giveyouthemoon

The band is a tool meant to help. It's not a given that it will work. You have to work the band, it doesn't do all the heavy lifting. It's not magic.

If you eat the right foods, eat small portions, and exercise (meaning, live by the rules of the band) and barring any other medical conditions that would prevent weight loss, then yes, you can expect to lose a significant amount of weight.

Look around at the signatures of the veteren bandsters around here......

AngieM, just read your post. Maybe we should start a rededication thread for the next month.

I'm in on a thread like that. In fact I was thinking that same thing...that maybe other folks who've had their band a year or more might be cheating a bit...stuffing the pouch....seeing weight loss slow down...and need a kick in the bootah to get back on track.

I know for me...I haven't been hanging out here much...too much stuff going on in my life and so coming back here the past couple days has already helped.

According to my surgeon:

If you suddenly can eat A LOT, like you've lost all resriction. And you have reflux where you didn't before.

or

If you can't eat ANYTHING, everything comes back up....and you have reflux where you didn't before.

Now there are others here who will tell of a slipped band that didn't exactly meet these symptoms, but it's a real fine place to start.

Just to chime in....had a visit with my surgeon today and he was NOT happy with me. He lectured about the problem of eating too much. And this pouch dialation is a scary thing.

He told me of a patient who was down to 110lbs (a healthy weight for her size), three years out and doing great. But she chronically overate. And she wore out the muscles in her esophagus. He said "the muscle fatigued" and her band had to come out. He's seen a few cases of this and said once the esophagus wears out, he can revise the surgery (to an RNY or verticle gastrectomy) but that the esophagus doesn't recover.

Now, he said this happens several years out, but if we (I mean if *I*) continue to over eat and pack the pouch, I will lose my band and cause troubles for my pipes.

So I'm pretty darn scared right here right now.

Just passing along the fright I got today at my appt.

The lesson is....eat 1/2 cup of food. Don't pack it in. Take good care of your band, your partner in good health.

Like Fauxnaif, if my nose is running, I've gone past the "stop" and into "uh oh" territory.

The hiccups are for me the "you are on the verge but I'm TRYING to get it down" place. Pre runny nose.

Just my experience...your mileage may vary.

What I can say, in all honesty, is that your definition of full is going to change...and dramatically.

On a base level...will you feel full? Yes. I too had this worry.

But "full" these days (I word I'll use, but with a nod to Jack's excellent post, BTW) doesn't feel the same.

Where being "full" before was some sort of serotonin bliss overload concocted by crap food and feelings of guilt, being "full" now usually means pain, ouch, ate too much, why did I do that?

You will learn, with the band, to not only eat differently but to redefine what eating is all about.

Look forward to the journey! It's a heck of a ride!

I think each person has to try it out for themselves. I know some low carbers who can eat the sugar alcohols, subtract them and lose weight beautifully. Others, as mentioned here, get bad cravings triggered and stop losing weight.

I guess the answer is...your mileage may vary.

For me, I can eat the sugar alcohols and still lose weight, but if I eat too often, it does spin me out on cravings.

~sigh~ guess I am more of I nut job than I knew! Thanks again for your reply. I needed to find this info.

-Angie

Giiiirl...if you are a nutjob then come sit by me. We have some things to discuss!

I notice you've lost 118 lbs. WOW! How long have you had the band? I couldn't tell from your siggy.

I've had mine for a year and a half. Personally....I think this is a common part of the cycle of having a band that comes along. You get better at knowing what works and what doesn't...so you get better at getting stuff down.

I KNOW that when I get hiccups, I've eaten too much. My diaphragm is struggling to pack all that down.

It's just another startling discovery for me on just HOW loud the demons of food will roar....and how creative they will get to disrupt my progress.

Scary as hell, actually.

I too was diagnosed with dialation and my dr called it "a prelude to a slip".

It can't happen from one meal, it's consistently eating too much. I know I do it, and I'm trying to stop.

For me, I was put on tiny, tiny portions. Even tinier than usual. After a couple weeks it resolved itself.

Be careful! Take good care of your band!!!

Guess what...hate to tell ya....you are TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY NORMAL!!

I had a LOT of pause for thought about allowing a perfect stranger to cut into an otherwise healthy body. I was overweight, high blood pressure, but told I was a really healthy fat person.

