babsintx3

Mikey, You are in Southlake, not far from me. I used to live off of David Blvd. P.S. You are hilariously funny. I was cracking up while eating my dinner. Unlike yourself, I dont have any hobbies outside of eating shopping or making food! Babs in TX 334/180ish

Hi, Completely normal. Ditto what Alex said except that would like to add that just fluctuations in Water intake, whether you pooped or not, could make the difference of 1-5 pounds on the scale.!!! Babs in TX 334/180 ish -150 ish

Hi Vine, The easy way out is to stay fat and keep eating crap. LOL The lapband made it somewhat easier to lose the weight, but keeping it off is the hardest thing I have had to do so far and I fight this battle everyday. I am sitting here eating ham blocks instead of the pop tart I really wanted. The lapband really is a tool only. You get what you put into it and it did help me get a jumpstart on the weight loss, but the band didnt take my butt to the gym for two years, nor did it make my food choices. I dont care what anyone thinks about how I got there. Babs in TX

Hi Dawg, Banded 6/23/03 by Dr. Richard Carter in Arlington TX NO Erosion Babs in TX 334/180ish -150 ish

Hi Dawg, Banded in US by Dr. C in TX. Date banded: 6/23/03 NO EROSION Babs in TX

Hi Leener , There are bandsters who are vegetarians and do quite well. I dont think long term you have to stick to a low carb diet, but for folks with PCOS, it is generally advised that they do stick to one because typically they are insulin resistant as well. I am assuming that because you are obese that you have made the wrong food choices in the past or have a satiety disorder like the rest of us here? Which means making some changes are a good thing because even being a veggie means that you will have the band to help you with portion control. It will be harder for you to get your Protein, but protein can be found in low fat dairy, Beans, tofu, low fat cheese etc... You will not starve and the most important thing is that you wont be very hungry since the band is a restrictive device that will help you with your portion control. Now regarding complications, yes there are some. I have had a great experience with my band and no problems. I PB very very rarely (less than 10 times in 2.7 years) All ya need to do is chew chew chew. You might have to stay away from some of the fibrous veggies, since they can be stringy and cause you problems. No one knows which foods they will not be able to tolerate. It is trial and error. Regarding the Water, I can still drink water at a pretty rapid rate. I have been tight occasionally where I sound like a drain pipe when I drink too fast, but you should still be able to drink your water without a problem. Thicker drinks do go through more slowly and you will have to be careful to pace yourself. I still love food just as much as before. I now eat foods that I would have never considered before banding. I love veggies now and I especially love fish and wouldnt have touched a piece of tilapia pre banding. Now I eat fish several times a week, love making turkey/ veggie chili with zucchini and 5 different kinds of organic beans etc... You may have to supplement your diet with some Protein shakes or bars since you will need to keep your protein intake high if you want to lose weight. But at the end of the day, it boils down to calories in and calories expended. My advice is to be aware of the pitfalls, problems or complications of lapbanding, but dont become obsessed with the negative. Nothing is perfect and nothing is foolproof. It is a tool and you will get what you put into it. Dont worry dahlinggg...... Babs in TX 334/180 -150 ish

Hi, You will have to work hard but you can do it. I lost 80 lbs my first 6 months of banding and a total of 120 my first year, but I worked pretty hard to lose it. Babs in TX 334/180ish -150 ish

Hi, Penni: Floroscope is the machine. Upper GI is the actual procedure that usually includes a barium swallow after viewing your esophagus, stomach etc.. The barium swallow is usually part of the upper GI. They are using flouroscopy machine to see what is happening in there. But as you mentioned, you thought that something was not right. So it doesnt always show up with a flouoscopy/upper GI and in your instance an endoscopy was the right decision. I beleive you have to go with your gut feeling which you did. GOt this information from www.radiologyinfo.org/content/upper_gi.htm. Babs in Tx

Hi Lisa, Karen and Francesca may have been asymptomatic, but I am assuming when they went for a fill it was done with flouroscopy not an endoscopy and only then a problem was discovered. Therefore, it supports my case that endoscopy is only needed when a problem is discovered by flouroscopy or the patient is experiencing something unusual. If flouroscopy can detect some of these problems, wouldnt it make more sense to start with that as an option first? Endoscopy is very invasive and requires a full day off and someone to be with you to make sure you get home OK if they sedate you. I do understand that not all erosions can be see with flouro, but an experienced doc could see if there was some kind of problem with the saline with a barium swallow at least some of the time. Thats why these two bandsters discovered their erosions. Unless they went to Mexico for an endoscopy which you say they didnt. I cant see how you could"prevent" an erosion by having an endoscopy andit seems that flouroscopy alerted their doctors of a problem. And yes, I agree that one of the reasons it is easier for a Mexican surgeon to say go get it done is because it is 1/10 of the cost to have it done there in Mexico. Healthcare is less expensive there, so its easy to say have a costly procedure done every 18 months or so. What I would really like to know is if I am out of the woods at 2.7 years post op....... Any comments about this? Babs in TX 334/180ish -150 ish

Hi, I had my TT done in August last year. My plastic surgeon had done work on other bandsters. My PS said the new low profile port is about 700 dollars and that I would have to pay for it since it wasnt medically necessary. I stayed with the larger port that I had and asked him to put it sternally. He did not move it as I requested, but because of the skin removal, it is in the middle above my belly button. You cant see it, but you can feel it quite easily. If I had my choice I would go with sternal. Babs in TX 334/180 ish

Hopeful, I waited till I got to goal which was still 30 lbs more than I should weigh for my height. I had not lost weight for several months and I felt that I was probably as close as I was going to get. Kryssa, I had 4 1/2lbs of skin removed from my stomach. I thought I had more to remove, so it is deceptive. I seriously doubt that you will lose 30 lbs of fat and skin unless you started off at 400 lbs or more. I was optimistic when I thought I would lose the last 10 with plastics. If you have lipo, its possible for sure, but 30 lbs seems to be excessive. Babs in TX 334/180 ish -150 ish

Hi , I am a wimp, so I dont know if I qualify to answer this question...LOL I had the abdominoplasty and medial thighplasty at the same time. It was awful like an 8-9. Not while in the hospital, but at home. I was allergic to the pain meds and had to stop taking them when I got home from the hospital. All the other substitutes they gave me did not work. The worst part is the drainage tubes. I was dying to get them out since the skin around them gets extremely irritated and burns quite a bit. It was such a relief to have them pulled out!!!! As you can see, I did not give you the edited warm and fuzzy version! ITs a rite of passage to pay for a flat tummy and new belly button! babs in tx 334/180ish

CIndy, All you feelings are normal. We all grieve food during this journey. I can assure you that as you lose weight, your level of restriction will decrease a little as you lose stomach fat. Howver, if you are too tight to take your pill in the morning, then try to take it later in the day when your band opens up a little or see if you can get a liquid substitute. Hang in there. IT gets better. Babs in TX 334/180ih -150 ish 6/23/03

Hi, I was a smoker when I was banded. My doc did not ask me about it and it didnt seem to be as issue for him. I quit smoking last year in preparation for plastic surgery which is far more invasive than the lapband surgery was. I am glad that I quit though, but I did gain some weight as a result so I would recommend quitting before you get a band if you can. Sounds like you need to get another primary care physician if he wont support you on the lapband. Babs in TX 334/180 -150 ish

Hi, As I mentioned earlier, I dont agree with the position that EVERYONE should get endoscopy at 18 months. I believe that only if there is a real problem , change in restriction or something on flouroscopy when checking the band or administering a fill, then a doc should commit to exploring the problem further. Lisa is right. There is a difference in opinion just with just two doctors here within the context of this post. So the docs who come here to offer their opinion should understand that this is also a problem for bandsters who get mixed messages from their docs as well about the need for an endoscopy since many erosions are asymptomatic. The commonality of most of the erosions that seem to be presenting themselves here were not initially found by endoscopy but rather by lapbanders who had some other issue like in Donalis case, a gall bladder type pain which resulted in the endoscopy. Or an infection of the port during banding journey or change in restriction or in Michelles case, a bowel obstruction that required treatment in which she later discovered the erosion. Lisa band journey was riddled with complications from day one, so she had a good indication and a gut feeling that she was eroded. So although folks keep talking about being asymptomic there appears to be some commonality for many of the eroded folks here. I am NOT saying that there arent erosions that have happened that werent totally asymptomatic. Maybe in those instances, the patient had a gut feeling that something was wrong. I think that docs should listen to their patients and sometimes they just dont. Recently, the relationship with my surgeon and myself deteriorated because he refused to listen to me regarding the fact that I had no restriction. It was discovered by flouroscopy that my plastic surgeon accidently removed all of my fill during plastic surgery even though I only asked him to remove a little bit and even provided him with a Huber needle from the hospital to do it properly. Docs should listen to their patients and many times they dont. That is my only pet peeve. Babs in TX 334/180ish -150 ish

Hi Penni, Hugs from TX. Yes, I still have a band and NO I couldnt possibly know how you feel being bandless but I do understand fear. FEAR has been controlling me since I had an accidental complete unfill following plastic surgery. I have been gaining weight and I wont weigh myself. (DENIAL) FEAR is a terrible way to live. Fear of gaining, fear of not having a band, fear of an eroded band, fear of gaining all of the weight I lost. Gosh, all this fear sucks the wind out of my sails sometimes. It is part of what controls all of us obese and formerly obese on a day to day basis. It is a horrible way to live and folks that have been obese, ostracized and mentally abused by others are their own worst enemies. Allof us DO remember what it is like to have not have a band, the love for food and all the other demons that have been grabbing all of us by the ankles on a day to day basis. I do feel your pain and I hope that you know that everyone here is thinking of you and wishing the best for you. Work your way through the loss. Not everyone can jump back after such a terrible experience. Take as long as you need and dont compare yourself to others as we say frequently here on this board. Allow yourself time to grieve the loss and then move on when you are ready. Ya got friends here girlfriend so say whatever you need to say to work your way through this. Hugs, Babs in TX

Hi Guys, It took me some time to read through all these posts! Wow! I wanted to add that an endoscopy is very important for bandsters. At more than 2 years out, I have not had one. Most lapband surgeons here in the US do NOT want to do endoscopy unless they suspect there is a problem. IT is an expensive procedure and that seems to be the reason they dont suggest doing it. Some of my bandster pals here in the DFW area have been having a debate about this. I have two banded friends that wanted an endoscopy to check their bands out and were turned down. This is a whole other topic but I thought I would bring it up since we were talking about erosion and the suggestion of Dr. Ortiz was to have endoscopy at 18 months. I know some may disagree with this position, but I am of the opinion that if it if it aint broke dont fix it. I am only of this position if you really truly are not having problems at all and you have had regular flouroscopy with all your fills, little problems and no major changes in restriction or digestion. Anybody have anything to comment about this? And how do you get your doctors to support endoscopy if they dont? Babs inTX 334/180ish -150 ish

Hi New sho, I am really trying to figure this one out. A doc doesnt send a certified letter terminating the relationship unless: 1) He truly is an insensitive clod, inexperienced or worried about a liability issue 2) The two of you are not getting a long and you are not sharing information with us. If you want us to comment about a certified letter, then we would need to see the contents of the letter. We only have your side of the story and it would be unfair to comment about the doctor. Now about restriction or failure of the band to do its job...... As a tenured bandster of 2 years and 7 months, I can tell you with absolute certainty that restriction is different for everyone. Even with extremely good restriction, I can eat toasted bread, regular bread, pancakes, Cookies etc...Always could through my whole banding journey. Yet with flouroscopy, my band was showing that I had good restriction and any more would be a detriment to me causing me potential problems with reflux or possibly other problems. Most Bandsters always ride the fine line between too much and too little. The most I have had in my band is 2.6 and that was too much. One night of reflux and I had it removed and started again at 2.00. Like Melissa, I had all my fill removed (for different reasons tho)when I had plastic surgery last August. This was not intentional since my plastic surgeon was instructed to only remove .50 from my band, take me to 2.00 to allow me to eat more for my recovery. When I went back to my band doctor for a fill, he pointed out that I had nothing in my band, refused to fill me back to where I was before surgery, gave me 1.00cc and sent me on my way and told me to come back in 3 months. I think he was testing me to see how well I could comply. I got pissed off with him and went to another doc who filled me back to 2.20. I still dont have enough restriction, did gain some weight back and I am going back to fill doctor for another fill. My doc did not send me a certified letter, but he sure did let me know what he thought about me annoying him for more fill when I called a week later to let him know that the 1.00 wasnt doing anything. I might have been right, but I didnt make friends with my doc by annoying his staff daily and complaining. So I would suggest this: Get a second opinion, but more importantly if your present doc thinks you are tight enough, find out why. He may be right. Ask him to explain why he feels the way he does. I would send it formally in writing because at this stage you have nothing to lose. Legally, your doc really cant do what he is doing unless there is something more going on here that you are not sharing with us. He is your surgeon and you have a right to know what is going on with your band. I have never been a lightweight, so for me my present BMI of 29-30 down from 53.9 is a godsend. I know one thing for certain. You may think you dont have restriction, but I guarantee you if your band was empty for a few weeks you would notice the difference. You would be hungry all the time and its harder and harder to comply. It is possible that the band is doing everything it can for you. Maybe you are not doing everything you can do for your band. You might want to explore that possibility as painful as it may be for you to look at. Babs in TX 334/180ish -150 ish

Hi Everyone, I kinda disappeared for a while. I moved house, opened a new office for my company and went on a couple of business trips. Things have been well since my plastic surgery in August last year, but I still dont have good restriction since they emptied my band during surgery and the refill process has been slow (mostly my fault) I plan on getting a fill in February to help me make it to my final destination. I gained some weight when I quit smoking last year and since then have not been able to get to my lowest weight. Still wearing the same clothes, but they are noticeably tighter. So I am hoping a fill will jumpstart my weight loss again. Well, lots of people of been asking me for pictures post op plastic surgery. I have a nice flat tummy, but my thighs still look the same size. I did not have lipo, just skin removal. They took off 2 lbs of skin off the thighs and about 4 1/2 pounds off my stomach. I did have a full TT though and the results are great. I have been waiting for an article that I participated in to come out in the NY Daily News. They sent an AP photographer to my house in TX and he took some great pics (170 to be exact over 2 hours) for an article that I participated in about WLS and PS. They also have a BEFORE PIC as well as the after pics. So I am finally coming out of the closet. It was painful to look at myself at over 330 lbs. I was morbidly obese for so many years. My son saw the picture and said, "Mom, you look really yuccchy in the before picture. He was there when the photographer took the after pics and so was my husband. It was kinda like being a fashion model. NOT!!!!! LOL The article was supposed to come out last week, then they said this Wednesday which didnt happen. I am hoping that it will be published soon. I dont know how much they will cover about the lapband, since the article is more about the continuing journey after the weight loss. The doctor who did the article posted right here on lapbandtalk last year looking for folks who would talk about their PS and weightloss surgery and I volunteered. Yeah, I am now convinced I am crazy!!! If anyone gets the NY daily news, let me know if you see the article. I have been checking their web site daily to see if it is there, but so far nothing. Hugs, Babs in TX 334/180ish 6/23/03 -150 ish

Hi Ms Megan, You are looooking good. At least I will have one good photo of myself!!! Janet, the TT was really the best thing I ever did for myself other than the lapband! You will get there too!! Babs in TX

Hi Dr. Ortiz, Thanks for stopping by to address erosion issues which are a concern to all bandsters. I agree with Vera regarding the surgeon responsibility and ethical obligation to unband eroded patients. If they are worried about costs then I think that most bandsters would be happy to pay $100 more for their total banding as a so called insurance policy that the removal and possible installation of a new band would be covered should they erode. Any surgeon who is not willing to remove a band for a patient who they gladly took CASH from (not insurance) should cover the removal. $100 dollar x 100 patients would equal a $10,000 slush fund for someone who could not afford a removal or replacement. In reading Dr. Ortiz's statement, he did not say that all surgical technique is the same. What he said was that most of it was "SIMILAR" for which I concur. There are a few of us here trying to become doctors! LOL If there is such a huge concern about erosion rates, then before you get a band ask the tough questions about your docs erosion rate if you are newbie and if they cant answer you to your satisfaction dont get banded by them. Many of us here seem to be stuck on this 1% rate. This is just a ROUGH statistic. The original rate was 1-3% erosion figures which were not even reported by US docs since all that was available in June 2001 post FDA approval was information that was reported from outside the US. There are less erosions in the US, because there werent any US surgeons reporting any data and they didnt have as many patients and certainly none of tenure. As an example, my surgeon banded about 120 people prior to me being banded in June 2003 as a total number cumulative beginning in 2001 whereas now he bands 300-400 people a year, sends out surveys and has more than anecedotal information about erosions, slippages, complications etc... As Dr. Ortiz says if a surgeon has banded 3000 people, then statiscally he would have more erosions. He would have seen at least 30 erosions if these patients received aftercare and had an endoscopy. It may seem like they are coming mostly from one doctor but maybe that one doc does not discreetly handle the problem, offer a solution etc... and thus his patients are more vocal about their erosions and subsequent mistreatment. I know that Lisa has listed a group of bandsters including herself that have eroded. I know most of these folks too (including Lisa)! It does seem coincidental that of 20 bandsters that I met and know from the Vegas Bandsters Bash, at least 25% of them have eroded in the last couple of years. But I think that it is because all of them that I know were banded in Mexico where there WAS significantly more folks being banded from 2001-2004 and a smaller number of surgeons there doing the banding vs a larger population of surgeons in the US who are banding. Since there are probably less than a dozen well known lapbanding surgeons in Mexico, its easy to pinpoint his/her population of patients. I am absolutely sure if we were to look at the US surgeons erosion rates, they would be similar, but we would have to look at a much bigger population of surgeons. I think it is wrong to single out one surgeon in the surgical population without some kind of proof that statistically their numbers are completely out of the normal erosion rate of the general population. But I concur with others that the surgeons should offer their patients a contingency plan to cover removal. I dont think they have a responsibility to replace a band or reinstall one later since the band manufacturer does charge for a new band. But I do think they have an ethical responsibility to remove a band that has eroded since leaving it there will cause permanent damage to the patient long term. I consider my banding experience to date to be an extremely positive one. I have had little complications (some but nothing serious) so I can empathize with others who have lost their band, but have no clue how I would feel if I were the one with the problems, or had the debt associated with cash pay or removal. I am sure I would feel differently if it were me, but before I throw daggers, I would want to be sure that my information were accurate. Babs in TX 334/180ish -150 ish 6/23/03 Banded in TX by Dr. C 8/4/05 Full abdominoplasty/ medial thighplasty

Hi , I quit smoking for my PS. I know you can too!! Welbutrin really helped me with the stress from quitting. I quit may 4th last year and I am still cigarette free!!! Yeah!!!!! Babs in TX 334/180ish -150 ish August 3rd - full abdominoplasty and medial thighplasty I love my flat tummy!!

Hi Everyone, I recently responded to a post about how fortunate I have been to have only PB'ed less than 7-8 times over the last 2 1/2 years. Well todays violent PB and subsequent vomiting is the worst experience I have had so far since I have been banded. I made a 10 lb turkey since they were on sale and we did not have one for Thanksgiving at my house. All afternoon, the turkey was beckoning me. It was the butter basted variety.... The smell was driving me mad so I decided to eat some. I had about 3 pieces totaling about 3 oz of the dark meat. After the third went down, I got a huge golfball. Normally if I wait it out or dance around a little, it will go away and pass through. This was not the case. It was stuck. I tried a sip of warm Water. It was backing up in my throat. I waited and now just searing pain and pressure in the middle of my chest. After about 5 minutes, I knew it wasnt passing through and I would have to force myself to vomit by leaning over the toilet. I barfed and immediately felt better. I jumped in my car because I was late picking up my son from school. I got to the traffic light and knew I had to barf again. I pulled into the parking lot of Sams Club and barfed again. I jumped on the highway and took a small sip of water. I just knew I had to barf again but I was late and I didnt want my son hanging outside alone at school. I contemplated barfing into a chip bag I had in the car for my sons afterschool snack. But it was full of baked potato chips and I would have had to pour them out on the seat of the car. I was driving 65 miles per hour and didnt think pulling over on the highway was an option. I keep dry heaving and holding back the slime. 15 minutes later, I pulled up to my sons school. He jumped in, I went one block and pulled over on the side of the road and threw up like 3-4 times. I actually knew when I was totally better because the "stuck turkey" dislodged itself. I had already vomited 6-7 times and I am not talking slime only but the contents of my stomach. I felt better and continued on my way. Holy sh#@%%. I dont want that to happen again. This is the second time this year that turkey did me in. Its so weird that I can eat steak, bread , rice and other difficult bandster foods but for some reason turkey gives me problems if I eat it too quickly. Even us tenured bandster can forget and eat too quickly and cause ourselves pain. SO there, I survived, but was a crappy experience. Have a great night!!! Babs in TX 334/180/170 -154 ish

Hi Lisa, I agree with your lawyer friend. You can eat more than 1200 calories a day and lose weight provided that the food is low fat, loaded with Protein and low in carbs. I went on Atkins for 8 months prior to banding and lost 50 lbs. For people who have a true satiety disorder, hyperinsulinemia and no lapband, Atkins and the Southbeach diet can be a savior. I was eating more than 2000 calories a day and losing rapidly. It was my endocrinologist that recommended I do this since meds were not helping me with my insulin resistance. Now as a permanent lifestyle, I would never endorse Atkins because the whole basis of the diet is to put the body in ketosis and it is rough on the kidneys because people abuse the portion control aspect of the diet and also eat a lot of high fat food like bacon and cheese because they can. IF you were to do a 1200 calorie Atkins diet for a month, you could easily lose 20 lbs, but once again, its not something I would endorse. I like my carbs and now I tend to have carbs low on the glycemic index like multi grain crackers, 40 calorie multigrain toast, brown rice etc..... Babs in TX 334/180ish -150 ish

Diane, Its great that your husband is supporting you, but its really his responsibility to set things straight with his mother. Its one thing if she doesnt want to talk to you, but she is just being immature and hurtful and depriving your children of a grandmother which doesnt say much about her integrity. Babs in TX 334/180 -154