ereves

Your lap-band will not work unless you get your head around eating lower calorie foods. The foods you crave to eat now are the foods you will crave to eat afterwards. The high calorie soft foods will still go down easily and cause you not to lose weight. I had to start hypnotherapy to to get a handle on my bad eating habits. You have to change your thinking, the therapy has helped but I am still dieting and only losing 3-4 pounds a week. Surgeon is happy I am not.

I paid my personal trainer to LEAVE ME ALONE! He had me doing squats and asked me not to use fowl language in the gym. (Imagine that). Nope, I call the gym, "my donation". Those size fives are crazy. They'd make a hell of a lot more sense if they actually catered to the obese patron instead of catering to the skinny people. They should have teams, organized sports and sports equipment designed for the bariatric patient. I'd go! (I swear).

Because I ate something either too quickly (I was talking and visiting at the time) or I didn't cut it up small enough and the food got stuck, so I started vomiting. Then I vomited after I ate dinner that night and agian the next morning and by lunch the next day, my esophaugus was so inflamed and swollen from vomiting, I couldn't even swallow water. So rather than risk dehydration I had the band emptied and experienced immediate relief.

Kaiser surgeons won't do RNY if band doesn't work. . .don't know about other docs. Read these posts, the band is great I literally eat half portions and I feel satisfied. but you have to care for it properly don't take their instructions lightly. Tiny bites, one bite at a time is my mantra.

Oh man, every banded person needs to read your posts, it's very, very important. The band may be a tool but it's a very shaky tool if you don't take care of it correctly. I had one serious ( and several episodes of just plain vomiting to clear something I ate too fast) episode of not being able to keep down even water. I vomited so violently that my esophagus was burned and swollen for days. Scared me plenty, I'll tell you. After the fliud was removed, I gained 7 pounds instantly. (Of course, I was dehydrated and vomiting for 24 hours prior) but I was plunged into a depression so deep I don't ever want to go there again. The surgeon was not sympathetic, skinny bi- - -. I am very careful now and have only had one slip but I recognized it right away for what it was, started vomiting and stopped all solids for 24 hours. Your esophagus, stomach and cardiac sphincter are nothing to play around with. I'm still dieting, I will have to for the rest of my life. I accept that. I go to hypnotherapy because I know there are some chinks in my eating habits that I have to get my head around if I want to keep the lap band, and it helps. It's allowed me to slow down my eating and shun sweets, my two worst habits. Now I'm working on the exercise. Any other tricks I can use, I'm all ears. When I cannot lose anything I go on the fat flush plan and I get a jump start by dropping 7 pounds in two weeks. It works for me. Thank you for sharing your stories, it's a very important read for lap banders and I may be unbanded and living in this forum, it's quite common. I agree, lose what you can with the band, and appreciate the small pouch every meal. It may not be permanent.

Man I feel your pain. I had to have the band emptied last week and I was so frustrated I started crying. Watching the scale has been the worst. I was banded in April and I have only lost 20 pounds. When I think about what I used to eat compared to what I'm eating now, I cannot understand why it's not falling off! I am still struggling with soft calories, mainly fried foods. Let me tell you what is working for me though. I've started hypnotherapy and it's working for me because it's changing my thinking. I was craving candy and cakes and pies after the surgery and the craving is completely gone. Now I'm working on slowing down my eating. The worst habit! I eat so fast! I may not have lost a lot but I feel as if I'm making progress on my way of thinking. Eventually I'll get there. I truly believe slow and steady wins the race. Hang in there! I cannot recommend hypnotherapy enough. Weight loss is about the way you think about food and eating and until you get your mind around healthy mindful eating you're always going to fall back on bad habits with the lap band. (At least that's been my struggle)

I am a registered nurse and I don't know everything, but I do know, I would be changing doctors. Something smells bad. May I share your story with my bariatric nurse?

Where did you have this surgery?! And you're being charged $100 for fills? They should have fixed the hernia during the surgery, what's up with that?

Kaiser Permanente is covering lap bands from begining to end. In order to get approved you have to go through a psych eval and have one co-morbidity. So if it costs you 400.00 to join, you are money ahead. I was just banded in April and I am a slow loser because I am still having to deal with some behavioral issues, getting the surgery didn't cure my lack of motivation for excercise or my desire to swallow high calorie foods. But I am working on it and slowly making progress. It's all about being healthy, seriously. I want to live long enough to see my grandchildren.

Don't even try to stray from the liquids to take care of your band. Do use real chicken broth with vegetables boiled in it and strained. You'll need a little extra protien to keep up your energy so get some liquid protien at GNC. Use that broth to get everything down, add it to everything. Visit the other threads to to get to know as much as possible about your band and the fututre of your band.

$900 for a fill, is that the norm for people who are paying for it? No way does it have to be done under fluro. I'll do it myself first. (RN, lots of experience accessing these ports)

How much are your docs using per fill? I just had my first fill and they only instilled 0.5ccs. I don't feel a thing. But should I be able to eat normal foods? I tried to eat a piece of steak and ended up vomiting for the next hour, but this is the first time since the fill that I have tried eating meat without the puree. Before trying the steak I called and told them I needed more fill. Jeez.

Is it filling? Is it available in GNC? I just had my first fill this week and I haven't noticed a change at all. I still cannot eat cut up meat, I just throw it up so I think I'd better get some of this liquid protien.

Isopure and gatorade: diluted with water are what got me through the liquid period. Also my hubby boiled chicken and I sipped the broth. The best. You need the protien to get energy. Make a meal of the boullion, and sip the Isopure and gatorade diluted and you will gain back some of your energy.

Be careful and be well informed. I was banded in April and I am going for my first fill on Tuesday. The days since the surgery have not been easy in any respect. Not everyone can eat whetever they want and your head does have to be in the right place. The statistics for permanent weight loss with the band do not support 100% loss of excess weight. It is easy to, and I mean easy, to restretch the stomach above the band and eat more than you should. I am already seeing my capacity grow, cinching will help for awhile but anyone who continues to overeat the pouch will stretch the stomach. Feeling full for one meal will not prevent you from grazing all day long, either. You have to be able to restrict yourself to three small meals a day and lets be honest, if we could do that we wouldn't need surgery would we? All I'm saying is, go into this with your eyes wide open. Before the surgery, start working on your head. The diet following the surgery is difficult and it's basically practice for your first cinching. I know myself better now since the surgery, I think about food all the time! That has not changed. I have lost 12 pounds since the sugery (4/4/06) and it has been a daily struggle to eat right and excercise and I have not always been successful, these are struggles I've always had, they didn't go away. I am a registered nurse, I've looked at the device's manfacturer's pamphlet and the statistics aren't astounding. You still have to get your head in the right place. Start hypnotherapy, start some kind of behavioral therapy to asst you in your journey. The lapband is a weight loss tool, not a miracle cure for obesity.