pammie

Hello all. I am requesting any help or information that you may be able to give me. I live in England, I am a midwife and also have a band myself. I would love to learn how to do fills/defills and set up in business myself. I have no idea where to start. Banding is not as widely known about nor used here, as it is in the States, so there are very few places that do fills and nowhere (that I know of) that I can find out any information about learning. Any suggestions will be gratefully received. Thank you everyone.

hiya mbanja. that is so very informative thank you. I hope wassabubble responds too! I will contact Inamed and find out if they do this in the UK also. Doctors seem to be rather reluctant to either teach or to give information. Yes I do give injections and iv's and suture, draw blood etc. And to lisa, I think its a good idea for the likes of you and I to learn to give fills. We would have a great understanding of how a bandster feels and what they are experiencing and therefore I believe would be beneficial to the process. I will indeed keep you informed of any relevent progress. Thank you to you both for your help, x

Hi Tammy and Long2bfree. Thank you for taking the time to reply. I am not a nurse aswell, only a midwife. I doubt the professional bodies here would want to help though as bariatric surgery is rather frowned upon by the vast majority of people here. This country is always slow to catch up with these things! BUT contacting the manufacturers is great idea. They may be able to point me in the right direction at least! I think I will contact the European surgeons that fit the bands too. I know that most of the Brits go to Europe as its so much cheaper. They then have to have fills in Britain, and many of the surgeons then come over for a day or so a month and try to fit these appontments in. Maybe they need a little help, hmmm. Thanks people. Keep those suggestions coming. I truly appreciate them. xxx

Hello Cyrena. Sincere apologies for not replying sooner. I have been terribly busy. BUT I have also lost 5lb and gone down a dress size so I am ecstatic. I read somewhere (I cannot even remember where now) on this site about a 5 day band test. I did it. This is day 6 and final weigh in day and I am very happy. I intend to follow your examples although I know I need a little more fluid in my band as I do not get signs of fullness like you and the others who have optimum restriction, have. My fill is booked for 7th May. I am being guided by the visual of the cup you gave me and whilst I am NOT full, I am not hungry. I could very easily eat more though and so am using restraint to stop myself eating. Rather dangerous I fear!! I thank you for all your great advice and help. You really have made a difference. I will be calling on you again if you do not mind.

Cyrena, once again you have been fabulous. Thank you so very much. That makes so much sense. I can eat MUCH more than that and do not feel full nor have any signs. If I eat too fast or do not chew properly then it gets stuck and is very painful with the associated slime but I am NEVER sick or pb. I have an 8 ounce cup of coffee in the morning and like you have to sip it really slowly or it feels like I have swallowed a rock - and I spend the morning warming it up in the microwave. By lunch time I can eat. I can eat a big sandwhich and again, as long as its not fast I can eat it and still get no signs or feelings of being full. Many times the first bite or two gets stuck but as soon as the blockage has cleared then I can eat fine. At teatime I can eat a meal almost as big as preband. I am going to book a fill. Maybe another ml will make the difference. I really hope so. Thank you for the cup measure too. That is very helpful to have a visual of what I should be aiming for. Yes please some more ideas about what you can/do eat in a day would be great. What is a tatertot? How long would it take you to eat 8 oz of food? Do you count calories or just eat what you like within reason relying instead on portion control? Poor you. I must be driving you mad now. I really do appreciate your time and effort. Thank you Cyrena xxx

Hey thats me as well Coo. During the day I can take it or leave it. Food just does not have the same power as it does in the evening. It makes not a drop of difference if I distract me self or not. I just am hungary in the evenings. I have tried to eat more during the day thinking that when the evening comes I won't need to eat such a lot, but I do. I am quite well restricted during the day but it loosens in the evenings. I am worried about geting another fill incase I cant eat or drink during the day. I have to travel a LONG way to get an unfill and it costs me a fortune too.

Hi cyrena. Many thanks for that reply, it is most informative and explains such a lot. If that is the same 'full' feeling that is common to most of the bandsters, then I have been searching for the wrong thing all this time. But, I don't get any of the signs that you and everyone else speaks about. I do have restriction but I think perhaps I need just a little bit more. I think that may make a difference. May I please ask, when you speak of a 'cup' full. How big is that cup? Would it be possible for you to measure how much liquid that cup holds so that I can visualise the amount. I know your recipies, etc. usually require measures in cups, but we tend to work in precise measures. I think you are talking about the effects you have, pb'ing etc after you have 'over' eaten. You see, I can over eat and I dont have any problems. I am more restricted in the mornings but as tea time comes I can eat anything. I am rather scared in case I get another fill and end up unable to eat or drink anything all day, until the night. What do you think? xxx

cyrena, when you say you are completely full, what does that feel like. Is it the same feeling of 'full' that you used to have pre band or is it different?

Tonya, Thank you so very much for your lovely reply. That all makes so much sense, so why oh why can I not do this. I suppose I dont have any dietry support. My doctor just gave me a book and said that as long as I eat less I will loose weight. I spend forever on here reading all the advice which is so very conflicting mostly and with everyone's different experiences to add to the mix, makes me go cross eyed. I read your original post and it felt 'right' though very different to my experience. The description you gave is the experience that I wanted and was expecting, but did not get. I am still confused about the food and the 'getting stuck' bit. WHERE does it get stuck and why isnt food not being able to go through the band a good thing. Sorry for being dim but these things really do confuse me. If I understood properly then maybe I could work with this band instead of against it

hi. I really struggle with not feeling full. I got this state because I am an overeater. I thought the band would help me to stop overeating - eating even though I am not hungry but it doesn't. I doubt that anything will help me. I read of people who say I can only manage a few mouthfuls and then have to stop or are sick/pb. Not me. I can still overeat. As soon as that initial pain has gone, I can eat for England. I wish I had gotten more radical surgery. Like had my mouth sewn up!!

Wow that was really helpful and so kind of you to post that for everyone. I am still rather confused though. I have been banded since 8th oct 07 and still have not lost weight..well a few pounds. I have had 4 fills now and my question is this. If the object of the game is to keep food in the pouch then why do we have to chew so much. surely chewing to a liquid allows the food to go through the band and into the lower stomache? Also I have difficulty eating or drinking anything until about 4pm. No matter how small my bite or how much I chew, even a drink gets stuck. BUT if I allow it to go down, with the intense pain and slime, then my eating gets easier until I can eat fairly normally. After about 4pm I can eat pretty normally. Even though food gets stuck/slime, etc. and I (think) I have fairly good restriction, I still dont feel full. In pain maybe but NEVER full until I have eaten a large plateful of food. Should I go for a fill? I asked my Dr if the saline in the band can be displaced (go back up the tube if food is forced through) and he says no. So why then is it easier for me to eat AFTER I have had a blockage or food stuck for a while? I just dont understand. I really do think that the band is not working for me. It seems that everyone else gets this fullness feeling except me. I get pain but no fullness.

oh wow, that sound like a great idea. Not possible for me though as I have to travel a great distance and pay £150.00 plus expenses for each fill so I would be bankrupt... skinny, but bankrupt !!!

Good luck honey!!!! I am feeling a bit down as my restriction is not what it was, its slowly become looser for some reason. I emailed my Dr to ask if food could dissipate the fluid in the band as it pushes past, and he says no. He said that sometimes there is residual air and that gets reabsorbed by the band causing the band to become looser again. I think I will book a 5th fill. Maybe just a touch more fluid will make the difference. Here's hoping!

hiya trapped inside. thank you for your kind words. I am trying to exercise but its hard. I just wish I could have some blooming restriction. Oh well. Either I will have to wait a bit longer or I am the only one who it won't work for. C'est la vie!!

Hiya. I was banded in Belgium on 8th oct 07 with a 10cc band, No fluid put in at time of surgery. I had my 4th fill about 9days ago and had restriction yesterday for the first time, but its going away again now. I have lost a total of 10lb since oct and I am getting really really fed up with this waiting.

Hi everyone. I had restriction yesterday for the first time and today its going again. I was elated and trying to eat all sorts just to feel that pain that told me that it was working. I have 6.75 in a 10cc band and its week and 2 days after my 4th fill. Bummer.

aww thank you Honey. I am sat at my computer eating (very slowly) my tea. Its going down a little at a time. Thats ok with me.

I had all my saline taken out at my 4th fill last week and I had lost .75mls. My Dr said that it was due to fluid being left in the tubing. Many people experience this and there is very little that can be done. Don't loose heart.

Hi all. I had my heliogast with Marc Fouquet in oct 07. I have 6.75mls in a 10cc band. I had my 4th fill last week and up until last night had no restriction at all and have had no weight loss and today BANG! I can't eat a darned thing. W'hoooo. At last!!!

Me too. I ws banded in Oct 07 and have had no weight loss. I had my 4th fill (taking me up to 6.75mls in a 10cc band) last week. Last night I was saying to my friend that I was convinced that the band was not working for me and then this morning I could not even drink my coffee. I have struggled to eat or drink anything all day. I am not panicking yet as this darned thing is so fickle it may be back to normal in the morning, if not then I am going to enjoy this restriction while I can. Its a bit scary though don't you think?

Can we please have the date that a thread was started, not just the date of the last posting and can we also have a way of knowing (such as a colour/shade change) when we have read or been into a thread. This is a BIG site and I like to read as much as I can but I do get a bit frustrated when I find myself re reading the same threads over and over again, and missing the new stuff. Thank you from England! xxx

call me a doubting thomas, but I wondered if she was doing a bit of an anne diamond, not admitting to sugery. And fern, she is keeping rather quiet about her own weight loss isnt she. Good for both of them, I am not critisising in any way. If they have been banded and want to keep it private, I wish them luck.

Thank you Mr NG. I agree that it is a blog - but with a bit of a difference in that a standard form could be used to begin it, so that the relevant details are not ommitted. Is there a place already on this forum to do a 'blog' then? Perhaps I have missed it somewhere. x

How about a place where people can record their own personal journey without the thread being interrupted by other bandsters congratulating or moving away from the subject in question. It would be best if only the 'diary owner' was able to write in it. It would need a form to fill in so that each bandster diary starts with the same information, in the same order, so that readers could see at a glance everything they need to know. They would be able to refer back to it as they need to / or as the story unfolds. Apart from this being great for all of us to read, it will also be a cathartic exercise.

hi. I was banded in 8th Oct in belgium and have a heliogast. I had nothing put in the band at the point of surgery then had 2.5mls Nov 9th in London and still no restriction nor weightloss. But I have no complaints about the band. I did extensive research before the surgery and found nothing derogatory about Heliogast. Just need more fill, thats all. sigh! good luck all x