gentylwind

Surgery Friday, back to work the following Tuesday.

That is what I was going to say too. Regain with the bypass really is quite common and devastating, as there's nowhere left to go after that. You've re-routed your insides. I have always said if I fail the band I will likely go with the duodenal switch. Way more expensive, way more risky, but very high rate of weight loss success.

My feet. I went down a shoe size!

I get my next fill a week from today. I am losing, just verrry slowly. I suspect I am closing in on my sweet spot and am hopeful this third fill will be the one. I have 6 cc in my 10 cc band right now. WannaB, hang in there hon. Maybe the restriction will kick up in a day or two. It has taken about a week and a half to feel it completely with both of the fills I have had so far.

I was banded 11/21, have had two fills, have 6 cc in a 10 cc band and still have hunger pain and lots of noises. Its a slow process getting back to center.

I'm a gurgler too. And no sweet spot here yet!

I have had two fills and have a third scheduled for the 20th of this month. I am not at my sweet spot but I think I am getting close. My band is fickle though...some days I am nice and restricted and stay satisfied for longer on a smaller portion, but most days I still get hungry sooner than 3-4 hours. I definitely can't eat as much as I used to though and the scale is moving, just slowly. I have 6 cc in a 10 cc band right now. Hoping the next fill is the one.

Had my first reall "stuck" episode yesterday I think. I went to dinner at a Thai food place with some girlfriends, and on my way home I had the most awful shoulder pain, worse than after surgery, while I was driving home. It lasted about 15 minutes, and then I felt a kind of burbling in my throat and suddenly the shoulder pain was gone completely. Anyone ever have that happen??

In terms of it being physically taxing, definitely it will make it easier. But for me the head thing is what has made it hard. 20 minutes is a great start!

Depends on your insurance. Some need up to a five year history of obesity in order to approve the surgery, so check that before you put more weight on.

It sounds like your real question is whether losing weight magically makes exercise easier and motivation easier to come by. I will offer you my personal thoughts on this. While success does tend to breed success and losing weight makes exercise slightly less unpleasant, the behaviors that resulted in getting fat in the first place take a conscious choice to change. You'll have to start exercising long before the "urge" to do so strikes...because frankly, it probably never will. Its just as easy to say "Oh, I have lost 20+ pounds, so skipping today won't matter" as it is to say "Oh, I have lost 20+ pounds and exercise will be easier now!". In fact, probably easier to say the first one. As a species we are pretty much biologically tuned to get as much out of life as we can with the least effort possible. When all our needs are met without having to put in the effort to exercise (food, clothing, shelter), we tend to not be biologically driven to do it. Therefore you have to discover other benefits to it, and those discoveries come won on the back of hard work done when it isn't particularly pleasant. They don't come fast or easy as a general rule. So no. I don't think that having ANY kind of weight loss surgery is going to suddenly make you feel like getting up off the couch, regardless of how much weight you do or don't do. At some point you have to choose to. And the benefit of enjoying it and/or it becoming habit comes later, after doing it allllll those times you didn't feel like doing it, alllllll those times you had to make yourself do it through the inner whining "I don't wanna!"....a process that has nothing to do with the kind of surgery and everything to do with the kind of determination with which you go into it, regardless of which you choose.

Done the military thing...it probably is that long of a wait, especially in Hawaii where there isn't the option of traveling to another military medical facility to have it done. Tripler is very busy due to basically all the branches of the military stationed on the islands having to use it. Best of luck and hang in there.

Since being banded I am becoming more and more gluten intolerant and lactose intolerant. Lactose, milk and cheese mainly, are giving me horrible nausea. And things high in gluten (bread, Pasta and pizza crust in particular) cause me bloating and stomach pain the likes of which I have never felt in my life. Though so I still think those things taste good, I am rapidly losing my desire for them. I look at them and think about the unpleasantness to follow if I indulge in them and pretty much always decide to find something else to eat that won't cause me pain or nausea.

Have you tried the five day pouch test? It helps get the carb cycling to stop and gets you back aware of your pouch. Best of luck!

My doctor said there is no normal or max amount. It is determined by what each individual can handle. I was left with 3 cc at the time of surgery in a 10 cc band. I got 2 cc at my first fill, giving me 5 cc. I had my second fill earlier this week and got another 1 cc. I now have 6 cc in my 10 cc band and am beginning to feel real restriction now.

