Northwest_Nance

My doctor gives fills at 4 weeks post-op too. I lost weight during that period but fortunately my doctor doesn't just look at the scale (unless you've lost more than a healthy amount). They asked me what my portion sizes were and whether I felt "satisfied" at the end of the meal, and how soon I was getting hungry again. They understood that yeah, I was losing weight but I was hungry all the time too, and I got my fill. They said if I was eating small portions and getting hungry sooner than 3-4 hours later, I didn't have enough restriction yet. I think refusing to give you a fill because you've lost weight through sheer willpower and between-meal hunger, is a punishment. I know not everyone will agree with me, and every doctor is different but I'd be frustrated if I were you also.

Good for you! It took me five fills to get restriction, that was a week ago. I can eat a nice healthy sized meal, but I do have to take smaller bites, and chew very carefully.... which isn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be. Lastnight I had 6 oz. of salmon, and about half a cup of green Beans, and left a few bites on my plate. For Breakfast I had two low-fat waffles with sugar-free syrup and 2 small links of turkey sausage. I think that is more than some people are able to eat but I think it's a good healthy amount, I try to do 1200 calories a day and most days it ends up being around 1100. I'm not usually "full" at the end of a meal but I'm definitely satisfied. It's much more of a learning process than I expected, but it's all good. Good luck to you!

I got my Realize band on May 15th. There are quite a few people on this forum who have the Realize band as it is becoming pretty commonly used. It was used in Sweden for many years before it was approved by the FDA for use in the U.S. My doctor said there really is virtually no difference between Realize and Lap Band, and he gave me a choice which one I wanted. If you do a search for "Realize" on this forum you will find quite a few threads and a variety of comments about it. Good luck to you with your new band!!

I think we all know exactly how you're feeling. We ARE going to fail and the important thing is to pick yourself up and get back on track. Just think about this, before you had the band, would you be ready to pick yourself up now, or would you let this bad trend continue for another few weeks or months until finally, that losing streak is but a distant memory and you can't even begin to get back in touch with what it takes to get on track? You've caught yourself, you've slapped yourself on the butt and now you can get back in the groove!

I had the same fears before surgery, but I knew this was something I needed to do, and if I could lose weight and get healthy again, it would be worth the sacrifice. As it has turned out though, I can eat everything so far, but since I finally got full restriction last week, I have to take smaller bites and chew a lot more carefully. This morning I had waffles and had to eat carefully, but they caused no problems and boy, were they good. I can also eat Pasta. I haven't tried bread since I got restriction, but I do usually have lunchmeat in a low-carb wrap for lunch and I haven't had any problems with that. Everybody is different.... I may find I have trouble with bread once I try it. Also, some people like their band tighter than others, and that can affect what you can and can't eat. I read about people that can only eat 1/4 cup of food, and that level of restriction is what works for them. I prefer to be able to eat sort of "normally", but healthy foods at smaller portions than I used to eat before the band. For dinner tonight I had a 6 oz. piece of salmon and half a cup of green Beans (I couldn't quite clean my plate). I try to get 1200 calories a day in, but often it's more like 1100. The point being, I'm not over-eating. My hope with the band is to eat everything, but in moderation. The amazing thing is that since being banded, I haven't wanted the fatty or greasy or unhealthy food. It's almost like the band went around my head! If I ever really wanted to eat anything in the world and as much of it as I wanted, I could get an unfill. I hope I never want to do that though. You can do this, and chances are that once you get past the recovery period, you'll find it isn't all as dramatic as we imagined before surgery.... we can still live our lives pretty "normally" with some modifications.

Trina, that's great! It is a lot of money though so please read as much as you can about it to make sure you think it will be worth it to you. The price includes 3 months of the website and after that you can pay by the month but it's much cheaper if you pay for a one year's subscription which is $99. And without the website, the bugg is useless. It's helped me simply because it has broken it down into simple math and taken the guess work away. I told it I wanted to get to 199 by my birthday in mid-Sept. and it calculated for me how many calories I can eat each day and how many calories I have to expend. At the end of each day I can see how I did for that day. Right now I'm having a hard time expending all the calories I need to, but it will get easier as I get a better understanding of what it will take.

You have done GREAT!! But I understand where you're at. Last year I got down to 201 pounds and absolutely could NOT bring myself to push forward and break 200. Just couldn't. So what did I do? I gained 55 pounds. That's when I had my surgery and now here I am, working my way back down to 201 (and below). Last week I got a BodyBugg and it has motivated me big time. Being able to see how many calories I am working off each day, has been very revealing. No wonder I wasn't losing weight sometimes when I thought I should.... after all, I'm on my treadmill every morning, and that should be enough, right? Wrong! The BodyBugg showed me that that treadmill wasn't burning nearly as many calories as I thought. Guess what has burned the most calories so far? Cleaning house! (I mean really cleaning the house really well, scrubbing toilets, mopping floors, etc., for about 3 hours). I've also seen that it's the little things all day long that really use up the calories.... walking around the office, walking through the grocery store, using the stairs instead of the elevator. Now I'm making it my daily challenge to use up 2,450 calories a day (which is what I'm supposed to be using up, and eating 1200 calories a day). For me it's been a great motivator!

Wow that is really a shame. I'd be so mad! It doesn't sound like they're very organized. First come, first served? What kind of system is that? And they only do fills a few times a month? It is really your decision but personally I would go for the earlier fill, no matter which doctor does it. My doctor doesn't do our fills, the nurse/nutritionist does. As long as the doctor or nurse is qualified and experienced at giving fills, it wouldn't matter to me. Next time it might be a good idea for you to call the morning of your appointment and confirm and just make sure they still have the appointment on their books and the doctor is in, before driving all that way!

I think that's a fear a lot of us have. I've lost, and gained back, around 100 pounds.... three times over the last 20-25 years. So who could blame me for having that fear? But.... I try to remind myself that I am making lifestyle changes, not "dieting". I also know that when I reach my goal weight, I can keep my band filled to help me continue my portion control. The healthy choices are up to me.... but already I don't see how I could ever go back to eating all that fatty, unhealthy stuff. Don't worry about the future.... lay a good solid foundation now for your healthy lifestyle (sounds like you already have) and don't think of it as a diet. Just think of it as your way of life. You will be fine!

Congratulations! I hit it last week too and the last few pounds had just taken forever to fall away (as if it was as easy as "falling away", lol).... it sure feels good, doesn't it? My next big goal is Onederland which I'm hoping to make by my birthday in mid-September.

For awhile, I had a very hard time deciding between the two. Before I really did my research, I wanted bypass surgery and I wasn't even considering the lapband. I thought of the band as a step-sister of bypass. But then I started diving into the research. I went to seminars and support group meetings, read every medical column and on-line post-surgery blog I could find, watched You Tube surgery diaries, and watched the surgery being performed on You Tube. The more I learned about gastric bypass, the more I started thinking of it as drastic bypass. Taking healthy organs and cutting them an re-routing things didn't seem right. The life-long malabsorbtion issues concerned me also. All in all, the risks seemed overwhelming to me. I kept telling myself that lots of people have very successful bypass surgery, which I know is true. But I couldn't get rid of my underlying anxiety about it. Still, I spent several weeks changing my mind every 30 minutes, it seemed..... bypass vs. lapband. I was driving myself crazy. In the end, the decision was sort of made for me. I was self-pay, and bypass was really more than I could afford to spend. Also, I knew that if I had any surgical complications, treatment for those would come out of my pocket too.... so not only was lap band less expensive, but the risk of complications was lower. I was relieved to have the decision made for me that way.

I'm sure you can do it! I like the approach your doctor took.

I think that's a great idea! What a positive way to approach it, and your emphasis really seems to be on the love and support of your family, which is wonderful. I never did get my last meal before surgery..... once I saw the surgeon it all happened so much faster than I anticipated, I had a surgery date for 2 weeks later and he wanted me to lose 10 pounds and I was scared I couldn't do it, so I just blew off the last meal. But.... like Heather said, I had so many "last meals" over the years before my next big diet, I can't even count them. And truthfully, I've had a few pretty good meals since my surgery, but I didn't seem to enjoy them as much as I did before surgery. How could I not be drooling over my prime rib at Outback? I don't know.... but for the first time in my life, I just wasn't. I only just got restriction last week and even now I probably could eat a pretty good meal if I really wanted to, but the band helps me not want to. Good luck to you, you're going into it with a great attitude!

