gentylwind

I agree the less you rely on the band, the better! Less likelihood of complications and less likelihood of failure IF complications occur and you need the band out or unfilled. You are building good habits and doing FANTASTIC. Congratulations!

Just had it yesterday. I was scheduled for the 20th and asked to come in sooner. They put in .4 for a total of 6.9 cc right now in my 10 cc band.

Just really caution yourself against letting your mind think the band is the solution. Its not. It doesn't help the head issues in the slightest. I had a horrible week of eating poorly last week. This week I am doing better. I seem to cycle around. You are only a failure if you give up. If you keep telling yourself you are a failure, you WILL give up. So stop it. Practice patience. Do what you are supposed to at least 80% of the time. Get out and walk. Go lift five 5 lb bags of potatoes and walk around the store for a minute. Feel now different it is. Pull out 25 lbs worth of pork loin in the meat case (or brisket, both work). Look at it. Hold it up to yourself if you want. THAT is how much you have lost. Feel it. Hoist it. Be proud of it. Its no small thing to shed 25 lbs. Doesn't matter if it took you two months or two years to do it.

Just had my fourth fill (banded 11/21/2008) and right now I am feeling great restriction. I felt it after my third fill too but it faded after about two weeks. First and second fills didn't make much of a difference here.

Cash pay. I could have had my surgery just two weeks out from my initial consultation. I waited six weeks by choice due to other things going on in my life.

I do think you are expecting too much too soon. I have struggled with a lot of hunger. Its not until these last two fills done in the last month that I have felt anything near restriction, and have yet to find the sweet spot myself, though I can feel I am now getting close. But in terms of being a food addict, believe me when I tell you even when I am feeling restriction I am still struggling with all my food addiction issues. The band makes it easier to eat less when my head is in the right place. Its not always in the right place. I am hoping that as I lose weight and experience life as a lighter and more attractive person that my food issues will be easier to reform. But you should be proud of yourself and how far you have come. The band was never ever meant to be a fast track. Remind yourself of that often. We are both on pace to have lost 100 lbs by this time next year. The year is going to pass one way or another. We'll be glad we were patient when it gets here and we are lighter. I agree that your doctor is way too conservative. My doc considers himself to be conservative and I just laugh at him. He's pretty aggressive compared to most, but not dangerously so. I saw where you are switching doctors. I hope that helps you. But be prepared...even when you get restriction, its still VERY hard.

Well, you are only two pounds below me in terms of weight loss, so I am kind of confused why you would be that discouraged! I have had more aggressive fills but obviously they have not resulted in more aggressive, faster weight loss. You should take heart from that. I have lost 27 pounds, you have lost 25. Not much difference there.:smile:

I too was told no gum forevermore after the band due to the physical hazard it poses. Swallowing it once you are tight can cause an emergency situation that requires surgery. Best to give up that habit. I am glad you are okay this time.

Good visit at the doc's office yesterday. They are so positive, encouraging and upbeat. He said I definitely need a fill but that they will start to be smaller and smaller now as we "tweak" the band. He put in .6 cc, bringing me to 7.1 cc in my 10 cc band. But the water took 15 seconds to pass all the way through the band and that made him nervous that I would be too tight, so he took .2 cc back out. So now I have 6.9 cc. What's amazing is I finally have really awesomely good restriction!! Protein shakes are filling me FULL feeling and I stay that way for hours. I am excited. I may stay on liquids for a few days, since obviously I am quite tight. But it feels fantastic. I have started mixing 2 TBSP of peanut butter into a chocolate Atkins shake...super yummy and satisfying and leaves me feeling like I ate a whole meal. Down 2.5 lbs this morning..he said I would probably drop 3-5 pounds this week from this fill and a steady 2-3 pounds a week for the next month, and to come in sooner if my restriction fades again..he said it might. Otherwise he wants to see me in a month.

I eat lettuce almost daily.

