giveyouthemoon

That's pretty much my same story.

Dr C - I was diagnosed by my surgeon with a case of dilation of the esophagus and pouch. "It's not bad," he said, "just a cause for concern." He reminded me about small portions and told me to be careful. Before this news, I felt almost like a I needed a fill, dr said it was because of the dilation. After being REALLY good on portions, I mean TINY, for about two weeks, everything feels different in there. It feels restricted again. Can the pouch fix itself that quickly or am I just having weird mental restriction? Thanks in advance. Karen

I'm wondering if you are getting enough calories? Also, could your iron be low? Also, could you be going TOO low on carbs? Also...are you taking a multivitamin? Also...hey, your body is going through MAJOR changes. I slept a lot after surgery.....

I have some sugar free candy every now and again. I can get TOO addicted to it so I have to be super careful. I echo others, you gotta be getting down the Proteins. You won't be as hungry for sweets if you do. I was skeered for a long time to eat meat. It seems TOO tough but you gotta try. Chew and chew and chew!!!! Try mashing up a hard boiled egg with a little mayo and mustard for an bit of egg salad. Good Protein, easy on the calories and VERY satisfying! Also, cook a chicken breast then whir it around in a kitchen blender (one of those magic bullet thingies). I whir the beejesus out of chicken with some season salt and spices and a little cheese and mayo. Makes a chicken pate kind of a deal that is SUPER yummy, chock full of protein and goes down nice. (and hey, you can do the same with a can of tuna!) Experiment!

When I first was banded, I didn't....then I did and was pretty vigilant about it. Then I stopped. When I stopped, I stalled. Big time. Now that I'm hovering right over the 100lb loss mark, my body has sloooooowed the rate which it chooses to lose, so counting calories and counting exercise (I have a pedometer) are major keys to motivation and success. I have decided with rock solid determination I will not be one of those bandsters who loses....x% of their weight. I forget is it 60% or 80% or something? Nope, I'm going to report in at 100% of my exess weight thus LOWERING THE AVERAGE! lol! This is just what's on my mind today.

Personally....here's my thought. Your body uses fat stores as a place to put...uh..toxins. Trash, leftovers, excess hormones, all of that gunk. It gets there in the fat cells and the space between fat cells. Personally, I think you are on one mofo of a detox right now, your body is getting out gunk. When the body processes "gunk" you see it in the extremities...skin, hair, fingernails, breath. It all seems pretty durn normal to me! Also....it could be leftover anesthetic and stuff. I smelled funny for a while and it was a medicinal smell. I knew it was my body expelling that stuff.

Wow lethea, your pouch was REALLY dilated! Mine isn't that distended...in an odd way seeing your xrays make me feel better. So tell me....you were able to get your pouch back to right size? How? Did you take out all your fill? Or did you eat small? Just curious?

I think I was spelling wrong...it's dilation (like getting your eyes dilated means the pupil is WAY open) Dilation...it means both my pouch and my esphagus have widened above the band. It is caused primarily by overstuffing the pouch (eating too fast and too much). The pouch will naturally dilate a bit after a year (the main problem that RNY patients have, the pouch "relaxes" and gets a bit bigger) but mine is beyond the normal aspect. It's not to the extreme, but enough that my dr is concerned and I have to be super careful about eating. And if I keep stuffing the pouch, it could cause a slip in the band. The good news is the tissue is pretty resiliant and should, if I care for it well, go back a bit. The main problem I have with the dilation is I feel hungry A LOT and like I can eat A LOT. It feels like I need a fill...but that would just make it worse. So my regimen is to eat little tiny bits throughout the day. Like a handful of nuts. One egg. Stuff like that. Stick to the half cup of food at a time which I've fought against this whole year. And my fighting against the rules bought me this...not a problem yet, but a potential. So I'm pretty diligent now. I want to keep my band for a VERY long time!

The quantity guideline isn't about the dialation, it's the general band rules. When you had your surgery, what portion sizes did your dr recommend? Stick strictly to that is my main point. My dialation is from going past that and eating too much.

I have this as well....think SMALL. Super small. Little bitty tiny small portions. Even if you are eating mushies. I mean REALLY adhere to the half cup guideline. I know it's hard to make this revision...but my dr calls pouch dialation a "prelude to a slip" and neither of us wants a slip, right? I'm all about tiny amounts spread throughout the day rather than eating meals. Small! Tiny! Little bitty! Luck!!! :confused:

Also, on area that doesn't get discussed...but even before I was banded I'd stopped drinking with meals as without the liquid, your body is better able to digest and absorb nutrients. It's helpful all around. And really, it's only weird to get used to at first and after a while you don't even miss it.

