Newbeginnings

HI all, I was going to Dr F but was referred to Umass to Dr Kelly because I had a large hiatal hernia. It is about 4 hrs to get there and he wanted to see me for a minimum of 6 mos before allowing me to go back to Dr F. It has now been almost a year and I am still going down there. I love my dr and although it has been kind of a disappointing year in weight loss, I don't have any problems getting an appointment and getting in on time. they have about 4 fill dr's there. I didnt think i had any restriction until a wk and a half ago. then Dr k gave me an upper gi and then a fill and now I think i finally hit the sweet spot. I have lost 5 lbs so far. My surgery was March 30 and I have had 5 fills. I had the realize band and it has about 10 cc's in it which is close to maximum. I usually do 2 miles on my treadmill every day and am trying not to eat the wrong stuff. the problem is the crap like chips and Cookies slide right thru and the Protein and good stuff get stuck sometimes. I still wouldnt have changed a thing and havent had any acid reflux since dr K fixed my hiatal hernia the same time he placed my band. good luck to you all on your journey. waiting for the surgery is only a part of it. then comes the waiting game to see when you will get restriction. believe me you will wonder if your band is working before you finally get restriction. Kathy

Hi All, I am glad I found this thread. I live in vt and was supposed to have surgery with Dr F but he referred me to MA to U-mass to a specialist because I had a hiatal hernia. I am supposed to be referred back to him in 6 mos and it almost time. Now after reading these posts, I'm not sure I want to. i have appointments every 6 wks and although its a pain to drive 3 hours they are great down there. I had my surgery on March 31 and have done great. I have a realize band and it holds around 10-11 cc of Fluid and so far i have 9 cc's in there, I have lost 35 lbs and wished i had lost more. This summer i have stayed the same which in itself is a miracle. I used to be the biggest yo-yo dieter there was. I have been taken totally off my diabetes meds, my blood pressure is great, i feel great, and have no regrets. I just started writing down what I eat and exercising every day and have lost 3 lbs this week. I know it was me not helping my band more than it was my band failing me. Leese, I live in washington, its great to know someone is right in barre. good luck to all you guys just starting out. I know its hard to decide to do elective surgery but its really not that bad. Newbeginnings

HI All, I am glad I found this post. I was banded in March with the realize band and lost 35 lbs right off. I went in last week for my 4th fill and the doctor told me that my band holds 11 cc's and I had 8.5 in there and he told me i was reaching the max for fills. He did end up giving me 1/2 cc so i guess i have 9cc's in there. I was sad because he said if this doesnt kick in soon i am going to have to look into other weight loss surgeries. On one hand, I am smaller than I have been able to get in years and happy about it. On the other hand, i thought i would have lost more weight and have more restriction. I guess they have never put this much fill in anyone. That makes me feel like a freak. I did get mad at the doctor and say" this is going to work. it already has, i am off my diabetes meds, my blood pressure is great, and I'm maintaining my weight within a couple of lbs, something i have never been able to do, so I know it is going to work" He is the new fill doctor and the surgeon who did my surgery is very supportive and tells me all the time it is going to work. I have to be honest and say i havent been exercising and measuring my food. I am going to start that today. I will never give up on becoming healthy. good luck to you all. I totally get the frustration because I have been there too. Newbeginnings

I took a plane ride to grand junction, co and it is a small airport with small planes. I took my seat, they only had 1 on 1 side and 2 on the other. I couldnt get the seat belt to fit and was too embarrassed to ask for an extender so i tucked it under my belly and pretended to be fastened in. I was so scared waiting for an alarm or something to go off saying "the fat lady in seat 5 doesnt have a seat belt on" Not to mention if there was turbulence and I had happended to fly out of my seat on top of someone. I survived and no alarms went off. I have not wanted to fly since but now after being banded on March 31, I am going to be ready to fly anywhere.

Hi Nicelee, I was banded on March 31 and after 2 wks, I felt like you do, that I could eat anything. I told my docter that I didnt even feel like I had a band. He said"thats because you havent gotton a fill. When you get a fill, then we will put the hurt on you" he has a sense of humor. I was scared thinking my band wasnt going to work. I had my first fill on May 8 and still don't have much restriction. I am hoping the one on June 12 will be the one to make the difference. I have heard it sometimes takes 3-4 fills to get good restriction. I know I eat less than before the band and I think they fill you slowly so it isnt such a big change all at once so I am trying to be patient and do this in small steps. I know exactly how you feel because I felt the same way. I wanted to feel full with hardly any food like I did on the liquid diet the first 2 wks. I know I will get there again. Good luck and hang in there. It seems like you are doing great with the walking and all Newbeginnings

HI Andrea, I wanted to tell you to click on my tickerfactory.com where my dragonfly is, make your own ticker, then copy it and go to my account, then edit signature, and paste it there, you can also copy and paste the shrinking shamrock as well. hope this helps. Newbeginnings

HI shrinking shamrocks, congrats on all the great weight loss. I was banded on March 31 and lost 10 lbs in 2 wks on the liquid diet. Since then, nothing but getting a fill on May 8. Our new life begins..... Newbeginnings

HI clover, I was banded on 3/31 and it really wasnt that bad. The worst part was the 2 wks liquid diet. I hated that but did lose 10 lbs in 2 wks. I woke up feeling sick and having alot of shoulder pain but they gave me something and the sick feeling went away. I too struggled with backing out. I think we all have at some point. I kept thinking of how many times I had tried to lose and lost and gained it back. I knew I didnt want to keep doing that and waste another 10 yrs of my life. I had also gone thru way too much to get there to back out. I slept like a baby the night before my surgery and got up and drove myself the 4 hrs to get there and never had a 2 thought on wheither i was doing the right thing. I stayed 1 night and was hooked up to a morphine pump so I didnt feel much pain. the next day i was driven the 4 hrs back and my stomach felt like i had done about 1,000 situps so it wasnt as bad as I thought it would be. I really don't have any restriction now as I have yet to be filled but i think they fill you slowly so you can get used to the new way of eating. Good luck to you and think about how far you have come and where you want to be in the next couple of years. I knew this wasnt a magic pill but I figured it would help balance out the playing field. newbeginnings

Hi everyone, a good friend of mine pointed out this thread and I have to tell. I was banded on 3/31 and had 2 wks of liquids. I was perfect until the end and then thought "it has to be liquid huh" and I melted some cheddar cheese and ate it. It was so good. then i was scared and told my sister. she said" i would have melted some chocolate in the microwave and eaten that instead" Boy what was i thinking. cheese????? New beginnings