Julie*

Hi Michelle~ Just got the PM-thanks for the heads up. I hadn't checked email for a couple of days because I was finishing my class at UVM. That's a bummer that you think he may have taken out too much. I think I am finally feeling some restriction but it's been hard for me. I still take portions that are too much and then have a hard time stopping. Today I feel like I am finally getting it a bit and had a much better day. The weird thing is that I can't eat at all in the morning and then I start to be able to eat more as the day goes on. I guess I shouldn't still be up at 12:13am if that is the case.LOL Hang in there. I'd love it if we could get everyone on here and have an online support group. It's too hard for me to make to the hospital at 5pm on Tuesdays unless I bring the kids. Julie

I'm finally starting to figure out how to work with my band instead of against it. I finally have restriction, this is what I wanted but I have still been trying to eat too much. I realized today that I have to change my mind set and down grade my portion size. Sounds silly but for some reason I have been taking the same old portions and then getting upset when I couldn't eat them even though I really didn't want to. Head hunger is a hard thing for me. Thank God for therapy.

My no list has turned into almost everything after this last fill. I am realizing that I am not chewing enough- Major No foods: eggs Bread Beef chicken Rice - even in rice pudding Peas Corn I'm still trying to figure out what to eat.....

Hi~ I am noticing the same thing with my band recently. I finally have some real restriction and I thought today that maybe it was too much b/c I can barely eat all day. Then, I can come home and eat a "normal" dinner. I think my band just loosens up throughout the day b/c I don't even drink hot stuff usually.

Hi Michelle~ Glad you found me! I haven't been on the computer much this week so I hadn't checked in until now. I also had to go back in for an unfill this time too- Dr. Forgione went to draw back the fill he had put in last time and there was nothing in my band. VERY Strange since he had put in 1 cc. I don't know if he missed or what happened but he put in 1.5 cc. Well, I drank too that day and was able to have some Cream of Mushroom Soup for dinner but by the time I woke up on Tuesday morning I could barely drink. I waited until Thursday morning w/o eating anything and then ran into Deborah Wachtel outside of the hospital and told her what was going on. Dr. Forgione called me later that morning and I went in on Friday and he took out .3cc and now I feel much better. I am eating mushies too and am happy to be eating again. It was no fun only sipping slowly for 5 days. Yuck. The nurse told me that someone else had to be unfilled some on Wednesday so he must've been fill happy on Monday or something. LOL Let's stay in touch- I could use the support. Julie

Hi everyone~ I need some help judging my fill level- I was filled a couple of weeks ago to 1cc and never felt at all like I had a fill. So, last Monday my surgeon brought me in to give me another fill. When he put the needle in to pull out the old Fluid there wasn't any. How does that happen? The fill was done under fluoro. Anyway, he said that he wanted to be more aggressive since the fill obviously didn't work. I was happy with that since I haven't had any fill in my band since August. Here's the problem- I do not know if I am too tight or not. I am able to drink slowly but am having problems with any kind of thicker liquid (like slimfast) or Soup. I keep sliming anything besides Clear liquids back up no matter how slowly I go. I am not supposed to even try solids until this weekend but I can't imagine I'll be able to eat if I can barely drink a thicker liquid. Even too big of a gulp of tea or Water has a hard time going down w/o gurgling. I spoke with the surgeon this morning and after I assured him that I am not dehydrated he asked me to wait a couple of days to see if I can start to chew solids slowly. If I can't then I can come in for an un-fill as soon as I want to. Now that I have given the long and drawn out description I need your insight: Have you found your fills to fill very tight and then loosen up after a few days? What steps (if any) can I take that might naturally help me heal better? (I bought aloe juice and have been sipping it at night.) Thanks so much, Julie

ReneBean~ Thanks- I spoke to my surgeon late this afternoon after sliming after 1 bite of a fat free vanilla yogurt and I'm going in tomorrow for a small un-fill. Let's hope that this does the trick. Julie

Barbara~ Thanks for responding. I wish at little bit would evaporate so that it would give me the "perfect" fill. Anyone else have any insight?