I was by MYSELF in the hospital (thank goodness for your wife!!) and I kept saying "you can back out now...you can back out now..."

I was LAYING ON THE OPERATING ROOM TABLE and I said to myself "I can go home. I don't have to do this."

It's scary. And being scared is normal.

You are going to do GREAT with the band! Your starting weight is not to far off from mine. I lost 100lbs in a year. Freaked me out a little to suddenly lose that much weight so I've been sort of "maintaining" the past six months and mentally doing the work.

Just know that you are supported here!

And maybe, just maybe this little delay happened to help you spend a few moments to get your head around this thing, huh?

Oh my gosh!! Things go SOOOO much better after the fill. That's how the band was intended to be used, with a fill.

You have to go through that time of no fill to get healed. Now that you are....it's time to use that tool like it was meant!!

Yes, having a fill will be a HUGE change from where you are now. Bear in mind, you'll have to eat less and a LOT more slowly!! Having a fill is going to change EVERYTHING you thought you knew about having a band!!

I'm excited for you!!! Good luck!!!!

It helps to take mine when empty and take with a glass of warm Water. I try as much as I can to cut up larger pills. If the pill has a slippery coating like a gelcap, it helps A LOT. I can take a fairly large pill whole and do ok, tho.

Honestly, the only way to know is to give 'er a try and see how it goes. But only when sufficiently healed. Don't try this fresh out of surgery. I did and OUCH!

Get an unfill. This problem shouldn't go on more than a week or so post fill. Some folks (me included) swell up a little after a fill.

If it *always* takes a long time to eat a little, you are too full.

Remember, your fill level is an art, not a science. You'll have to play around with it before it's juuuust right.

And by being too full, it drives REALLY bad behaviors. My dr says it's like clockwork...too full and people actually gain weight. Counterintuitive, I know. but being too tight drives bad behaviors...like eating mashed potatos all the time instead of solid Protein.

Time to visit the ol' dr I'd say.

Good luck!

I had a similar experience. One lady said to me "oh...it's too bad you didn't go for the permanent solution.

Uh...I had an object implanted into my body. That's not permanent?

Oh and....I can continue to easily, with just the stick of a needle, adjust the tension, as it were, on my rig.

With an RNY even my doctors will tell you lose all your weight in the first year because your stomach relaxes and it's tough.

So....adjustable for YEARS or one year to lose it all. Huh? Which one was permanent again?

I don't know why there is this RNY vs Band "thing" out there. It's a vehement almost religious vigor. Damn! We're all here to get help!

If you want, pipe up at the meetings. It's what I started doing. And when I lost 100lbs in a year, getting RNY type success...well, they had very little to say.....

Oh gosh, I think the MOST anxiety I've had about the band has come at social encounters. Especially in the early days of the band where you are still figuring things out, when you are not sure yet what might stick and what works.

Also, for me, at a social event, I get to talking, get all excited, eat too fast and then....yuuuuurp. Not good. I used to be TERRIFIED about a social situation and what would happen if I had to PB..which I did...a lot...because anxiety closes up the ol' esophagus.

My bit of advice...take it for what it is worth....in a social scene, remind yourself over and over to eat REALLY SLOWLY. I mean, force yourself to put down your fork between every bite. You can try some of everything there, that's the fun. And if you don't like it, don't eat it. Sample small bites, it's fun! But go slow and easy on the band.

After a while, you still have to remind yourself to go slow but you have a better idea of will and won't work.

Also...I don't think we as bandsters will EVER get past the people who just HAVE to comment "is that all you are eating?" or "gosh, you eat SOOO little" or some crap like that. I'll never understand why. It's other people's guilt, I know...but SHEESH!

And yes...your comment about this is a hard habit to break....a year and a half out and I STILL marvel at the ways in which my brain will try to fool me into eating crap that I KNOW is bad for me.

I think Jack calls that something about the dragon.

Eating right and exercising are the best tools to keep the dragon quiet. The dragon never goes away, he'll only go quiet for a while. Keep that in mind.

Congrats on your band and your progress (both mental and physical) thus far!!

I had an instance when I had decent restriction, then magically, I didn't. I got an esophagram and I had mild dilation of the pouch. I had to eat REEEEALLY small for a while to get it back.

