WinterWish

Stella, I'm definately feeling that bloated feeling now, too. It's 2 weeks tomorrow since my band was removed - and by the way they butchered my scars this time (I think they paid me back for quitting and ruining their stats!), I am left with deep, puckered creases versus the smooth, almost invisible ones I had after getting the band in the first place. Anyway, the bloating bothers me, and I'm drinking gallons trying to deal with it, which seems to lead to heartburn. **sigh** Life back in the real world, eh?

Stella, I had mine out on June 13, and I know what you mean! What a luxury to eat healthy, quality foods again! I am strangely satisfied between meals still, and I still chew chew chew like I'm afraid to swallow - I was wondering if this was because my stomach was still a funny shape? How long do you suppose it takes to go back to normal? Also, I've lost 4 pounds in the 4 days since surgery, and I couldn't be happier. Except for all these crazy scars reminding me it happened, the whole lapband chapter of my life is feeling oddly unreal right now.

So tell me, was the exit surgery pretty much the same experience as the install surgery? I get mine out next Thursday, and thought maybe it would be easier because at least you'd get some strength from eating, unlike the first time, where you're trying to heal on apple juice.

Me too! June 12, next Thursday, and I can't wait! The port kills me - it's tight up against my belly button, and there are a thousand nerves in there that hurt so much sometimes I go to bed and lie on my back and cry. And I bang it on the sink, the stove, the laundry, the tub, the lawnmower handle, the snow shovel handle... Dr. says eventually the nerves in that area will all die and I won't feel it anymore! What kind of a solution is that? It's been 10 months already - 10 months I regret more than any other stupid thing I've ever done in my life.

thank you, Hastings. When I look back, I could have known that this wasn't going to work, because I was never one to stuff myself anyway. I'm a grazer, and the band doesn't stop that. I wish they had done more than a 10 minute interview with me, maybe had me journal my meals for a couple of weeks. and then it would have been clear that I don't eat large meals. But who knows if I would have been honest with them? I thought I wanted this magic tool so badly. I'm fortunate I have a great family and husband, all of whom want it out of me, more than I wanted it in me, in the first place. I'm hoping that just the switch back to solid Proteins and salads and generally healthy eating will be all I need to start losing weight. Oh, and I bought a big dog that needs plenty of walks.

I have only had mine 10 months, but I'm having it removed next Thursday. I've puked every day since I got it. I had a barium swallow a couple of days ago, and there's nothing wrong with my band or it's position. It's been completely defilled for months and still I puke. My Dr. is flummoxed. His suspicion is that I don't have the upper GI peristaltic strength to push food through the band, meaning that even liquids pool on top of it until I throw it all up again. Whatever the reason, I've never felt so unhealthy - I eat constantly in tiny nibbles, mostly soft crap, to avoid getting sick. I gave up on weight loss months ago - not that I ever lost a single ounce, because I haven't - but compared to feeling well again, weightloss just doesn't rate at this point. I can't believe I'll still be paying for the surgery long after I'm unbanded, I had such high hopes for this. But I'm finished crying, it's time to move on.

I would consider a small defill if I was sliming before or during the start of every meal. Do you ever have heartburn or more slime when you are sleeping? Because that is what I was just told today at my fill to watch for as the sign of being over-filled.

I PB during TOM - from the first day to the last. Otherwise I'm fine, unless I get caught up in a lively dinner conversation and stop paying attention while I'm eating. Tomorrow I get my first fill and it's during TOM, so I'll be lucky to be able to breathe, let alone swallow.:faint:

Hey Fish, Apparently the switch for feeling full is at the top of the stomach, which is why we feel so full after eating so little. This certainly was a surprize for me, since I honestly didn't think I was built with one of those switches at all! The PBs are not like vomiting at all. You don't get the lower abdominal wrenching or the foul stomach acids of vomiting. I'm not telling you its great, but it is easy. And a relief. When you eat something too fast, too large, too hard or just unsuitable, it's like swallowing a little ball of fire, and it can last a couple of seconds to (in my case) over an hour. I don't let that happen any more. I've PB'd 5 times - once when the phone rang, and I automatically swallowed, once when I ate too much, the rest during lively meal conversation where I wasn't paying attention. It's been a couple of weeks now since it's happened, and I like to think it won't happen again. When you pay attention to your eating, it tastes better and it's more satisfying than just wolfing it down with your eye on quantity, not quality. It sounds to me like you are unable to be satisfied by food, which makes you gorge. After banding, food is incredibly satisfying, because it is a slow, thoughtful process. I know how hard this is to believe. Did anyone ever mention that, because you are full for so long, you won't get "diet breath", either? And, like my surgeon said to me - the band doesn't care if you're on vacation, or you're having a bad day, of if you've decided to fall off the wagon for a while - it's there to support that one moment of clarity when you decided to finally lose weight - forever. I am having no problems with it whatsoever. And there is just so much time in my day now for other things because I'm no longer focussed on food. I bought a dog and I walk her a lot. I'm getting chores done that have been on the list for years. You'll see!

