JustMarci

I've noticed that those of you who had early fills are very very successful with your weight loss. This is what is baffling me. How did you get these fills so quickly??? If the band is a "tool" and we know that it is, to effectively use that tool we need to feel restriction and the insurance companies are not letting us use it correctly. ::grouphug:: Just trying to make sense out of this whole issue...

I was banded on 2/4/08 and I will say that the pain at my port site lasted approximately 2-3 weeks. 5 weeks post-op and sometimes if I sit for too long when I stand up I feel a minor amount of pain as well but not nearly as much immediately following surgery.

Lynne, I'm with you on this. I saw we have the same doctor! I was banded 2/4/08 and found out Monday that I cannot have a fill until after my 90th day post op. I am sooooo disappointed. I've been on regular food now for 2 weeks and am not having much restriction at all. I'm willing myself to stop eating and following the strict guidelines, but the scale will not budge. To me it makes no sense...if you are eating these tiny portions, mostly protein, almost no carbs, drinking the water and getting in the protein shake in some way, shape of form, how could it be that I don't lose???? Especially compared to what I used to eat?! I can't wait for my 6 week post-op appointment to discuss this with the doctor further...

He doesn't do the fills in the office; he does them in the hospital under flouroscopy. He counsels all his patients in the beginning that the reason why he does it this way is because you have fewer "misses" and he can ensure a positive experience that way. I know my original post sounded a bit whiney...I'm so excited I did this and this 20 pounds I'm down is the fastest I've ever seen any type of weight loss on any type of program. I'm just so frustrated in not seeing the scale move at all for 2 weeks straight. I'm following their guidelines strictly with the help of all the fabulous recipes I found here and I get all my Water in and my protein/drinks. I know we are only supposed to lose 1-2 a week and I'd be so happy if I saw that in the past 2 weeks. those of you going through something similar have you gone back to mushies to give yourself a boost???

I've been lurking on the boards for about a month now and finally decided I had a very important to ask all of you experienced bandits.. I had my realize band put in 2/4/08. Best decision I ever made in my life -- no regrets whatsoever. Now, I'm beginning to feel as if I don't have as much restriction as I hoped for. I've been on regular food for 2 weeks and I know I could more than the allotted 3-4 oz. but I choose not to. I've lost anywhere between 19-23 pounds thus far which I know is incredible but I haven't lost any of it since I went to solids. I was under the assumption that fills could happen at any time post-op as I've seen so many of your posts and noted that many of you have had fills at 1 month post-op. My doctor's office is saying that I cannot have a fill until the 91st day post op which puts me to May!!!! This seems so unfair to me since I want this to be successful and my insurance company says that it CAN be done within that 90 day period following surgery. Has anyone else experienced this type of issue with their fills? Are you all having no problems with your physicians?? I love my doctor (Dr. Abkin) and I have another post-op appointment with on 3/27 and plan on discussing with him further then. Any information I can gather before then would be so helpful! I love reading all the posts here; you all have been so helpful especially during the liquid phase without even knowing it! :drool: