jessicakolman

Hey friends - I have not posted on this site in such a long time. I have had a year of pure hell. And that's putting it lightly. I had my lap band placed November 13th, 2009. In the first 4 months I lost 45 pounds. It will be 2 years since I had the band in 2 days. Since then I have not lost about 8 more pounds. I worked my butt of trying to lose this weight. I was very cautious about what I was eating and following the lap band diet. I even joined Gold's Gym and hired a personal trainer for an entire year. Even though I could only afford to see her two times a month, when I saw her, she worked me to the bone. I managed to lose about 8 pounds. My lowest weight was 192. Before at 250 pounds Resized to 81% (was 640 x 423) - Click image to enlarge After 199 pounds Fast forward to 2011. Starting in January I had to stop my membership and personal training because it was way too expensive. I then went on to joint a gym called LA Boxing where you used boxing gloves and hit the bag and worked with a class tought by a trainer. The fun didn't last long. In march I started having severe pain. I found out that I had more ovarian cysts (i have a long history of ovarian cysts) that were pretty big. I was on birth control but obviously it wasn't working too well. Usually when you are on birth control you not supposed to ovulate which causes ovarian cysts. On April 28th, I had to have an Ovarian Cystectomy. The doctor was actually thinking about removing the whole entire right ovary because I constantly had ovarian cysts on that side. But they ended up saving it. I had what was called a hemorrhagic cyst that was actually inside my ovary. They removed the cyst. I went home and recovered. As I was getting ready to come back to work I started having really bad pain in my stomach and my stomach was really distended. I called my OBGYN and he told me to take a beano and assumed I had gas. It didn't seem right. I went to the ER. The doctors found that I had what was called a hematoma. It was about the size of a softball. I was hospitalized for 5 days and was given antibiotics and a PCA machine that distributed pain medicine Dialuded to me .I was out of work for a total of 7 weeks. Here is a picture of my Hematoma. Basically the left side is me right before I went to the ER. You can see my stomach is severely bloated and on the top you can see where the hematoma is. On the right is me after 5 days in the hospital and you'll see that the stomach is less distended. They went under a ultrasound and drained the 7cc's of blood out of my stomach. But I'm still distended: I wanted to get back on track with my weight loss so I went to my surgeon and got saline put in my band. I found out later that my band was way too tight. Tight enough where they had to remove all the saline for a few weeks because my band was causing my esophagus to almost dilate. Now keep in mind that this is the second time something like this had happened. This was getting old. Here is a picture of my band. The picture is my band under a fluro xray. As you can see it's extremely swollen and too tight: So I went back to my doctor and he barely put any saline in there so I didn't feel any restriction at all. I just dealt with it and tried just counting my calories and working out. My lap band was pretty much useless from that point out. I still had to deal with acid reflux. During the summer I had to deal with recurring ovarian cysts and then I developed kidney stones. FUN! Not. So because of this crap I was unable to work out. Let me tell you aside form the health issues I had I felt like I never had the restriction I wanted. I lost the estimated 50 pounds with a combination of the weight I initially lost straight out of surgery from the liquid diet, and then dieting on my own and working out with a personal trainer and working out on my own 5 days a week for 2 hours a day. I'm starting to get frustrated with this band because I feel like it isn't working. I'm following all the rules, I don't understand. I feel like I regret getting this band. I've been going in for adjustments like 10 times each year. And 5 of those times I've been told that I'm already tight enough so I wasted $30 for them to tell me I'm fine. I would walk out of that office in tears. So that summer I had a conversation with my surgeon expressing that I'm looking into possibly getting a revision surgery to bypass. I was sick of the bullshit. He told me to come talk to him about that in November. I would of been 2 years out, and he felt I should wait until 2 years out to talk about this. By this time I have already gained 10 pounds. Lets fast forward