hungry4help

Went to get a fill last week and it was a bit of an adventure. Doc said I needed an UGI before he'd add more. The reason: concern that my lack of feeling full meant that I'd dilated my pouch. Luckily radiology could see me right away and I got tested and went back to my doc within the hour. Sweet. The good news: Very minor dilation and nothing to be concerned about. Still, he'd only give me small fill since the UGI showed that I was restricted. He added just .4. Not sure if it's in my head, but I feel it. For example, I used to easily have a large cup of chunky Soup. Now, barely a medium and I'm full. Sounds small, but makes a big diff in the long term. The challenge for me now is to remember what portions should make me full, then stop and visualize the size of my pouch. I don't want to enlarge it, so being mindful of its size is helpful with portion control. Exercise is obviously key. I try to get 12k to 15k steps in a day, plus working out and playing tennis helps. It ain't easy tho and I feel blessed that the band has been more friend than foe. The longer I have this thing, the more I realize that it's less about a specific target weight that I'm trying to hit. Being 170.2 lbs isn't necessarily going to make me happy. What will make me happy in a sustainable way? Keeping active, making a higher number of good choices rather than bad ones, and learning to listen to my body. It's a struggle. But I just keep reminding myself that I'm worth it. The better I take care of myself, the better I can take care of my family.

I guess different docs have different guidelines, but I do remember that liquids for 48 hours was helpful during the last fill. I'm sure there's a physiological reason, but it also refocused me on "good band behavior." Actually, my doc called today and moved up my appointment for tomorrow at noon. hopeinapril... congrats on taking up walking again. Don't know if you're interested, but I recently got a Nike Fuel Band (http://nikeplus.nike.com/plus/products/fuelband). I'm kind of a gadget girl, so it helps me to monitor how much I'm moving each day. It's a little pricey, but I'm finding it was worth the expense.

Hi all... It's been a long time since I've posted, but have been monitoring the thread over the last few months. Thanks to all of you for providing inspiration to lurkers like me. In some small way, i hope i can return the favor. As others have already noted, the last four years have flown by. I've lost more than 100lbs since being banded. I've always loved being active and now play competitive tennis 2-3 times a week, work out with a trainer once a week and walk home from work each day (about 1 mile). For the most part, that level of activity and my level of restriction has helped me keep the weight off. That's been true for the better part of the last year. But things have started to change. Slowly, but surely, the weight is creeping back up. I'm still working out and eating most of the same things, but I'm beginning to think my metabolism is starting to slow down. Has anyone else experienced this? It's disheartening. When I allow myself to, I start to feel frightened that a few slip ups will lead to a massive slide. I don't want to go backwards and I know how easy it could be to pack on the pounds. I've scheduled a fill for this Thursday -- my first in over a year. Maybe it will jump start the next phase of weight loss, at least I hope it will. Like many of you, I'm tight in the morning and through lunchtime. The only "real meal" I can eat is dinner--the later the better. Getting a fill will mean liquids for 48 hours, mushies for a couple of days and even smaller meals for a couple of weeks after that. Anyone out there have tricks to fire up your metabolism? Am already lifting weights and doing plyometrics. What do you all do? My band has given me my life back and I want to make it as useful as I can for the rest of my life. I'm beginning to realize tho, that I may have to adapt how I use it over the long term.

hi all... anyone attending the east cost conference? if there are enough of us, maybe we can have an off site get together. i'm already in nyc so it's a no brainer for me. if there are enough of us, i'd be willing to hose a get together at my apartment in manhattan. raise your hand if you're going to attend the conf and willing to meet up for a band friendly cocktail party.

Jenna: just checking to see how your dealings with Oxford have gone. Any luck? Have they stated what your out of pocket expenses will be? What's the cost of your surgery? Anyone else out there, please feel free to chime in. I had my first consult earlier this week and the plastic surgeon suggested a full lower body lift. Total fees will be in the neighborhood of $17k; i live in Manhattan and his office is on Park Ave. Yikes. Will need to see a dermatologist to verify rashes etc, a medical photographer to document the sorry state of my skin, and get letters from my primary care physician and bariatric surgeon. All seems doable and I'm hoping to have the procedure done in late November.

if any of you who have oxford freedom, i thought this link might be of interest. looks like they will cover an abdominoplasty. https://www.oxhp.com/secure/policy/abdominoplasty_1008.html

glad to hear it went well. please keep us posted. have they calculated what your out of pocket expenses will be?

hey des... i hear you on the belly fat thing. it's where i carry much of my weight and it's the last thing to go. well, there's also my inner thighs, but that's another issue. i'm hoping to address both problem areas with an abdominoplasty and inner thigh lift later this fall. luckily, i think my insurer will cover the tummy tuck and i'll have to handle the thigh lift as out of pocket expense. as for exercise reducing belly fat. for the first year and a half, i saw a personal trainer 2x a week. it about killed me financially, but i really wanted to commit to the process. exercise helps too, but genetics and luck have the most to do with minimizing belly fat. core strengthening and crunches have helped a lot, but the 20+ years that i was morbidly obese have pretty much ruined the skin around my lower body. it's just not going to bounce back, sigh. nyc: so glad to hear you're getting a puppy. apart from being warm and cuddly, my little pup really helps keep me on track. she gets me up in the morning makes me get up of the couch each and every night for a stroll around the neighborhood. have that structure has been a real help for me.

