Cedar Brett

Hi friends, I've come back to LAP-BAND® chat to check something out, after an absence of a couple of years. I had my LAP-BAND® inserted in 2007 when I weighed 20 stone. In the next 36 months I was really happy as I steadily lost weight, having the band tightened twice, and eventually got down to my ideal weight of 10 1/2 stone. There are two problems. One is that my band has slipped twice so that part of the stomach bulges over the band. The hospital has Adjusted it once. But now it has slipped again. The other problem is that, right from the start, and continuing to the present day, I have been regurgitating back part of whatever I consume. This doesn't depend on what I eat or drink, its just continual. I've got used to it, and even if it's inconvenient and embarrassing, it's OK, I can live with the problem. Actually I think the vomiting is what helps me to maintain my weight. BUT...it seems that, medically, my condition isn't viable in the long run. The medics are afraid the stomach may rupture or something. And they're also afraid that the acid of the continual reflux (which certainly corrodes your teeth) may be damaging my internal organs. So the surgeon is urging me to have the band removed, now, entirely, once and for all. End of story. I might agree to this, if I could immediately have my stomach reduced in size surgically. But the National Health Service here will not pay for this operation, due to their rules on body-mass index. My weight now is way below the weight that would make me eligible for the surgery. However they have suggested I could have the band removed, gain weight so my body-mass index increases enough and then - if I'm really lucky - I might get the operation approved! But with the expenditure cuts in the NHS I doubt even that. I simply am not prepared to have the band removed, without the permanent surgery that would compensate for its loss. My psychological relationship to food has not changed in all over the time I have had the band. It never will change. I shall surely climb back to 20 stone and more. The life I am living now is so much better, it's like a new life, my work and everything else is going well. I'm just not willing to go into reverse. So I am saying "no thanks" to the removal of the band. I will take my chance. It would be great to hear from anyone who has similar experiences or advice to offer. Cedar Brett.

I have had my gastric band since December 2006. I had my first “fill” in May 2007. I lost a lot of weight (280 lbs down to 149 lbs) and am VERY happy with that. My weight is now ideal for me. But the price has been that I have not really been able to consume anything but liquids (smooth liquidized soup, coffee which keeps me going) and even those things in very small quantities. I have always puked back about half of what liquid I consume. I have felt happy as I lost weight, and I kept going on this starvation diet of liquidized soup and coffee, but I ,often felt weak and exhausted. Then in August this year, fifteen months after having the fill, I began to feel not only weak and exhausted but actually really ill, as if I had flu. I knew I couldn’t cope any more. I had had the band put in at a private clinic, but there was no after-care plan with that clinic, and anyway I couldn’t afford any more treatment. So I delivered myself to Emergency at a public hospital (in England the National Health Service is free). They responded to the crisis by removing 5 milli-litres of ‘fill’. Since then I have recovered my health and am coping more or less OK, but am worried about long-term nutrition. I don’t want to lose more weight, but don’t know how to maintain this weight, how to keep myself nourished and healthy. Because… I not only continue to puke back a lot of the liquids I take, but am also sometimes actually vomiting quiet violently, a little while after attempting to eat more solid foods, even if I only ate a small quantity. The only way I keep going is by eating tiny amounts of very high calorie but totally unhealthy foods like chocolate, icecream etc. Even then, not much stays down. I absolutely can't eat bread, or rice, or fruit, salad or vegetables.Has anyone had similar experiences, and got any advice for the long run, please? Does anyone know if there is a "thread" or a "forum" for people with my problem as described above? This is the second time I posted this thread cos I havent received much experienced feedback yet. Thanks for any info.

Dear Katieo, Back in 2007 you were the first to contribute to a new Forum, for UK bandsters. I am writing to ask if you know: how did you, or others, set up a new Forum?? I would like to set one up for band users with more than two years' experience, because so much of the stuff on this website is people new to band use and the problems and concerns are very different. But I cant see on the website a way of proposing a new forum. Grateful for any advice. Cedar

I have had my gastric band since December 2006. I had my first “fill” in May 2007. I lost a lot of weight (280 lbs down to 149 lbs) and am VERY happy with that. My weight is now ideal for me. But the price has been that I have not really been able to consume anything but liquids (smooth liquidized soup, coffee which keeps me going) and even those things in very small quantities. I have always puked back about half of what liquid I consume. I have felt happy as I lost weight, and I kept going on this starvation diet of liquidized soup and coffee, but I ,often felt weak and exhausted. <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p> Then in August this year, fifteen months after having the fill, I began to feel not only weak and exhausted but actually really ill, as if I had flu. I knew I couldn’t cope any more. I had had the band put in at a private clinic, but there was no after-care plan with that clinic, and anyway I couldn’t afford any more treatment. So I delivered myself to Emergency at a public hospital (in England the National Health Service is free). They responded to the crisis by removing 5 milli-litres of ‘fill’. <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p> Since then I have recovered my health and am coping more or less OK, but am worried about long-term nutrition. I don’t want to lose more weight, but don’t know how to maintain this weight, how to keep myself nourished and healthy. Because… I not only continue to puke back a lot of the liquids I take, but am also sometimes actually vomiting quiet violently, a little while after attempting to eat more solid foods, even if I only ate a small quantity. The only way I keep going is by eating tiny amounts of very high calorie but totally unhealthy foods like chocolate, icecream etc. Even then, not much stays down. I absolutely can't eat bread, or rice, or fruit, salad or vegetables. <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p> Has anyone had similar experiences, and got any advice for the long run, please? Does anyone know if there is a "thread" or a "forum" for people with my problem as described above? Thanks for any info.

Thanks about Forum Jump and the UK list, I havent found it yet but am looking, it will be just what I want.

So would I like to hear from longterm bandsters. After two years I feel I am now in for the long haul, but with so much uncertainty ahead. I really need company on this road. Cedar.

Thanks for this reply. I am not quite sure how to use Lapbandtalk.com yet. Things like "Threads" and "Tags" I am not sure how to interpret and use. But I will find out gradually I expect.

Hi, my name is Cedar. I live in the UK. I'm 56 and I had a gastric band applied two years ago now. My weight has fallen in that time from 20 stone to 10 and a half stone (I think that's from 127 kilos to 66 kilos). There have been a lot of problems along the way and there are still health and nutrition things I'm really worried about and that's why I've joined this forum, in the hope that I might learn from other peoples' experience. I have to say straight away that I am very very happy with this weight loss, it has been worth everything. It is wonderful to be able to feel 'normal', to get into normal clothes, size 12, even if it's just a shirt and trousers, it's great. And I wouldn't for a moment consider having the band removed, because I know my weight would go straight up again. But I've got worries about the long-term prospects, the sustainability. I can say more later what the difficulties and the questions are for me. The thing is, there is absolutely no follow-through from the private clinic that I got the gastric band from, no after-care, no advice, and that's why I want to read the discussions on this forum. It's good to be here. More later, Cedar.