niki

Why should you have another fill if you feel restriction with the fill you have right now??? As your doctor mentioned, you probably need to eat more solid food and don't worry, as long as you take your time, chew slowly, small bits at a time, you should be fine. niki

I don't think it makes much difference if you don't get a fill for a period of 6 months or even more than that. I have my band for over two years now and in the first year I had my fills every 4, 5 or 6 months (I never felt much of a restriction anyway, which meant that I've always been a VERY SLOW looser). You'll be fine as soon as you get a new fill adjustment and try to exercise a bit, too - this will help your body and soul, it will make you feel more optimistic and motivated. Your band is a tool, it's there to help you out, not to work against you. niki

Fills can indeed be very tricky. I am with 7,5cc (my band takes 10cc) and during the 5 fills I had in these past two years since I have my band I never managed to get much of a restriction. But my doctor always told me he'd rather be conservative and do fills slowly and little each time, than trying to do it too fast. It allows the needed time for your body to adjust to the band. Also, it is true that fat around your stomach also starts to slowly disappear, therefore the band seems to get a bit «loose».

In over two years with my band I had 5 fills and still not found my «sweet spot». I have an A.M.I. band which takes 10cc and I'm currently with 7,5cc. Hopefully when I get to 8cc I'll feel more restriction. niki

Don't worry, it will probably come after a while. Some fills need some extra time to kick-in (2 or 3 weeks maybe), while others are felt almost immediately. I often asked myself why, but never came to a precise conclusion... I even have somedays when I feel a good restriction, and then BANG! the day after, it is as if it's completely gone... After having a new fill, I go on liquids, followed by purée/mushy food, for 4 or 5 days, before going back to solid food. niki

This soup is great, very nutritious and very poor in calories. Besides, I think it's quite easy to «adapt» or adjust slightly if for instance someone doesn't like one of the ingredients. For me it is fine if I add some cabbage or other green leaves veggies (spinach or broccoli are quite good and they add some Fiber too). For me potatoes are a NO-NO, but I just replace them by something else (zuchinni or squash). DesertMom - I guess your body entered on «starvation mode» and it's holding on to those fat cells because of your too low calories diet. Try increasing drastically your daily intake of Water or add some more «good» calories (no sugar, no carbs) just to shake things up a bit. This usually works well for me. niki

I would do as previous posters said. Your stomach must be pretty irritated by now and most probably swollen, too. Give your body some time to heal and rest. Go for liquids (tea/herbal infusions, smoothies, broth, etc) for a few days to allow it to calm down and before going back again to solid food. If this continues, you should talk openly to your doctor. I've been banded for over a year (I've got a 10cc band too and my current fill is 7cc) and my doctor is the opposite of yours, which means he never gives me a fill of more than 1cc (even if I keep saying I still don't feel much of a restriction...) and never less than 4 or 5 months apart (this can be very frustrating sometimes...). He keeps saying that I spent so many years gaining all this extra weight, I can spend another couple of years in loosing it, slowly and steady (he defends it is important for my body and organs to slowly adapt to my new reality...). :tired niki

I don't think they'll ever go away (unless you have some plastic surgery and that part of the skin is cut...). My doctor told me that one of the advantages in loosing weight slowly (I'm a very slow loser) is that your skin gets the time to slowly adjust to the process and you probably don't get many stretchmarks from losing weight, but then, most of us already have strechmarks from the time when we got more and more weight... I have some big ones on my tummy from pregnancy and those will surely never go away, but now that I'm losing, they look somewhat «deflated» or a bit «saggy«, but as one of the previous posters mentioned, those you can easily hide, but you can't do the same with fat... niki

Great thread! I think that here at LBT is the only place I'm comfortable about saying how much I weight or used to, because everywhere else I NEVER say my weight (apart from my doctor, of course). Good thing driver's license in Europe don't mention weight. I don't tell my weight to my husband, sister, or parents either. And if needed (insurance papers, blood donation, etc) I simply lie! I have no problem at all with that as I consider that it's nobody else's business but mine. niki

I don't really think that any of us who like (or used to like...) soda drank it because of thirst. I think soda can be addictive just as chocolate, sugar, caffeine, etc. With much time and effort I managed to replace my taste/habit for soda with tea or Water and I drink a lot even if I'm not thirsty. But every now and then if I get one of those big cravings for it I just have a sip of Diet Coke after leaving it for 24hrs. in the fridge (or use a spoon to turn it flat). niki

Hey Julie, Congratulations, that's the right thing to do! :clap2: I get pretty frustrated when I read about those amazing results from other people (I'm happy for them of course, but afterwards I feel sort of a failure because I'm loosing so slowly...). I don't have much restriction either (and at night all my hunger demons come out...) but I keep telling myself that now I have my band on my side, it's only up to me to do something positive about it. Going to the gym started as a huge sacrifice, but now I try to go at least 3 times a week and I'm starting to see some results (even my skin and complexion looks much nicer :confused: ) Just remember you're not alone, there are others like you out there and you just have to take one step at a time. best of luck! niki

Hey Jodie, Your body is definitely trying to tell you something so you should get those blood tests done and get an appointment with your doctor. You're 18 and your body has special requirements, don't just start any diets you've heard to be great from someone else, get some counselling from a nutritionist. hope you'll feel better soon, niki

