Parvathi

Hi Kathy, Naw, floppy's don't hold very much. Best to get a cd or dvd burner and do it that way. Terri - welcome back Losing your stuff is never fun - glad to hear its all sorted now though.

I feel like I have virtually no restriction during that time as well :/ If I was craving salads, it wouldn't be a big deal - but noooo, I have to crave fish n chips, coke and chocolate LOL.

Hi flower, I'm not sure if there is a 'usual' amount for the first fill. From what my doctor told me, it pretty much depends on the doctor and the situation. That said, my first fill was 1.0ml, then after that, every visit was only 0.2ml, until we reached restriction. He saw when I was starting to get frustrated, from not reaching restriction yet, and allowed me to come in once a week for fills. Twenty-three pounds in just over a month is amazing! Congrats

Hi all, My mom was telling her hairdresser about lapbanding, as I had it done while Mom was visiting Australia. Her hairdresser is really interested in finding our more, but I'm not sure of the best US based sites to send her to for info on the procedure, surgeons, insurance coverage, etc. If anyone knows of the most reliable sites for info on it, that would be great. She's in North Carolina, if that helps any. Cheers,

Thanks Alexandra

Hi everyone, Last night, I fixed gnocchi al gorgonzola for dinner (potato dumplings of sorts). I was so excited, as I'd had it once at a restaurant and it was absolutely beautiful. One teeny tiny dumpling into the meal and I had an elephant sitting on my chest :/ Did the whole slime thing several times, but nothing more than that came up. Tried to push it down with a bit of Diet Coke, as my dietitian had advised. Nothing worked. After about 2 hours, I fell asleep. This morning, my coffee doesn't want to go down. From reading other posts, I take it I'm meant to stay on liquids for 24 hours. But are liquids meant to be difficult to get down now? Not sure if it's still stuck there, or if my esophagus is just agitated. I will never have gnocchi again .. LOL! Thought it'd be fine, as I can easily do a baked potato.

Hi Tina, PB means productive burp. After being banded, if you eat too fast, don't chew enough or eat something too doughy, it can get stuck. It causes a very tight feeling, almost like bad indigestion. Usually, this can be sorted out by a good burp LOL, thus the name. PB sounds better It's not a pleasant feeling and if it happens, you'll probably swear off the food that caused it for life. I'm quite new to all of this as well, so someone else might be able to give a better definition though...

Hey DeeJay and BeautifulTina, Keep your chins up (no pun intended). Before banding, my doctor put me on an Optifast diet - similar to slimfast, except it tastes worse and you have it for three meals. Was on that for 4 weeks and honestly, it was horrid. But when I went in for surgery, my liver wasn't as fatty and I didn't have to do an open surgery, so it was all worth it. The first few weeks pre and post op aren't fun - but they're necessary and don't last long. You'll be on good normal solids again before ya know it

Thanks La madam Yea, she said the acid, combined with the bubbles, would generally tend to make a stuck item go down. Its worked before for me, when I stupidly thought I could have a bite of loaf bread heh. This time however, I think it probably made things a bit worse. That said, she (the dietitian) is a skinny little thing who's never had the surgery and has chocolate bars sitting on her desk, so what does she know *g*

I too, am guilty of being a scale addict. Since a couple of weeks after being banded, I've tried to restrict my weigh-ins to once a week. As weight fluctuates daily, when I'm weighing myself daily, I tend to get really down on myself if I've gone up 100 grams or so. If I've lost a bit, I might be more lenient with what I eat that day, which honestly, can be just as destructive. That said, I do want an accurate account of my weight loss through out this whole thing lol - a catch 22 I suppose.

I had another fill on Monday (Australian time) and since then, my esophagus has been making weird noises - almost sounds like my stomach growling, only, in my throat. It happens mostly when I'm eating or drinking but its oh so embarassing while I'm sitting at my desk in the office LOL. I'm guessing it could be cause the fill is quite tight at the moment. It generally stays that way for a day or two after the fill, then relaxes a bit. But was just wondering if anyone else had a noisy esophagus after fills...

Hi all, I just found this site yesterday, after doing a search on google for "port moving after lapband". Had noticed mine had moved up about 2 inches and asked the Dr if he knew why. He looked at me strange, then felt my stomach and goes, "Well, I was going to reassure you it hadn't moved, but you're right - I dunno..." LOL. Anyway, I'm 26 yrs old, living in Australia and was banded in March of this year. Down about 15 kilos so far and my sleep aponea has improved by leaps and bounds. Glad to have finally found a decent forum about banding and looking forward to talking to all of you. Pavarthi

Thanks for that DeLarla

Okay, I know what it feels like to PB - like an elephant standing on your chest. And I know that when I've had this happen, its generally from eating too fast and not chewing properly or eating foods such as bread. I'm just unsure of what it actually stands for (technical term) and if there are reasons to avoid this happening, other than the shear pain - ie, does it affect the band or pouch at all?

Years ago, when I was in high school and then after the birth of my daughter, I was bulimic. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to overcome. For years after, anytime I was too full, I would purge - not making myself, just my body was so used to it. I too, thought this would disqualify me from the surgery. I guess I was lucky, as the psychologist wasn't overly concerned, mainly because it had been a few years ago. I've been banded 3 months now and haven't purged once. Keep your chin up and good on ya for telling them the truth.

*hugs* The waiting part seems to take forever, while you're doing it. Once its over, you'll think it flew by. I was really impatient. From my first consultation to my actually surgery, took two months. In hindsight, this was an extremely short time. The next phase, waiting for the weight to drop off, is frustrating as well LOL. But you will get there eventually. It takes the normal person years to become overweight, so we won't get skinny overnight (although I've had several dreams where I was thin as a pencil lol).... but I'm sure it's going to be worth the wait

Hi, I encountered the same problem, mentally, right after banding. In the past, over a course of a meal, I would generally drink about 2 liters of Water. I love water lol. When I started eating without it, I found everything to be dry. It took about a week to overcome this. Remember to take small bites (I eat bites smaller than my 7yr old daughter) and chew chew chew. chicken breast, bread and a bad cut of steak will always taste dry - I've learned to avoid these foods and apart from the chicken, don't really miss them. Salty foods such as potato crisps make you want to have a drink as well. Most of the issues I've encountered with the band so far, are habits that I've just had to break. Good luck with it all

Hi Ladies, Thanks for the warm welcome I would have missed the search bar completely had it not been pointed out LOL - that'll come in handy. Cheers!

Hi Jodie, I'm down in Melbourne. Quite a ways away, but I do make it up to Sydney a few times a year usually.