mlafentres

Six days ago I went for my 2nd fill. I got my first fill of 3cc on a Type C Realize Band. (Doctor said I was his first person with this type band) The first fill gave me no restriction at all but I kinda expected that would be the case after reading the forums. When the doc seen I had not lost any weight he looked at my chart and said that with a band as big as mine (13cc I think) he needed to be doing bigger fills. He asked me to lay back for the fill and he proceeded to poke around a little and then pushed down. I could tell he was having a hard time. He pulled out the empty needle and said that he bent the needle, and he said he thought that he missed entirely. He then came back with another needle with 1 cc in it to try again. During the fill he told me to take a deep breath in and then exhale. When I exhaled I felt the fill go down. I told him that and he said that I wasn't supposed to feel that. I told him that on my first fill I did, but perhaps it was my imagaination. Do you feel the liquid go down your tube when you get a fill? The doctor at this point seemed troubled and said that I needed to go for an X-ray that my port may have trouble because he couldn't pull any Fluid back. My appointment is for tomorrow and he should have some information for me. Since my second fill I've had good restriction so something happened. I don't know if I have 3cc's, 6cc's or 7cc's, but I guess the bottom line is I have restriction. Any thoughts or similar experiences? Thanks so much

My take is that unless you told her litigation is the answer to many of lifes problems you likely will pass. These people have bills too. They have a staff to pay. They likely have rent to pay on the building they are housed in. They have mortgage payments as well most likely. If they turn away people on a dime, they won't survive as a business. But they do also want to protect themselves against risk. My pshyc eval was a thinny veiled interview to determine the likely hood of a lawsuite should any complications happen. How many people have follow up pshyc visits after they are banded? I never have. If the purpose was to promote our long term mental health you would think they would be meeting with us AFTER as well as BEFORE, when we are trying to learn the new life habits. Instead, this is done once and up front. View this as a risk assesment.

Nice! Thank you. I think I could swap my 90 calorie Pear or one of my 190 calorie shakes for one of these and be better off. Do you ever really get away from those shakes? For me its is the ease and portablity of them, along with the good Protein that keeps me going back to them. They don't last as long as the solids. Can you say more about the Almond Milk? Thats a new one for me.

Thank you for posting this. I've been trying to focus on what is my food routine now that I feel like I have restriction. 5:30am Two peices of 9 grain toast with sugar free Jelly (feels a little heavy and take a while to eat.) 8:30am Slimfast shake (doesn't really do a great job but I need a Protein source) 11:30am Slimfast Shake 2:00pm Pear (very filling and lasts, but no protein) 5:00pm small boneless chicken breast with veggie side 7:30pm fruit freezer (yum yum) About 1100 calories. I am still 'building' my routine so I'm eager to hear what others are doing. This is a little low on protein so I'm looking forward to getting soom ideas from this thread. Right now I'm loosing very good.

One option would be to say, "Yeah, since mom got the band there's hardly any food in the house anymore." She ought to love that.

Good explaination above. For me, restriction is eating a small amount and feeling full. Also, if I continue to eat (bad habits that are slowly dieing I PB.) Once I got restriction it was amazing how quickly I started to learn... no, no, this is they way you eat now. Really we should all try to start to modify our portions before we get to restriction, but that is easier said than done. Anymore, the portion sizes I used to look at and say. 'Nice appetizer' Now I look at and go :thumbup: no way I can eat all that. But the key thing I didn't really grasp is how long this takes. My journey has gone like this: The research and picking a doctor period. (2 weeks) The insurance period (Self Pay so skip this one) The testing and approval with the doctor period (2 weeks) The dreaded pre-op diet. (1 month) The surgury. (easiest part by far for me) The healing (You are here, but about 2 weeks, every one is different) Fills and finding sweet spot (3 months cross my fingers) Not sure what is next, I hope it is the finally I'm loosing weight period! Wish someone would have laid it all out like this for me. Probably someone did and I just didn't see it. One thing I will say is the place has been a constant during the whole process, and I consider it to be help.

What the others said.... And... don't get your hopes up too much about that first fill. It often takes more than 1 fill before you get restriction. Some doctors are very conservative with fills. My doctor gave me 3cc on my first. 3cc on my second and then 1cc on my third. That is one of the most aggressive fill schedules I've heard based on the other posts I've read. My second fill I felt restriction for about 1.5 weeks then it loosened up. Now with my third fill I'm crossing my fingers that I keep my restriction. It is not uncommon that after the swelling goes down to feel hunger. Hang in there and talk to your doctor about fills. Every doctor seems to have a different take on what the right fill schedule is.

Do you hear a clicking noise when you get a fill? My first fill I heard a clicking noise that sounded much like a computer mouse when you click. My second fill I heard nothing. Do you hear anything when you get a fill?

Thanks for your replies. The reason I ask is because on my second fill, my doctor said he couldn't pull any Fluid out, and now he thinks there is a cink in the line. But on the first fill I heard clicking, on the second fill I didn't. I wonder if he couldn't hit the right spot.