to Friday 11/4/2011. I was feeling extreme stomach pain all week. I already had to visit the ER once because the pain was so severe. It felt like a burning pain in my upper stomach right above my belly button but kinda off to the left. The pain was very constant. Never went away. Earlier in the week I saw my bariatric surgeon who prescribed me a medicine called Carafate. It works mainly in the lining of the stomach by adhering to ulcer sites and protecting them from acids, enzymes, and bile salts. It's main function is for ulcers. He also prescribed me liquid oxycodone. I had to take double the dosage for it to help with the pain. So here I am Friday going back to the ER because the pain meds they gave me isn't working. I'm in agony. 10/10 pain scale. The doctor in the ER calls my surgeon and they decide to admit me to investigate what's going on with me. So that Saturday I saw a GI doctor who looked at my CT scan and Xrays and said that I was severely constipated. He felt that constipation was the diagnoses to why I was in so much pain. He was the one telling me I'm full of **** literally, when I was thinking the exact thing about him figuratively because I knew I was having normal bowel movements and there was no way that constipation would of caused that much pain. So his solution.. he wanted the nurse to give me an enema. Ugh...not fun.. not fun at all. They literally had an IV pole that was holding this substance that was going to be my enema. It took the nurse about 5 different times for all the Fluid to "go in". SO after several bathroom trips, I was finally cleaned out. I didn't feel any different. I still felt that severe pain. So I was right.. that GI doctor was really full of ****. So he comes back on Sunday to see how I'm doing. I told him that I felt a lot of pain still. So, he wanted to do an endoscopy. So I had an endoscopy scheduled on Monday. So they brought me to the endoscopy. I don't remember anything. Which was good considering they gave me anesthesia to knock me out. It came back that I had what was called gastritis. Which is pretty much inflammation of the stomach lining. I couldn't accept that this was the cause of my pain. I just didn't seem right. My surgeon came in and we spoke about what they found out. He felt that it is very possible that my band was causing this pain. It felt that I may have some adhesions stuck around my band. It's also very possible that after 2 years of having a lap band in my body that my body is rejecting this foreign object. He told me that he was going to discharge me on that Tuesday and I should call and make an appointment with him to schedule surgery to get my lap band taken out. So here it was Tuesday, I went home. I was so happy to be home. I spent the rest of the day sleeping mostly. Wednesday came around and that morning I was in severe pain. The oxycodone wasn't helping at all. By 5:00PM I called my husband and said I need to go to the ER. As soon as I got into a bed, the ER doctor called and spoke with surgeon and the surgeon wanted to talk to me so he brought the mobile phone into my room and I spoke with him. He asked me if I would like to be admitted and on Friday they take the lap band out. That was the best thing I have heard spoken to me in a very long time. I was 90% sure that this was the cause of my pain. So here we are on Friday 11/11/2011. I'm sitting here in my hospital bed typing this long story about the reason why I've decided to take out this lapband I now call a CRAPband. I'm mad that I chose lapband instead of gastric bypass. I'm mad because I was trying to be safe and avoid invasive surgery with gastric bypass. After much education on the gastric bypass from talking to other friends who have had it and going to a seminar, I'm confident that this is what I want to do. Unfortunately, I will not be able to get the bypass when they take the band out. I have to wait 6 weeks or so for my stomach to heal and then I will be getting gastric bypass. I also have to go through the entire insurance requirements again. I'm fine with that. It's 9:00AM and I'm very nervous about today. Here is a picture of me in my hospital bed typing this to you: Resized to 81% (was 640 x 480) - Click image to enlarge At 4:30PM today I will be laying on that OR table and I will be saying goodbye to something that has done almost nothing for me but cause me emotional and physical pain. I will update you on what happens. I will update you as in the next 2 weeks I recover from this. Please keep me in your prayers and thoughts. I'm really nervous. Until next time, Jessica Here's a picture of me when I'm not in a hospital bed:

thanks guys.. i'm very proud of myself

So in 2009 I had lap band. Lost 25 pounds. November of 2011 I developed severe pain and other issues . Doctor removed the lap band stating that I developed a sudden allergy to the silicone. March 28th of this year I had gastric bypass. To date I have lost 80 pounds. Best decision I have ever made! I hated the band. Was either too tight or not tight enough. Not much weight loss either. My husband had the lap band in 2010. Due to not losing weight he got it removed and had the bypass 3 weeks ago. He's lost 30 pounds in the first two weeks. I'm so happy that I did this revision!!!

So in 2009 I had lap band. Lost 25 pounds. November of 2011 I developed severe pain and other issues . Doctor removed the lap band stating that I developed a sudden allergy to the silicone. March 28th of this year I had gastric bypass. To date I have lost 80 pounds. Best decision I have ever made! I hated the band. Was either too tight or not tight enough. Not much weight loss either. My husband had the lap band in 2010. Due to not losing weight he got it removed and had the bypass 3 weeks ago. He's lost 30 pounds in the first two weeks. I'm so happy that I did this revision!!!

So in 2009 I had lap band. Lost 25 pounds. November of 2011 I developed severe pain and other issues . Doctor removed the lap band stating that I developed a sudden allergy to the silicone. March 28th of this year I had gastric bypass. To date I have lost 80 pounds. Best decision I have ever made! I hated the band. Was either too tight or not tight enough. Not much weight loss either. My husband had the lap band in 2010. Due to not losing weight he got it removed and had the bypass 3 weeks ago. He's lost 30 pounds in the first two weeks. I'm so happy that I did this revision!!!

I got my band removed last November and had gastric bypass this past march. I've lost 80 pounds since then. Best decision ever!

So I had gastric bypass on march 28th this year. I Have lost 80 pounds so far !

Hey friends - I have not posted on this site in such a long time. I have had a year of pure hell. And that's putting it lightly. I had my lap band placed November 13th, 2009. In the first 4 months I lost 45 pounds. It will be 2 years since I had the band in 2 days. Since then I have not lost about 8 more pounds. I worked my butt of trying to lose this weight. I was very cautious about what I was eating and following the lap band diet. I even joined Gold's Gym and hired a personal trainer for an entire year. Even though I could only afford to see her two times a month, when I saw her, she worked me to the bone. I managed to lose about 8 pounds. My lowest weight was 192. Before at 250 pounds After 199 pounds Fast forward to 2011. Starting in January I had to stop my membership and personal training because it was way too expensive. I then went on to joint a gym called LA Boxing where you used boxing gloves and hit the bag and worked with a class tought by a trainer. The fun didn't last long. In march I started having severe pain. I found out that I had more ovarian cysts (i have a long history of ovarian cysts) that were pretty big. I was on birth control but obviously it wasn't working too well. Usually when you are on birth control you not supposed to ovulate which causes ovarian cysts. On April 28th, I had to have an Ovarian Cystectomy. The doctor was actually thinking about removing the whole entire right ovary because I constantly had ovarian cysts on that side. But they ended up saving it. I had what was called a hemorrhagic cyst that was actually inside my ovary. They removed the cyst. I went home and recovered. As I was getting ready to come back to work I started having really bad pain in my stomach and my stomach was really distended. I called my OBGYN and he told me to take a beano and assumed I had gas. It didn't seem right. I went to the ER. The doctors found that I had what was called a hematoma. It was about the size of a softball. I was hospitalized for 5 days and was given antibiotics and a PCA machine that distributed pain medicine Dialuded to me .I was out of work for a total of 7 weeks. Here is a picture of my Hematoma. Basically the left side is me right before I went to the ER. You can see my stomach is severely bloated and on the top you can see where the hematoma is. On the right is me after 5 days in the hospital and you'll see that the stomach is less distended. They went under a ultrasound and drained the 7cc's of blood out of my stomach. But I'm still distended: I wanted to get back on track with my weight loss so I went to my surgeon and got saline put in my band. I found out later that my band was way too tight. Tight enough where they had to remove all the saline for a few weeks because my band was causing my esophagus to almost dilate. Now keep in mind that this is the second time something like this had happened. This was getting old. Here is a picture of my band. The picture is my band under a fluro xray. As you can see it's extremely swollen and too tight: So I went back to my doctor and he barely put any saline in there so I didn't feel any restriction at all. I just dealt with it and tried just counting my calories and working out. My lap band was pretty much useless from that point out. I still had to deal with acid reflux. During the summer I had to deal with recurring ovarian cysts and then I developed kidney stones. FUN! Not. So because of this crap I was unable to work out. Let me tell you aside form the health issues I had I felt like I never had the restriction I wanted. I lost the estimated 50 pounds with a combination of the weight I initially lost straight out of surgery from the liquid diet, and then dieting on my own and working out with a personal trainer and working out on my own 5 days a week for 2 hours a day. I'm starting to get frustrated with this band because I feel like it isn't working. I'm following all the rules, I don't understand. I feel like I regret getting this band. I've been going in for adjustments like 10 times each year. And 5 of those times I've been told that I'm already tight enough so I wasted $30 for them to tell me I'm fine. I would walk out of that office in tears. So that summer I had a conversation with my surgeon expressing that I'm looking into possibly getting a revision surgery to bypass. I was sick of the bullshit. He told me to come talk to him about that in November. I would of been 2 years out, and he felt I should wait until 2 years out to talk about this. By this time I have already gained 10 pounds. Lets fast forward to Friday 11/4/2011. I was feeling extreme stomach pain all week. I already had to visit the ER once because the pain was so severe. It felt like a burning pain in my upper stomach right above my belly button but kinda off to the left. The pain was very constant. Never went away. Earlier in the week I saw my bariatric surgeon who prescribed me a medicine called Carafate. It works mainly in the lining of the stomach by adhering to ulcer sites and protecting them from acids, enzymes, and bile salts. It's main function is for ulcers. He also prescribed me liquid oxycodone. I had to take double the dosage for it to help with the pain. So here I am Friday going back to the ER because the pain meds they gave me isn't working. I'm in agony. 10/10 pain scale. The doctor in the ER calls my surgeon and they decide to admit me to investigate what's going on with me. So that Saturday I saw a GI doctor who looked at my CT scan and Xrays and said that I was severely constipated. He felt that constipation was the diagnoses to why I was in so much pain. He was the one telling me I'm full of **** literally, when I was thinking the exact thing about him figuratively because I knew I was having normal bowel movements and there was no way that constipation would of caused that much pain. So his solution.. he wanted the nurse to give me an enema. Ugh...not fun.. not fun at all. They literally had an IV pole that was holding this substance that was going to be my enema. It took the nurse about 5 different times for all the Fluid to "go in". SO after several bathroom trips, I was finally cleaned out. I didn't feel any different. I still felt that severe pain. So I was right.. that GI doctor was really full of ****. So he comes back on Sunday to see how I'm doing. I told him that I felt a lot of pain still. So, he wanted to do an endoscopy. So I had an endoscopy scheduled on Monday. So they brought me to the endoscopy. I don't remember anything. Which was good considering they gave me anesthesia to knock me out. It came back that I had what was called gastritis. Which is pretty much inflammation of the stomach lining. I couldn't accept that this was the cause of my pain. I just didn't seem right. My surgeon came in and we spoke about what they found out. He felt that it is very possible that my band was causing this pain. It felt that I may have some adhesions stuck around my band. It's also very possible that after 2 years of having a lap band in my body that my body is rejecting this foreign object. He told me that he was going to discharge me on that Tuesday and I should call and make an appointment with him to schedule surgery to get my lap band taken out. So here it was Tuesday, I went home. I was so happy to be home. I spent the rest of the day sleeping mostly. Wednesday came around and that morning I was in severe pain. The oxycodone wasn't helping at all. By 5:00PM I called my husband and said I need to go to the ER. As soon as I got into a bed, the ER doctor called and spoke with surgeon and the surgeon wanted to talk to me so he brought the mobile phone into my room and I spoke with him. He asked me if I would like to be admitted and on Friday they take the lap band out. That was the best thing I have heard spoken to me in a very long time. I was 90% sure that this was the cause of my pain. So here we are on Friday 11/11/2011. I'm sitting here in my hospital bed typing this long story about the reason why I've decided to take out this lapband I now call a CRAPband. I'm mad that I chose lapband instead of gastric bypass. I'm mad because I was trying to be safe and avoid invasive surgery with gastric bypass. After much education on the gastric bypass from talking to other friends who have had it and going to a seminar, I'm confident that this is what I want to do. Unfortunately, I will not be able to get the bypass when they take the band out. I have to wait 6 weeks or so for my stomach to heal and then I will be getting gastric bypass. I also have to go through the entire insurance requirements again. I'm fine with that. It's 9:00AM and I'm very nervous about today. Here is a picture of me in my hospital bed typing this to you: At 4:30PM today I will be laying on that OR table and I will be saying goodbye to something that has done almost nothing for me but cause me emotional and physical pain. I will update you on what happens. I will update you as in the next 2 weeks I recover from this. Please keep me in your prayers and thoughts. I'm really nervous. Until next time, Jessica Here's a picture of me when I'm not in a hospital bed:

