not already at goal you must be pretty close. Enjoy that fish now and let us know how you're doing. No plans for another meet as yet but I'll put the word out.:confused:

Hey Emerald, Welcome to the site, glad you found us:clap2::clap2:. What's the story with your band did they unfill it completely........... If its just an overfill then a defill of the amount they put in at your last fill is all that happens. If they emptied it completely and not arranged an xray for you then I don't understand whats going on. Anyone who experiences being unable to keep fluids down must get treatment immediately as you can dehydrate so quickly and become very ill. It can be one of two things, an overfill (best scenario) or a band slip (worse scenario), either way seek immediate attention. Now you've found us keep in touch.:confused:

Hi Penny, don't worry about eating 6 meals a day if you are eating for three hours a day after your banded GET A REFUND :lol:. Seriously, after you are banded you will be on liquids for a few days up to a week then soft food for another week or so and then on to normal foods. It takes about 6 weeks for all the swelling to go down (so don't wear your tightest pair to trousers to the clinic. ) and you will be crying out for a fill like the rest of us saying that you can eat just as much as you could before the op. Its important to eat protein after the op as this aids the healing process so yogurt drinks and custart and rice puddings are a good choice for the first two weeks post op. I found that it wasn't until I had 5mls in that I saw regular 2lb drops in weight every week. And boy is that worth the wait. So expect to lose some weight usually quite a few lbs in the first week or two. For me it was 10lbs but then nothing untill I had my first two fills. So in my humble opinion its unrealistic to expect too much too soon. Jerome recommended starting to eat regular food as soon as we felt able. Once you have proper restriction where it will take you 20-30mins to finish a side plate of food, you will not be hungry for ages as it takes the pouch 2 hours to drip the food into the stomach. So its important to eat healthy foods because the volume of food you will be eating will be so reduced. Good luck on your journey and this time next year you'll be picking out that little black dress for your christmas party.

Hi Penny, You are I'm sure aware that Jerome didn't resign we all know that now. I have seen Dr Jan and was impressed with him but as I don't know anything about him and really don't know how to check him out we will just have to rely on the feed back we get from his patients. I have to say though, that he is doing the ops at the moment in Owenstown House, well he was when I saw him two weeks ago. In fact he said he didn't like to see outpatients while he was between ops as there was a risk of cross infection. :faint::faint::faint: Now I thought that each time a surgeon went to do an operation he scrubbed up. So where's the cross infection comes from I don't understand. I am also amazed that ACS managed to get another surgeon who invented his own band as ACS told me that Jerome was involved in the invention of the band he used. From the paper this Sunday it appears that both Dr's are using different bands. Also as you can see from this site Dr Jan is not the only person giving fills Lu is giving them also although I'm worried that Dr Jan is going to distance himself from Prof. Jerome's patients and concentrate on his own. :eek: One more thing, I would imagine that ACS don't want any more of their surgeons licences revoked so they will have to arrange a safer place for all their surgeries so although you had this conversation with Jan it might be wise to read between the lines a bit. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this is a bad thing but I do think its the only way forward for ACS to continue their very lucrative gastric banding ops. As for the pre-op diet :) well Jerome didn't see it as necessary, whether thats because of his experience doing the op or not I don't know but some Dr's reccommend it as it shinks the liver and makes the surgery easier for them. There are lots of pre op diets to be found around this web site if you really want to do one:). Well done on taking the plunge and bringing hubby along too. I brought my sister along with me and told her to ask anything that she wanted to about the op and believe me she did. :rolleyes

Hi Debb, You are so right about the witch hunt, to be honest I think reading between the lines that the media are out to get ACS and by the Medical Council retracting Jerome's licence is the only way to get at them and expose their other surgeons who if we are to believe what we are reading, are a bunch of butchers. I don't know whether ACS got lucky with Jerome and choose their plastic surgeons with not much research/references etc. but I have every faith in Jerome and support him 100%. It really riles me when I hear the likes of Mary Harney spout on about something they've obviously only been breifed about and don't have any real understanding of. That Dr in Loughinstown has been on more tv and raido programmes begging for more facilities to help obese people. How understaffed they are and how short on facilities they are. If anything he should be supporting gastric banding which is the least envasive weight loss surgery people can have. Anyway I think this story will run for another while yet. It was nice to see Jerome's letter in the paper this week. We can see from that, if we didn't know already, that he only has the patients interest at heart. Wishing you all comfortable restriction and loads of weight loss.

Hi Terry, I'm sure you're right about the amount in your band, I don't think records are kept as well as they could be in ACS. What I'm surprised about is why Lu didn't check what was in your band. When I was unsure about the amount in my band I had the nurse remove all the fluid to check how much was in there and then put it all back with more or less as necessary. If your happy with your restriction I would leave it till next time you go for a fill but if you're unhappy phone them and get another appointment to have it sorted.

Hi BB, great to hear your having it sorted. Good luck with the visit hope it goes well.

Hi Girls, About that article, I know someone who was in hospital having the band done at the same time as that poor woman. Apparently, Dr Jerome opened her up, saw some cancer in her digestive tract and closed her up immediately, she did not have the band done. She was awake afterwards and was up and about talking to other patients. She also suffered from sleep apnea and died in her sleep. From what I can gather in the Mail on Sunday it was nothing to do with Dr Jerome. He has had his licence suspended by the medical council while they investigate if major surgery on obese people was being carried out by him in a cosmetic clinic rather than a large hospital with more facilities. Dr Jerome is disputing the fact that it is major surgery and that's essentially what the court case is about. For me I had and still have every faith in Dr Jerome he performed 300 of these band surgeries last year in Ireland and just 3 of his patients suffered with problems which meant they had to be transferred to a larger hospital.

Irish Examiner - 2007/10/23: Call for regulation after surgery death For those of you who missed the article in the Irish Mail on Sunday 21st Oct. 2007. I could not locate that article but if you click on the link above you will get the Irish Examiner version.:ranger:

Hey BB, You poor thing, that is a desprate way to be treated. I can't believe that so called professionals, can behave in that manner. :mad::mad: If I were you I would ring Debbie in Fitzwilliam Place and complain to her. Also make an appointment to see the surgeon. When you get to see him, tell him also, and ask him who you should speak to if you have any worries or queries regarding your surgery and aftercare. Regarding your port, my port is under my left ribcage but I don't know where the new surgeon puts it. Some surgeons do put it between and slightly under the breasts, but I'm sure some of the girls who have been done by the same surgeon as you will tell you where theirs are. As for slippage, in my case I couldn't keep down any food or liquids and my band had to be defilled completely. Its unlightly that you have a band slippage but anything you notice that seems unusual have checked out. I hope you follow this up because if we don't care how we are treated we will be treated without care.

<p> </p> <p> </p> <p>Hi BettyBoop,</p> <p>I was also banded in Ireland and if you go to the thread "Hi from Ireland" you will meet a load of us Irish girls who were banded in Ireland including some who were done this month. I was banded by dr jerome and he usually puts the port under the left rib cage. Also just because its a holiday weekend there is usually someone in Owenstown House that you can ring if you need to speak to someone. Hope to hear more from you. Good luck, and pop in to our thread.</p>