danni#L

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences. So I had my fill yesterday morning.. He filled the band all the way, and then removes fluid. He said he does this all the way to crush all the fat cells around the band and then removes the fluid to 3 mls. He made me drink 2 cups of water straight after and told be he was waiting for me to hear or feel a "gurgle" and then I would be fine. He also showed me some pictures of my actual surgery (that was cool but kinda weird seeing pictures of the inside of my body). Lol The look and size of the needle... I almost died! Lol but it was a little painful when he was trying to locate the port and was feeling for the band. The doc said 24hr liquid diet. I have to go back in 2 weeks for another fill. Very excited I am now!

Tomorrow I have my first fill. I am so excited! But... I'm also nervous wondering if this will hurt! Did it hurt you guys and did you feel pain with the tightening? How much do they generally put in for a first fill and do you feel it as being effective? I am definitely eating less food but does the first fill make a difference? How many fills did it take you to get to your "point" of comfort for loosing weight?

Tomorrow I have my first fill. I am so excited! But... I'm also nervous wondering if this will hurt! Did it hurt you guys and did you feel pain with the tightening? How much do they generally put in for a first fill and do you feel it as being effective? I am definitely eating less food but does the first fill make a difference? How many fills did it take you to get to your "point" of comfort for loosing weight?

Today I am 25 days post op! Yes! I have most certainly struggled the first 2 weeks and today I think I made ground breaking progress for the first time in my life!!!! My body image and looks have always been a concern my entire life. I was pushed into modelling as a child and then came all the food issues and insecurities. It wasn't until I had paid modelling jobs that my weight became an issue. I was never fat but athletic and it wasn't until the company I was doing catalog work for as a child stopped calling me back for more work. My mother told me that it must have been because I looked fat in the last catalogue and if I would stop eating junk food I wouldn't have been "sacked" from my job. i was 12 years Old! Being told not to have any treats ever whilst my 3 siblings did I felt punished. I have had the most unhealthy relationship with food because of this. Because I felt like I was missing out, and I was not allowed to eat junk of any kind, I did it in secret and felt better about the fact I wasn't missing out and felt joy and happiness comforting my self. This made me into the emotional closet eater I am today.. Well not today but until a few weeks ago and I had this operation that changed my life and I know it's just the beginning. I have had the most unhealthy relationship with food... and it wasn't until 25 days ago did I break up with it. Feeling full makes me content.. That's the feeling food has always given me.. No matter what the emotion, food has been there for me. Tonight I had my family order gourmet pizza. I had 1 piece and that was it. I didn't eat the base.. just the topping. (Spinach feta pumpkin and garlic). This may sound insignificant to everyone else but my band made me feel full and food has not been an obsession or a comfort any more!!! I would have comsumed 3/4 of a pizza before this op. Food is a source of fuel and consumed for a purpose. i now Eat to live as apposed to live to eat! Thanks to my new accessory (my belly bangle lol) I have lost that emotional attachment to food. I feel like I have control for the first time in my life! Loosing that gilt and horrible feeling i had to food is like a tonne lifted off of my chest!! If anyone else has suffered from this type of eating disorder and is unsure as to if they want to have this operation, please do yourself a favour and talk to your dr about it. I wish I had have done this ages ago.

I totally have the same issue! I called my surgeon to ask if the pain was something gone wrong.. He assured me that's totally normal for most to experience port area pain (the biggest scar on the left). This is due to scar tissue and the stitches holding it in place. It can yank. I can't sleep on my left side because the scar now is in the middle of my roll lol and instead of being flat it indents along the scar causing pain like a pinching burning pulling pain. I must admit it is getting better but it's not hopping fast at all.

The first 2 weeks had been pretty tough for me. I'm just starting to feel like the good old me again 15 days Post op. You just have to rest, keep up your pain meds, and do little bits of walking. I was getting terrible pains. 1. was from the gas after the operation when they blow the tummy up as i had key hole and the second was from over doing the walking and playing with my kids I had a pain from the port area on the big left scar - it was yanking the stitches holding it in place.. I wouldn't wish that upon my worst enemy it was that bad. So take it easy, sleep and recover so you don't have to go through that

Wow! How lovely to hear such awesome stories! Well done to you all. What an inspiration you all are I feel so thrilled with my decision to get my band 2 weeks ago! I call it my belly bangle! Lol I can only hope I have the same success as you all. Keep it up and keep the success stories coming!