Hey friends - I have not posted on this site in such a long time. I have had a year of pure hell. And that's putting it lightly. I had my lap band placed November 13th, 2009. In the first 4 months I lost 45 pounds. It will be 2 years since I had the band in 2 days. Since then I have not lost about 8 more pounds. I worked my butt of trying to lose this weight. I was very cautious about what I was eating and following the lap band diet. I even joined Gold's Gym and hired a personal trainer for an entire year. Even though I could only afford to see her two times a month, when I saw her, she worked me to the bone. I managed to lose about 8 pounds. My lowest weight was 192. Before at 250 pounds Resized to 81% (was 640 x 423) - Click image to enlarge After 199 pounds Fast forward to 2011. Starting in January I had to stop my membership and personal training because it was way too expensive. I then went on to joint a gym called LA Boxing where you used boxing gloves and hit the bag and worked with a class tought by a trainer. The fun didn't last long. In march I started having severe pain. I found out that I had more ovarian cysts (i have a long history of ovarian cysts) that were pretty big. I was on birth control but obviously it wasn't working too well. Usually when you are on birth control you not supposed to ovulate which causes ovarian cysts. On April 28th, I had to have an Ovarian Cystectomy. The doctor was actually thinking about removing the whole entire right ovary because I constantly had ovarian cysts on that side. But they ended up saving it. I had what was called a hemorrhagic cyst that was actually inside my ovary. They removed the cyst. I went home and recovered. As I was getting ready to come back to work I started having really bad pain in my stomach and my stomach was really distended. I called my OBGYN and he told me to take a beano and assumed I had gas. It didn't seem right. I went to the ER. The doctors found that I had what was called a hematoma. It was about the size of a softball. I was hospitalized for 5 days and was given antibiotics and a PCA machine that distributed pain medicine Dialuded to me .I was out of work for a total of 7 weeks. Here is a picture of my Hematoma. Basically the left side is me right before I went to the ER. You can see my stomach is severely bloated and on the top you can see where the hematoma is. On the right is me after 5 days in the hospital and you'll see that the stomach is less distended. They went under a ultrasound and drained the 7cc's of blood out of my stomach. But I'm still distended: I wanted to get back on track with my weight loss so I went to my surgeon and got saline put in my band. I found out later that my band was way too tight. Tight enough where they had to remove all the saline for a few weeks because my band was causing my esophagus to almost dilate. Now keep in mind that this is the second time something like this had happened. This was getting old. Here is a picture of my band. The picture is my band under a fluro xray. As you can see it's extremely swollen and too tight: So I went back to my doctor and he barely put any saline in there so I didn't feel any restriction at all. I just dealt with it and tried just counting my calories and working out. My lap band was pretty much useless from that point out. I still had to deal with acid reflux. During the summer I had to deal with recurring ovarian cysts and then I developed kidney stones. FUN! Not. So because of this crap I was unable to work out. Let me tell you aside form the health issues I had I felt like I never had the restriction I wanted. I lost the estimated 50 pounds with a combination of the weight I initially lost straight out of surgery from the liquid diet, and then dieting on my own and working out with a personal trainer and working out on my own 5 days a week for 2 hours a day. I'm starting to get frustrated with this band because I feel like it isn't working. I'm following all the rules, I don't understand. I feel like I regret getting this band. I've been going in for adjustments like 10 times each year. And 5 of those times I've been told that I'm already tight enough so I wasted $30 for them to tell me I'm fine. I would walk out of that office in tears. So that summer I had a conversation with my surgeon expressing that I'm looking into possibly getting a revision surgery to bypass. I was sick of the bullshit. He told me to come talk to him about that in November. I would of been 2 years out, and he felt I should wait until 2 years out to talk about this. By this time I have already gained 10 pounds. Lets fast forward to Friday 11/4/2011. I was feeling extreme stomach pain all week. I already had to visit the ER once because the pain was so severe. It felt like a burning pain in my upper stomach right above my belly button but kinda off to the left. The pain was very constant. Never went away. Earlier in the week I saw my bariatric surgeon who prescribed me a medicine called Carafate. It works mainly in the lining of the stomach by adhering to ulcer sites and protecting them from acids, enzymes, and bile salts. It's main function is for ulcers. He also prescribed me liquid oxycodone. I had to take double the dosage for it to help with the pain. So here I am Friday going back to the ER because the pain meds they gave me isn't working. I'm in agony. 10/10 pain scale. The doctor in the ER calls my surgeon and they decide to admit me to investigate what's going on with me. So that Saturday I saw a GI doctor who looked at my CT scan and Xrays and said that I was severely constipated. He felt that constipation was the diagnoses to why I was in so much pain. He was the one telling me I'm full of **** literally, when I was thinking the exact thing about him figuratively because I knew I was having normal bowel movements and there was no way that constipation would of caused that much pain. So his solution.. he wanted the nurse to give me an enema. Ugh...not fun.. not fun at all. They literally had an IV pole that was holding this substance that was going to be my enema. It took the nurse about 5 different times for all the Fluid to "go in". SO after several bathroom trips, I was finally cleaned out. I didn't feel any different. I still felt that severe pain. So I was right.. that GI doctor was really full of ****. So he comes back on Sunday to see how I'm doing. I told him that I felt a lot of pain still. So, he wanted to do an endoscopy. So I had an endoscopy scheduled on Monday. So they brought me to the endoscopy. I don't remember anything. Which was good considering they gave me anesthesia to knock me out. It came back that I had what was called gastritis. Which is pretty much inflammation of the stomach lining. I couldn't accept that this was the cause of my pain. I just didn't seem right. My surgeon came in and we spoke about what they found out. He felt that it is very possible that my band was causing this pain. It felt that I may have some adhesions stuck around my band. It's also very possible that after 2 years of having a lap band in my body that my body is rejecting this foreign object. He told me that he was going to discharge me on that Tuesday and I should call and make an appointment with him to schedule surgery to get my lap band taken out. So here it was Tuesday, I went home. I was so happy to be home. I spent the rest of the day sleeping mostly. Wednesday came around and that morning I was in severe pain. The oxycodone wasn't helping at all. By 5:00PM I called my husband and said I need to go to the ER. As soon as I got into a bed, the ER doctor called and spoke with surgeon and the surgeon wanted to talk to me so he brought the mobile phone into my room and I spoke with him. He asked me if I would like to be admitted and on Friday they take the lap band out. That was the best thing I have heard spoken to me in a very long time. I was 90% sure that this was the cause of my pain. So here we are on Friday 11/11/2011. I'm sitting here in my hospital bed typing this long story about the reason why I've decided to take out this lapband I now call a CRAPband. I'm mad that I chose lapband instead of gastric bypass. I'm mad because I was trying to be safe and avoid invasive surgery with gastric bypass. After much education on the gastric bypass from talking to other friends who have had it and going to a seminar, I'm confident that this is what I want to do. Unfortunately, I will not be able to get the bypass when they take the band out. I have to wait 6 weeks or so for my stomach to heal and then I will be getting gastric bypass. I also have to go through the entire insurance requirements again. I'm fine with that. It's 9:00AM and I'm very nervous about today. Here is a picture of me in my hospital bed typing this to you: Resized to 81% (was 640 x 480) - Click image to enlarge At 4:30PM today I will be laying on that OR table and I will be saying goodbye to something that has done almost nothing for me but cause me emotional and physical pain. I will update you on what happens. I will update you as in the next 2 weeks I recover from this. Please keep me in your prayers and thoughts. I'm really nervous. Until next time, Jessica Here's a picture of me when I'm not in a hospital bed:

