vkcse03

1. How painful the 1st day home was. 2. How quick the recovery was after only 3 days. 3. How sensitive I am after each and every fills.

I'm a female and I've loss 65lbs in 9months and feel great so I know its not psychological. My thyroid was normal prior to my Lapband surgery. Since losing all this weight my libido has been at zero. Anybody feeling the same? What did you do to restore your libido?:smile2:

My last fill was 2/2009. Usually after a fill, it will take 2 months before it will loosen some. This time instead of the band being loose it got tighter. I went on my first flight since being banded (I read that flying will make the band tighter?). The day I arrived at my destination, I could only take in liquid. The next day I was fine. Once I flew back home, I stayed on liquid that day, cuz I was so tight again. The next day I started my 'monthly', which usually makes my band tighter anyway. To make a long story short...I could not eat anything and had a hard time drinking Fluid for 4DAYS! I was MISERABLE:mad: On day 5&6 I was able to finally eat Soup and salad. I went in to see doctor on day 7 and he wanted to take out 1cc. Doc thinks I may have slipped but was not sure since I was able to eat salad. Even with the soup and salad I could feel the food going down and feel like the food is on the back of my throat. Everytime I burp, the food comes back up?! We decided to take .5 instead of 1cc. Doc said if it does not get better I will have to do a barium test next time. Has this happened to anyone? You're going along fine then the band just start getting tighter for no apparent reason?

I feel your pain. I"m super sensitive to fills too. I dread them everytime. I"ve had about 4 fills and 2 unfill. I'm in pain and usually stay in bed all day the day of the fills/unfill.

Anything SPICY!! I use to eat raw Thai pepper whole w/ every meal. I do miss spicy food. One bite and my band tighten right away and I'm in pain for the rest of the day. I can no longer eat rice (i'm asian!) or bread of any kind but I can eat any type of cakes and chips made.

Hello all! I was banded on 6/2008. So far so good. I've had my bad and good days. I'm very sensitive to fills and I'm usually on my back for 2 good days after even a small fill (.5cc). Food will get stuck often (once every other day). Just recently I've experienced some buring pain around my port area after eating (without food getting stuck)?? This has never happend before?! Does anyone have any idea? Help.

LULUC: Is your pain constant or does it come and go? I had my first episode last Sunday (8days ago) and then again today?! It's a buring painful sensation. It'll last for a good 2-4 hours, and I won't be able to eat or drink anything. But once the pain goes away, I can scarf down food. If it is an infection...should I not have a fever? It's $150 dollars a pop to go see my dr and I want to get some input before spending that $$. Thanks for all your help.

I've had a similar episode. I'm very sensitive to fills also. I went in for my 2nd fill and walked out -4cc then what I went in with. It's the WORST feeling ever. For my 3rd fill, I felt fine in the office but as soon as I got home I could not even swallow my own saliva. I kept foaming and sliming all night. I got about 2hrs of sleep because of chest pressure. The next morning I called the dr's office but since it was July 4th weekend my dr was out of town and the other dr was expected to be in surgery all day. I was told to go to the ER but I knew my ins. would never pay for a non-life threaten dx. But I felt better by that afternoon and was able to take in liquids. My advise would be to have small fills (5cc). I know you want to get to that 'sweet spot' sooner rather than later but it's so not worth that awful feeling.

Don't rush. I'm 7 month post op and I've lost a total of 45lbs. Slow some months and faster other months. Now is the time for healing and not getting on the scale. You WILL have to excerise plus eat a better diet in order to lose weight. I was very disappointed in the beginning because my weight lost was so slow. I was so tight and barely ate anything but the weight just did not come off. I finally decided to start working out 5days a week, intense cardio and then finally I started losing 1lbs a wk. Be realistic and plan your workout schedule. Take time to heal and good luck.

I self pay for my surgery too. I almost gave up the idea of having the surgery done after finding out all the hoops that I had to jump through. But one day I stumble across this forum and a local hospital had an ad on the home page. I found it by accident and truly thought it was meant to be. I paid $9900 for everything ($150 for fills after the first 90 days post op). I was fortunate that I saved all my paycheck while on my last maternity leave. I was saving the $$ for a tummy tuck since I knew that carrying twins will be murder on my stomach. Since I gained so much weight after having my babies I decided to use the $$ towards the lap band instead. There are days when the food will get stuck or I'll be slimming and thinking to myself 'why did I do this to myself' but now that I'm squeezing into a size 10...it's the best thing I ever did for myself.

