iamlisad

Hi all - I've posted very seldom, but was banded on 2/29 at Magee Hospital in Pittsburgh. I'm down 45 pounds from my highest ever weight and 35 since surgery. I was feeling pretty good about that. Magee's program is very conservative so with my first fill I got 1 cc. I feel like my success so far has been driven by will power. After the first fill I got an occasional slight stuck feeling so I was hoping that an additional fill would begin to make a difference and give me that feeling of fullness that I keep hearing about. So on 5/20 I went back for my second fill and according to their protocol they only gave me 1/2 cc this time so I'm now at 1.5 cc in a 10 cc band. Since that second fill I have felt absolutely no restriction, no stuck feeling, nothing. I haven't lost an additional ounce since that fill, and over the weekend did my first "cheating" including a hot dog in a bun (yep, it went down with no problem) and a piece of birthday cake. No ill affects except guilt and I've gained back 2 pounds. I called the docs office and they said that since they withdrew the Fluid and then refilled they are certain the fluid went into the band and to "be patient." They won't give me any more until my 4 weeks are up. Has anybody else experienced a "disappearing band?" Any suggestions? Thanks much - Lisa D Pittsburgh, PA 278/268/235/175

Thought I'd update you on what ended up happening. I called and asked to speak with Rachel since that is who my appointment was with. I was put through to Kelly's voicemail. She called me back and said that she really wanted me to come in to discuss this with Dr. McCloskey, so I did so yesterday. I still didn't "see" Dr. McCloskey, but I saw her surgical fellow and heard them talking about me in the hall. They were very concerned about my going to Cambodia with anything in my band since I would have to go to Thailand (a short plane flight or long car ride) to find anyone who knows anything about bands. Since I was supposed to have 1.5 cc in the band, they wanted to take .5 back out. I reluctantly agreed. Kelly came in to do the withdraw and could only get .5 cc out. It was NOT my imagination that going from 1 cc to 1.5 cc left me with less restriction than I had before, because God knows where it went but it sure wasn't in my band. She ended up simply putting .5 cc back in. Kelly was great and assured me that as soon as I get home she will give me my 1 cc and I can come back in every 2 weeks to get more as needed until I have restriction. When I went to check out and make my appointment for my refill, they told me that I already had an appointment for that on July 22. I knew that appointment was to be with Rachel so I asked if I could change the appointment to either Kelly or Bill. The response was a hushed, "Rachel is no longer with us." So maybe I wasn't the only one having problems?? Anyway, we're off today for our trip. I'll let you all know how an almost empty band does on a 15 hour flight since that's our travel time from Newark to Hong Kong. Thanks again for the suggestions and support from the Magee folks! I really appreciated it. Cheers - Lisa

I'm still waiting to hear back from Kelly about my scheduled un-fill tomorrow. I'm really reluctant to go in for it, but I'm not sure how they'll treat me if I decide just to cancel. I flew to California and back a week ago for work and to be honest upon arriving home I was a little tighter, for about a day. But at this point.... 4 months into it with 1.5 cc and no restriction, I think I'd welcome a little tightness. I'm hoping that once they discuss it they say just go ahead and go with the 1.5 but we shall see. I'll keep you posted! Lisa

Hi all - I'm hoping somebody out there can say "I had that!" and I'll feel better. I'm one week post-op today and have done pretty well. I've obeyed the rules. When I am sitting down or laying down I feel perfectly fine. When I eat or drink I feel a little gassy but that's all. But then when I stand up.... yikes! It's like my body is that of a different person. I get a stabbing pulling pain sensation in my lower right side - sort of right in the area straight to the right of the belly button where the fat folds. :-) There is no incision there, no bruise there, but it is making me nuts. I find myself wanting to walk around stooped over because it seems to pull more when I try to stand up straight. I go back to the doc on Tuesday so I'm going to ride it out till then, but despite thinking it has to get better, it hasn't. Any thoughts? Thanks! Lisa D Pittsburgh, PA PS - I've learned so much from reading old posts and looking at some of your blogs. Thank you for being here!!!!