Thank you sweetie! I know this will help a lot of things. Yes I agree it's not the answer for everyone. Not for me.

I hope it works out for you as well. I know your probably nervous about it. I have heard of the vertical sleeve. Unfortunately I cannot get that because my insurance doesn't cover it. I wish I could.

Raleighgirl ~ I just wanted to let you know that I am having the exact same issues as you are. I have just stopped going because after 4 visits of him telling me I don't need a fill and that I need to excercise more ...duh! and his horrible bedside manner -- I just said screw it and have not gone to get a fill. I have not gained any weight or lost any weight. I have some restriction, don't get me wrong. I just would be much happier if they could help me out and give me at least half a CC or something. I love Dr. Enochs, but Brett is just an asshole. At that he's very creepy. I have done my part, I've been working with a personal trainer and I work out at at 2 different gyms at least 5 times a week. I have been working on my food habits as well. I just regret getting the band for this crap. I wish I just would of gotten a gastric sleeve and not worried about these stupid fills which are pointless since all they do is take your money. What doctor do you go to now? I might want to switch as well.

Do any of you guys get any kind of numbing medication with fills? Mine really hurt to the point I was in tears. I heard from a few people that they have had numbing meds, is this true?

I understand how you feel. Back in June of 2010, I had to get ALL of my saline taken out of my band because it was way too tight and they wanted to give it a break. After that, they only put 2cc's in my band and until last week they refused to put saline in my band because the PA thought it was tight enough. Keep in mind that he also used a a fluro-xray which shows your band and the tightness by swallowing barium and seeing how fast/slow it's going through the band. I was really discouraged because he refused to give me a fill, and I almost swtiched doctors because of it, but I kept my head held high. I'm feeling a lil' bit more restriction, so hopefully that will help!! I hope you get a fill soon!

I know how you feel. I'm around 4.5 CC's. In June I had to get my Fluid taken out of my band because I was too tight, and since then I've slowly got only 4.5cc's in my band. I recently got a fill last week and it was only .25 of a cc. I feel like it has made a difference, not a dramatic difference, but I can tell it is tighter. Previously, I felt discouraged because my doctor refused to give me a fill because based on the fluro-xray -- it was tight enough. I guess before I got the band, I thought that I was going to get more restriction then I thought. People talk about having times where they just don't feel hungry. Regardless of how tight my band is, I'm always hungry. My mind plays tricks on me, and I joked with my surgeon if he could put a lap-band around my brain. That is why they require that you see a psychologist and get a psych consult prior to surgery. I have thought about getting a revision (lap-band to gastric bypass) because I felt that the lap-band has failed me, but I need to be honest with my self and give myself more time. It's been a 13 months since I had the surgery. People are all different regardless on how much your band is full. You say that your band is 7.5 cc but you could have a different size band then others, thus needing more to fill it up. Don't give up!

Hey guys.. I was just wondering for those who measure their food...how much do you eat at one time? Like a cup? half a cup? cup 1/2? 2 cups??? And do you eat 3 meals a day or do you have snacks(hopefully healthy) in between??

Hey guys, I have not posted pictures in about 8 months. I'm 11 months post-op and have lost 55 pounds. I've had some struggle lately, and trying to get re-motivated. I can do this!! Check out my pics in my photo album here Yay!!! 75 more pounds to lose!!

thank you guys for the sweet comments. I posted these pics because I need the extra motivation to get back into the groove. I feel like I'm not motivated to go the gym as much as a used to and don't feel the restriction I want, but I'm trying to control my mind more and not so much my stomach.

I don't think I've ever known anyone to love mustard as much as you, that's cool. Don't worry , you didn't hijack my post. lol. I was just seeing who really did or did not measure their food. I think that's why I'm struggling in this weightloss. I feel like I'm overeating and my surgeon says that my band is tight enough.

I'm sorry if you got offended. I just got a little concerned with the way you were talking about eating. As long as all your doctors approve of this way of eating, then go about it and eat what you're eating.