My cycles are totally out of whack. My surgeon said to expect it for 6-9 months, as a lot of hormones are stored in fat and a lot of obesity is hormone driven. Losing weight, especially this fast, can really mess cycles up. I am getting mine every 3-5 weeks. Was always always always every 28 days before. Getting another small fill today. I am struggling a lot with head hunger and reckless food choices. I've goen back to mydailyplate.com and am going to get a fill to hopefully help with between-meal hunger.

Plenty of competition for doing this surgery out there. Do some interviews and find someone who is 100% on board with helping you make this life transition. And then let the office manager of this woman know why you switched. Its competitive now...tons of doctors are doing this surgery. There's no reason at ALL for you to feel like they are doing you favors.

My doc gave me Phenargan to have on hand to help if nausea/vomiting due to illness comes along.

Do your best to relax. I had never had surgery ever prior to having my band placed and I got myself so worked up and anxious. I cried in the waiting room I was so scared. All for nothing. It was a piece of cake compared to how I blew it up in my mind. The pain was manageable. The outcome has been positive. Do your best to relax. For most people its far far easier than they ever imagined.

Oh...and anyone who thinks this is the easy way out has no idea what they are talking about. This is HARD with a capital H. We still have to make all the same good choices and exercise and watch what we eat. Any loss comes from effort. Its super easy to eat around the band and not only not lose, but gain. Don't listen to the negativity and don't let toxic people influence your goal. If you want to do it, you can.

I just didn't tell the people I didn't want to know and emphasized to those I did tell that this is absolutely confidential and I purposefully only told a few. Just don't tell her. The recovery and change is not dramatic enough for anyone to notice you had surgery.

Yes, here too (obviously, if we are at the same...lol!). I am nervous to get another fill..I do have restriction...but can still eat quite a bit and hungry sooner than I would like between meals. I was starving when I got home from school last night and I had eaten before I went. Real hunger too, not head hunger. I have been struggling with head hunger and portion control, so this week I am tracking everything on mydailyplate.com and getting a fill. Probably will be 0.5 cc or less I would think....I will check in afterward and over the next few days to let you know how it feels. Getting filled always makes me nervous. I dread ever experiencing the vomiting or PBing/stuck episodes that people talk about here. To date I have had none of that, though a few things have gone down hard.

They worked me in this afternoon for a fill. Thank goodness.

6.5 cc here too

Twisties are red licorice candy I think...

I am trying to get in this week for a fill. I have an appointment on the 20th but that is still two weeks away. Getting hungry faster again. No weight loss for three weeks now, but my physique is changing and I feel more graceful and clothes are fitting really nicely. I feel very motivated this week, unlike last week.

I had fantastic restriction for a couple of weeks, not so much now. I note too though that I am stress eating and dealing with some old demons. Not a lot of weight loss happening. I need to do the five day pouch test to clean the carbs out of my system and calm down the cravings. My SO got laid off three weeks ago and its been a scary time.

Look at it this way. Do you love cheese more than you hate being fat? There's no telling whether you will be able to eat cheese. Probably yes. But you have to go into this with the assumption that ANY food you once loved may be off the menu at some point. I personally have been able to eat anything except tortillas so far. But there was not one food I was unwilling to give up forever if it meant I would be healthy, lighter and more confident. Food is not a major factor in my quality of life now.

There is no telling for those who paid cash how long they researched the band prior to actually going in and scheduling surgery. I have looked into this for four years. I had one month between my initial visit and surgery. And, granted, I am only two and a half months out, but I am doing great, following what I am supposed to do, working out and seeing fantastic results so far. So in my opinion, no, there is no correlation. I did a TON of research prior to making this decision. I got to act fast once the decision was made because I had the cash to pay for this and did not have to go through insurance.

Medicare does not cover WLS, or at least that is what they said in the seminar I attended. Medicaid does for some people. EVERYONE is looking for a way to have this done with zero or low cost. I second above trying Google and the like, but if you were to find something, the competition for it would be intense. Lots of people wanting WLS who can't afford to pay for it. I am sorry you are having a hard time. I hope you can figure something out.