lovecats85

Best to Rachele. Prayers for a safe, speedy recovery!

I think they do it conservatively b/c each person is different. I got my 1st fill yesterday and I am SO tight - I may even have to get some unfill if the pain doesn't subside soon. I can hardly drink 1/2 glass of water. I would be dying if they had put anymore in v. some people who got the same fill as me and had no restriction and had to get another fill. Everyone is different and b/c the fills cause swelling, they fill a bit at a time until they hit the sweet spot which could be .5 or 3.5 ya know!

I wonder if DS has a high weight regain like GB. The longer GB has been around, the more people are gaining the weight back b/c of stretching thier stomachs out.

I got the 60% off the internet, as as I search again I see numbers ranging from 60%-85%, again no clear answers here. If I were you I would believe the 85% - I think one should think the best of thier surgery.

I don't know the exact stats on erosion but slippage is often at the fault of the bandster - drinking tons of carbonation, eating way too much even though they know they can't, throwing up a ton, etc. I was at the doc today and some lady's band had slipped b/c she got filled too tight and threw up for 3 months but didn't tell the doc b/c she was happy to be loosing more weight. I understand wanting to lose quickly but better to take time time and do it right. So, point is, I think the slippage stats don't consider why the band slipped and often it's a bandsters fault for not following the rules. Now, it can slip for no reason at all, and that's just a chance you have to take.

well, I can't argue with your stats over mine or vice versa - you read one set of stats and I read another. I'm no expert - I can't tell you which stats are "right". All I do know is no surgery is fool proof and every surgery has risks and benefits. As far as my own personal thoughts - I chose the band and I am going to stand up for my choice and choose to believe the "better" stats,,, and if I had chosed DS I would stand up for that and choose to believe the "better stats". I know if my band didn't work and I was having DS I would try to sell myself on whatever stats made me feel better and I would tell myself it was a problem with the band and not me. Let's be honest here - we'd all do the same so I can't blame anyone who is switching to DS to want to beleive ALL the good stats about DS and ALL the bad stats about LB when in reality LB and DS and GB ALL have risks and benefits.

Ok, so all-in-all it was no big deal. I drank a protein shake for breakfast. I check in at the doc, he looked thru an ultrasound at my port and then he stuck that needle in and out so quick I hardly felt a thing. I couldn't feel the band filling or anything. Then I got up and went and drank barium and saw the x-ray. He said I had had no restriction and I still don't have much but he didn't want to press it, especially the week before Thanksgiving. I got 1.6 cc's in a 4cc band. He told me liquiids for 2 days, mushies for 2 days, and then back to normal. I get another fill on Dec. 1st. He said 7 weeks was too long to go before the 1st fill and I should have had it 4 weeks after surgery. Ooops. Anyways, I'm getting caught up now. I didn't feel anything for about an hour or two and then I drank some water andI could kind of feelit going down. Now my tummy feels tight like my stomach is being squeezed or someone is hugging me really tight. I hope this feeling will go away soon so I can relax. Anyways, all-in-all it was no big deal, and I won't be scared when I go back on Dec 1st.

But then why should those stats be included in the band but not GB or DS? No WLS has a 100% sucess rate - DS says people will lose 60% of excess weight (and this number will likely decrese the more it is performed as with every WLS) so if a 50% loss of excess weight would leave you with a BMI or 35, then 60% excess loss will leave you with not much less of a BMi, right?

I didn't get poked around - he located the port w/ an ultrasound and stuck it the 1st try. Yeah Jaygerl - we did it!

can i eat breakfast? what should i expect? i'm freaking out here!!! ahhhhhhhh

Every surgery has goods and bads, every surgery has risks and benefits, every surgey has people for it or against it. Stats taken from medicine journal articles will allow us so specifically compare the band and the DS. Banded people statistically lose 50% of excess weight. DS statistically lose 60% of excess weight. Band surgey is restrictive only. The DS is malabsorptive surgery which may improve results and reduce lipid levels, but risks nutritional deficits. DS risks: Listing of complications of DS: Protein Malnutrition 15% Incisional hernia 10% Intestinal obstruction 1% Acute biliopancreatic limb obstruction Stomal Ulcer 3.0% Bone Demineralization: Pre-op 25%; at 1-2 yrs, 29%; at 3-5 yrs 53%; at 6-10 yrs 14%. Benefit - no dumping sydrome like GB. Anyways, point is, noone is ever going to find 100% accurate asnwers and the statistics are all varied. There is not a 100% accurate reporting method for all doctors all across the globe so since 98% of people on this site have chosen the band, let's not scare them with stats like 20% of bands get removed when that may or may not be true. And I won't talk anymore about the death rates I've heard for DS b/c they may or may not be true and I don't want to scare the DS people.

Ok, got it done and it was no big deal. He said I should have gotten filled at 4 week and I'd be down to 200 by Xmas. I got 1.6 cc's - it was no big deal. I go back in 2 weeks for another fill. I feel tight - he said do liquids for 2 days. I won't be scared next fill - it was really no big deal!

If she checks back in I hope she will consider counseling. It sounds to me like she didn't want to face the harsh truth that this sight can sometimes provide. The band is hills and valleys and that's why you need to be able to face the truth and be realistic going into it. I doubt anyone here said anything to offend her specifically - everyone is so great here. She probably, well obviously, has some emotional issues. Sorry to sound harsh by saying that, but once again, I will not hold back the truth on this board and I expect you all to do the same, even if it's something I don't want to hear. Love you guys!

mushed to heck egg salad mashed potatoes w/ alot of gravy yumm refried beans of course w/ sour cream scrambled eggs w/ velveeta blended brocoli cheese soup from Jason's deli - the best!

I hope Rachele does great with this surgery and I wish her all the best. However, I do have to point out that even though the DS has such great stats as far as weight loss goes, the death rate is so high that it's not performed as wide-span as the band.

My doc told me that if I couldn't stay on the liquid diet then I could have one small low fat meal a day. So I had alot of soup and 1 meal per day except the day before surgery where I just had pure liquids! Anyways, I don't think it really matter b/c the girl in the waiting room told me she had fajitas and maragritas the night b4 surgery. Don't worry that you cheated - it's hard to go hungry. Don't start thinking you won't be able to do the liquids after surgery b/c after surgery you don't even feel like eating and it's much easier!

I felt a little depressed that I felt like crap the 1st few days but once I saw the scale going down down down I got more up up up!!!

and you can blend soup - maybe not chicken but I blended the cream of broccoli - yummm

Keri says: "I am also losing quite a bit from the boobage area. Stomach is still hanging on for all it is worth." DITTO FOR ME!

You will be fine - this is surgery, it takes 6 weeks to heal! I felt like crap too and was crying alot and fighting with my hubby for no reason,,,, it's depressing to hurt and be bed ridden. I could hardly get down more than a 2 oz cup of water the 1st few days. Just do what I did - rent the entire season of Desperate Housewives and just watch that and sleep for a few days! Also, get up and walk, go outside and walk, getting outside is crucial for mental health, and walking is crucial to feeling better after being banded. It will get better and a month from now when you see the weight you've lost and you feel energetic and your clothes fit better and you can eat real food again you'll forget about the fact that the surgery sucked!

I know it was a typo but it made me laugh my you know what off when I read " Although I hate everything that crossed my path in the last month, except for small children"

I can eat 1 1/2 - 2 cups food. I can eat what I did pre-band basically. I was worried about a slip but everyone says it's normal before a fill. I hope that's true.

Ok, I am one of the few people on here that is allowed to have carbonation. My doctor said I could have it 4 weeks after surgery. I have tried 3 times to have a bit of soda and after 1-2 sips my stomach immediatley hurts. I did fine without it for 4 weeks and I decided I would have it only if I really wanted it, but now I never want it b/c I know it will cause a tummy ache. I just thinks it's ironic that I'm allowed to have it and I physically cannot drink it, while others are not supposed to have it and can't stop drinking it. Now if I could only have this problem with candy,,,,,,,

Ok, I just saw the article that Kirstie Alley told Oprah she topped the scales at 219 ---- Ok, I'm sorry but if I topped at 245, she was WAY over 219!!!!!

I mean I wish the candy would make my stomach hurt - unfortunatley I have no problems eating many of the fun size candies left from Halloween - and then when they were finally gone my husband bought more b/c they were 1/2 price (does he not understand by now that I CANNOT control myself - he even told me he "noticed I've been eating more sweets lately" - what am I supposed to do when he brings home the Reeses mix?!?!?! If I could control myself I wouldn't have had to get a band in the 1st place.) anyways, off my tangent. Is there a reason carbonation hurts when I drink it?