37 here and I would like kids but I'm having to face the real hard facts that may not happen (at least by me having them myself. Adoption is always a possibility). I had been with a guy for seven years but the bugger just could never figure out how to get serious. I've met a really wonderful guy (I attribute feeling so much better post band for the relationship), but after seven months, this guy is squirmy too about stepping up and being together for the long run. I seem to draw these guys who can't figure out wtf they really want and I'm pretty tired of it.

Wooo HOOO Pink Mary! Congrats on your amazing success! I'm so proud of you and you look great!! Keep up the amazing work!!!!

It can be. Vitamin pills can be HUGE and hard to get down. Others have no troubles. Personally I can't do anything larger than a standard capsule. But I can get my meds down ok. I do a great chewable vitamin too.

WOOO HOOOO!!!! I'm so happy for you! My weigh in today was 201.4. Arrrgh. SOOO CLOSE! Send me some of that onederland love! I need it!

I'm at a year and my band is fine. I have mild dialation of the pouch and esophagus, but that's not my band's fault, it's mine. My band is in place and doing it's job and now that I'm more diligent of how I eat, the other issues are gone. The band isn't an easy quick fix. It requires care and maintenance.

(man, we are keeping the good doctor busy!) My question pertains to the pouch. I've been having some troubles lately, mostly that it feels like I have hardly any restriction but then at that monthly time I'm PB'ing. A doctor who filled in while my regular surgeon was out suggested that it might be that after a year of being banded, the pouch has relaxed or he said it may even have stretched. He asked me to get an esophagram which I have and I go in in a couple days for the doctor to look. My question is...tell me about the dialation of the pouch. Is this something that is reversable? How is it treated? I would say I'm guilty of eating too much so it's quite plausible. I'm just curious what this means for me long term? Thanks in advance. Karen

Like others I totally wore my bra after surgery....I think you'll be fine. Ask your doctor to be sure?

I had second thoughts. And third thoughts. And eight million six hundred and eighty seventh thoughts. Hell, as I was laying down on the table in my little gown, I was thinking "I can still back out....." It's perfectly normal. Just....{{{{{hugs}}}}} You are gonna do great!!!!!!

