suepro

I love salads and eat a wide variety of salad vegetables. Greek salad is a favourite of mine although I find romaine a bit tough so use other more tender dark salad leaves, baby spinach, lambs lettuce and mix a little iceberg in to crisp it up a little.

I can now wear my engagement ring for the first time in 15 years! Sue Banded 6 November 08, 260lb's current 148lb's

Your scar will fade very quickly, so hopefully you won't have to worry about this matter for too long, mine is barely visible after 10 months.

Congratulations on an amazing weightloss and on achieving your goal. Sue

Thanks for sharing your story Quakergirl and a very useful reminder to all of us not to neglect our bands and get sloppy in our eating and drinking habits. I hope the total defill shrinks your pouch back, please do let us know how you get on when you go back. Best wishes. Sue

Good luck for your op Brighton Belle! I had my band done privately last November and it has been the best thing I have done. I have lost over 7 stone and am very nearly at my target weight, currently I am 10st 10lbs. I told everyone about my operation and I never regretted it as I am a lousy liar. I also get lots of support from friends, family and work colleagues and when people say 'haven't you lost weight' I find myself evangelising about weight loss surgery. You will get a lot of support on these boards and all your questions will be answered so glad you have found us. Where are you being done? Sue

I can only speak from my personal experience and I lose weight better when I am able to eat proper solid foods. I was once too tight for 10 days and whether I was consuming too many calories when on mainly liquids and slider foods or whether I wasn't having sufficient calories and the body went into starvation mode and held onto its fat reserves I don't know, but it was the only time I didn't lose anything.

If you have been pb'ing a lot then perhaps a couple of days on liquids to let everything settle down would be a good idea, then building up slowly to mushies, then solid food. All the foods you list that go down well are 'slider foods' so if you are unable to eat any solid Protein, then you may need a small defill. I avoid some foods that I know won't go down well, bread being one of them, eggs another. You do need to find a range of healthy foods you can eat, I can eat chicken, fish, prawns and a wide range of vegetables and salad and fruit. If you are at all worried then call your bariatric team to discuss. Sue (banded November 08 260lbs, August 09 149lbs)

Sorry that you are struggling- you have come to the right place for some help and encouragement. Perhaps if you start off by listing an average day's food & drink consumption it will give a good idea of how much restriction you have. How many fills have you had & what is your exercise regime? I am sure that the helpful people here will be able to help. Sue.

The other reason why restriction after a fill wears off is that as you lose weight you lose internal fat so the band is looser. It does sometimes take a while to get restriction just right and it isn't an exact science, more trial and error. I am now only a few pounds from my desired weight and I have had 4 fills and 2 small unfills. some of us find our bands tighten with our monthly cycle so I get one pretty tight week every month. Sue (Banded November 08 weight 260lbs, August 09 weight 149lbs)

It must very very frustrating for you that your surgeon won't give you the fill you need because you are losing weight by dieting. You are in a no win situation because you had the band to lose weight and you don't want to deliberately not lose just to get the fill you need. My surgeon has always listened to me and even though I have lostweight I have been given a fill each time I have asked for one. End of October seems like a long wait for an appointment with no restriction. Can you not ask for an earlier one? Best of luck to you, hope your surgeon starts taking notice of what you are telling him and you get the fill you need to make your band work. Sue (Banded November 08 weight 260lbs, Aug 09 weight 149lbs)

Good decision to have an unfill to a level you are more comfortable with, i can never understand why some bandsters struggle on with tiher bands so tight that they can barely eat any solid food. I prefer to keep my band looser so I have a much better choice of foods I can eat. The foods I can't eat aren't ones that I miss. I like to be able to eat solid Proteins, veggies, fruit and salad. it works for me, only 6lbs to my goal weight. Sue

I would rather live with a few wrinkles than a whole load of fat. Wrinkles won't endanger your life in any way, carrying too much weight will. Having just one chin after years of living with at least three is wonderful for me. Actually at the ace of 47 my face is in pretty good shape, but some of this is down to inheriting good skin from my mothers side of the family and in taking good care of my skin and not getting too much sun on it over the years. I have to say I have never come accross anyone who deliberately overate slider foods to avoid losing weight. If you are really unhappy with your face and neck once you have lost weight there are plenty of cosmetic procedures that might help. I hope you come to terms with your new face and body. Sue

The stuck feeling is no fun is it? With each fill, as your band gets tighter you may find that some foods no longer suit you and you soon learn which foods to avoid. I am no longer able to eat scrambled eggs, bread or Pasta. You will get to know which foods suit you and which don't. Sue Banded November 08 weight 260lbs, August 09 weight 149lbs

If you have only been drinking liquids I am guessing there isn't really anything much that could be stuck. If you were banded very recently then its possibly still swelling from the operation and your oesophagus settling down. Just keep sipping Water and hopefully the feeling will pass. Sometimes sipping hot water or tea helps but if you continue to feel pain then call your bariatric team for advice.

Hi Mari A lot of bandsters don't get restriction until after a few fills, especially if your surgeon is less aggressive in his approach to fills so it may take you a while to get to your 'sweet spot'. it is far better for you to build up your restriction level gradually than to have a huge fill and be over restricted too early on. Hopefully you can make sensible food choices and portion sizes until your next fill. Sue (banded 8 november 2008, starting weight 260lbs, currently 152lbs)

I burp a lot since banding, however it is my sign to stop eating because I am full and if I eat even one mouthfull too much it continues until my food has gone down through the pouch. If you are unable to eat even a tiny amount without hours of belching then you may be too tight. you should be able to sip fluids freely without problems.

Hi Hopeful! I have what I consider to be good restriction- good restriction for me means being full on a small portion of food. I still get hungry, but know that I can only eat a small amount. My band tightens with my monthly cycle and then I can at times struggle to keep solid food down and have to go back to Soup and shakes for a couple of days, but I still get hungry and at times like that have to forgo food I would love to eat as I know there is no chance of keeping it down and I do my best to avoid Pb'ing. Sue

Glad you had a happy ending and your surgeon was able to put a new band in for you. THanks for reminding us all that any adverse symptoms should be checked out ASAP.

Welcome Monica! Sounds like you got very poor service from the surgeon who fitted your band. If they suspected a leak, then why didn't they do anything to sort it out? Thank goodness you now have a better doctor and have been reassured that your band is ok. Although you have restrction now, you may still need further fills to get things right. Good luck with your weight loss- I found it helped me in the early days to log my food intake and exercise. I was banded in november 08 and have lost 100lbs and am now very close to my target weight. Sue

You are right asbout the eating too fast Restless- it is something I still do from time to time, especially when I am really hungry. I hope that as time goes on and I learn to work with my band my gas improves too.

I belch lot since my band, a large one is the sign for me to stop eating as I am full. If I have eaten something that isn't going down too well I burp a lot. I asked my surgeon about it and he said not to worry as a lot of people are affected by excess wind after banding. To me it is a small price to pay for being slim. I was banded in November 08 and have lost 100lbs (including my pre op diet), I am now only 7lbs from my target weight.

I don't seem to have any difference between hot and cold foods, although textures do make a diference. If meat is very dry and chewy it doesn't go down very well for me. I can only eat about half a salmon fillet, a piece the size of a credit card is the portion I can eat and it fills me up for ages. You don't say how long after you tried the second portion but if less than 4 hours Maybe you were still full from the first serving?

Welcome, nice to have you with us! Do you have any restriction? If not it may be worth you finding a local fill provider. You will be able to get all the help and support you require here. Sue

I have access to a dietician and counsellor as part of my follow up but to be perfectly honest, I get most of what I need to know right here.