jclue

Hi bigboned-I had my band removed about a year ago and I had a large 'mass' where the port was, it is completely gone now, I don't remember quite how long-but I'm thinking it was a couple months before it was gone-swelling and scar tissue build up or something-I just remember thinking-something must still be in there it felt so hard-just wanted to share that mine did eventually go away, hopefully yours is gone by now. Good luck!

Well, I was alright until last Sunday and I started vomiting water and couldn't keep anything done and therefore couldn't function so I finally said enough is enough and went to the ER on Tuesday night with severe dehydration, they admitted me and I spoke with another gastric bypass surgeon who watched me in the hospital until Wed afternoon and decided we better get the band out of there so I had surgery and removed the band Wed. night-no replacement as I was too swollen and he wants me to be able to heal. I'm now debating if I even want to have another put in, this has been so tough to deal with, I don't want to deal with it again, but I also don't want to gain the weight back. Dealing with everyone else's opinion too, which is collectively, you have lost the weight, you can keep it off, well we all know, if it was only that easy...there are no guarantees and I thought I wouldn't have to go through this decision again, I made it last year and was content and now I'm all stirred up again. Any advise or words of wisdom from those who have been here would be appreciated. I'm afraid of either decision, do I just go with the one I fear the least?

An upper GI is just basically an x-ray while you swallow barium fluid to see how your liquids are going down, etc. I had just the reflux back in May and was just too tight then, I was completely unfilled and had a GI back then and everything was fine, and the reflux went away within 2 hours, so hopefully that is all it is for you. I did speak with my surgeon today and since I did not vomit/slime or otherwise lose anything yesterday and I had no acid reflux, he is going to let me try liquids for a couple weeks and see if this thing will fix itself, I'm crossing my fingers but worried about repeat offenses in the future even if it does slip back into place.....

I went to the hospital today for an upper GI to figure out what has been happening. I have had a terrible time the last few months with vomiting/pbing/sliming/acid reflux etc. etc. and the Dr. confirmed I have a slip and I am the 1st patient he has had slip-he stitches the stomach around the band to prevent this from happening. I thought I would post my series of events in case it may help someone else. I had a too tight fill with some vomiting/reflux problems back in May and had a complete unfill and everything looked great on the upper GI-no pouch dilation, no slip, etc. I was just too tight and within about 2 hours I starting feeling better and slept with no acid reflux. I was unfilled for about 5 weeks and went in for I believe two more fills-1cc the first time (I have the 4cc band) and about .5cc the next 5-6 week appointment. The 2nd fill seemed to start causing me problems, I was clogging a lot and started going through the cycle of liquid diet for a few days and then I could slowly start eating again and would feel fine and then horrible acid reflux keeping me up at night started coming. I went in and got completely unfilled in September. I started to feel better and was fine for a few weeks, however the acid reflux did not go away at night-fine during the day-evening came around and the acid started flowing. I was on Prevacid and Carafate and on occasion they helped, but I usually still had the acid reflux at some point. I would eat normal (band standard normal) for 2-3 days and feel great and then I would clog or something 2-3 days of vomiting. I continued to loss weight but had no energy to exercise. The past 2 weeks I was fine during the day, eating and then around 9-10pm I would throw up whatever I ate for the day-even if I had eaten it 5-6 hours beforehand and even if I had been on liquids for the day. I still felt like I had restriction - however I may have confused this with the fact that I have sincerely changed my eating habits. I started waking up just about every hour coughing from the acid and then throwing up-I slept sleeping up as well and it still didn't help-couldn't keep the carafate or the prevacid down and sometimes not water-sometimes I could though (confused me) . The exhaustion from lack of sleep and then not being able to eat was horrible. I got ahold of my surgeon last Friday and he asked me to go on Clear Liquids (1 ounce every 15 minutes) for the weekend ( I threw up every night and finally slept almost through the night last night-but it may have just been exhaustion as I had some acid on my pillow when I woke up) and call him today, which I did and had my test. He wanted to make sure all the fill was in fact out and he was able to pull an additional 1cc of Fluid from my band-not sure where this came from, but hopefully it will help things. I need to have revision surgery and unfortunately he is on vacation until next Thursday-he will be replacing my 4cc band with a new 10cc band and until then, it is liquids for me-he actually said try to gain 10 pounds before the surgery-I asked if he was joking-never in my life did I think I would here that. I will try not to tackle anyone at Thanksgiving-I did just ask my husband if I could lick his chicken-that really sounded good didn't it. I hope this helps someone-I of course wish I would have gone in sooner, but kept thinking it would get better especially after feeling okay and being able to eat for a few days at a time-including an occasional pasta/bread-which I have been able to eat on occasion through the process-just depends. Presurgery 250/current 140/goal 150 5'6"