hi all... i've been lurking too. actually, i hadn't logged in for several months but recently had a fill and thought i'd check back in on this thread. glad to see that so many from our cohort are doing so well. so much has changed for me in the last couple of years. a relationship has come and gone, i adopted a puppy, and i met the person i think i'm going to marry. i've also a had to have a port revision (too many failed fill attempts led to a leaky port). but more importantly, i'm done more than 100 pounds. i've got a little more to go, but i'm close enough that i'm thinking about a tummy tuck and an inner thigh lift. it's been a long strange trip. my food choices aren't always ideal, but my portions are under control and i've been seeing a trainer once a week and playing competitive tennis. next goal: a mini triathlon. hey, a girl's gotta try! since i got a fill last week, i've been thinking a lot about my food choices. to be honest, i still eat chocolate chip Cookies and fries with regularity -- just far fewer of them. i'm not a veggie person, but know that to maintain my weight and get really healthy i'm going to have to make better food choices on a more consistent basis. at any rate, thanks to everyone who posts here with regularity. i've never met any of you, but your stories have comforted me, made me laugh and kept me going.

Hi Jenna... just checking to see how your consult went. I hope it was all good news.

That's great, Jenna. Good luck with your appointment. Would love to hear how it goes. BTW: am sure you've already seen this, but thought it might be useful to anyone else out there who has Oxford Freedom. https://www.oxhp.com/secure/policy/abdominoplasty_1008.html

Did Oxford approve your procedure? I've got Oxford Freedom too and getting approved for my band took just a couple of weeks. Since then, I've checked and it looks like they cover abdominoplasty pretty readily. Am curious to know what your experience has been. Thanks in advance for sharing your story.

Hi all... Can anyone recommend a plastic surgeon in Manhattan? After nearly 2 years and plenty of hard work, I'm down a little more than 100 pounds and thinking it's time to consider an abdominoplasty and perhaps an inner thigh lift. For better or worse, there are plenty of plastic surgeons to choose from in New York City. The problem: which one to choose. I'm aware of local surgeons like Dr. Schulman who specialize in treating weight loss patients. But I do think it's important to consult with multiple doctors and compare their techniques and patients' outcomes. If you've had a procedure done and have a recommendation, please let me know. Thanks in advance for your help.

hubba hubba! you look great juli. once an inspiration, always an inspiration. thanks for posting the pic. now you've got me thinking about my own tummy tuck plans

hi all... back from port revision surgery. after much worrying and hand wringing, the procedure and the pain were pretty minimal. i even got a low profile port out of it! my doc filled me with a total of 8ccs (i had been up to 9.5 when we discovered the leak) during surgery. turns out that was way too much. i felt a lot of pressure on my chest and had a really hard time downing the cup of juice they gave me in recovery. my surgeon's physician assistant had to come in and remove 2ccs and damn if that didn't do the trick. pressure was gone and i could drink pretty easily. i stayed on liquids for the next 24-36 hours and ate a small meal after that. let's just say it's good to be restricted again! actually forgot what it felt like and i had a mild PB episode. oddly, i kind of enjoyed the experience. it's hard to explain, but it felt like my safety net was back. i'd get 7-10 pounds in the weeks pre-surgery and i'm sure it will all start melting away again. anyways, just wanted to report that all was well. if anyone out there has to have a port revision, please try not to worry too much. it's not as bad as you might imagine. if you have any questions, feel free to drop me a line. hope everyone is okay. ps... scrappy, your success is awe inspiring!

after having your port replaced, how long did it take you to get back to working out? 2 weeks? 3? a month? since being banded, i've become something of gym rat and play tennis 3x a week. i'm hoping not to be sidelined for too long. what was your experience like?

nyc... good luck with the tests today! fyi, i was online earlier and came across the smart new york magazine article re: adjusting to life in smaller bodies. here's, um, a taste of the story: "Dramatic weight loss has a way of exposing not just the architecture of people’s bodies but of their lives—the subtle economies of power in their relationships, the suitability of their work, the limits of their own strength—and that architecture may not look nearly as lovely. A woman may discover that her marriage of twenty years was predicated on a dynamic of disrespect and condescension, or that her best friend since childhood required a sidekick who didn’t threaten her somehow. Then again, she may also discover that the man she’s been married to is made of even kinder, sturdier stuff than she ever imagined, and that her friends have a capacity for generosity more profound than she’s ever known. It simply depends. Results, as they say in diet commercials, may vary." you can find the rest of the piece here: Stomach Surgery to Get Thin, But Not Necessarily Happy

thanks all... glad to see that most everyone has been relatively complication free. nyc, looks like you and i are the "lucky" ones. a quick update: assuming my upper gi confirms the leak is NOT in the band, i'll have my port and/or tubing replaced on may 18. i'm pretty much fill-free at the moment and a little panic-stricken. i'd honestly forgotten what it feels sustained physical hunger feels like. despite the problem i'm having, i feel even more sure now that i couldn't have lost as much weight by myself and i really doubt i could have kept it off without my band. looking back on my fills, i always noticed my restriction disappear after a couple of weeks. now i'm thinking i may have had a slow leak for months. if i had it to do over again, i would make my doctor completely unfill and refill me during each fill appt. had i done that, i think i could have, well, pinpointed when the leak began. at any rate, i'm looking forward to getting back on track. meanwhile, i'm allowing myself a +/- 5lbs until my revision surgery. nyc, thanks again for pointing me to the complications thread. it's very informative.