I'm in the same boat as all of you. I'm very sensative to fills. I swell up. I have a 14cc band, my first fill was 6cc and it felt great, no pain and I felt restriction (for 2wks anyway). My 2nd fill, dr put in 1.5cc and I thought I was going to die! I swell up so bad that I threw up, felt dizzy, nauseous, etc...dr then took out all but 4cc. I went in w/ 6cc and left w/ 4cc. I was so mad at myself but felt so much better. My 3rd fill he put in 2.5cc. I felt fine the office but as I got closer to home I started to slime. I thought I could tough it out, plus, I did not want to go back to 4cc. Well, all night I slimed and PB'd and started to cough up foam! Had 2 hrs of sleep and felt horrible. Swore never to do it to myself again. I'm currently at 7cc and I think I've reached my sweet spot, although I still get stuck on a lot of food. I have to be really careful at what I eat but the portion is small and I'm starting to loose some weight. Thanks for letting me share. My word of wisdom would be...take it slow.

Congrats! So happy for you. I've been reading your questions/updates since you had the surgery. I'm also 5 months post-op too and doing fine. I have a 14cc band and currently at 7.5cc. I think I've finally reached my sweet spot.

sounds like you are on your way! You will be in bandster hell for a month but if you use some self control you won't gain.

Anyone banded by Dr Laker of Great Lake Weight Loss in Detroit? What was your experience? Good? Bad?

NFaith and IMWITHTHEBAND....CONGRATS! On making the decision to a new and healthier you!!:smile2: I did not have any problem w/ the hospital staff but you MUST as questions. The nurse kept wanting to give me the blood thinner but I told her that I did not need it and to check w/ the dr first. Dr Laker then came right in to see me and told me I did not need it. Just from my experience...Shannon has the most knowledge of the three cordinator. Weiner is more conservative about fills then Laker. I really like Laker, he takes his time and ask you questions that are important to determine how much fill you need. Good luck and PM me if you have any questions. I'll be glad to share with you.

Hi! I started w/ a BMI of 34 and had the lap band done in June 2008. My personal weight goal is 120 (i'm only 5'2). So far I'm on average w/ 1lbs a week (lost 25lbs so far). I want to get to 2lbs a week. I workout 5days a week...1 hr a day (3 days cardio, 2 day strength). My typical meals consists of a Protein shake for breakfast(110 cal), a Lean Cusine for lunch (300cal), Snacks (150 cal), dinner (300-500 cal). And still only 1lbs a week if that! I was wondering what your goal weight was/is and how long it took you to reach your goal? What did you do to accomplish your goal?

I went in last week and had a 1.5cc fill increase. I got so sick in the office that the dr took out 3.5cc. So in the end I came home w/ less of a fill then what I went in with. Doc said my stoma got inflammed because of the large fill. He told me to wait a wk and come back for another try. So today I went in again and he put in 2.5cc (total of 6.5cc in 14cc band). I was fine at the office but now that I'm home...I've been PB'ing and sliming. Can't lay down either. Not as painful as last wk but still painful. I'm thinking I'm just swollen and that it'll pass. I'm only .5 cc over what I started with. Any advise or suggestion? Will the PB and sliming stop soon? Help Please.:cursing:

yes, i'm tighter in the morning too. I won;t even attempt to eat eggs w/o drinking a hot cup of tea. I'm so sick of not being able to eat things that I want. And having food get stuck even though i take smaller bites and chew, chew,chew. Now i know what other bandster mean by using the band as a 'tool' and not as a cure all. I'm going to use self control/will power and make good choices and control my portion. Sliming, vomitting, etc,,,is not how i want to live.

Everytime I get a fill, my stoma gets really swollen and I can't keep anything down. I'm fine at the doctor's office when I take the sips of Water test but when I get home I start to slime, Pb, and vomit all night. My doctor is perplexed too because he said this usually happens to larger people (I started w/ a BMI of 34). I dread going for fills now because of the pain afterwards. I got a 2.5cc fill yesterday and only got 2hrs of sleep total last night. I could not sleep because of a knot in my chest, plus I was getting up to vomit and started coughing up all these foam..Yuck! I called the dr office first thing this morning for an unfill but 2 of the doc is on vacation and the only other doc is in the OR all day. The med assistant suggest I go to the ER but my ins won't cover the cost if its not life threatning! Now I have to wait until tomorrow afternoon to get in. I hope the swelling will go down enough by tonight so that I can get a good night sleep. Does this happen to anyone where your stoma get so swollen after a fill? Any suggestions? Help. Does this happen to anyone else and how long before the

Question: Even though you paid for the surgery out of pocket did your insurance then pay for all your fill appointment? I'm wondering if I can appeal my insurance rejections by writting them a letter of the cost of the fills verses what they would have to pay for my medical health care if I DID NOT have the lapband surgery. Has anyone appealed and won?

