afw

I had my surgery 2.5 years ago, and lost 50 of the 100 pounds I wanted to lose. Then I got pregnant, and delivered my third child seven weeks ago. Right now I am 20 pounds higher than I was when I got pregnant - 70 pounds from my goal. I had my band unfilled right before delivery since I had a c-section and spinal anesthesia makes me vomit, so I am literally starting from square one, though with slightly less to lose than the first time. Which brings me to my question - I'm curious if anyone else has been through something similar? Maybe not with a pregnancy, but with a complete unfill after an extended period of not losing? What were your experiences?

I was banded nine months ago, and lost 52 pounds in the first five months. But since then, I've been pretty much stuck, and I still would like to lose another 50-60 pounds. I'm happy about the fact that I have not gained weight over these four months; it's been really quite effortless to maintain where I am - I think I have gained two pounds, but even that fluctuates. But I'm not really happy with where I am. So for those of you who've gotten off-track, how do you get back on? I probably need a small fill, I know that, but I'm trying to figure out how to recapture the motivation and the dedication I had last summer and fall.

I have 6 cc's in a 10 cc band, and had great restriction for about two months. But it's gone, and I feel looser than I have since I got the band. I got .5 cc added a few days ago, but that caused me to be so tight I couldn't swallow Water. I've come to the conclusion that fill is an art, not a science, and it's totally trial and error. Hang in there, and get another fill next time. You will find your sweet spot, and it might be closer than you think. Who would have thought at 6 I could eat anything, even hard crusty pizza, and 6.5 I can't even swallow water? (BTW, I do not have a leak. All my saline is still there - we checked. Most likely I have lost a bit of the visceral fat around my stomach and in my band, making it looser.)

Assuming you had a doctor's diagnosis of a medical condition, including obesity (and you would have had to, to have surgery in the US), your surgery should be deductible, but only the amount that exceeds 7.5% of your adjusted gross income. So: if your AGI was $50,000, 7.5% of that is $3750. If your surgery cost $12,000, you could deduct $12,000 minus $3750 = a deduction of $8250. Disclaimer: I am not a CPA or a tax attorney - I'm just really good with Google. I would suggest using TaxCut, TurboTax, or another software program to do your taxes, if you don't want to hire a professional. That way you'll be sure to get the math right.

WOW! That is so scary. Although, part of me can sympathize, I was over-filled and totally blocked for about 12 hours overnight, and was waking up every fifteen minutes choking on my own spit, if there had been a needle in the house I'm not sure I wouldn't have at least stared longingly at it for a while...

I use straws all the time. I've never had a problem with them. That's the only way I can get the protein drinks down.

I've had my band for six months, and I've lost 56 pounds so far with 6 cc's in a 10cc band. My loss has slowed dramatically the last few weeks, and I've been quite hungry, and able to eat a LOT more than I could a few months ago. So, get a fill, right? On Wednesday I got .5 cc in my band, and about 12 hours later I could not swallow my spit, nothing - I was completely closed off. I went in first thing Thursday morning and had just that .5 cc removed. Now I feel even looser and hungrier than before. We took the kids out for pizza for dinner on Saturday, and I was able to eat the crusty part at the end! I haven't been able to eat bread in seven months - and I don't want to! So my question is this - this doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, that I'm half a cc of saline away from being completely closed off, but able to eat literally anything. Nothing gets stuck, everything just slides down. Has anyone else been in this position? Should I try getting a tiny little fill, maybe .2 cc? That seems like such a tiny amount that it hardly seems worth bothering with, but where I am right now isn't going to fly. I've lost only three pounds in the last month, and I was losing at a solid 10 pounds a month for a long time.

Well, the vomiting has calmed down; it's been about six hours since the last episode. I'm not going anywhere near solid food until the stomach cramps stop. My doc's office is not open yet, but I'm going to call when they open in a little while. I vomited like crazy from the anesthesia after my surgery, and they gave me Phenergan - that stuff is a miracle. My husband was just banded less than four weeks ago, so I might ask our nurse for drugs for him - he hasn't shown any nausea yet, but I am afraid vomiting for him would be more dangerous since he's not had nearly as long for the needed scar tissue to form around his band. If I learn anything else interesting, I'll post it here. Thanks!

I've been banded a little less than five months, and I'm at a pretty good level of restriction at the moment. Starting a couple of hours ago, I started vomiting - not the kind where you get rid of a little food that's stuck above your band. I keep heaving and heaving, but nothing comes up - it feels like the food I ate for dinner got past the band, into my main stomach, before the vomiting started, and now my body is trying to dump it, but the food can't get past the band to get out. Has anyone else experienced this before? Do I need to be worried? I'm sure it's just a minor stomach virus; my two-year-old was vomiting on Sunday night but was fine by midday Monday, so I'm not really that concerned about the virus per se. What is worrying me is that I keep vomiting, really hard, heaving vomiting, but nothing comes up, just saliva.

I kept mine on for surgery, but I got a French manicure before. No problems at all.

I also have BCBSNC, and I was approved in three days, as was my husband. We both had BMI's just over 40 (mine was 42, his was 41) and zero comorbities. BCBSNC is not one of those policies that search and search for some reason to deny you - if you give them the paperwork they want, and you meet their published guidelines, you should get approval. My bet is that the problem was exactly as stated, and when your psych provides a better letter, you will get approved. Count yourself lucky - from all I've read, we are about in the best position of anybody from an insurance coverage standpoint. Besides my surgeon's $500 program fee, I've paid one $20 copay at my first surgeon visit, and a $20 copay for each fill, and that's IT.

Your tubing holds about 2 cc's also, so I'd wonder if those 2 are being counted in the 9 total. I'm curious if the $1100 a fill is a typo also - mine are 100% covered by my insurance, but my doc bills $500 and my insurance pays about $220.

Get a fill! I also was banded in July and have had four fills. My NP uses about the world's tiniest needle and I feel almost nothing. It's over in about three seconds. You will not BELIEVE the difference it will make. My bet is, you'll see 4-5 pounds fall off the first two weeks after your fill, maybe more. Good luck!!!!

You may also have lost some of the swelling inside your band - your stomach tissues swell in reaction to the squeezing, but eventually the swelling goes down. For me, it takes about two weeks after each fill for the swelling to go away. My NP said I'd probably need to get slightly over-tight (but only a little!) and then after the post-fill swelling went down, I'd be in a good spot, and she was right. As of my 4th fill, I was too tight - I could still eat, but I PB'ed a LOT - but now, 3.5 weeks out from that fill, I'm great; I can eat pretty much anything I want but only about 3/4 cup of it.