Percy15

Hey there! I was banded Febuary 2009. Fast forward 5 years, and twin 2.5 year olds later, I am considering a sleeve. I was moderately successful with the band (lost 75 pounds), and it doesn't give me major issues BUT, I really regret not getting a sleeve back then. When I found out I was pregnant with my twins 3 years ago, I stopped going for fills (obviously, because you can't do that while pregnant). Well, I haven't been back since. I still have some restriction because I get stuck quite often. But, my fills were getting increasingly difficult to do because they thought my port was flipping. I kind of became very scared of getting fills. And lately, I have been having pulling and tugging, sometimes pinching sensations, I'm afraid there may be adhesions going on in there. I am just growing increasingly uncomfortable with a foreighn object being in my body. All of this being said, I am still about 100 pounds overweight, but to my knowledge, I haven't had any issues except not being a good patient for a couple years. And I do think something is going on with these pinching sensations. Will they even consider doing a revision on me? I have NO TIME for fills and whatnot anymore, not with twin 2 year olds. I'm sorry if this was blabby, I look forward to any advice!

I hadn't had one for 5 days post-op so I had my mom bring me over some Phillip's Milk of Magnesia (horrid nasty stuff, I tell you!) BUT, about 24 hours after taking the stuff I finally started having BMs. My BMs were very liquidy for about a week after but at least I was having them.

I think everyone is a little different. Sometimes fills are easy and sometimes they are not. My first fill was quite easy and I didn't feel a thing. The second fill however was a different story. She had a really hard time finding the little hole in the port so I felt a lot of stinging and burning. I'm not terribly squeemish about needles so I was ok. I also do not think my nurse who does my fills numbs the area. I don't think they do that at all where I go. As far as the feeling you get during the fill, I agree with a previous poster who said it feels like butterflies. It's a slightly fluttery pressure like feeling. Not uncomfortable, just weird. Also, my port is slightly to the left of center right between my belly button and my breast.

I have no advice for you since I am in your exact same position. I am about 3 weeks out from my first fill. I can go 2-3 hours before the pains come. I told the nurse that my hunger is worse than it ever has been and she seemed shocked (like I was the first person to tell her this before.) The pains are so bad I am almost nauseous. And to make matters worse, I am a dental hygienist and my patients can hear EACH AND EVERY noise my stomach makes. When I get hungry people in the next room know it. The noises are absurd. I have to admit that I haven't been the best about not drinking with meals so I figured maybe that's why I was getting so hungry. The last couple of days I have done much better with the drinking with meals thing (only a few small sips) and I nothing has changed. I will eventually work up to NOT drinking with meals but I'm telling you, that's one of the hardest things for me. So, I don't have an answer but I feel your pain. Literally.

I have no advice since I still have the 5 incisions. But going into surgery my surgeon told me he was going to try the newest technique of just one incision. Turns out he couldn't do it so I ended up with the 5. Oh well! I would imagine your recovery might be easier than some though I would think.

Hi, I was banded on Feb 2nd. I WAS down about 17-18 pounds. But I have had almost no restriction so when I went in for my first fill yesterday I am only down about 14 pounds. I am so discouraged. I have been exercising, I have been trying to eat less, I have even been doing Weight Watchers on my own because I knew I wasn't losing weight. Nothing is working. I feel like I am stuck. My body doesn't want to let me lose any weight. So anyway, I found out yesterday that I had the Realize band put in and it is a 9cc band. I had 4 cc's put in. I don't feel any different but she said that most people don't after first fills and that it can take a few days for the fill to "settle" in anyway. Also, can anyone give me any advice to help me NOT drink with meals? I find it is such a hard habit to break! I think I drink less with meals that I used to, but how do you get over that dry feeling in your throat when you are eating? How do you fight the urge to drink? Sorry I am such a whiner. I just wantt his to work for me liek it seems to work for so many others.

Hi all! I was banded on Feb. 2nd. I have had a very painful and rough road up to this point, but I'm not going to bore you with the details. Point is, I am finally starting to feel like myself again. But I do have a concern. At first, I was barely ever hungry and when I did eat, it was very easy for me to know when to stop. And I couldn't eat much, either. Now, almost 4 weeks out and I feel almost no restriction at all. I haven't had a fill yet, so that might be part of it. But when I'm eating, I'm waiting to feel that "feeling" to let me know I'm done and I never really feel it. I have tried to be good about smaller bites and chewing thoroughly and eating slower. I tend to not eat as much as I did before the surgery because I am afraid of pushing it too far. Only once (last night) was I aware that I had eated too much. I am just afraid of the pouch expanding since I have like no restriction at all. I have nothing telling me when to stop right now. And my first fill isn't for another few weeks. I should probably be honest and say that I haven't followed the post op diet to a T, either. I'm not eating things like breads or meats really, but I have experimented with foods that I'm not supposed to be eating for another week or two. I've made sure that they are absolute mush before swallowing them, though. But if I ate the foods that they wanted me to eat right now (cottage cheese and stuff) I would ALWAYS be hungry. I'm just frustrated because I'm not losing any more weight because of the amount of food I can put down there, but I am also scared of stretching the pouch. What should I do? Anybody else in my position? Thanks!

This sounds a lot like my experience. I was banded exactly a week before you (Feb 2nd) and I am still in pain. I saw my surgeon today for a follow up and he says that everybody is different. He couldn't stress that enough. I was starting to think something was wrong with me, but I am ok. I had some complications during surgery so there was a lot more pulling and tugging. BUT, some people need next to no pain meds and here I am a week out and I still need them. Chairs, stairs, getting out of bed, walking. It all hurts still but I feel A LOT better than I did a week ago. I hardly need any assistance at all. I hunch over when I stand because I can't stretch out all the way. My back is really beginning to hurt because of this (and the sleeping on your back thing, ugh! I hate sleeping on my back.) Bottom line, I am still in pain but I've made a lot of progress and my surgeon was actually suprised I'm doing as well as I am. You will feel better too. Everybody is different!

I was banded on Monday February 2nd. I am still in a great deal of pain. I had to stay an extra night at the hospital (two nights total) because of the pain and my oxygen levels were low. I couldn't take a deep breath because it hurt too much! I also lost some blood and the band had to be placed twice because he didn't like how it was sitting. And he also put in extra stitches to hold the band in place. Overall he seemed happy with how things turned out, he just wanted me to hang around the hospital. Better to be safe than sorry. I am just waiting for this pain to go away! And the gas seems to have nowhere to go! I keep feeling it bubbling around in there but it never leaves the body! I feel like I might be in more pain than most. I am getting better day by day though.

I don't have any advice for you but I have almost the same concern. I had an EKG done on Thursday (which was normal) but then when the surgeon listened to my heart he said he heard what he thought was a physiological heart murmur. I have never been told this before. Now he wants me to go back for an ultrasound EKG of my heart. I'm worried that this may cause problems and I won't be able to get my surgery on Feb. 2nd...