Hey Fish! I was anti-cosmetic surgery of any kind, and would never have considered this in a million years. (YES, I know this is WLS, not cosmetic, but I still felt the same about it - too extreme, too violent, too much of a cop out, whatever) That was until my little boy needed to be sent to a residential drug rehab program for 6 months, at the tender age of 12. We decided soon after the shock wore off that if we were going to ask a little kid like that to face his demons, we as adults should be able to face ours, as well. But how? when I had already been to 13 fat clinics over the last 20 years, and my husband had been smoking 2 packs a day for longer than that. It was he that recommended the LapBand. I knew it was the only way. I had lost hundreds of pounds over the years, but always gained it back. That was the only criteria I had to meet, besides being willing to do it. And while I was going to do it, I still didn't want to - and I cried an ocean of tears during the three week wait to have it done and the first 10 days after. I was ashamed that I had let it get to this point, I was sad that I had to alter my body for the foreseeable future, and I was miserable that I had no other options. But then, one day, I see that I have incredibly tiny scars marking the surgery. I understand that I can't feel anything foreign inside me. I learn that I really can eat like a normal person (not like I used to, but the same as my "normal" sisters), and without even dieting, without even trying, 16 pounds just left me, and I haven't even had my first fill yet. You couldn't pay me to undo what I've done, and I am rushing towards the future with incredible confidence in this Band. I hope you decide to do it. If it could make a believer out of me, it can make a believer out of anybody.

I was banded Aug. 15. - almost 5 weeks ago. I was a complete mess in the first few days! Dizzy, feint, completely whacked, and awful pain in my left shoulder that I thought was going to take my head off! I didn't eat anything, resisted when anybody wanted me to drink anything - a terrible patient for my kids and hubby, let me tell you. You sound like you are doing tremendous! Kudos to you, sweetie!:clap2:

Hey FA, It's only too late after you've already quit trying. I was presented with the idea of a LapBand one evening this summer, and 21 days later I had the surgery. I may be a little reckless, but the most wonderful things in my life have usually come from spontaneity. Even my husband, my home and my 3 kids. I believe this will be one of those things. Like my doctor says, the Band doesn't care if you're on vacation, if you've had a bad day, or if you've decided to give up - it's there to support that one brilliant moment of positive thinking that you had, for the rest of your life. Good luck to you. janey

Insurance coverage is possible here in Canada but the wait is several years, so we opted to self-pay as well. Extremely happy to have done it - I find the weight loss to be effortless, and I haven't even had my first fill yet. It's $16,000 here, including 5 years post-op support. We decided that I might spend that much in another 20 years of diet clinics anyway, and I'd be fat and sick and miserable the entire time, so why not bite the bullet and get it over with in one shot? Now, the future is rosy, and now that the money is gone, we don't even think about it anymore. Every day DH comes home and remarks on my new cheekbones. Life is good.

Ah! the #1 place in the world I want to visit. But after going to Italy last year, my husband said he would never again take a long flight, and told me to take Australia off the list! :cry And you come from the home of the LapBand, too! Do you know people who have had it done? janey

Hi Karen, Where's "here", that you don't have yogurt and applesauce? I have a giant dog to walk, which I used to to 5 times a day for a total of 2 1/2 hours. Since the surgery, I have done it once a day, for the last 3 days, for a total of 45 minutes. She pulls something fierce, and I was afraid she would hurt me, but it's actually fine. So now I have no excuse not to go back to 5 times a day except for pure laziness. Today my daughter got me up at 5:20 to take her to her train bound for college. I had a single cube of melon that I popped in my mouth before we hit the road. I bought a coffee on my way back, and started a banana while I nuked my oatmeal when I got home. I had to eat the banana in 2 stages, because the first half felt like it was getting a little stuck. So I showered, made a couple of phone calls, and walked the dog. When I got home I went to reheat my coffee, and there was my oatmeal still in the microwave. It's a marvel! Before I was banded I would never have missed any portion of any meal EVER! When are you getting yours done?

Hi Karen, For Breakfast, coffee, a packet of plain Quaker oatmeal and a 6" banana. Midmorning, a little lunch pack of yogurt. For lunch, 1/2 a cup of leftover chicken, fish or turkey with a slice of toasted Spelt or Flax bread and wild blueberries. Mid afternoon I'll have a couple bites of chicken again. For dinner, whatever the family is having - from lasagna to whatever is on the barbeque, always aiming for a cup of solid food. It's amazing how much you can get in a cup - and they're talking about a smashed-down well packed cup, too. Before bed I have a little lunch pack of applesauce to help me get my meds down. I worked it out, and although I seem to be eating constantly, my intake is between 900 and 1100 calories a day. I'm a little behind on my Water intake, which is critical to maintaining the weight loss, but my schedule has been a little hectic lately and I don't want to have to stop and pee every 20 minutes! :omg: Janey

Hi All! Brand new to this site and really glad I found you! I've been banded 4 weeks tomorrow, and am really pleased with the whole thing. That's after shedding an ocean of tears through fear and shame and just plain being emotional before the surgery. It really is magic. I can eat virtually anything I want, to the point where I feel like I'm pigging out again, but sure enough, I lose a steady 2 pounds every week, just like the book says. I haven't even had a fill yet. To be in this position so soon after being emotional rubble is nothing short of a miracle.

Hi Danielle, sounds like a PB to me. When you eat something too fast or too hard or too large or otherwise not great for you, the item gets stuck. The pain is intense, and unlike anything else you'll experience, I'm sure. It can last a few minutes or well over an hour. The end result is usually a PB - a productive burp - which means that the bite of food that is hurting you simply comes back up as a nasty slime ball. It's not like vomiting, where you have the low abdominal heaving and the burning stomach acids - the PB is easy and fairly non-traumatic. My very first experience was the one that took over an hour. I thought I was going to have to go to the hospital. But once I let it come back up again, I realized it was over, as easy at that. Since then, it has happened about 4 times, and only when I'm not paying attention to my eating, but I don't let it drag out anymore. I stop eating immediately and if I decide that if it's not going down, it's coming back up. The trick is to not let it happen at all, of course. Chew, Chew Chew and avoid the foods you can't tolerate!!!! Hope this helps, Janey:high5: