gkeyt

Try not to get too fixated on the total amount of fill or the amount of each individual fill. How much fill you will require to feel the appropriate amount of restriction is totally individual based on your anatomy and a number of other things. I've heard it said that there are only 3 fill amounts (and 3 fill levels): not enough, just right, and too much. Just like the 3 bears. The point is, there really isn't an average amount. Some people never require any fill at all, others require 10+ fills to reach that point. The total amount can vary from 0cc to 10cc or even more (yes it can hold more safely). Sorry you didn't like Riviera's answer but it was actually not a bad one.

40 lbs in 6 months is about 1.5 lbs per week. The average weight loss with the band is 1-2 lbs per week, so you are right on target. How much and how fast a person loses weight is very individual, based on how much you had to lose to begin with and what your particular metabolism is like, among other things. Like the others said, don't worry about comparing yourself to others. I fretted about my slow weight loss for a long time. But I settled down and realized this wasn't about fast weight loss, and my loss was still a lot faster than it ever was when I was dieting, plus I haven't gained it back. You're doing great! Keep up the good work.

That is so AWESOME! Congrats to you! :sad:

SheerBear, you might be looking for the March 08 board. This group was all banded in March 07--it's taken me over a year to lose 62 lbs. You're doing well for 3 months! Juli, I'm nodding my head right along with you. Long distance relationships during school have plusses and minuses for sure--including feeling guilty when I am grateful for the time alone to study but my mate is feeling lonely in another state. I have that a lot. I'm hoping she moves back with you--maybe when you're done with school, jobs will be easier to find and then you can go to movies whenever you want. I've really caught the running bug. I started doing it just because I was so amazed that I COULD--after being obese for so long, it feels like a miracle to be able to run. But now I really love it. I don't run the whole distance though--I usually run 4-5 minutes and walk for 60 seconds. It helps me go a longer distance, and makes it more enjoyable. And I'm able to get much more benefit for the amount of time I'm exercising than before I started running. I read the running books by Jeff Galloway and they really helped me a lot. He really advocates the walk-run method, no matter what your fitness level. Okay, off to study, and run later. Have a great Sunday everyone! :cursing:

Jeni--You know, plateaus are a natural part of weight loss. We'd rather see a steady line downward on the graph, but the fact is sometimes our bodies just put the breaks on for a while. It's a good time to regroup, check your habits and see where you can improve. You've lost an amazing amount of weight in a short time and I'm sure your body is going, WTF?! LOL. I've been on a 6 week plateau. This week, after doing all the examining and tracking and exercising that i've been doing, I just decided to relax for the week and not stress about it so much. You know what, I lost 2 lbs this morning. I don't know if I was stressing too much, or if it's finally making a difference that I've tightened up my game, or if my body just decided to give in. But as long as they don't come back, I'm happy. Taking 3 or 4 days to track my intake on Fitday certainly helped, though. I saw that I was snacking more than I realized, and cut that back significantly. Juli, I think you mentioned before that your SO lived far away. It is hard, I totally agree. We've only been doing the long distance thing since January (this time, that is; he worked in Seattle in 2005). I think you and your honey have been long distance for quite a while, isn't that right? Does it get any easier in your experience? Some days it just sucks so bad. But there are times when it's a blessing because I have time to be the antisocial study girl, and then when we are together I can plan to spend more quality time together. I'm impressed that you've gotten your bachelors and almost finished your MBA in that amount of time. That is a lot of work. And losing weight! Sometimes I stop and realize that it's pretty amazing to lose any weight at all during grad school. This program I am in is pretty intense, but in the second year we spend most of our time in the OR doing cases and it gets a little less hectic and more like working (more enjoyable from what I hear). This first year is just crazy. Tomorrow is a run day, and the sun is finally out around here so I'm hoping for a nice run. I hope everyone can get outside and gets some fun activity in!

Actually, you MIGHT not need another fill. The difference is between "full" and "satisfied". There's a BIG difference between those things, and that is one of the hardest things to learn with the band. Of course, we all have overeating problems that led us to get banded. Before getting another fill, try seeing if you are blowing past your "stop signs": 1. Are you eating small bites, chewing very thoroughly (20-30x)? 2. Are you sitting down to eat with no distractions (computer, TV, etc)? 3. Are you drinking with your meals? (Stop!) 4. When you are midway through eating your (premeasured, no more than 1 to 1.5 cup of solid food) meal, do you notice anything like: -a sigh -a hiccup -nose running -burp -shoulder pain If you do--stop eating. You are "full". There are others, you can google them and find what other people notice is their soft stop sign. These signs can be very subtle, so it's important to pay attention to them. Being "full" is a thing of the past. This is an important thing to learn if you want to be successful with the band. It's not easy, but it isn't as hard as it seems once you get used to it. Try watching for this for a week, and see if you notice anything different. If you do stop eating once you notice a soft stop sign, see how long it takes before you start to get hungry again. If you find yourself hungry in less than 3 hours, you do need another fill. (This is of course if your meal is solid food. If you're eating Soup, ice cream, Protein shakes, or anything that isn't solid food, it will go right through the band and you'll be hungry again in no time.) But if you stop eating at this point, whatever it is for you, instead of waiting until you feel "full" like we're used to from pre-band days, and you can feel satisfied for 3-4 hours, your restriction is right. I hope this helps. These things are hard to learn. It sounds like emotional eating is also a big problem, like it is for so many of us. Separating "wanting to eat" from "hungry" is hard, and if you can start working on that, you might have more success as well. See if you can make a list of things to do to distract yourself from eating when you feel like eating but aren't hungry. That is a good place to start. You can do this--it will take work, though. Good luck to you and let us know how it goes!

This is a great thread. Hopelives--About ice cream, this is my experience. I was a huge sweets eater, especially ice cream. It definitely goes down easy, but my desire to eat it is different than before. First, you spend a month post op eating a pretty restricted diet. You lose weight, and your tastes change somewhat. Then because you are losing weight, that keeps you (at least me) from reaching for the ice cream, or buying it. For the first 6 months, I didn't keep it in the house at all, and if I wanted some ice cream my hubby and I would go to a local gelato shop for a scoop. Now I do keep some low-cal ice cream (or low-cal fudge bars) in my freezer but I usually forget it's there. So, while it will go through the band just fine, you may find that your desire for it goes down significantly. Some people do have trouble with it though, and it sabotages their weight loss--especially if they have too-tight restriction and they can't eat solid foods. That myth about never counting calories or "dieting" is a good one! Just eating smaller portions of what you normally ate might get you by at first, although chances are it won't provide very good nutrition. But as you get closer to goal you do have to watch what you eat. It's best to get those good healthy eating habits established from the start, rather than try to change when you stop losing weight. That's not to say that you can't enjoy dining out or a treat anymore. When I was dieting pre-band, something like that could sabotage a whole week of weight loss. Now I do keep portions smaller, but I have to compensate by eating well the rest of the time. One myth I see a lot is that you aren't "restricted" unless you can only eat a few ounces, 1/4 cup of food, or whatever. The band isn't meant to starve you! A lot of docs unfortunately seem to tell their patients they should be eating 4 oz. or less per meal, but that is a gastric bypass thing--they pass it on to their band patients too. Also, some people think that they aren't restricted unless they PB a lot--also not true. I think there are a lot of myths around restriction--what it is, what it isn't. Great thread!

6oz is not too much. It's liquid, which will go right through your band. You're doing fine. When you have significant restriction it might go through slower, but you should never have trouble drinking liquids once you are getting fills--if you are it's too tight. PB's just happen. Hopefully you won't have to find out--remember to chew, chew, chew, when you get to real food. Welcome to band land!

BBK, I've been following your journey and am very inspired! It's very brave to post all of this for everyone to see. I'm sorry you are unhappy with your breasts so far. I just wanted to let you know that it really does take at least a year to see exactly what they are going to heal up and look like. The lumps and bumps will smooth out over time, at least somewhat. I had a BR 7 years ago and the first 6 months were scary, as my breasts had not yet "molded" the way they do over time. I'd just encourage you to keep wearing a very well fitted (full coverage) bra as much as possible. The compression helps the breasts mold the right way and keeps the scarring down. If you do end up having a revision it probably wouldn't be until a year post op, I would imagine--most PS would want to see how things turn out before operating again. Bummer, I know. But the bright side is that it must be easier to exercise with the girls a little smaller and firmer--and you look fantastic! Good luck to you, and I'll continue following your thread to see your progress!

The tissue in the procedure I have looked at isn't fatty tissue but subcutaneous tissue. The advantage is that it retains its own blood supply and most of it survives the transplant (not all of it). Since there isn't fat it retains its volume but looks natural even with aging. There are more surgeons doing fat transfer but that can end up with 50% or more loss of the transferred fat, and like you said it deflates when you lose weight. It's not too hard to get insurance to pay for breast reductions if you have a DD or greater. You'll want to tell them about the pain and tingling, and they'll ask you about things like back and neck pain and shoulder pain from your bra straps. Most PS are pretty well versed with the insurance protocols for getting these procedures covered, and they've been paying for them for years. Tummy tucks are a different story. HTH!

Jeni, I hope your doc gets your PCOS issues all sorted out. I don't have it (to my knowledge) and it's not really in my area of expertise. But hopefully the test results will give you some answers and you can get things moving again! Gwen, do let us know what your doc says on the 19th. If you're struggling with a too tight fill that can make things harder. But like Juli said, you do have a great attitude! Unstoppable, really. ThickChick, tammy...we are in the same boat. I'm still struggling with breaking the 60 lb mark. I've lost what I had gained, but still just trying to work it. Like Juli, I'm undecided about getting a fill, but I'm still leaning toward not, for now. I CAN eat a lot, but I rarely do, and I'd rather see if I can get things back in control by watching my calories. I'm not getting hungry sooner than I should and a cup of food usually keeps me satisfied, so I'm hanging in there for now. Juli, I'm jealous of you getting done in March! I have until May 2010. Janine! That is fantastic news!! The time will fly and you will be on your way again. So glad to hear you are doing well and things are on track for your replacement band. School is going well...have a final for one big class on Monday so I'll be studying all weekend. My hubby and I are living separately, not by choice but because there's no work in his industry in Spokane. So he works in Portland which is about 400 miles away. He's coming in the morning, which will be nice to see him although it won't be for very long. We usually see each other every other week but these last 2 weeks have been hard to swing, so it's been 2 weeks now and I'm anxious to see him again. Back to school, we are starting our actual cases (induction and intubation through the whole case to wakeup) in 2 weeks. So far we've just been intubating in the OR. So we're all anxious about starting this part of the program. But that's what we're here to learn! We have long days ahead of us in the OR and then classes afterward. The summer will be busy! Everyone else: I hope things are going well for everyone. We'll just keep plugging along, huh? The sumertime means lots of fresh fruits and veggies, my favorite time of year. Best of luck to all.

Unfortunately, VS OWNS Bath and Body Works. So they still got your money... I find this thread really interesting. I've been wondering how the girls are going to fare by the end of this all. I had a breast reduction many years ago--went from a 38H to 38C. Since losing weight, I'm now a 34D--I've definitely lost some volume but so far it's not too bad. In the end I might still lose some more breast before I get to goal, although my breasts didn't have much fat in them when I had the surgery, according to my surgeon, so I might not have much more fat to shrink in there. But I think if I had anything added in, I would try to find a surgeon who does augmentation with your own tissue, using a piece of tissue from the abdomen like an implant. (with a TT at the same time) Honestly, though, I'd rather not have any more breast surgery. It would just bug me to have to be augmented after having been reduced! It would technically be better if I'd had the reduction after getting to goal (I had it 7 years ago, long before lap band surgery, thought I wasn't at my heaviest then). I'm glad I didn't wait until after losing weight, though, because without the reduction I wouldn't be able to exercise the way I do now. And life has been so much better without all that weight on my chest--plus not getting stared at like I'm a freak with my giant breasts. That got old and I don't miss it!

Because I've worked in hospitals for years, I knew that most things I would need would be available at the hospital for a 1 night stay. Still, I brought more than I needed. If you are using CPAP, you will need to bring that. I fit everything else into the bag that holds the CPAP. I didn't bring very much stuff and didn't miss anything. I wore a loose dress there so I could wear it home--nothing that buttons or constricts, slip on shoes. If you forget it or don't want to bring it, they can provide footies for walking (I agree, don't bring them home, you don't need hospital germs), a robe or another gown for walking, toothbrush and toothpaste, lotion, even earplugs if you are in a hospital with an MRI suite. (I sleep with earplugs every night, so they were necessary for me.) The things I needed that they couldn't provide were: -chapstick -my glasses & contacts stuff -my face lotion--just a little travel bottle -a book I brought more reading materiel than that but only ended up reading my book. I woke up around 5am and couldn't sleep anymore--the dilaudid PCA was making me itchy, so I stopped using it and just read for a few hours. I guess it just depends on you--do you have to have your things with you, or would you rather not bring a bunch of stuff? Either way is fine, but just know that there isn't too much you will need if you stay a night that can't be provided. Also, the more stuff you bring with you, the more germs you can drag home with you.

TMegs, not everyone is prescribed a liquid diet prior to surgery. It depends on whether your surgeon feels that your liver might be too big prior to surgery. A preop liquid diet is prescribed so that the liver will use up its glycogen stores and shrink, so it's not quite so in-the-way when they are banding you. I wasn't prescribed a liquid diet preop, but some people are--just depends on you and your surgeon. Of course everyone is on liquids post op, and slowly progresses back to a regular diet--this is to give your stomach time to heal securely around the band before you start making it churn and work with real solid food. It's important to follow whatever diet (pre and post op) that you are prescribed. Liquids are tough but it's not for long, and it's for your long term health. If you follow your diet and your rules you shouldn't have to do it more than once (for that long--after that you have liquids for usually a day or two after every fill--that seems to be what most surgeons recommend but not all). Yes, losing 50 lbs is reasonable in a year, depending of course on how much you have to lose to start with. If you lost only 1 lb per week on average (the average weight loss is 1-2lb/week) you will lose 52 lbs in 1 year.

No problem, Claudine. You sound like you have a good attitude going into this. Best of luck to you! You will do great! :thumbs_up:

I'm happy it helped! :incazzato:

Jeni, welcome back! We missed you. Gwen, do you think you might be filled a little tight? You were having heartburn before, and with the PBs and the papaya enzyme to eat breakfast, and chest tightness? I'm a little concerned. What do you think? Have you seen your doc since all this started? Just want you to be okay! Hope everyone's weekend is going well. It's raining in eastern Washington this weekend, ugh. Hope it's better where you all are!

Usually the meds are weaned off 1 at a time. It's important to do this with your doctor, as s/he will have a certain order they want weaned first. Some of them, particularly beta blockers (like toprol) have to be weaned very carefully or you can have rebound hypertension (high BP).

After 7 months you should be fine. I was only given exercise restrictions for the first 6 weeks, and even with that I was able to do quite a bit. Now I do whatever I want without restriction and have no problems.

You know, I don't really believe in "motivation" when it comes to exercise. In the beginning, when you are starting out, you just do it because you know you have to. After a while, you realize how good you feel doing it, and after doing it, and that is its own motivation. The hard part is going from the couch to your feet. I think that's where we get the idea of "motivation" from--you need something to motivate you to get upright and go to the gym or go outside or whatever your exercise of choice is. But if you can just tell yourself to make that first step, I think you'll find the rest of it is a lot easier. I've been working out regularly for 3 years (long before I was banded) and usually I have no problem doing my exercise for the day, but on occasion I feel sluggish or reluctant for whatever reason. Occasionally I just take the day off, but not usually. I find just changing into my workout clothes is enough to get me going. If I just drive to the gym, my body does the rest automatically and I feel great by the time I've started. If it's a run day for me, once I get my clothes and shoes on I'm usually good to go. But if I sit there without making that first step, it's much easier to just avoid the whole thing, even though I know I'll feel so much better if I just move my body. I don't know, I think it's more a matter of making a decision than it is motivation. That's my take, anyway. Oh yeah, there was some mention of forming the habit. That's a great point. The YMCA has a thing called the 12 week program, for new exercisers. It's usually included for free in their membership (I don't know if all Y's have it but I think they do.) You meet with a trainer in the beginning and then every 3 or 4 weeks for the 12 weeks. They set you up on a basic weights and cardio program and help you progress through it. Their theory is that if you can commit to doing regular exercise 3 days a week for 12 weeks, you have formed the habit and it is much more likely that you will continue. It worked for me, I did it 3 years ago and have been at it ever since. Anyway, that's a thought for people trying to form the habit of regular exercise. HTH.

If it makes you feel better, I've been banded for a year and 3 months, and I have not ever vomited or PB'd. Not one time. I've been very careful about my fills not to get too tight. If you chew carefully and you don't try to get your band as tight as you can tolerate it, you may not ever have those problems. Of course some people do anyway, but it's not really the norm. It seems most people have it happen just a few times and they learn to slow down their eating, or not eat a particular thing that didn't go down.

Your cough could be caused by a few things. One thing to remember though is that it is your body's way of handling secretions, so you shouldn't try to get rid of it with a cough syrup except to sleep, if it's keeping you awake. You could have aspirated some Fluid during your surgery--we are all at risk of this when we have this surgery, because our obesity puts us at high risk for it, and because of the type of surgery, plus many of us had reflux prior to surgery, which is also a risk factor. But there are other things that can cause a post op cough, like your lungs needing to fully reexpand (I don't know a better way to explain it, but you can google "atelectasis") after being on your back in surgery and being on the breathing machine during surgery and then on your back post op for a while. Your throat could just be irritated from the breathing tube, but that usually goes away after a day or two. You could just have gotten a virus as a response to the stress of surgery and anesthesia. The best thing you can do is make sure you take very deep breaths and cough every hour while you are awake. The breathing contraption that was mentioned above (it's called an "incentive spirometer") helps you do this, but if they didn't give you one to take home, it's okay. Just make sure to take at least 10 full, deep breaths every hour while you are awake. It will probably stimulate you to cough. You can help brace your stomach by holding a pillow against it when you cough. This helps a lot. Also be sure you're getting in your required amount of fluids, this will help as well. Doing this for the next few days ought to improve your situation if it is due to a tiny aspiration or to atelectasis. If you start to develop a fever, chills, or thick mucous with your cough, you'll want to call your doctor, as you could start to develop a pneumonia. This can be treated with antibiotics but obviously you'd want to start that soon if you had those symptoms. In addition, if you notice that your stomach is more tight/swollen or if you have trouble swallowing your diet (liquids, I presume, at this point), or if you develop new acid reflux/heartburn, also call your doctor. I hope this isn't too alarming. If you do the deep breathing and the coughing every hour, it is likely that this will resolve itself. If any of the other symptoms happen or if you start to feel worse, I'd call your band doctor about it. I hope it resolves soon!

You did fine. This band thing is a learning process, isn't it? We've lived for years with our old habits and thought processes. They don't just go away overnight. You probably learned more from this "binge" than you did from weeks of being "good"--like, "Hey, this isn't as great as I thought it would be!" Good for you for just getting right back on the horse.

It's natural to be afraid that this won't work. After all, if anything else had ever worked for us before, we wouldn't have had to have surgery. I would recommend you do NOT tell many people before you are banded. Choose some support people to share with, but otherwise don't put that pressure on yourself of everyone asking you all the time. When most people hear about WLS they assume you will start losing right away, like with gastric bypass. The band is different; many people don't lose weight at all for a few months after surgery, and that gets tough when they've told a lot of people and they are asking them all the time. If you are worried about how to face people who expect you to lose a lot of weight right away, do yourself a favor and limit the people who know to the ones who are closest to you. Once you are obviously losing weight, you can tell people who ask if you want to. But it's up to you, it's your body and it's no one else's business. There are people for whom the lap band doesn't "work". Most often it seems to be people who aren't getting good education from their doctors' offices and/or aren't following the rules. Not always, of course. The biggest confusion seems to be about restriction--a lot of people feel they should get lots of fills until they can only eat a few bites of food. The band isn't supposed to work that way. If you work closely with a GOOD doctor (and his/her team) who is good at educating you about what to expect and what to do, you should be successful. Of course there are no guarantees. Just remember that this process can be slow, but that's part of why a lot of people choose it. Healthier weight loss is slower (1-2 lb/week average) rather than losing 40 lbs a month like with some of the other procedures. Don't put pressure on yourself to be anything more than "average". Good luck to you.

Heartburn after banding is ALWAYS due to the band until proven otherwise. The referred pain to your back also indicates that you should see your band surgeon, as soon as possible. It could be something unrelated but because reflux/heartburn is such a common symptom of band problems (usually too-tight fill but others as well) it should always be checked out by your surgeon if it isn't just a brief, one-time fluke thing.