Thanks to all that have responded to the question I have. It really helps things, cause I'm serious about this and I think my problem is I need measure things. I read this article online and found it very inspiring and got me thinking: Lap-band weight loss surgery is not about restriction Here's what they say.... The Lap-band is NOT about Restriction When talking about the band, some patients talk about restriction. Let's first be clear about one thing: the purpose of the band is not restriction; the purpose of the band is to lose weight by suppressing the appetite. When band professionals talk about restriction we are talking about something totally different than "restricting what a person eats." In fact, many band surgeons avoid talking about restriction so as to not confuse patients. The band works by dimming the appetite, and this provides a conscious control and decision made by the patient, it does not work by "making" a person do something, or keep them from eating too much. The Lap-band works by suppressing your appetite As a result, you are less interested in food between meals, making it easier to resist temptation. The analogy is when you are near a vending machine when you are hungry-- what do you do? Probably find yourself with some junk food that is not a part of your plan. But, when you pass a vending machine when you are full, it may not even catch your eye. Having the appetite dimmed makes you less tempted by the many food choices modern living throws at you - -this is what the band does, by suppressing appetite you become less interested in food. What you should not feel, with the band, is the sensation of being "stuffed." When you eat Thanksgiving dinner, you can feel stuffed. Contrast that with the sensation two hours after you eat your big meal, at that point your appetite is suppressed. It is the subtle dimming of the appetite that the band should provide. Being stuffed after a large meal is a complicated sensation of the abdominal wall stretching and a lot of gas in the bowel, in addition to feeling a diminution of appetite. You will not, and should not, feel the abdominal wall stretch with the band. You should not feel the "near nausea" and you should not feel bloated. Key point: You should NEVER eat until you feel full. It is best to stop eating before you "feel full." If you do eat until you feel full you will most likely be overstuffed. This leads to the universal key to success -- patients who eat a small volume of food (which, if you measure, is consistent) will be successful with the band. If you want to succeed, you need to know how much you are eating, and then stop eating -- it is in your control, but the band will help you -- not by stopping you, but by allowing you to feel satisfied after the small volume. Early on, most Lap-band patients do have a sense of "restriction" ...particularly after the first fill. When we place the band on a patient the stomach above the band typically will hold one to two ounces (by volume, not by weight). The stomach has a lot of muscle fibers, and the wall of the stomach is fairly thick. When food is consumed, it arrives in the pouch, and meets some resistance, first against the newly adjusted band, and then against the stomach which does not stretch easily. People love this feeling! It is a sense of control over food -- a leash. But it is not permanent. It makes it difficult to eat more, because the top part of the stomach and the band will resist it. If you over eat you will feel uncomfortable. This is the honeymoon phase, you feel full with less, no appetite, and if you try to eat more it doesn't work. They eat a small amount of food, they feel satisfied, and they are losing weight. For patients who rely on this sensation, they will find it will take ever increasing volumes of food to obtain this sensation. The initial response is to have their band adjusted so that they can "feel full again." Against a tighter band, the upper stomach stretches a bit (and if they eat fast it stretches more)and they again have the sensation of "feeling full." This becomes a cycle, a tighter band, the stomach stretches more-- and then instead of going back to its original size, the stomach stretches more and more to where it takes more to fill it. The person who continues to eat until they have this sensation, will find that it takes more and more food to obtain this feeling. Two things happen -- first the stomach stretches to where it accommodates more food, and to stretch it means you have to eat more. The second is that to "feel full" it takes the brain time to register this sensation -- this is not the sensation registered by the hypothalamus, but registered in the conscious cortex. So your stomach can be full, but your brain won't register it for a while, and if you keep eating you can overeat. As a result, the pouch dilates. Similar to a balloon, when you first start to blow up the balloon it takes a bit of force. As you continue to fill the balloon, the wall of the balloon stretches (thins out), it is easier to blow it up -- the same is true with the upper pouch. Early on, before the pouch is stretched, it takes a little bit of food to cause it to stretch, but with chronic over-eating the pouch will accommodate more and more food. The stomach wall is thinner, it is easier to stretch, and to get that sensation it takes more food than at first. Often patients will complain that they "don't feel restriction," and wish to have the band made tighter. There are two potential results to this: one is the patient will passively stretch the stomach and esophagus and not be eating a small amount of food. These patients simply do not lose the weight that the surgeon expects. The other is that the band will be forced down the stomach, the band will slip, which generally requires operative intervention to reposition it. For those patients who are rigorous about the volume of food they eat, and do not let the stomach to tell them when to stop eating - they do very well. This is one of the keys of successful patients, only eat a certain portion of food - period. If the band is properly adjusted, the appetite will be dimmed for several hours. Once your brain realizes that a small amount of food keeps you satisfied, then your eyes will adjust to the amount you eat. Some describe a "soft stop." Where before a sense of fullness occurs, there is a signal from your body -- this can be a runny nose, a sigh, or a subtle ache in the left shoulder. Patients