Try this....if you think you could have stuffed your pouch, try a week of eating super tiny meals. Have just a few bites then you know, you'll be hungry so eat only a few bites the next time you are hungry. Give it a week or so and see if there is any change.

Can't hurt either way to have tried it. If you are still having trouble, then maybe you need a fill.

Get an unfill. If you can only eat Frostys, get an unfill. If you have to stand to eat, you are too tight. Get an unfill.

Remember the mantra of my surgeon..."I'd rather have you be a little too lose and eat too much chicken than too tight and only eat foods that are bad for you" He says that being too tight drives bad behavior....it was true in my case and it looks like it is for you too.

Just sending along some "tough love" because being too tight can cause long term damage...plus it just can make you crazy, I know, I was there. It was miserable.

Luck! And let us know how it goes!

I lost 100 lbs in one year. Is that quick enough for you?

Sure, bypass folks lose faster. They also have a high indication for regaining after one year because the stomach relaxes. My dr says if you have only so much weight that you can lose it in a year, then fine, do a RNY. If, like me, you have more than a year's worth to lose, then the band is a better option as it is adjustable for a lot longer.

Either way, you are going to lose weight. Don't let speed be the deciding factor. Let what is best for you help you choose.

Happy Bandiversary! You rock you rock you rock! You look amazing!!!!

What a great success story!!!

Congrats on all your successes!!

{edit} Someone already posted what I put....

Edit again...i see a Ratt! (sings: Round and round...what comes around goes around...lol!!!)

I'm self pay and have an HMO. I would suggest talking to whomever insures your or your primary care doc about all this. I did. My PCP told me that she would order all the tests and do whatever she could to support me in this as in the long run, I am saving those people money!

So I did have a scare about seven months ago where I thought I had a slip. My HMO did the esophagram and gave me the slides to take to my dr. (it was mild pouch dilation)

For me it has been no problem, but that is mainly because my PCP ROOOOOOCKS! The only way to make an HMO work right is a good PCP, in my humble opinion.

My only issue has been that my HMO doesn't do bands so they know NOTHING about them. I've had to educate my caregivers on the band so they can treat me. Just something to keep in mind.

Am I at my goal weight? No. I am about 30 lbs from it. I lost 100lbs in my first year and have lost only about ten lbs in the past five months. These last five months are my own fault. I have been eating way too many things that aren't good for me. It's tricky to be a year and a half out on the band. You get sneaky, even when you don't mean to, about eating around the band.

However....if I never lose another pound, I'm still happy weighing 191 vs 298. I'm still considered overweight but I wear a size 14 and that's pretty damn good.

I lost weight and gained myself. I found a wonderful man a year ago, when I still weighed 240, and it was my own confidence that allowed me to open up to meet him. I have a more active life. I can walk up stairs when I couldn't before. I can walk, peroid, without my back hurting. My outlook is so much better.

And so it is important for me to remember that it is not all about the BMI or the scale. It is about feeling good and holding my head up high. The band gave me that. Well, I gave me that, the band was a really, really great helper.

Congrats on your one year Baniversary AND for making goal.

You have LOTS to be thankful for this holiday season.

I'm proud of you!!!!!!

Your stoma is inflamed from the PB'ing. Stop trying to eat any solids and only eat liquids or very soft mushies. Luckily it's Thanksgiving...mashed taters only please!

You have to give your tummy a chance to heal. If you can, get some aloe vera juice asap. It helps dang near immediately with swelling. I swear it's the wonder cure (read about it here on LBT, can't take credit for it).

Just rest the stoma and it will calm down. If after having liquids and aloe for a few days you are still having trouble, you'll need to get an unfill. You can't live like this. I know, I tried. Miserable!

So when you guys have dialetd your pouch, did you have any idea? I mean - were you eating "big" meals? Was there any discomfort? What size meals were you eating to dialate it, versus what size are you eating now?

The only way I knew was that I had restriction then suddenly I didn't. It went away too fast for it to be just in need of a fill. I'd been on a trip to New Yorkk where I had eaten A LOT, really forcing food down there. But I had also been eating too fast and too much for too long.

I was eating more than the "recommended" amounts of a half to three quarters of a cup of food. Actually, I am out of control and going there again and I can feel it's getting relaxed again.

Dunno yet what to do....need some help for my head I think.