I'm 19 months out and never had a problem whatsoever (never got stuck, no slime, no pain, no PB, no reflux...). My only problem is being a slow loser and I still did not find my «sweet spot» but I know I'll get there. It just means I have to work harder than others who maybe are loosing faster than I am. I don't believe in worrying in antecipation. There are many, many cases of people with the band for such a long time and they never experienced a problem, so why should it happen precisely with you??? I try to believe that if we do everything within our power to take good care of the band, it will do the same for us (I don't mean with this that those who experienced problems with the band did something wrong or were negligent, sometimes problems do happen even if we don't know very well why...). niki

The «I'm not a garbage bin!» theory works pretty well for me, particularly when I was at table with my kid, I always ended up eating the stuff he left on his plate (I grew up with the syndrom of the «poor children somewhere else in the world»...). What I do now, if we go eating out, is that me and my kid we both share the same, and I order an extra salad as a side dish. niki

I started with the half cup measure but soon started figuring out the optimum quantity per meal. If in doubt at first, go slowly. It's better to always start with less in your plate than with too much. A good trick is to use a smaller plate (dessert is a good one) and even kids fork/knife. Remember to chew food over and over, calmy, fight the tendance we all had of gulping it down and put your fork down between bites. You'll see how wonderful it feels feeling full and satiated after a few bites! :girl_hug: niki

I guess I would feel a bit hurt if it was with me, but now it's done, so no use in making a big fuss about it. Anyway, it's exactly as Jack said and you have to focus on your top priority right now: your BAND! - this is your priority right now, correct? and you couldn't care less about what other people will think or say about your surgery or your weight loss process! We all know that others, at some point in our lives, will always be judging us on something we say, something we do, something we wear, or even our new haircut, so it's better not to pay much attention to that (unless we're talking about someone who's really important to us, of course...) niki

Gosh! I NEVER noticed any difference on my band when I'm having my time of the month... the only difference is during morning periods, when i feel more tight, but when evening comes that's a whole different story... I would definitely go along with the warm liquids theory - tea, broth, little sips. hope you'll feel better soon, niki

Hi, Congratulations! Read a lot, do lots of research and take a note of those questions you'd like to ask your doctor as he's surely the best person to answer your many doubts. hope everything will turn OK. niki

I can't even imagine what I would be willing to pay to know that feeling!!!:grouphug: :eek: no kidding, but you're still loosing weight? and you're taking your vitamins, proteins, etc, so you're not feeling down, or anaemic, or something like that, correct?... if that's the case, then you're just plain lucky!:clap2: In my case, during the 18 months I've been banded, unfortunately I have NEVER really lost my appetite (if I did loose it a bit a few times after fills, I guess it always found it's way back too damn easily...) . I keep telling my doctor that next surgery I need is to have a band around my brain... all the best, niki

Vines, Hang in there! it's very good you're on top of it, always searching, reading and looking for answers. The answer will come and your knowledge and strenght will guide you through this hard path. Thinking of you and wishing you the best :grouphug: niki

Completely naked and just with that loose surgical gown. Don't worry, they've seen it all and they see it everyday so it's not really a big deal. Besides you'll be completely out and your mind will surely be busy with so many other things. Don't take any jewellry either (no rings, no necklaces, nothing at all!) and no nail polish on your fingers or toes. If you still have doubts ask the nurse or assistant personnel, they're very used to all sorts of questions from patients. niki

Hi Susan, I have also a 10cc band (an A.M.I. Soft gastric band/Austrian) I have it filled with 7,5cc (had 4 fills during a period of 17 months). I agree with all that's been said before. You should take it slowly since you had those 2 nasty episodes, give your stomach some time to heal and get back to normal before you try having some solid food again. For the next 48 hours you should try to go back to mushy food, smoothies, Soup, broth, lots of liquids. And then, when you restart on regular food again, forget about chicken as it seems pretty clear you're one of those bandsters that can't tolerate it. Pay close attention to what you eat and try to take a mental note of what type of food suits you best, believe me, your band will talk to you and let you know what is OK and what is not OK. Remember to chew, chew, chew and chew some more - this is one new habit that we all must learn and focus on until it becomes automatic not to swallow right away once we put food into our mouth. Just for the record, I have no problems in eating chicken, Pasta, bread, rice, etc - never got stuck, no slime, no PB (luckily!...) but I take extra care in chewing really well. niki

Hmmm... this is very interesting! I never really thought about it and related one thing to the other. I wonder, maybe our fat cells have some sort of memory and when we reach a certain weight that triggers some mechanism in our body... Lisa - you should consult your doctor about that burning sensation around your port, that doesn't seem normal at all. I don't mean to scare you but there are several cases here at LBT about port problems. niki

I just LOVE the elliptical (great calories burner) and when I first started doing it I had to do it during little periods, but now I feel good with 30 or 40 minutes but I do have to reposition my feet frequently or shift weight from toes to heel every now and then or will feel numb after 15 or 20 minutes exercising. niki

I guess this will be one of those decisions you'll have to figure out yourself, but even so I think it's pretty good to hear what experienced bandsters have to say about it. In my case, I only wish I had done it earlier and when I was at your age instead of letting it reach to this point when I fnally had my surgery. I had a low BMI of 35 but I was scared just thinking that at the rate I was getting more weight each year, things were going to get pretty nasty in 10 or 20 years. No regrets here, this is the best thing I ever did for myself, it has been a long hard process and I'm losing slowly but steady and I'm very happy about it. niki