2muchfun

Are you eating slider foods or sweets? Do you think a fill would help? If you're band is adjusted properly it seems like you could just go back to eating healthy foods to lose that weight?

The mental part usually goes away once you're banded and filled properly. The high you get from getting down on the carpet or grass and keeping up with your kids will replace that relationship you have with food. Unless your kids are brats LOL Here's a post from someone I can't recall, but it fits: "In my case, the most fearful thing I had to do in order to succeed with my band wasn't switching to skim milk, surviving a liquid diet, or giving up bread. The most fearful thing was giving up my emotional attachment to food. In the nearly 5 years since I was banded, I've made a lot of progress with that, but the attachment is still there. It forms one of the innermost layers of my turtle shell. Working on that layer will probably be a lifetime job for me. At times I'm not even sure I truly want to get rid of it altogether. At times I'm afraid that if I shed my shell completely, I won't be able to survive. On the other hand, I seem to be doing fine without that thick old bitch layer. So I'm going to pay attention to my dreams rather than my fears and pray for a miracle. And why not? It can't hurt to try!"

I love it

What kind of pain is it? Like a tearing/cutting pain or bruised ribs type pain?

There were thousands and thousands of bands placed over the last 15 years. Early on doctors were rather ignorant on how the band actually worked it's magic(or not). Aftercare was not all that good with many doctors and of course, many docs jumped on the bandwagon hoping to make a quick buck. We know more about the band now and hopefully you've researched your surgeon and you're comfortable that he/she offers a great aftercare program? The band is a great tool but will require more maintenance than the sleeve or bypass. It will also require you pay more attention to soft signals/stops that tell you when to stop eating. The band does not stop you from eating too much like the sleeve or bypass. Look forward to hearing about your journey.

Yes they have and usually it's a defective port, tubing or a leak somewhere between. I imagine that's why he's concerned.

What is the location of your port? Is it near your port?

You have to realize that people who suffer post op will be the first to post their misery. Not saying there isn't any pain or discomfort but I had no pain and just some minor discomfort. I didn't post my misery and most people don't post unless they have a question they need advice about?

Look at it this way. If insurance pays, your follow-up visits may also be paid and your compliance won't be an issue over money issues? And, some offices truly believe in patient advocacy which is good for you. Compliance is a huge issue with the band and removing monetary issues is very important. Let them go through the motions unless it takes more than 3 months? I'd cut it off at 3 months and self pay if you have the money. And I doubt the monetary difference between self pay and insured pay would be all that much.

I measured things out in a cup the first few weeks but changed over to just eyeballing food and eating till I was no longer hungry. It works better if you're in the green zone. If you're not, you could overeat but I refused to be hungry all the time. It's just a diet till you get enough fills to make you feel satiety. I have a decent scale but I seldom use it. It's mostly to make sure I'm using the correct weight of Protein for a recipe.

Don't be too hard on your original provider, much of this was not known 7 years ago. Heck, even now there are many docs who are unaware of how this all works including my own doc.

Some of us have voluntarily taken months off and got back on the bandwagon. It's really not that difficult to do once you commit to it.

Extra restriction when flying is a little overdone imo. I've had fills and flown within 30 days and felt nothing. Even if you're extra tight before the flight the downside would be no drinking for the time you're in flight? And honestly, few people ever find they're too tight in just 4 months post surgery unless they're getting fills under fluoroscopy

No argument there with me. And I think the old rule is justified since most WLS patients will abuse the more lenient rule if given too many opportunities. I follow the old rule most of the time but with the band there are some foods(Left overs) that need a little help finding the way through the stoma. tmf

I got a fill about 11 days ago and it took about 4 days before it seemed to kick in. I've been really struggling to get anything down in the mornings but I've adjusted the foods I eat but mostly how fast, how big and how much I chew and it's getting better. This last fill has made me tighter than ever but also more satiety than ever so I'm a happy camper now. If you can still get fluids down, give it a few more days and work on those eating skills. I know it took me nearly a year to get that part of it down.

Actually some lapband doctors are allowing it with some extra eating rules. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZCE8pGJHG4 2 minutes in Dr. O'Brien explains his reasoning.

