PharmaGirl

Hi JT, I feel your pain!! GERD became an issue for me too - especially at night. I was taking Nexium plus sleeping with my head elevated just to get through the night. I had the same concerns as you about the band maybe having slipped so had a gastroscopy and, fortunately, no damage anywhere but I did have a dilated pouch. I had all the fluid removed from the band and instantly felt loads better. I was supposed to go back weeks ago to have a barium swallow to check that my pouch was back to normal so I could start the fills again but, bugger it, I feel too good without any fill and I haven't returned for any refills. Yes, I've regained about 10 pounds but, for me, the upside from feeling better outweighs the downsides associated with that gain. I'm enjoying living normally again. Like a few others I never really lost a lot of weight in the first place though I lost enough to feel better and everytime I need to carry the 30lb litter bag for our kitties upstairs I think to myself - my god, no wonder I was always exhausted. Love and my best regards to everyone Lili

Hopeful - I am worried about my pouch being stretched too. What is the 5-day pouch test and how does it work and what does it tell you?? JT - not good to hear about the reflux and H.pylori - good news is it just takes a week or two of two antibiotics (usually amoxicillin & clarithromycin) + an acid-reducing medicine (usually omeprazole) and it is usually all fixed!

Hey Jersey, thanks for the welcome back. You look fabulous in your new avatar - you look so happy!!

Thanks BG. You are such an inspiration and such a great support to me and so many others on this journey. I also love hopeful's contest - I also love foot massages (and head massages too). Here's the other reminders in my phone: Do it or don't do it - there is no try. Losing weight is not just a goal – it is a discipline If you want what you do not have, you must do what you have not done My health is my first priority – let me be my priority TODAY PLAN what you will do to lose weight today & take action Enjoy and savour each bite – it’s the quality not the quantity Today, don't sacrifice long-term success for momentary pleasure Today, don’t trade what you want the most for what you want at this moment Go for that walk – just today The band has pointed you in the right direction – you just have to put one step in front of the other and you will get there Persevere and you will get there A plateau is just a landing on the stairway to success Success doesn’t come to you – you have to go to it Today is a good day to SUCCEED! Some people dream about success... while others wake up and work hard at it. You cannot fail if you put your mind to it. Insanity is doing the same thing again and again and expecting a different result Feeling healthy and feeling good about yourself is not a luxury - it's an absolute necessity. Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there. Things happen when you realise it's your choice and your attitude Nothing tastes as good as being healthy and full of energy feels. Everyone makes mistakes – just get up and keep going. Life is not a rehearsal. Don't let it pass without giving it your all. You have a body that can stand most anything. Today, you just have to convince your mind. Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your Destiny There is no one giant step that does it. It's a lot of little steps Don't concentrate on how much you can eat with the band - concentrate on how little you can eat Life is not a race. If it is - do you know anyone rushing to get to the finish line?! Always looking for new ones so if you have one, please let us know

Hopeful - I put the reminders in my phone by making an appointment (mine is at 9am) in my Outlook calendar on my computer and setting "Recurrence" to monthly. I then synchronised the calendar on my phone with the calendar on my computer and voila!! You can do this directly on most phones too but it is a bit tedious to use type stuff in using the phone keypad. Either way, once you've put them in and set them to recur you never need to put them in again! Today's message was: Today, don’t trade what you want the most for what you want at this moment.

Hey there JT, thanks for the welcome back - it is good to be back. Lucky K - would love to see Abu Dhabi/UAE. Sex & the City 2 has firmly put that region on my "must visit one day" list (though I believe that the Abu Dhabi scenes was actually mostly filmed in Marrakesh, Morocco!). You might need to be working the angles better to get to be able to tag along at least for some of the trips! I believe you could do with some lessons from Lisa - somehow, every time I have to go on a work trip somewhere nice, Lisa manages to make me feel like (maybe that should read "stooges me that"!) I'm going on a holiday without her - so, before I know it, I have booked a ticket for to come along too - the outcome being that she gets a super holiday while I work my ass off! Seriously, I am never not happy that I brought her along - it is nice to have someone to share the down time with when you are far away from home.

Interested to know how much weight people lost in their first year of being banded. Would be great if people banded for more than a year would respond to the poll. Whoops - there's a small error in the poll - the third option should say 30-40lb!

Me again - have set up a poll to see how much weight people lost in their first year of being banded - go here

Thought it would be interesting to see how much weight people lost in their first year with the band. It would be great if all those people banded in April 2009 would respond to the poll.