Aren't pineapple juice and meat tenderizer acidic too? I think I'm drinking some vinegar next time I get reflux-couldn't be any worse than vomiting, coughing and choking all night. :rolleyes2:

I agree with it's Christine, during my entire 6 months I fell below the 40 BMI and they never once mentioned it, they always referred to the weight at my initial appointment. I had HealthPartners-they approved it, I also had Medica and they were in line to approve if HP denied it, so I think your shrink should stick to what he knows and not spout off at the mouth-that annoys me. Best of luck to you! Start/Current/Goal 250/152/145

Thanks for sharing and congratulations on the weight loss! It just blows my mind sometimes, it hasn't been all roses, but the result is worth it and sometimes it is just nice to put all worries of excess skin, sliming, etc. behind and say hey, we did this Yea for us!

Sometimes this seems like a dream. I got tears in my eyes the other day when I told my DH that I only need to lose another 25-30 pounds before I'm in the healthy weight catergory and it just came up and bit me out of nowhere how significant this is to me and I started to get tears in my eyes(overwhelming happy tears). It's always been like 'I need to lose 100 pounds-but I'd be happy with a starting goal of under 200'. I have been overweight my whole life-weighed about 180 in highschool, got pregnant, gained 60 pounds and more over subsequent babies and life of munching to the tune of about 250 pounds. I was banded in 8/07 and am down to 179 today. 71 pounds lost-holy crap if I don't say so myself. I fit into a size 12 in the dressing room the other day and another little choked up moment. I think I was 13 or 14 last time I fit into a 12. I didn't think I'd lose this fast and I think my mind is having a hard time catching up with my body, but this experience has been truly life changing and amazing and I'm so glad I made this decision. Has anyone else had these overwhelming moments where you are just going along and smack you realize something you've been thinking and dreaming and trying to do for what seems like forever is actually becoming your reality? S 250/C179/G154(not obese):biggrin2: 5'6"

Hi there, I was banded in August and am down 57 pounds and the same thing happened to me, I had my first fill in mid Oct. and everything was fine and then I got another at the end of Nov and everything was fine until around beginning of January and now I have problems keeping food down and coffee and water-some times it's fine and others it is not-I'm wondering what is going on too, but am without insurance right now, so hoping it's minor-please let me know what happens and good luck. Thanks!

At mine they had you write down everything you eat for two months (I lied-I know I shouldn't have and should have been good-but pooey, I wasn't ready to eat 1200 calories yet) anyway, typically give you the 'lap band' rules so you can get used to things, ie. chew chew chew, lower your calories, stop drinking pop etc. Then they showed me portions, specifically I remember a rubber banana and being told I could eat 1/2 of it while she flopped it around (I swear she wouldn't let go of that thing the whole time) :rose: I had to go three times before surgery, and each time they also give good recommendations for what you should be eating, how much protein you need and what life will be like after lapband. Good luck!

Thank goodness there are people going through this same thing. I had my surgery on 8/29 and I'm down 15 pounds-most of it in the liquid stages. Same thing, I eat 3/4 cup food, exercise, etc. I haven't lost one ounce this week. It's frustrating as I count my calories and see I'm eating 800-950 calories a day and not losing weight. Drinking at least 75 ounces of Water. Today is my first day off pureed foods. I wonder if my body needs more calories? I know slow and steady-blah blah--I want to whine as I know another lap bander who lost 30 pounds the first month and she started within 5 pounds of my weight. Has anyone heard of upping calories slightly and seeing the weight come off quicker? H-250/S242/C227/G-150 5'6"

JClue-banded 8/29/07