Well, it is now November 29th and I have had a very strange few months with the band. I had the whole blueberry incident on 8/22 and that really set things haywire for me. A complete unfill until the middle of November was not helpful- now I finally feel back on track. I realized though that when I was able to eat more, I did eat more. Gotta work on this. Julie

Well, it is now November 29th and I have had a very strange few months with the band. I had the whole blueberry incident on 8/22 and that really set things haywire for me. A complete unfill until the middle of November was not helpful- now I finally feel back on track. I realized though that when I was able to eat more, I did eat more. Gotta work on this. Julie

I was on glucophage for 2 years for PCOS while fighting the fertility battle and did not have any of the side effects that everyone is talking about. I was on the extended release-1500mg per day- if I remember correctly. I did not lose weight on it- didn't gain either BUT it helped get my PCOS under control and helped me get my beautiful boy. I think it's a wonder drug but not necessarily for weight loss.

Hi~ Sorry to hear about what happened. I had a similar experience with a blueberry last summer except that it was lodged for a few days before I went to the doctor. Yes, not too bright in hindsight. I had a complete unfill and it still didn't come out so they had to scope me and pull the sucker back out. I also spent the night in the hospital on IV fluids b/c I was so dehydrated. Hope you're feeling better soon!

That's funny b/c, while I'm so glad that you felt it was nice, that would have completely irritated me. One of the reasons I didn't tell anyone at work is b/c I wanted to be able to decide for myself what I wanted to eat w/o feeling like people are watching me. That's only my POV though so I am very happy that your supervisor made you feel so supported. That's all that matters.

Hi~ I am going to copy/paste what happened to me last summer: Last Thursday while on vacation with my family I PB'd part of a crab cake and portabella mushroom. It was the first time I'd ever had a really rough PB so I stuck to liquids the next day. Well, I didn't feel very good and it felt like liquids were just barely getting down. Saturday morning I took my kids blueberry picking and only ate a couple of blueberries b/c I still didn't feel that great. Well, things started to get worse and I just felt like garbage. I couldn't keep anything down except water and at that point thought I must've damaged the band or was very very swollen. I came here and read alot of stories about people having to drink warm tea, do liquids for a # of days etc and thought that was going to happen to me too. Well, Monday night I started to spit up my own spit and gave my surgeon a call at home. He told me to either head to the ER or come see him at 8am the following morning. I decided to hold tight and saw him at 8AM yesterday. He brought me down for an Upper GI and the radiologist and him told me that there was an obstruction and showed me the pictures. My surgeon told me I needed a complete unfill and that should take care of it. I had an unfill and when they took my temp it was 102 and my blood pressure was quite high. So, after the fill I was admitted and started on fluids. I was also scheduled for a scope later that day to make sure that the band was really alright. So, yesterday afternoon I was put out for the scope and when I came to I was told that a blueberry had lodged itself in my esophagus and was causing all of the problems. My band is just fine and now that I can drink again, so am I. I had to stay in the hospital overnight b/c of dehydration and the fever (which is gone now). Basically, he thinks my PB irritated my esophagus and then that blueberry just got stuck at the wrong place at the wrong time. So, beware of blueberries my friends. I am on full liquids for a week and then mushies for a week and can get my fill back in 4 weeks. Now fast forward to 2 months later and I am FINALLY getting my fill on Friday due to insurance problems. Anyway, get this checked out b/c things can go downhill fast like it did for me. But, my problem was easily solved once they got the blueberry out. Good luck, Julie

I am currently unfilled and have been since 8/23 when I choked on a blueberry and ended up in the hospital. They thought an unfill would push the blueberry through but they ended up scoping me to pull it out through my mouth. Anyway, I am FINALLY getting a fill on Friday of this week. I had a nightmare of a time with insurance and had to go through 2 appeals before they would approve this fill. It's been nice to eat more of a variety again but I've also regained a few pounds and can't wait for restriction.

My doc says clear liquids day of fill, full liquids the next day, soft foods the 3rd day and then all clear.