who find this "soft stop," do very well with the band. The other advantage of eating small portions is it becomes a lifestyle change --you will have the ability to gauge the amount of food you can comfortably eat, knowing it will keep you satisfied for several hours. You can always -- always, always, always, -- eat more food, because, contrary to what we believed for a long time-- food passes by the band within a minute and then into your stomach. But the key to successful patients is not how much they can eat, but how little they can eat to suppress hunger. The band goes around your stomach, not around your brain, or your lips This simple concept, of eating a specific volume of food -- eating it slowly, and then walking away, is the key to successful eating habits of patients. This means that the band works with effort from you -- not by it doing everything for you. You have to make the decision to eat a small volume of food, and let the band work with you. The sensation that we would want the band to produce is the "soft stop." The soft stop is when you eat a small portion of food and walk away. Sometimes this is difficult, like most things, practice makes perfect. To set yourself up for success -- we recommend you use smaller plates, along with smaller utensils. If you go out to eat, ask for the to-go bag immediately, and remove the excess food from your plate. You can physically always eat more food, but the advantage about practicing small portions and walking away, is ultimately your eyes will get use to what the stomach is telling it, and it will be much easier to eat smaller portions as time goes on. It isn't uncommon for patients to want an adjustment because they say they can eat more The first question we ask is, "Why are you eating more?" The typical answer is, "Because I can." The typical response, "Just because you can does not mean you should." Since the band's job is not to restrict the amount of food you eat, do not leave that to chance -- that is your job. Part of personal accountability is to account for, to measure, to know how much you are eating at a time. The band is empowering; if you eat an appropriate amount and make appropriate food choices, you will be satisfied for several hours. This results in either weight loss, or weight maintenance (if you are at your goal). The purpose of the band is to assist you to lose weight -- and this occurs only with active participation by you: you chose what to eat, you choose how much to eat, and you practice walking away after eating that amount. The band is a tool to allow you to eat less and have your appetite dimmed resulting in weight loss, or maintenance. It is a tool to help you adopt a healthy lifestyle -- you still have the choices to make, but the band allows you to be satisfied with those choices. "If I could eat less and walk away, what would I need this band for?" -- a common question we are asked. Without the band, if you eat a small amount of food and walk away your appetite would rise within a couple of hours -- you would find yourself hungry and wanting more food, possibly leading to unwanted snacking. You would also find, if you willed yourself to withstand the hunger, that your weight loss gradually decreases. The band fools your brain into thinking you ate more. Think of it another way -- the hypothalamus does not have eyes -- it doesn't know how much you ate, it doesn't know if there is a lot of food around and you are not eating it, or if there is a band on your stomach. The hypothalamus reacts very simply to the stimulation provided by the upper part of your stomach. Stretch that thermostat, it thinks you are eating a lot -- do that consistently over time, and it behaves as if you are eating a lot all the time and will allow your body to release fat stores and not cause your body to go into a metabolic slow-down. Conversely -- if you go on a diet, without the band --and that part of the stomach is not stretched, your hypothalamus thinks you are in a famine -- it doesn't know that there is a lot of food around you. The purpose of banding is weight loss. Patients who are successful do not "feel tight," or "feel restricted." Instead, successful patients report that they rarely have an issue with the band, they do not "feel restriction." Successful patients come for adjustments when they notice that their appetite is returning between meals -- patients who are not successful rely upon the band to tell them when to stop eating. The band, in successful patients, is empowering. While, on occasions, the band is "fickle" the proper way for the band to work is for it to allow you to eat less and not be moved by an appetite. There is another group of Lap-band patients who do not like any sensation of restriction --a group we call volume eaters. They want to eat a lot, when they want to eat, and they do not like the sensation of a "hard stop." Nor does this group want to eat a small volume and walk away and allow their appetite to be suppressed. One patient even asked for pills for nausea, because she could not eat "a quart of chili." Yes, this person thought a quart was a normal serving size -- not a cup, a quart! Sometimes these patients come in for an adjustment, then come back thinking that the band is too tight, because when they overeat they become acutely uncomfortable, or feel as if they are "obstructed." Often these patients will come in for a fill, then an unfill, then another fill. It does take a bit of work to change a person's perspective about the volume of food they eat. For some there is a feeling of deprivation, a period of mourning, but ultimately the band can become a tool to overcome this sensation, and allow the patient to eat. Remember, if you want to be a 125 pound person, you have to eat like one. The band allows your body to re-set the thermostat to the amount of food that it takes to keep you satisfied between meals. To be more specific - food does not stay in the pouch above the band for a long period of time. Typically it travels through this area fairly quickly, usually less than a couple of minutes. The effect of the band is NOT to have food stay above the stomach in that small pouch - the effect of the band is on your appetite after a small amount of food stimulates that. Does this mean you can eat more -- yes, you can. That is always in your control. So the first lesson -- Eat a specific, and small, portion of food, and walk away If you can measure it -- you can manage it.