dianegoe

I have my band going on 4 yrs now and this happens to me all the time. Right now I had 1/4cc put in about 2 mos ago and I had very little restriction and for the past 2 weeks and this week especially I can barely get liquids down. My Dr is on vacation until next week and I will have 1/4 cc removed again. Either I have no restriction or I can hardly drink and that seems to be the way the band works, at least for some of us. I have never seemed to get to the "sweet spot" some people refer to. I wish I could because this is very frustrating.

Hi Guys, Haven't posted in a while. I had my port replaced again on February 11th. Had a fill in March and had some restriction for the first time since they emptied it when I was in Spain back in September. Then I went back 2 weeks ago and had another fill and now I have NO restriction, it's like the band isn't even there. I have another appointment tomorrow for another fill. I am so depressed. I have gained about 8# since I got back home in December. You are all doing so well and I have only lost 30# since this whole thing began. I am frustrated. I am really happy for all of you, you have done SO well! I still love this band, and want it to work. I will have him really tighten it up tomorrow. I want to be like you Chrisann where I can only eat 4-6 oz. and be done. I want restriction! Diane:cursing:

I am sorry to hear about your band problems...Makes mine seem small. I hope you recover fast. Diane

Hi Everyone, So I came back from Spain, did not gain any weight, but did not loose any. He still cannot get fluid from my band, I have NO restriction, and I had an x-ray and my tubing at the port is still kinked, exactly as it was before he replaced it September. Can anyone tell me if they have seen a picture of their port? The web site shows it as a gradual u curve and mine is like a ^ so there is negitive pressure when he tries to remove the fluid. I want him to fix it and he said people don't usually have the fluid removed anyway. I told him the whole idea of the band was that if you needed to have fluid removed, you could. He said well maybe we can take out your gall bladder and your insurance will pay for it. I dont have any problems with my gall bladder and think since I PAID THE FIRST 2 x HE SHOULD PAY THIS TIME. I haven't had any use of this band for the past 3 months. I have an appoitment tomorrow to ask outright if he'll pay to fix it. I like the band, and I want it to work as it should. he is afraid to overfill it since he can't get fluid out, but I have no restriction and I want it back. I am frustrated. Any suggestions? Happy Holidays everyone. Diane:mad:

Hi Everyone, I am just making it into November updates! I am leaving Spain and will be back in Tucson midnight Tuesday Dec 2nd. I have an appoitment on Wednesday the 3rd at 10:20 to have fluid put back in my band. I had the port replaced in September and he took all the fluid from my band. It had been way to tight since my last fill in May, and I was vomiting a lot. The fluid could not be removed because the port tubing was kinked, so I had the port replaced and he took all the fluid out since I had to come back to Spain. So...I have had NO restriction since September. I am sure I have gained some weight, but I don't think a lot. My clothes still all fit and I walk alot. I have no scale here, so I won't know until I go home next week. I am kindda bumbed out that this happened because when I had the port replaced I weighed 169 down from 217 when I had it put in in January. I was hoping to be at goal by my anniversary, but now I have given myself until April. I would like to be 145-150 by then. I was up to about 6cc in my band, so I hope he will put at least 5 ccc back in on Wednesday. I think we will have to negotiate. The good thing about being in Spain, no Thanksgiving! So I am sure I saved some calories that day. I am glad we are all doing well. It's hard to believe a year has almost gone by. We need to remember that even if we aren't where we want to be, we are better than we were last year at this time. So, it's a process and it's different for all of us, but we are all healthier and feeling better about ourselves. Diane

Chrisann I have lost less weight than you and I have been really tight for the last 4 mos. We all loose differently, but at least it's going in the right direction. Diane

Ok, here's what happened to me. You all know I am currently living in Barcelona Spain while my daughter does a semester of school here. And I told you I had to go to the hospital last month because I have been very tight since May when I had my last fill. So tight that I vomited at least weekly becuase food got stuck and I could not get it past the band. They have been unable to remove fluid because my tubing was kinked and they wanted to take the band out here. So, I went back to Tucson 4 days after my hospital stay here because I was barely drinking. My Dr. tried to remove the fluid and could not. I had a Barium swallow and x-rays to make sure the band was in place. The band was OK. I had surgery to replace the port and the kinked tubing from the port. This of coarse was another couple of thousand dollars to the hospital plus airfare. But the worst part, he removed all the fluid and said until I healed, the swelling was down and I came back to the states he felt it best I leave it empty. He said, "You won't gain weight because now you know how to eat." They just don"t get it, we all know how to eat. If we could do it, we would not need the band in the first place. When I had my surgery in January I weighed 219# and the other day before surgery I weighed 169# thats 50 # since January. I have not weighed 169 since I was 30. I am so bummed out and scared to death to regain weight. I am trying to go home next month instead of December so I can have the fluid put back in. I need to see if my daughter can stay with a family the last month here. Do you think he will put all 6cc in at once or will I have to build back up a little at a time? He had originally put 3.5cc in at surgery and I only had about 3 fills before it became too tight. I cannot believe it will almost be a year since we all started this journey. Pretty soon we will have to call ourselves the "OLD YEAR KNOCKOUTS":tt1: Have a good week. Diane It does not help that there are more bakeries here than I have ever seen. Every morning I smell fresh bread and pasteries. In the past if I tried to eat bread I'd choke and throw up. Now, I can eat bread, which tastes wonderful, but is very bad. Why is everything that tastes so good, so bad for us? That's life I guess.

Hi Everyone, As you know I am in Barcelona Spain with my daughter for 3 mos. while she goes to school here. On Monday I told you I had lost 10 lbs. But I was not able to eat Monday night, I think it's because I had a vitamin get stuck Monday morning, and maybe it caused swelling. Anyway, I could not eat Monday night, or Tuesday morning, but I was able to drink liquids. By Wednesday I could not get yogurt pass the band. By Thursday I could not even drink water without throwing up so I went to a hospital here in Spain by myself in a taxi. Let me tell you it was not my idea of fun. When I finally found a Dr. who could speak English, he had never heard of the lapband and I was trying to get them to take fluid from the port. Which is near impossible beacuse my Dr. left it so long it's looped twice and has a kink that looks like this ^near the port so it's really hard to get fluid out. So they started an IV and sent me to x-ray where the tech said, "what you have in you body? I never seen that before", things got worse. I go back upstairs and they try oh about 4 times to get fluid out, and then tell me it will be 4 hours before they can get an ultasound to see the port better. I am calling my husband in AZ. to call my Dr. He tells me the Dr. says there are alot of Drs. in Spain familiar with lapband, and I say really who? My husband tells me can't I get a phone book and look. I remind him I am in the hospital with an IV in my left wrist, and the phone book, if there is one, will be in Spanish, AND I DON"T READ SPANISH and my speaking ability is not that good either. So 4 hours later they come back and tell me no ultrasound, in the morning they will do a barium swallow and if nothing goes thru, then they will do surgery to remove the band. I tell them once again to try to remove the fluid, or just open the old incision and pull the tube and draw out the fluid which they say they cannot do. So the Dr pokes me 3 more times and is able to get out about 1/4 cc which is better than nothing. I say I want to go home and she says now I need the barium swallow in the morning. I say give me some water and she doesn't want to and I say well if I can't swallow water, than I can't swallow barium. So she gives me 3 oz of water which I am able to sip. I tell them I am going home. It takes 2 more hours (I went in there at 2pm and now it's 2 in the morning) I am in some kind of holding area with bright lights and very sick looking people and I feel as though I am going to get some weird dreaded disease. So they finally let me leave and tell me to come back in the morning if I am not better. I have been able to drink water, juice and now I am trying a watery protein shake that seems to be going down. I am afraid to eat anything solid yet. Do you think I just caused some swelling around the band when I choked on the vitamin on Monday? I am not going to have surgery here. If I continue to have problems I am going home. But, I have not had a fill since May. And sometimes I can be fine for a week, and other times I have to throw up for no reason. So, it has not been a fun week and yesterday I was scared being in a hospital with people who do not understand me. I have new sympathy for the immigrants in our country who do not speak our language. Sorry for the long post. has anyone had fluid removed from their ports yet. I knew from the beginning this would be a problem because my Dr. could never draw back fluid to see if he was in my band. I had a x-ray taken 2 mos after the surgery and I saw it was kind of kinked and he said it wasn't, but now he says it is, and I will have to have the incision opened up and he can remove the port and fix the tubing and put the port back and then it will be fine. So, if this isn't better I will go home to have it fixed. Has anyone else had this happen to them with food and water not even going thru? What did you have to do? Do you think that now that I can drink, it should be OK? Sorry for the long post, just need your opinions. Diane:redface:

Hi Everyone, First I'd like tosay everytime I come to this site, they seem to have changed the home page. Why? Then I want to say that I went to a gym in Spain today and after working out, I weighed myself and in kilos I was 80.6 Kelos so I came home and did that math and that means I weigh 177#. I am down 10 lbs since moving to Spain 3 weeks ago. I now have a BMI of 30. I can't believe it. I can even wear size 12 pants! I am in heaven. There still is one small problem. I seem to go a few days just fine, then for no reason nothing will go thru this band and I drink shakes. When I go home in December I will probably have the Dr. remove so fluid from this thing because I am tired of being bulemic. I hope everyone is doing well. Diane:tt1:

Hi Everyone!, I'm in Barcelona now with my daughter for the next 4 months. I have not had a full since May because this band is tight and I slime and throwup alot. But, my weight loss has not been great, only about 35#. I think I have lost weight now because all my clothes are loose. I walk every where because we don't have a car here. But before I left I saw my doctor and he said the way my tubing is he probably won't be able to draw out the fluid because it's kind of kinked. So I told him I would live with it until I come back from Spain. I don't feel pain like the rest of you, but there are days that everything sticks. I feel like I can't get it thru the band and I go to the bathroom and kinda just throw it up. I just read an article in Self magazine about Lapband and by pass surgery. One lapband patient said it was like surgical bulimia and there are days I feel like that. My daughter even says are you going to go throw up again Mom. My son says, so was it worth it? But I would have to say I was not able to loose weight before, so I will take the side effects I guess. I hope I am not damaging my esophageous from throwing up, but since there is no stomach acid most of the time, I think I am OK. I am happy that I do not experience pain like you are describing. Just stuck food, sliming and surgical bulimia:) It seems to be worse in the morning and then gets better by the late afternnon. But somedays it's all the time. Maybe once it starts it irritates the band site and then it swells. But you guys have lost way more weight than I have and I know I am not eating a lot. I can't eat bread, red meat. Mostly I have yogurt or cereal or chicken. I can do salad. Sorry for the long post. I hope things get better for you who are having pain. I will be thankful for the throwing up without the pain. I will tell you throwing up in some restasurants in Spain in not my idea of a good time. I have no scale here, so I will be surprised when I go home and weigh myself. I hope all this barfing will be for a good cause. Adios my fellow banders. Will talk to you soon. Diane:regular_smile:

Hi Everyone, I haven't posted in a long time. I've been gone most of the summer. I am frustrated. I had my last full in May and I will not get another one. This band is tight. If I am not careful and chew really well, food gets stuck and I have to go throw up. But while I feel my eating is controlled, I have still remained the same weight. I have lost 35 lbs with the band and I am stuck. I can't say I exercise like I should, but I am not a couch potato. I just came back from a 10 day trip to see my friend. We kyaked 2x 2 hours each time. And walked 3 days about a mile. And still, even after throwing up several days while eating too fast and talking, I am the same weight. I don't gain, but I dont loose either. I have basically been the same for the past 3 months. I don't eat bad, can't even eat bread anymore, am not a snacker, don't eat after dinner, I am feeling like I need to eat less than 1000 calories a day to get the scale to move. I am happy that I lost 35# don't get me wrong. And I have gotten all new clothes and my old ones are way to big. I am wearing size 12-14 when before it was 16-18 and I can wear Medium tops instead of XL, but I am weighing only 35 lbs down from surgery. I can eat more than 1/2 cup, so I don't know if I should get a full. But I really feal if I do, I will throw up even more and the Dr. said it's not good to throw up so I don't know what to do. When I first had the surgery I could only eat 1/2 cup from the swelling and I felt full. Now I can probably eat about 1-1/2 cups, but if I'm not careful, it get stuck and I slime and you all know the rest of the story. So, what should I do? I have my Drs. appoitment on Monday, and I am sure he will be surprised that I am basically the same weight. I am afraid to have a fill because I am leaving to live in Spain for 4 moths with my daughter while she attends school there for a semester. I don't want it so thight that I have problems over there and have no one to go to. I know I will be walking more over there. I really want to weight 145-150 by the one year mark. That means I need to loose another 35# in the next 6 months. Any advise would be appreciated. I have about 6cc in my 10cc band. Maybe 7cc. And there is not a week since my fill in May that i have not gotten stuck and had to go throw up. And then my side left side hurts and I know that's not good for the stitches. Should I fill, not fill,? Eat less, exercise more? I need your opinions. Sorry for the long post. Diane:confused:

Hi Chrisann, Congratulations to you. I have not lost 50 lbs, probably about 35 so far. This last fill I had 4 weeks ago has been tight. I have to be really careful or I throw up alot. I will not ask for fill next week when I see the Dr. I will get official weight loss this month next week. I am in New York right now and just had Carvel too. I did not think to do fat free, if I have another before I go back to Tucson I will. I am so happy for you. You are doing GREAT! Diane