minou

Thanks guys, like so much after the surgery, I just want to know that it's normal! It's not like massively painful, just sort of pinches when I twist to that side, or when I really crunch up. One of those things that until you hear others have the same thing going on, just makes you a little uneasy.

Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this? When I'm doing ab exercises (especially torso twists) I get a really sharp pain on my left upper stomach area. It tends to vary in intensity, but it happens every time I'm doing ab work. It sort of feels like something is being pinched inside, but that may just be my imagination. Anyone else experiencing this?

I've been having a similar problem, only I'm still on liquids and they're coming up even! I've found that if I drink something that's warm before I eat that the food will go down a little better, I've even managed some mushies that way. So, I've been sticking to hot teas, etc. for all of my fluids, otherwise everything comes back up. As for the swelling, you're dealing with very sensitive tissue around your stomach. When the band is filled, it's going to irritate that area and cause swelling. Your stomach doesn't want to be constricted like it is. My vision is to think of a ring around your finger. If you put on one that is slightly tight, but still goes on and leave it for a few hours you're going to find that your finger has swollen and it will be very difficult to get the ring off again. The same thing happens in your stomach, only even more so. After awhile the swelling should go down, but it may take longer than you think. I was thinking about having some Fluid out of my band, but hey last week I lost 7 lbs. I figure if I lose enough weight the band will loosen on its on and I can just wait a little longer for my next fill!

Angie, I think the swelling happens because of the irritation from the band gaining more Fluid. If you think about what would happen if you put on a ring that was too small, initially your finger would be ok, but if you left it on your finger would swell. I've been trying to tough it out, and it's definitely better than it was those first few days. I can get down hot fluids, so I've been drinking a lot of tea (decaf), but I still haven't been able to keep down solid food (regardless of how little I bite or how long I chew). The good news is that I lost 5 lbs last week, so I think I'm just going to keep going on and hope that as the weight reduces I'll find a more comfortable level.

I just had my fourth fill, up until then I felt zero restriction. If you read around this forum, you'll see how much the variance between what works for different people is, you just have to find your own sweet spot. However, you have to give it a little bit of time to know for sure if you need more fluid. I know that my doc will only do a fill once a month, give yourself a few weeks and see how you feel.

I had my fourth fill on Tuesday of this week. I now have about 8.75 ml in my 14 ml band. Up until this week I felt zero restriction (the only time I noticed a difference at all was if I ate too quickly and took too big of a bite, then I'd get a PB). So, b/c of the lack of restriction they put in a bit more fill than normal. At the doctors I drank a whole glass of the barium stuff (blah) and a glass of warm Water, it felt fine! Before I left the doctors, I tried to drink a glass of cold water, but it was really slow going down and eventually about half of it came up. I figured I'd already had about 8 oz. of fluids, so I might just be full and we went home. After I got home, I tried to eat, and made some watery mashed potatoes, I was able to eat about half a cup of it and felt so excited that I actually got full on such a small amount of food! Then when I woke up, I realized things were a lot different, now I can have about two small sips of water, any more than that and it's coming back up. It takes about 5 - 10 minutes for that water to go down. For lunch I was able to keep down two spoonfulls of Soup (no solids). I tried to spend my day sipping on water to avoid dehydration, but even after a whole day of doing this I couldn't even get down 15 ounces of water . This morning, I'm showing some signs of dehydration, dry mouth, etc. It's not severe yet, but I'm getting worried. My question is this, I would guess that the reason it's different is swelling, which in the past has lasted about 2 - 3 days. So, do I stick it out and see if the swelling goes down, or go for an unfill now?

AF here too, Barksdale AFB, Louisiana Ramstein AFB, Germany We keep getting extensions here in Germany, looking now like we'll be here til 2010, yay! No clue where we're going afterwards, my fingers are crossed for Hawaii though

I agree that you should form your own opinion, he just reminds me of a really old fashioned doctor, the kind that doesn't feel he needs to inform his patients on anything, yet can feel free to blame them for anything going wrong. I have a background in medicine and am one of those people who has to understand what's going on, so for me getting the blow off when I had a concern about pain was a big deal. I would not take that from a doctor in the states. I also had a similar experience with my fill, it wasn't Prof Weiner, but his surgical assistant who did it, he stabbed me at least 20 times before he found the port, I'm actually still sore from it 3 days later! He initially only put 2.5 cc extra in, but I was feeling zero restriction so asked him to put in another 4.5 so that I have 7 total now. Btw, if you call tricare, I think there's someone in Landstuhl who does the band too, I was given a choice when I got approved, but chose Prof. Weiner b/c I'd heard such good things.

Hi there, I just came across this thread and my heart went out to you. I went through a very similar thing w/my husband several years ago. The reasons for it happening are so individual, but one thing I've learned from the experience that sometimes it truly is just a mistake and they really do want to make things work. It took 3 years or so, but now I trust him again, and honestly I think things are better than they ever were. At first I reacted like you did, anytime I couldn't get him on the phone, or he was a few minutes late my mind went straight to him cheating. We would have crazy blowups every few months, but he always stayed calm and reassured me that he'd brought on the suspician by what he'd done. Honestly, it's amazing that he dealt with me being as crazy as I was, but I think it's just part of the healing process. It sounds like your husband is genuinely trying to make amends, just keep assuring him that if he's sincere about repairing things in time it will get better, but that in the meantime he has to be willing to account for his whereabouts and deal with what may be irrational behavior from time to time. If he can deal with the pressure then you know he truly wants to be with you, if he can't, kick him to the curb, you're beautiful and deserve a partner who values that!

Hey there, just thought I'd get in on this thread. I was banded on June 3rd and since then I've lost 19 lbs. I know it's slow compared to some of you guys, but for some reason that's just how my body is. Even when I lost weight by myself it would take 4 - 5 months to lose 20 lbs. So, definitely going faster than I could do on my own!

God, I'm so glad I'm not the only one having problems w/Prof. Weiner! I went yesterday with some concerns and to get another fill b/c honestly I have really been struggling, and I felt like he was mad I was there. I asked him about the pain I'm having on my left side and he just blew off my question saying it was normal but not explaining why. I kind of feel like he doesn't like doing the band, he thinks it's unsuccessful and he feels like we're all going to fail and just be back for bypass at some point anyways. So, he doesn't give us any help or advice b/c it's like he doesn't think it's worth his time or something, blah!

Just beware, I ordered mine a month ago and it still hasn't made it here :cool2: I don't know why but for some reason things like that seem to take a long time to arrive.

Hey there, I'm near K-town too and was banded on June 3, 2008.