So far I'm able to keep down clear broth and protein drink today. Dr advises clear liquid first day, full liquid second day, mushies etc. No sliming or PB'ing yet (crossing fingers). I just hope I will be able to sleep tonight. When I went in for my consult the doctor said I was textbook case so now I'm disappointed that I'm so sentive to the fills. Next fill, I'm only going w/ .5cc at a time, even though it's $150 a pop out of pocket.

LOL! Sorry I can't really help you w/ your question but after reading your post, I just had a lightbulb moment. For the past 2 days I was getting some mild cramping around my band area and started to worry but after reading your post I think I may know why now. It started the next day after having sex in an akward position:-)! Thanks, never would of thunk it!!

Thanks all. I'm feeling so much better today. I'm working my butt (5 days a wk at the gym) off to try to lose some weight and even though I have no restriction now it's better than how I was feeling yesterday. I am going back next week for another fill, I'm hoping he could put back my initial fill of 6cc.

Okay where do I start...l got my 2nd fill today and it was one of my worst experience. I have a 14cc band and for my first fill my doc did 6cc which was good. Got good restriction for 2 week but I started to slowly eat more so I went in again today for a 2nd fill. After talking to my doctor, we both decided to first put in 1cc, he left the needle in my tummy and had me drink Water. It went down fine so then he injected another .5cc (for a total of 7.5cc). He left the room and had me wait for 10mins to see how I felt. Only after 5 mins, I had to leave the room to tell him that the band was too tight. My chest hurt so bad (pain scale of 9). Doc came back in, poke me again and took out .5cc. Drank water, felt fine. Left the office but once I got to my car, I started sliming and felt very nauseous. I sat in my car for 15 mins and as the time goes by I felt worst. I was going to leave and chuck it up and hope that the feeling would pass. I figured I was probaby swollen and that it would go down. But then I recalled reading some posts on here about people going into the ER afterwards and I did NOT want that to happen, plus I was going to be extremly busy this weekend and could not afford to feel sick. So I walked back to the dr's office. Waited again for 20 mins. He then came back and said that I may have just swallowed some air and had an air pocket. So I waited again, for 30 mins. It was the longest 30mins of my life. I was so nauseous and my chest felt like I swallowed a golf ball. Doc came back and poke me again, took out .5cc, waited...not better. At this point I just wanted to feel better so doc said that because I did not feel better after taking out 1cc that I may just be swollen/inflamed from the pressure of the initial 1.5cc fill. We agreed to take out all but 4cc (I started out w/ 6cc) until I heal. So next week I have to go back and I feel like I'm starting all over again. I was hoping to only have 3 fills before reaching my 'sweet spot' but I guess that's not going to happen now. I was so upset today that my stomach could not tolerate the increased in saline. I dread having to start over again next week. Doc said he will try to increase me from 4cc (current) to 6.5cc but what if it happens again? That's a 2.5cc increase! I'm self pay and cannot afford to get 2-3 fills a month! As anyone who have been too tight knows....it's the worst feeling ever! Has anyone else have this problem? And if you did leave the office and came home...did you feel better after a certain amount of time? Wondering what to do next week if this happens again.

:eek: Someone please tell me what I'm doing wrong...I'm so frustrated right now. To start off...I'm Asian and do not always eat the typical foods and there is no way for me to track my calories consumption online (dailyplate.com). I have been eating alot less, choosing better food choices and execersing but still not able to loose 1lbs a week. Here's my typical daily consumption: Breakfast- 11oz protien shake Lunch- 2 eggs over easy OR small cup of chilie w/ Beans Dinner- 1 cup of stirfry vegetables with .5 cup of meat (grilled, stirfried, baked) Snack- watermelon (2cup through out the day), non-fat yougart (2oz), or other fresh fruit I stay active daily chasing 3 kids, taking them to parks, mall, doing housework etc. Also, I try to be in the gym at least twice a week doing cardio, weights, etc for an hour. Yes, I do splurge maybe 2X a week w/ a cone from Dairy Queen.:w00t: But every Friday morning, I would get on the scale and it would SLOWING move (1lbs a wk or it would stay the same). I was banded on June 6, 2008 and so far lost only 15lbs (5# of that was only lost because I had the flu:lol:). Had my 1st fill 2wks ago (6cc in 14cc band) and since lost restriction. I have not gained back any pounds only because I'm working so hard to shed them but I'm feeling very frustrated at the moment. I can't keep a daily calorie count but I have been reducing my portions and making better choices and still NOT able to lose much. My goal is to lose 2# a week. Anybody with any insight...Please help:confused2: Thank You.