ifonly

i had surgery to have my lap-band removed exactly one week ago today. (i had to lose the band due to slippage and complications). before surgery i had gotten down to 188 lbs, and at a place where my stomach was starting to look pretty flat. immediately after surgery i weighed myself and was 193 lbs, and now i am at 191 six days later. i know i'm obsessing but i'm hoping that it's Water weight, it seems like i have a lot of swelling around my belly area. that whole area is tight and round, as opposed to being flat and easily compressed before. what do you guys think? how long did everyone have swelling for? did most of you have swelling at all? i am paying extreme attention to EACH lb because i don't want to do anything to gain a single pound back... right now i'm still on mushies and not eating very much so i don't know why else i would have gained. would appreciate any advice. thanks!

Hi, i'm new to the forum but have been reading for a while. I had my surgery in May 2007. i'm self pay and i'm looking for a doctor who does fills in the Indiana area. my current doctor is not aggressive at ALL, i've had 2 fills so far, and he does not tell me how many cc's each fill was for, all he has told me was that the first fill was under 1 cc, and the second fill was under .5 cc. Since I am self pay, i am very concious of the fact that he is going so slowly when other doctors are more aggressive with fills. i can't help but think that he is taking his time with the fills so that he can make more money off of me. i would appreciate any info or advice you all could send my way. thanks, -ifonly

why does this happen, how can a person maintain their weight when they are eating such little food? i have the 4cc band and at my last fill i was at about 1.5 cc, and pbing about once a week, then i switched doctors and he put in another full cc, so now i'm at about 2.5 cc's and no more pb'ing!! i figure before my band opening was just big enough to let bites of food get stuck in there. sadly i've only lost about 3 pounds in the 3 weeks since my last fill. i don't understand how i can be eating so much less and not really losing weight at the same rate as most other people. discouraging...

thanks to each of you for the information...i really appreciate it. jillrn, does your dr also charge an office visit for the fill? what is the total cost when you go in to get a fill. if it is just $75, it might be worth it to drive up. i'm in indianapolis. one of the things that is most concerning to me is that my current doctor does not tell me how many cc's he is putting in. if i ask, he tells me that i don't need to know. i find that troubling, considering it's MY body. also, if he's just putting in a very tiny amount, how will i be able to compare with other doctors to see if he is using standard/normal proceedures? How do I know if he is intentionally only putting in trace amounts to make sure I have to come in for more visits?

hi lbmi bandsters, i'm a newbie, although i've been reading for the past two months since i got my band...i was banded in late may with a 4 cc band, i've had one fill since and only lost about 11 lbs total. i started off at 229 and now i'm at 218 so it's going really slowly. i do feel the need to eat less then before...i'm full a lot sooner, but so far it's not a significant change. i'm totally jealous of those of you who have lost 20-40 lbs in just a few months...i hope i start to have some of the same luck...i call it luck but i know everyone's working really hard...i'm walking after dinner but not really doing vigorous excersize yet. any advice? thanks, ifonly