Hello my fellow banded beauties! I am struggling with the fact I am simply too sensitive.. sore and uncomfortable at night when I try to sleep!!! I always sleep on my left side, but after the band it's not an option! I just can't do it!!?! Grhh! How long did it take you guys to be able to sleep on your side again? That it even if you had the same issue as me. Luckily my right feels fine but I go to roll over and no... Not gunna happen!

Hi all! After my operation my dr surgeon came to review me before discharging me from the hospital. He told me to come back and see him in 5 weeks and that he would be away sometime that week so make it 6 weeks. At the time I didn't even think about it, but now I'm wondering why would he wait so long to give me my first fill? My GF had the same op with same dr and he filled her at 3 weeks? I would like more restriction so do you think I would be able to move my first fill appointment forward? What would be the purpose of having my first fill later as apposed to sooner? If anyone has any knowledge about fills and frequency of them it would be hugely appreciated if they could clarify this Thanks

Hi! I had the exact same issue as your having. It went away after a few days. Mine started day 10. I still have it a little here and there I'm now at day 14 post op. my Gf had the same op 2 years ago and she experienced the same thing. You need to take it easy and stop moving around so much. I overdid it looking after my kids... Picking them up, moving side to side playing and so forth. Someone on this forum recommended an ice pack for the pain. I gave it a go and it helped so maybe try that. I was so scared thinking I had done myself damage or something, but you have to remember you have just had a pretty big operation. I totally underestimated this op and expected to be as normal within a few days but far from it. Wish you all the best!

Thanks everyone for your comments. Today I am feeling much better. I was planning on giving dr a call this morning anyway.. I thought I would ask on here due to his office closed at the time it started yesterday/evening. I am so glad to have come across this app and know that there is support for us like this!! I don't feel so in the dark about things. It's comforting to know

Hi den! Reading you story made me say "yep" I know exactly what your talking about plenty of times! My doctor never told me to be on a liquid diet only.. I seen dr desmond hughes and he has done several lap banding ops on different people I know, and he recommends a soft diet. I have been living on soups.. I have chosen to eat the thicker chunkier soups because I can eat them and it fills me up. Cottage cheese, scrambled eggs and yoghurt have been all I have had and its working fine. I have lost 5kg in 10 days and I eat when ever I am hungry I just don't over do it. I may have a break and come back to what I have not finished. I hope it gets easier for you!

Hi everyone. Well I am 10 days post op and I have struggled a little with the pain and the trauma this operation had on my body. I took a week off annual leave and ended up taking a few extra days off (sick leave ) as I really did underestimate the recovery time and trauma this op has had on my body. I'm 29 year old female and I have had 2 kids naturally with no pain relief so I guess you can say i have a high pain threshold and I'm not just being a sooky la la.. Lol I was feeling ok I guess you could say today and I went for a short walk at the plaza. After returning home, out of nowhere this pain hit me on the left side like nothing else! This is on the left scar (the biggest of them all). It was like a pinching and pulling feeling like I was being stabbed from the inside out! When I hunch over it goes away.. Same when I lay down or sit. It's like it never happened. I stand up and it slightly comes back then it's there again! I started to get scared and called my GF who had the band done 1 1/2 yrs ago by the same dr as me. She knew exactly what I was talking about and said the exact same thing happened to her but only once. It went away for her over night but it was one of the worst pains she ever had and yelped so loud her husband freaked out! Are any of you guys having or had the same pain/feeling? If so what did you do about it? How long did it take to go away Do you have any tips or suggestions for me how to cope Does anyone know what it is or what is happening to cause this pain? It's not as bad now as it was a few hrs ago so hopefully this will only get better from here. I would love anyone to comment if they know anything about this or have experienced anything like it Xx