First, a celebration! Woot! :clap2: (ok, for the record, my bandiversary is Friday, but I am going out of town tomorrow so I won't be around to post) Ok, so I've seen other folks come in and post on their bandiversary...so I thought I'd follow the rules of etiquette! Far be it from me to break with tradition! First of all, just wanted to stop and give my most humble of thanks to all here who have so generously shared the details of their journey to help all of us down the road. I was lucky to have found LBT before I was banded and the advice and help I got here was far above what I got from my own dr's support group. I love how I can come here and post pretty much *anything* and someone will have good advice or experience to share. So I'm grateful and wanted to make that known. In my first year I've lost 90lbs and gone from a size 26 to a size 14 (heck, on my way up in pounds I didn’t wear a 14 at this weight!). My blood pressure has normalized, my total cholesterol is a gaudy 150. My blood work all came back perfect (but for some low Iron but that's another story). I have more energy and verve. I feel good in my skin! After two sorrowful years after ending a long term relationship then losing my dad to lung disease, for the first time in a VERY long time, I’m happy. I have a wonderful new man in my life (who I'm flat crazy about!) and a great outlook on my life. It has been a long uphill climb. A lot of this is due to Trink (my band). She's my little godsend! And I love her so! (a lot of it is also due to the tenacity of my amazing therapist!) So I've seen other folks post what they learned or what they got out of their first year of being banded. Here's my list, in no particular order. 1) First and foremost...I learned just how deeply my food issues run. I post this first because it is most on my mind right now. I struggled for ten years of my life with bulimia. It was a terrible struggle. And it came on right after I had lost quite a bit of weight and then freaked out because I didn't know how to handle the "new" me. So having lost this weight (with a lot left to go) I am struggling with those same demons again. I know I'm better prepared now at 37 than I was at 25 to deal with this...but that doesn't make it an easier battle. The soldier is tired. I have learned that these same food issues run deep with most people. I hate it when I get "food policed" with a "that's ALL you are eating??" but I always try to realize that is their issues cropping up, not mine. I also really understand what a food obsessed culture we are. I look at heaps of food on plates and can't believe how much we, as a culture, eat on a daily basis. I certainly never thought that small bites could satisfy me, and yet they do. It wasn't an easy change but the band helped a LOT. I mean, not being able to physically eat all that crap has been both a terrifying experience and THE MOST liberating feeling I've ever known. I still *crave* food that I know isn't good for me (a recent rampant craving for French fries comes to mind....) but a year ago...I'd crave...I'd eat...and eat...and eat.... Now, I crave...I think "I could get that"...then I think "hmmm...could I get that down? What would it take?". Then I think "ow...yeah, not worth it." And THAT dear friends...is progress. My band doctor calls this "surgical behavior modification...you get *instant* feedback" and he's right. Boy oh boy is he right...... 2) I've learned that as amazing as the band is, you can get around it. So having a band is about being diligent and not complacent. You get complacent you get pounds back as your payment. 3) I've learned that motivation is everything. I completely lay my first year's success at the doorstep of unwavering motivation. I had never been in a hospital for my own stuff before so having surgery was a life changing experience. Scared. The. Sh-t. Out. Of. Me. I figured if the problem was such that I'd let a stranger, a man who I'd never let lay a hand on me in real life, cut into me....well then maybe I'd best work this program and work it hard. Today, my motivation isn't what it was a year ago...a fact I'm struggling with. But today I see my surgeon for my one-year check up and I'm hoping to have a new fear of god blasted right into me. 4) I've learned that society's values about overweight people are frightening. I am treated significantly differently today than I was a year ago. It's a fact. Yes, I can attribute much of it to my own improved outlook on life, but there is a large percentage that cannot be denied. This particular point angers me because I think we are teaching our children conflicting messages. One the one hand, "here, eat all this fake sugary/fast food goodness" and on the other "you should be ashamed of yourself for being obese". It's a double edged sword and it's not getting better. I don’t have a fix for it...this is just the rant portion of our show.... /rant 5) I've learned that yes, it is in fact possible to live without bread, despite all my own protestations to the contrary. Tho I do crave a nice big sandwich now and then, mostly I don't miss bread. It just doesn't do it for me anymore. Odd, huh? 6) I've learned that I can survive surgery on my own. I took myself to the hospital, had no one there at my side, did this all on my own (my sister did come down to drive me home from the hospital) even paid for it myself. Learning to stand on my own two feet and not be obsessively reliant on another person has been a big, hard, important life lesson. Yes, I credit my band for this too....getting this done for my health has been a boon for more than my body size. 7) Mainly I've learned that it's a lot more fun to be this size than it was to be that size...but none of this ever gets easy. The demons you have today in your head never go away. They can get quieter at times, but they are always there, lurking, waiting for an opening. So I had my one year check up today. The good news is that...I've lost a lot of weight, feel great and my bloodwork is awesome. The bad news is that he looked at my esophagram and I have concentric dilation (but no slip...which is great news). He called this a prelude to a slip and spoke in pretty strong tones about what must be done. So today, a year out from surgery, I'm here to renew my resolve. It's about small portions. It's about eating what I KNOW to be the right food to fuel this body It's about exercise. It's about avoiding PBs. And it's about loving myself truly, completely, unconditionally...... See ya next year. I plan to tell you of how I made goal weight and feel even better than before.... Thanks to all who actually read through all of my manifesto (which to be honest was written more for myself but I thought I'd share it anyway)!

Hey Nanette! Welcome to the board and congrats on your upcoming banding! You are gonna love it! PB = productive burp...I know, kind of a funny phrase. It means getting something "stuck" meaning it doesn't go down to well and then eventually vomiting it back up. PB's hurt like a golf ball in the chest and are a sure sign you've either eaten too fast, too much or too big a bite. They are best avoided as they can be hard on the ol' band. There is evidence that PB'ing too much can cause a slip in the band.

*grin* Oh I get what you are saying...I think mostly my therapist reminds me that I'm not alone. And that the demons never go away, but I get better at living with them. We're in this together, girl! The good news is that God was indeed listening....my problem is just enough to scare me silly, but not so much I could lose my band anytime soon. *This* is some much needed motivation! Thanks to all who took the time to read my post and posted their support. I got tears in my eyes reading your replies. This has really been an emotional day...in a good way. As for posting photos...I'll see what I can do. For now, here is a recent photo of me, taken in New York in May (on my birthday) And finally...my wonderful new boyfriend...came to pick me up after work today and gave me a box...inside was a beautiful silver and topaz bracelet. He told me he is proud of me for the hard work I've done with my band...and it's a reminder that he's always there reminding me to go slow and take smaller bites. Wow, this amazing man might just be a keeper!!

Dr C, thanks for the info. I was of course looking to be a little educated before talking to my surgeon. He can be very difficult to talk with so a little info goes a long way. Much appreciated!! Karen

I just had an esophagram done and I was in AWE looking at my band! That's so cooooool!!!

Hey divanita2006! Big huge congrats on your upcoming surgery!! You are about to go down a wild ride! I'm here pulling for you too! I believe in you!!! Remember that as you are taking those steps into the operating room.....you believe in you and *I* believe in you!! Now go on out there and move mountains!!