What I am finding is if I am eating until I feel "full", I am overeating on my band and I don't lose. Doing as mentioned above, having a pre-measured portion, eating it in a slow 30 minute time frame and stopping at 30 minutes whether I "finished" everything or not, I find I am satisfied but not full. I start getting hungry again around 4 hours later. Getting hungry has meant feeling physical hunger pain, not just feeling like I have room to eat more. It is my body demanding fuel. I seldom felt that as an adult...I made sure I didn't apparently. Learning that feeling full (stuffed, or a sensation of physical fullness) means I have gone too far is probably one of the hardest parts for me. I'm having to redefine what it means to have eaten a meal. I always ate until stuffed (which I interpreted as "full"). And that will stretch my pouch and hinder what I am trying to accomplish here. Having adequate fills makes this easier, without a doubt. I just had my second fill this week to 6 cc in a 10 cc band and its easier than before. I don't get hungry until right at the 4 hour mark. I am not enamoured of feeling hungry I am finding and I am learning I did a lot of eating in large portions prior to my band in order to keep from ever feeling it. I would eat until stuffed and the way I knew it was time to eat again was by no longer feeling stuffed. I thought that was hunger and am learning its not! That was getting to "not hungry". I never got down to "hungry" before. Now I do. Its uncomfortable and unmistakable when my body is asking for food. And not eating simply because more food will fit has been a challenge, but I can't deny the results. I drop weight in chunks when I use my band correctly. The food trickling slowly through the stoma (opening) is what makes you feel full on less food. Rather than a big bunch at once, the stomach is fed food in small amounts. Best of luck to you as you adjust to your new life! I am pretty new at this, so I definitely don't proclaim to be any kind of an expert. Just sharing the observations that are starting to work for me.

Well, the band just can't control what you put in your mouth, and since not all calories are created equal, that does matter. I am so sorry for your frustration. Maybe a few sessions with a counselor and/or nutritionist would help get you on track? Having the band alone doesn't result in weight loss, as you have discovered. Its still a lot of work on the head issues. I wish you the best of luck.

Since I went through TLCEdge, I don't know if Dr. Castro differs...you can call and ask, they are very helpful. When TLCEdge first began offering their pricing, it was the lowest around...brought in patients for the doctors, took away the risk of doing the financing themselves...they make slightly less $$ but see more patients. But the docs are wising up. People would rather have their own surgeon rather than some middle company organizing and acting as a go between, but they also don't have 15K floating around. At $9990 a lot of people can afford to pay for it and the surgeon makes the full amount, not a reduced amount. Good luck with your surgery.

My doc doesn't consider himself aggressive at all. He has a certain technique he uses for fills that has been very successful for his patients, reading when the body has had "enough" fill based on its reaction to the fluid going in and whether it kicks back against the plunger of the syringe and starts to push the fluid back out. He has fantastic success rates and very low complications rates. He is one of the top surgeons in the DFW area and is the #1 doc in the area to do revisions on lap bands messed up by other surgeons. I am very happy with him.:thumbup:

dd, just click on your ticker in your signature. It will take you to a page to enter your password and you can update it. I got my second fill today....another 1 cc added for a total of 6 cc now in a 10 cc band. I feel snugness in my chest like I did after surgery, which I think is a good sign. Fluids for the rest of today and tomorrow, then mushies and softer meats for two days, then regular food. I hope this kickstarts things...I definitely have had restriction but still can eat too much.

Got my fill and it went much better this time...no digging around to find the port. He put another 1 cc in, so I have a total of 6 cc. He said the third fill is usually the magic one. But I will say, I have that tight feeling in my chest that I had after surgery, so I am hoping I have upped my restriction some. I had SOME from the last fill but definitely could still eat more than optimal. Let's hope this one tightens me up good. He told me to come back in two weeks if I need another fill then, four weeks maximum. So I have an appt on the 20th for my third fill but am hoping I won't need it. I am so ready to see the scale cascade down!

7 weeks postop here, had my first fill at 4 weeks and am having my second fill in two hours. I had 3 cc in my band from surgery and got 2 cc on my first fill. I still get seriously hungry too. It takes time. Hang in there.

I echo what RM said. Own it to your surgeon and let him do a scope if he/she feels the need. No way to know if you did damage at this point. And yeah, telling yourself you suck isn't going to move you forward any. You screwed up. Telling yourself you suck is only going to make it feel more okay to screw up in the future...after all, if you suck, what more can you possibly expect of yourself? Rather than telling yourself you suck, tell yourself you are better than this. Call your surgeon, do what he says and stick to your postop plan from here forward.

I agree with this. If you can't follow the band rules and change your behavior, how will you keep it off after bypass and follow those rules? The bypass has a decently high failure rate and a lot of people regain the weight, with few alternatives afterward due to the alteration in their body anatomy. Bypass might work for you, but I would not take another single drastic step without a good psychologist and some intensive therapy to help you identify and act on your goals. And if you are going to do that anyway, why not do it in terms of getting the weight loss surgery you have already had to work for you before considering another surgery? I know you are hurting and I am so sorry. I hope you get the help you need and find answers.

That is pretty darn conservative, even by conservative standards. My doc here in Dallas left me with 3 cc at the time of surgery and put in 2 cc on my first fill two weeks ago. I get my second fill this afternoon. So have 5 cc currently and will have more by tonight. I will say though, if pounds loss is any indicator you are blowing most of us out of the Water. Good job!