I really appreciate the insights that you have both offered me into the program at Magee. It's funny, I was in the exploratory pre-op phase for about a year and always saw Kelly in the office. Then post-op I've had Rachel. I haven't seen Dr. McClosky since surgery on 2/29. I've lost 35 pounds and I feel great, but I'm still very frustrated. So here's my question for you Magee folks for today.... In about 10 days I'll be leaving for a 10 day trip to Cambodia with some other Asia stops along the way. My kids were born there and we've gone back a couple of times now. During my last visit Rachel said that I would need to come and have my band emptied before flying that far and going to a location without easy access to healthcare. But, I only have 1.5 cc in my 10 cc band right now. I have NO restriction. She also said that when I get back I'd need to start over again at 1 cc and slowly build back up (build back up?? I'm nowhere...) So I'm scheduled next Tuesday to have my band emptied and I'm thinking of just cancelling. I know this will probably make them mad, but is it my decision? Do you have any thoughts on this? Thanks so much... Lisa D Pittsburgh, PA Magee patient

Thanks for the feedback. To answer a few questions... No - I'm not paying for these tiny little fills. Insurance, thank goodness. There are 3 P.A.s/nurses at Magee who do fills. Rachel and Kelly take care of Dr. McCloskey's patients. They have both very clearly told me that it is Magee protocol to not fill more frequently than every 4 weeks, but perhaps there is some variation there with the other docs. I guess I can buy the "smaller belly" theory somewhat. Even though I've only lost 35 pounds and I hope to lose nearly 100, I've already gone from a size 22-24 in pants to a size 18 so maybe the inside is getting smaller, too. I know most of you have been here with the frustration, too, until you get adequate restriction. I'm just discouraged because it's going to be so far down the road for me. In addition to this, I'm scheduled to make a trip to Cambodia in July for a couple of weeks and they've told me that they'd prefer to unfill me completely before I make that trip. And then of course there "protocol" is that I'd have to build back up 1 cc at a time. Rachel did tell me today that perhaps if I don't have any restriction Dr. McCloskey would feel OK about me not getting unfilled. But at this rate, I'll be a year out from surgery before I'm up to 5 cc's!!! At first I wasn't crazy about the stuck feeling, but now I feel like I'm missing the friend who was just starting to tell me to stop eating!! Thanks again for the feedback - Lisa D Pittsburgh, PA

Hi everyone - I was banded last Friday, 02/29 at Magee Hospital by Dr. Carole McCloskey. I didn't have to go through the six months of classes because I had first gone for a consult before that started. I did 6 months of private sessions with my PCP. I was originally scheduled on 2/1 and Magee pulled the plug on the surgery the afternoon before. My insurance (which is my primary) had denied the claim (they said I should have been 12 pounds heavier) but my husbands insurance had approved and was willing to make full payment as the secondary. The risk folks at Magee wanted to make sure that the secondary was really willing to pay before we proceeded so they gave away my O.R. spot and bumped me to 2/29. My experience at Magee was OK. I liked Dr. McCloskey and felt comfortable with her. I was surprised at how crappy I felt after the surgery. I had a vaginal hysterectomy about 5 years ago and was ready to get up and go pretty much as soon as I woke up but this time I felt like crap. In hindsight I wish I had a support person stay with me overnight. There is a chair/bed in the room that makes that possible. While the staff is good, it does take some time for them to respond. I woke up at some point in the middle of the night and was pretty disoriented in a dark room with the door closed and I couldn't find my wand with the call button on it! Would have been nice to have my hubby or daughter there in the room just for reassurance. I came home Saturday afternoon after the upper GI. Sunday was spent mostly sleeping. Yesterday I moved around the house a bit. I had hoped to go back to work later this week after reading how well many people do post-op, but my belly still really hurts and I've had the runs about every 20 minutes for the past two days. Dr. McCloskey's protocal calls for 3 - 4 days of clear liquids and then move to full liquids so today I had some s/f instand breakfast which I think has made the runs worse. Grrrr. With my stomach growing, belly aching, and running to the toilet constantly I'm having a hard time keeping focused on what a good decision I have made. Its helping to read some of your stories to know that once I get through t his valley it will be worth it. Does anyone know of any post-band support groups that meet in person in Western PA? Groups I've come across seem to be bypass heavy. I live in the Murrysville area but work in Pittsburgh. Cheers to all - Lisa