Back in 2007 doctors believed that the pouch would fill with food and this would in turn make our hunger disappear. Now we know that's not true. I'll include some videos at the end of this post you might want to watch? The most important process is to have a properly adjusted band. That can be different for each of us. What we strive for is a feeling of satiety and not fullness. Soft stops like burping, hiccups, runny nose and of course, feeling less hungry are the signs we need to stop eating, we've eaten enough. If your band is too loose, you may not feel the stops? If it's too tight and you haven't learned to eat small and chew big you'll suffer stuck episodes with slime and all the pain that comes with being stuck. So, you need to find a competent doctor who can walk you up to the green zone/sweet spot? Watch these videos. There are 4 and they're only 9 mins long each. And he almost speaks the Queens English http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa3Lwt6ElIs&list=UL Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4jYJipQ7vc part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wbdhf44ZweI&feature=relmfu Part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF3TCKUn3YI Part 4

What are your symptoms? I've never been one who believes in these "stuck" cures. Your pouch is part of your stomach. Stomach acids will break down most any food within the pouch in just a few hours or less. Sometimes stuck food can cause some minor damage/trauma to the stoma area causing inflammation. Swelling/inflammation can block all foods and liquids from passing. This can feel like you're stuck. Sucking or chewing on ice can help Water pass and the cold may reduce the swelling. jmo

So, with the sleeve, do they want you to avoid drinking while eating because you'd fill up on fluids and leave no room for food? Thereby starving yourself of essential nutrients? Seems like it would be the same for plication? The band is obvious. Don't wash your food through the band with Water.

Good advice from one who knows. OP, I'm also instructed to not drink and eat but sometimes I do. I like spicy foods too so sometimes I'll sip when I drink. It's not the end of the world and if I did it all the time I would probably be hungry all the time. If you drink when you eat spicy foods you may not have the quick success you wanted. But, you probably don't eat spicy foods every meal so don't drink every meal. No biggie. Drink when it's necessary and don't when it's not. Lose weight and still enjoy foods you like. What could be better?

"I'm one of those people who likes to know everything ahead of time" Like Jess said, a simple Google search pulled up lots of information available for anyone to see. If you like to know everything, why didn't you research more? Surgery is no joking matter and I know of no one who would just lay down and say go for it without knowing what was in store? Surely you had nutrition counseling and orientation where you could have asked any questions you want? I also agree with Jenn, you're having buyers remorse. But if you want to drink ask your doctor if you can? He'll probably say you won't lose weight or as much weight but if drinking Water is more important than being healthy, go for it? tmf

Here, I believe: http://www.bariatricpal.com/forum/991-fitness-exercise/

Just a little warning about short term liquid diets. They may be good for cleansing and resetting your pouch if you believe it may be stretched, but the rebound effects of a fast like this can cause people to binge at the end or before the end. My personal recommendation is to just eat solid, healthy and nutritional food. Eat more than a cup. Eat two cups, but don't allow yourself to be hungry. Hunger can cause even the most determined bander to go on a binge. During Bandster Hell I didn't gain a lb and I didn't lose any either. But, I made sure I didn't suffer through some stupid diet again. I just ate healthy food. Diets don't work, and fad or fasting diets never worked, remember?

Lots of great advice here lcoopix. I want to emphasis what Bandista offered. And I say this because if I have candy, chocolate or chips in the house I'm going to eat them. Every day. Don't buy them. Your kids don't need them. Don't help them build addictions to the same foods that made you unhealthy? There was an article on this forum recently that really hit home for me. http://www.bariatricpal.com/page/articles.html/_/mental-health/avoid-or-alter-r201 If you have time, read this. You might find it helpful. And, you're in Bandster Hell right now. You won't feel the magic till your band is adjusted properly. Don't beat yourself up too much, almost all of us went through this stage and it's really HELL! I went through it for 4 months. And, you're in good company with thousands of other people who also had no self control. You will, just keep working on it.

You keep coming up with these unique issues I sometimes feel and look bloated in my stomach area as if I'd just eaten a Thanksgiving dinner. But I'm not real uncomfortable and never in any pain. I haven't figured mine out either.