Hi Everyone~ I just wanted to share what I have been through in the past few days. Last Thursday while on vacation with my family I PB'd part of a crab cake and portabella mushroom. It was the first time I'd ever had a really rough PB so I stuck to liquids the next day. Well, I didn't feel very good and it felt like liquids were just barely getting down. Saturday morning I took my kids blueberry picking and only ate a couple of blueberries b/c I still didn't feel that great. Well, things started to get worse and I just felt like garbage. I couldn't keep anything down except Water and at that point thought I must've damaged the band or was very very swollen. I came here and read alot of stories about people having to drink warm tea, do liquids for a # of days etc and thought that was going to happen to me too. Well, Monday night I started to spit up my own spit and gave my surgeon a call at home. He told me to either head to the ER or come see him at 8am the following morning. I decided to hold tight and saw him at 8AM yesterday. He brought me down for an Upper GI and the radiologist and him told me that there was an obstruction and showed me the pictures. My surgeon told me I needed a complete unfill and that should take care of it. I had an unfill and when they took my temp it was 102 and my blood pressure was quite high. So, after the fill I was admitted and started on fluids. I was also scheduled for a scope later that day to make sure that the band was really alright. So, yesterday afternoon I was put out for the scope and when I came to I was told that a blueberry had lodged itself in my esophagus and was causing all of the problems. My band is just fine and now that I can drink again, so am I. I had to stay in the hospital overnight b/c of dehydration and the fever (which is gone now). Basically, he thinks my PB irritated my esophagus and then that blueberry just got stuck at the wrong place at the wrong time. So, beware of blueberries my friends. I am on full liquids for a week and then mushies for a week and can get my fill back in 4 weeks.

My doc told me to wait 12 months before getting pregnant.

Hi Everyone~ I haven't been on in awhile and wanted to check in on everyone. I feel like I'm doing pretty well and was toying with the idea of a second fill until I PB'd a portabella mushroom last night. I think I have restriction but sometimes try to eat around if you KWIM. Anyway, I am 10 pounds lighter than I have been in 7 years and just 10 pounds away from when I got married. It's amazing to me that this is working at all!! Take care friends and I'll try to pop in more often.

Hi Everyone~ I'm around too but haven't been online too much recently. We just spent a few days away too w/o internet access and I'm just getting caught up. My band is pretty fickle too. I am also really really tight right before my period. I find that I eat alot of salad now. It seems like the only thing that I can always eat. I eat it with crabmeat, cheese and cukes. I have also had too much ice cream b/c it's one of those things I can eat like the "old me." Not good but it happens sometimes. I haven't been PB'ing b/c nothing but slime comes up but I seem to slime quite a bit. Last night I ate a bite of a fat free hot dog and thought I was going to die. It surprises me though b/c I've only had one fill. I just try to be careful. I'll try to check in more often. I still love my band and it's really helping me realize how much I must have eaten before I had it!

Hi Dr. C~ No questions here either but wanted to thank you for being a resource for all of us. We really appreciate it. Julie

My DH and I just bought bikes for ourselves. Our 6 year old loves to ride and we borrowed a bike trailer to haul our 3 year old around. It's great exercise and really fun- I'm surpised at how much I enjoy it.

Hi Everyone~ Donna: Wow, that is just awful. I have only had 1 fill too and plan on doing it slowly as well. I do not want to be overfilled. Ever since I had that one PB experience I don't ever ever want it to happen again. Hope you're feeling better soon. Sunta: I sometimes feel food go through the band too but it's usually when I have taken too big of a bite or eaten too fast. It's a strange sensation isn't it? It does seem like our group is slowing down- I know that I don't just don't seem to check in as much these days. It's more the fact that it's summer though and I am not on the computer as much. I'm usually outside chasing the kids around! Julie

Your political compass Economic Left/Right: -5.25 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.64

Hi Everyone~ Just giving us a bump... hopefully we're all out exercising and don't have time to check in. Michelle: I don't really measure my food- I just try to stop when I feel that first sign of fullness before it is a "hard" stop.