argh... i'm going to have to have my port replaced, possibly my tubing too. has any other march bandster hd to do this too? i've always been difficult to fill (my port has always tilted slightly downward). my doc admitted that either he or one of the other docs in his practice might have poked a hole into the tubing causing a leak to develop. worst case scenario: the leak is higher up in the system (unlikely) and i'll have to have my band replaced. he really won't know until after i have another upper gi and he cuts into me. here's how i realized what had happened: last fill was done my another doctor in my surgeon's practice. he had a hard time getting in and when he finally did, he couldn't pull out much of the saline before putting any in. and for a couple of days after, my port area was swollen and tender. i felt restriction for about a week afterwards, then it fell off a cliff. it was so werid to feel actual hunger again! i really hadn't felt that physical kind of hunger since before being banded. i finally emailed my surgeon and he told me to come right in, which i did. he confirmed what i'd suspected (a leak) and wants be back on the table by next month. wondering if anyone else has gone through a port revision. if you did, was recovery time better, the same or worse than your original banding? did you have local or general anesthesia? and what happened that led you to suspect a leak? any and all insight would be great. hope everyone is doing well.

hey there... i'm from nyc. you?

yup, i definitely ache after a lot of ab work. recently it's been so bad that i sometimes can't even sleep on that side. i talked to my trainer and to my surgeon about it. doc says it could be that the work i've done is pulling on a stitch or somesuch. also, as i've lost weight and can definitely feel the "lump" where my port is and where the scar tissue has formed around it. argh. i've been toying around with the idea of a tummy tuck and i guess i can resolve the issue then my retrofitting a lower profile port. as for ab work, i keep doing it. tho i do limit really strenuous sessions to 2x a week.

trial, might help to be your own advocate with your doctor and push for more substantial fills. for awhile, my doc was only filling .2ccs at a time. that was way too little for me and i lobbied hard for more. it's really helped me. as you know, relying solely on the band is a dangerous thing. keep working out, eat everything in moderation and work out some more. but even when you're doing everything right, you're going to hit a plateau at some point. i'm on one now and have another fill skedded for today. i'm crossing my fingers and hoping i can finally break the 200 mark before the spring. good luck

hi folks... anyone attending the lapband conference in nyc at the end of march? http://cts.vresp.com/c/?MadisonAvenuePlastic/9cd9e4f44a/94e98ef0a7/c71d7c1444 i admit, i've always been more of a reader than a writer on this thread. still, it would be great to put some faces to some names and have coffee with a few of my fellow march bandsters. i can't believe it's been nearly a year. oy. glad to see everyone doing so well. i'm stalled just outside "onderland", but i do have a fill skedded next week. it's annoying how one will last me 4-6 weeks, then it's like poof... no restriction at all. does that happen to anyone else?

congrats, froggy! i've been testing the dating waters too, but so far no major sparks. still, i guess it's good to get out there. i'm on a couple of different dating sites and have told all my friends (mostly married lesbians with kids) that they need to pimp me out. hey, it's hard out there for a dyke. :-) i've always been a pretty confident person, but the band/weight loss has really boosted things. i'm about 40-50 pounds from where i'd ultimately like to be, but i'm healthier and more active than i have been since i was in college. in fact my college sweetheart just facebooked me and commented that i now look like i did when we were in college. i blushed in front of my laptop. heh. and here's a random nsv, i bought a sweater, jeans and a shirt from the gap. yeah, baby... straight off the rack. (okay off the men's rack, but still!) it's been a long ass time since i shopped anywhere other than lane bryant or on the plus sized section of eddie bauer and landsend. i think i'm going to sneak into banana republic next week.... ahh, optimism. hope everyone is well... ps, any going to the lapband convention in nyc? if so, would love to meet up with some of the lgbt contingent.

juli, congrats on the decision to have plastic surgery! i'm sure it can't have been an easy call. as i continue to lose weight, it's an option i'm considering too. i've been seeing a trainer for nearly a year now and have been doing more and more plyometrics. um, loose belly skin and jumping up and down... well, need i say more? at first i tried masking the slapping sound with a cough or a grunt. now, i just giggle and tell my trainer that she's making me slap happy. oy. anyways... i hope you continue to share your plastics process on this or another thread. you're one of my favorite posters on lbt! good luck everyone. here's to a healthier 2009.