Good explaination. That is help. I'm a cash pay person and I do have free care and support. The doctor did acknowledge that it would have to be fixed, he said that if I ever get too tight we would have to do emergency op. He said that if we address this when I have lost more weight the operation will be easier for him and less risk for me. Mercifully no one is saying I should share any of the cost for this.

Thanks to all those who read and responded. I went for my follow up yesterday. The doctor seems to think that the hose has a kink in it. He also thinks that we can add Fluid, but not take any out because of the kink. The question I have about this is: If the line is kinked, then why can you add and not subract, wouldn't a kink cause it to not work either way? When I did my first fill with the NP she put a pillow under my back and had me lift my head. I heard a 'clicking' noise when she had the needle in the port. Do you hear a 'clicking' noise when you get a fill? On my second fill, done by the doctor, I didn't hear the clicking noise, and I wasn't arched back that same way. Does anyone think I would benefit from doing my next fill with Floro? Thanks for all your help!

I had my first fill 2/20 and it was 3cc in an 11cc band. This is not uncommon. Right now, I feel no restriction, so I haunt the forums, reading other peoples stories, knowing that if hundreds of others just like me can do this, so can I.

DebbieGail, You weight loss is fantastic. Hang in there. Reading your story makes me want to try harder.

Yeah, I think the gas pain the shoulder is the worst part of the whole process. Some people say Gas-X is the answer, but for me it didn't seem to help much. Walking, on the other hand made a world of difference. I was suprised how little I needed to walk to feel better. I could walk from my bedroom to my car and the gas pain would go away, and stay away for nearly an hour. Another thing that really helped me is to sleep in a recliner.

I too fear the dreaded Bing. I have lost weight before using my Bowflex, but sooner or later the bing seems to always undo all the good work I've done. I talked this with my doctor and told him it was my number 1 problem. Having said that we decided on the Realize band. When I get restriction I hope to have some bing security with my band in place. How do other, more experience people get over the bing bad habit? How much of a deterant does the band make? As of now, I've been pretty darn good, but my life has been pretty stable. For me, its those big suprises that trigger the bing. I hope my band will be a help to me next time I fall.

I too was banded 1/19 and my first fill is scheduled 2/20. Like you I feel like I need it. So many say they can't feel much on the first fill. Lets hope its different for us.

I went to my support group and for the first time and they all started talking about Dry Roasted Edamame. Ofcourse I had to ask what the heck they were talking about, because I never heard of such a thing. The group filled me in on their little secret and I drove over to the store to get my own. Over all I have to say I've very pleased with this product. Very healthy product and seems to keep me from not being hungry for long periods of time. Warning: Eat this stuff very slow, its easy to get over full. Here is a link to the manufactures web site. Seapoint Farms Hope this helps someone else as much as it has helped me.

Exact same thing happened to me. NP gave me MethylPREDNISolone tablets 4mg for 6 days. After 2 days it was starting to get better, by day 6 the problem was totally gone. WARNING: Steroids = Hunger. But, if your very early on hunger is less an issue as gas.

Hey soontobeme, i was banded Jan 19th and I get my first fill Feb 20th. According to the NP as long as its at least 1 month. The amount of difference is really amazing between different doctors. I guess its for the best that each doctor have a certain amount left to his/her judgement, since each person is different. Truthfully, I think part of it speaks to the lack of medical standards. One time I got a blood test to see what my hormone levels were. They said that my level of a certain hormone was 4X what it should be. I was really worried, then I started to research and found out that in many other labs that exact same result was cosidered to be on the low end of normal. Kinda makes me wonder....

I really want one of these for my birthday, but be warned if you are 300+ lbs the little thing you stand on is over its limit. Wii Fit - Not for the obese - SlashGear This will be my present for breaking the 300 barrier.

Thank you for posting this. I get my first fill 2/20 so I'm very interested in seeing what more experienced bandsters have to say.

What kind of Milk to you like? Today I found this Over the Moon Fat Free Chocalate milk and it was sooooo gooood. Lehigh Valley Dairy Farms | Products - Over the Moon Fat Free Milk Little high on sugar, but pretty good on Protein too. What kind do you like?

Congrats on your band. I actually LOL'd when I read your post. Very funny stuff. On Day 5 I remember my stomach making a lot of noise, but not really connecting that with hunger. By day 7 I was starting to feel hunger again. Still even at day 12 my hunger is less severe than it was pre op, but I know my body is still healing inside. All my cuts are healed up, or at worst look like I maybe had a pimple there or something. (Except for where the port is, that is still a scar) It gets better quick. Good job on the walking. I heard that walking helps the internal healing process. Blood keeps flowing, ect... Best of luck to you.

I'm to the point now where I'm allowed soft meats like baked fish, and today I found some real shreaded crab meat. I plan to put that in some New England Clam Chowder + a splash of white wine (maybe a 1/8 cup) and probably make two meals out of it. Should be absolutely gormet compared to what I've been eating.