jes1014

I was banded in Nov. 2008. in Michigan. I moved out of state in 2010 and had to find a new doctor. The new doctor was VERY aggressive with his fills and I had extreme constriction. Unfills didn't help. I had to have everything taken out about a year ago. Since then, I have had no fill at all but have been battling constant PB, terrible acid reflux, and a gradual decrease in what I could successfully eat. I moved states again in Jan. and I finally decided to have it removed when I could no longer lie flat at night without horrible reflux and aspirating that dark liquid that tends to come up at night. I can't remember the last time when I had a full night's sleep On Friday night, I had a horrible incident caused by 1 half of a piece of meatloaf and a few kale chips. It was literally the worst experience of my life and I honestly thought my stomach had perforated and I was going to die. Scary stuff! Today I had a barium swallow and tomorrow I see the doctor. I'm hoping he can do the surgery next week. Of course I'm scared I'm going to gain weight but, honestly, I only lost about 50 lbs with the band (and 20 lbs pre surgery with Optifast). I've been losing weight this past year ON MY OWN and I just want to be able to eat a little meat or a piece of pineapple or some raw veggies again without living in mortal terror.

@Evy, Thank you for suggesting that group!

I finally have a surgery date of May 24. I'm not at all happy with anyone in this office but, if they can get the job done, that's all I ask. Looks like 3 more weeks of smoothies and broth... If you live in Northern VA and need a rec. of where NOT to go, let me know!

He just said that "removal is not unreasonable". Since I went in talking removal, he didn't even saying anything about repositioning. I know some people have done great with the band and have had little complications but that was never me and I just want it out now.

Saw the surgeon today and he reviewed my scans. My band has definitely slipped quite a bit and my upper pouch is quite large yet I seem to have pretty severe restriction - maybe from scar tissue? He couldn't say. The doctor was a bit of a jerk and insinuated that my overeating caused the problem (if a piece of salmon fillet that is 1 1/2" wide and a very small salad is over eating, I'll eat my hat!) and that the band was still working because I'm still losing weight (um no, I cut out ALL sugar and ALL grains and am exercising a lot) and he was insistent that I am going to regain all of the weight again. Again, no! I've not had any fill in for over a year yet I'm losing weight because I have drastically changed my diet and really upped my exercise. I didn't argue with him (too much ), I just told him to "let's focus on removing the band and then see where it goes". Still waiting on the call from his scheduler. Looks like it may be mid-May. Until then, I'm sticking the Protein shakes and broth and taking a Prevacid knock-off. That seems to be helping with the heartburn and reflux.

I lost about 15 lbs before my pre-op diet started but gained a lot of it back the last week before the diet If I had to do it over again, I would not have let myself eat "whatever and whenever" that last week since I had to lose it all over again.

Mine is right above my navel. I was expecting it to be higher up and off to one side -- that is what the dr. said at the info. sessions. I'm going to ask why he put it there at my follow-up on Wednesday (just curious). Where is yours?

Last night I had 1/2 c. cottage cheese with a scoop of hamburger and spaghetti sauce on top and a side of about 1 T. of corn. Tonight, I'm having 1 egg beater made into an omelet with a little extra powdered milk added in and filled with a dab of low fat cream cheese and 1/2 piece whole wheat toast. Tomorrow it is Trader Joe's cream of tomato and roasted red pepper soup with a dollop of sour cream and 1 T. shredded cheese. :smile2: I'm focusing on protein but I also try to get either some fruit, veggie, or whole grain at each meal, too.

I get migraines and had a bad one, with a lot of vomiting (actually severe dry heaves but my body thought it was vomiting), 10 days after I was banded. I called my surgeon because I was afraid I would bust the stitches or cause a slip and he wasn't worried. He called in a script for some anti-nausea meds and all was well. I'll definitely keep those meds around, though, for next time. It was not a pleasant experience even if it didn't damage my band :smile2:

The only thing that helped me was walking, a lot! I didn't get it until I went back to work (desk job) so I started walking up to the 4th floor to use the restroom and that took care of the shoulder pain. Good luck!

I've been taking adult liquid Tylenol and it helps. But I agree, you should call your Dr.

I am wearing nylons for the first time today and haven't had any problems even though the top hits right above my port.

Ditto. My SIL has a co-worker who just had it done and she took 6 weeks! That's a bit much. As long as you feel fine and watch the weight restrictions, I don't see why you can't return sooner.

I was told to "resume activities when comfortable". We managed to wait 5 days :thumbup: Just had to get a bit creative...

Congratulations!! That must have been great

I wanted to be at 240 by surgery. I'm going in tomorrow and I weighed 239 this morning!!:thumbup: My next goal is 230 by New Year.

That is GENIUS!:rolleyes2:

Bump -- I have some updates to my numbers

Please update my info: Pre-op Diet Starting Weight: 257 Current: 243 Thanks.

Thanks for posting that! Which hospital did your banding? I'm being done at Sparrow in Lansing.

I'm not banded yet but I think this would be very band friendly. We eat it several times during the fall/winter. I cut way back on the bread crumbs (need some or else it will be soupy), use egg beaters, and sometimes use ground turkey or chicken instead of beef. Zucchini Lasagna Yield 10 servings Ingredients 4 cups Water 6 cups sliced zucchini (about 3 medium) 1 pound ground round 2 garlic cloves, minced 2 cups low-fat spaghetti sauce (such as Muir Glen Organic) 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon dried basil 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 2 cups fat-free cottage cheese 1 tablespoon dried parsley 2 large eggs, lightly beaten Cooking spray 1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs, divided 1 3/4 cups (3 1/2 ounces) preshredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided Preparation Preheat oven to 350°. Bring the water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add zucchini; cook 3 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain and cool. Place the beef and garlic in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook until browned, stirring to crumble. Stir in the spaghetti sauce, salt, basil, and oregano; cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Combine the cottage cheese, parsley, and eggs in a medium bowl. Arrange zucchini slices in a shallow 3-quart casserole coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle the zucchini with half of the breadcrumbs. Spread half of cottage cheese mixture over breadcrumbs; cover with half of the meat mixture and 1 cup mozzarella. Repeat the layers with the remaining breadcrumbs, cottage cheese mixture, and meat mixture; reserve the remaining mozzarella. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella, and bake an additional 5 minutes or until cheese melts. Nutritional Information Calories: 210 (30% from fat)Fat: 7.1g (sat 3g,mono 2.8g,poly 0.5g) Protein:20.9g Carbohydrate:14.8gFiber:2.3gCholesterol:69mgIron:2.5mgSodium:554mgCalcium:153mgFrom Cooking Light, Oct. 2001

Glad to hear you are doing so well!:rolleyes2:

It will be four months for me, from info session to surgery date.

It's finally our turn! Good luck to everyone who is having surgery next week: cobrien78, Bopper, jmegirl, jennifernc88, knitandpurlsue, mom2two, Tristessa and JuneAct2 :smile2: (if I missed you, send me your info for the spreadsheet)

Everyone, I deleted the spreadsheet that I created so Froggi's is the only version. Sorry for the confusion.