I was nervous too - I think everyone is before surgery. One reason I chose lapband over gastric bypass is because of the lower complication rate but still, the risk is there. I'm an optimistic person by nature and I just believed that everything would be ok. And when I looked at where I was and how I was feeling, it was well worth the risks involved to try to improve my life, my health, my attitude..... to get myself out of the hopeless, helpless downward spiral I seemed to be in. As you said, we on this forum are a really small percentage of the people who have had the surgery. And you're going to get a disproportionate amount of problems and issues here, because people are motivated to come to the forum when they are worried or scared, have concerns or questions. People who are doing well and just moving along with their lives while the pounds slip away, aren't as motivated to come write about it. Good luck with your surgery!

I've lost close to 100 pounds three times over the last 20 or 25 years (sad but true). When I was younger, I never had loose skin after losing the weight, except that my breasts never got perky again (not that they were ever that perky to begin with). I always exercised a lot when I was losing the weight. Now that I'm older, and have put my body through the weight loss and gain so many times, I am expecting to not be quite as firm when I lose the weight, but I am hoping for the best. A few weeks ago I had a facial and the technician who inspected my skin told me my skin has a lot of elasticity. It's a hormonal thing. She was talking about my face but I'm hoping that bodes well for the rest of my body!

Except for during the immediate post-op period (which doesn't last that long and isn't hard to deal with), none of those have been issues for me at all. I have never PB'd or thrown up. I do burp more than I used to, but I am able to control that and to it quietly. I eat out a lot, and I have never had to explain to anybody about my surgery. Just this weekend I was at an afternoon party where nobody knew I have the lap band. There was lots of food, and wine. I had already had lunch, and it was too early for dinner, so I had one glass of wine, and a small plate of hor d'ouvres that consisted of a piece of cheese and some deli turkey. I passed on the bread, crackers, and Cookies. Near the end of the party, pieces of chocolate cake were passed around. I declined. Nobody paid any attention to what I was (or wasn't) eating, and nobody asked me why I wasn't having cake, and I'm sure nobody thought anything about it. I eat whatever I want, but in smaller portions than I used to. Nobody has to know that surgery is helping me control my portions. My portions aren't so small that someone would say "My god you've only taken 3 bites, are you sick?". Everyone's different, and some people like their band so tight that they do have issues and can only eat a little tiny portion. I like mine just tight enough to help me feel satisfied after a reasonable sized meal. I eat 1200 calories a day in 3 meals with no between-meal Snacks. There are days I go over 1200 calories... sometimes way over, depending on the occasion. And that's ok too. This is real life and I plan to live it, I just want to make healthy choices the majority of the time. You can do this, it won't be nearly as dramatic as you think... at least, it hasn't been for me!

I can't really answer your question, but a couple of years ago one of our local newspapers did a big feature article on a married couple who were each having gastric bypass surgery on the same day and their insurance covered it..... they met at Microsoft and I think still worked there at the time of their surgery. Just for curiosity's sake, here is a link to one of the articles... http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20030706&slug=obese06m Good luck to you.... and if you end up here in the Seattle area, I hope you love it!

I understand exactly how you feel, I think you're going through a lot of the fears and doubts that many of us went through before surgery. And I'm certainly not going to second guess your therapist, who is a professional and who knows you. I will just say that in my personal opinion, those of us who are miserable enough to actually consider having surgery to help us lose weight, have already been through lots of diets and lots of failed efforts to lose weight any other way. As for your fears..... I was terrified about making a life change too. I'm just over 2 months past surgery and am finding that I built it out of proportion. It's been a very happy, positive life change. Not drinking with meals has taken some getting used to, but I just remind myself that I want to get the biggest advantage possible out of the band, i.e. feeling satisfied on less food, so I don't want to sabotage that by washing the food thru my stomach with liquids. It didn't take much to learn to chew. Which, in turn, helped me learn to eat slower. Which has taught me to savor every bite instead of inhaling it. Which has also helped me recognize that I am full, sooner than I used to. For me, the whole thing about "you won't be able to eat this, you won't be able to eat that", didn't happen. I can eat anyhing I want, and I wouldn't be concerned about being able to find foods I can eat in other countries. (Other people might have a problem, though.... we're each different in how we react to the band). So far my whole experience since surgery has been, well, not half the big deal I made out of it prior to surgery. Again, that's just my own experience.

Thank you so much, Tracey! That is comforting to know. It definitely feels like the band, and not a natural part of my body. I can feel the outline of it the same way I could feel my baby's foot when I was pregnant. It's very solid, and I don't have a matching solid place on the opposite side of my abdomen. Although it scared me for awhile lastnight, I realize that I am feeling fine, I have restriction, I'm losing weight, and I can sleep on my stomach, so there is probably no cause for alarm, though I will ask the doctor about it next time I see him. One reason I might be feeling it while many don't, is that I am short (5'1") and very short waisted, which was one of the first things the surgeon commented on when he examined me and told me where he estimated my incisions would be. That might have something to do with it.

I was running my fingers over my stomach, high up, under my breast (I was feeling for how my body is feeling different as I'm losing weight) and I felt this lump.... and I think my heart stopped. I thought... "Oh my god, I have a hard growth".... and suddenly I realized.... it's my band! I'd never felt it before. At least, I'm assuming it's my band! Can anyone else reassure me and tell me you can feel yours?

I have the Realize band (all the literature I've read, and also the doctor stated, it holds 9 cc's). This past week I finally reached 8 cc's of saline in it and I finally have restriction. I had to recognize that it was restriction, because it didn't really hit me like a ton of bricks as I expected it to. I can eat anything I want, but I do have to take small bites and chew carefully, or it gets stuck going down. I don't eat until I feel "full". I eat until I feel satisfied. I've read that so much on this forum and was afraid I wouldn't be able to do that. But especially with this last fill, I haven't had any trouble doing so. Yes, I could eat more if I wanted to, but I don't feel the need to. I was concerned also, about already having 8 cc's in a 9 cc band. The nutritionist told me that once you reach your sweet spot, the next time you need a fill it usually only takes a little bit (sometimes just .1 cc) to get you back to your sweet spot. She also said they can put more than 9 cc's in it, but they do it under fleuroscopy to make sure they are very careful about it. I don't know why it takes more of a fill for some of us to feel it than others. I've pondered that. Have I stretched my stomach out so many times over the years that it's like loose skin.... really stretchy and needs more of a fill to control it? I don't know! All I can tell you is, if they checked out your band and it's fine, hang in there... you WILL get restriction! In the meantime it's more or less willpower, or won't power. Before I felt restriction, I definitely noticed that the slower I ate, the more time my brain had to get the message that I was satisfied, and I stopped eating sooner than I would have if I had eaten faster. Also, I tried hard not to drink for 30 minutes before a meal or one hour after, because I wanted that food to sit in my pouch as long as possible, even though I didn't feel like I had restriction. Best of luck to you!

No, I can feel my port, it is right below and to the right of my largest incision. This other thing I'm feeling is a couple inches above the largest incision and just below the small incision that is right below the breasts.

I've done my share of whining about my lack of restriction so I thought I'd share that I think I finally have it. My surgery was May 15th and it has taken five fills, and 8 cc's in a 9 cc Realize band, but I think I'm finally there. So far I haven't had any problems eating anything (which includes a grilled chicken salad, flank steak, mixed vegetables, scrambled eggs, turkey sausage, and deli roast beef in a low-carb wrap) BUT, I have to take small bites, chew thoroughly, and a few times things have gone down very slowly (no PB'ing or throwing up -- never have experienced that, thankfully). I'm eating good healthy sized portions and then I'm done. I'm not stuffed or "full" in the way I used to think of full, but I know I'm done and I don't worry about eating again until the next meal time. I'm averaging about 850-950 calories a day, and I know I should try to get that up to 1200. I use the BodyBugg and that's what it says I should be at, but it's hard to make myself eat more when I am satisfied with what I've had. Anyway..... I hope this lasts. And I hope it gives hope to those of you who are still waiting to get there. :thumbup:

The Realize band isn't new, it's been used in Sweden for many years. It was just approved for use in the U.S. last fall though. There are a lot of discussions on this forum about the two bands, if you do a search for "Realize" you will find alot of the discussions. My doctor told me that there is pretty much no difference between the two, and he let me choose which one I wanted. For me it was kind of a toss-up between the two, so I went with the Realize band. You're right to learn as much as you can ahead of time and make informed decisions. Good luck!

It really does go by fast, and just try to remind yourself that it's all part of the process..... you have already left your old life behind and you have started on your healthy journey! The surgery itself should be a breeze, honestly.... for me it certainly wasn't any worse than having my wisdom teeth out. You're going to do great.... don't be a stranger here!