Hi everyone, Butterfly & hopeful - I've decided to post again after seeing your posts - I am another one from the official slow-loser brigade. After the problems my partner Lisa had with the band and from which she has not yet fully recovered (still on precautionary antibiotics to prevent recurrence of the infections), I have been reluctant to get too many fills. My band is filled to the point where I have no trouble eating a small meal (but I am satiated at the end of it) and where I have no problems with any food type as long as I chew properly and don't eat too fast e.g., last night I had a cereal bowl size serving of pasta alla matriciana and then a slice of chocolate cake (hey, it was my mum's birthday!). I very much like that I can go out with family and friends and still partake like a relatively "normal" person where I am not limited to noticeably small portions. Before this I did not partake like a normal person but was more like a great big Hoover. I know I could be filled a little more and would lose weight more quickly that way but I know that the quality of that life that goes with that doesn't appeal to me. My weight loss has been slow but very steady and I continue to lose about 1-1.5kg (2-3lb) per month - see graph (banded 23 April): I try not to be disappointed with my rate of loss because 43lb is nothing to sneeze at and it is noticeable though I am still jealous of those of you who have lost over 100lb in 1 year! You are real inspirations. To the other slow losers, we should not measure our success by comparing ourselves to these exceptional people. We are works-in-progress and need to remind ourselves of what we have accomplished so we don't get discouraged. Hopeful, I very much relate to a lot of the things you say about pushing things too far. Something I found very helpful was someone (can't remember who) said - don't focus on how much you can eat with the band (i.e., testing the limits of the band) but instead focus on how little you need to eat before you are satisfied. Thinking this way when I'm eating (i.e., focussing on when I feel satisfied instead of when I feel full) has helped me avoid those episodes where I would eventually throw up. I still indulge in things I shouldn't (like the chocolate cake last night!) and am not exercising as much as I should. Like you, I hope that coming here will help me be more accountable to myself. I also have 31 different reminders programmed into my phone - each day one of the reminders pops up to help keep me on track - today's was: Don’t aim for perfection – just aim to be better today than you were yesterday - so I'm keeping away from chocolate cake today! JT - sorry for the loss of your cousin; it is scary when people we grew up with start to pass - it is a stark reminder of our own mortality but it is also an opportunity to remember that life is not something to be taken for granted so we should take the trouble to ENJOY it.

Hi everyone, BG - it's great to have you back. I too have missed your blogs and posts. I've attached a copy of the case report for you. As it says, consideration should be given to a course of antibiotics as a preventative measure should a person with a band need to undergo a potentially contaminating procedure. This doesn't mean that the antibiotics are always going to be necessary if you have a colonoscopy but if there's a chance they will be cauterizing polyps etc, then it becomes more important. The risk of this type of infection is low but probably a wise move to raise the question about whether antibiotic prophylaxis is a good idea with the doctor before any procedures. Lisa's doing a bit better each day and she is certainly a lot better than she has been over the last two weeks. She is walking around the ward a bit now and is able to shower herself but she tires still easily and doesn't have a lot of energy. This may be because she's not eating properly - she still gets nausea (and occassionally vomits) after she tries to eat - her stomach is probably still a bit inflamed after removal of the band. Our surgeon (who we think is just the best) says her appetite will be back with a vengenance soon enough! Everyone is working toward a tentative discharge date of Sat 1 Aug. Ciao for now Lili Case report - strep milleri & band.pdf

Hi everyone, KMCD - sorry to hear of your family's loss. As JT says, it is great that you have a supportive partner and that you've been able to rally as a family to support your daughter. I'm feeling extra appreciative of partners at the moment so everyone, please give that other half a great big kiss tonight. Thanks everyone - JT, BG, jersey girl (yes, you do look good in your photo - do you have any before's and after's to see the change?), KMCD, hopeful and vegas girl - for your kind thoughts for Lisa. Here's the latest update on Lisa - it was wishful thinking that Lisa would get better after the drainage of the abscesses. They ended up doing a laparoscopy on Saturday - they washed the abscesses and found infection around the band so Lisa is now a former bandster - yes, they removed the band (and she's decided she's never taking the risk of getting another one - I don't blame her). This morning she phoned from the hospital to say she actually feels like getting out of bed for a shower so I'm on my way to help her - hopefully this time she really will have turned the corner. For those who are interested in specifics they isolated the bug Streptococcus milleri from the infection around the band and in the abscesses - this is a bug usually found in the gastrointestinal tract so it indicates that somewhere along the line the barrier between gut and the abdominal cavity was broken allowing the bug through. The question is where and how? She hadn't had any procedures except for a fill. Found another case report with a similar complication but this woman had had her band for two years and only got infected after a colonscopy that involved removal of a polyp (which led to a breaching of the barrier between gut and abdominal cavity). The recommendation in that published case report is that, in patients with intra-abdominal foreign bodies such as gastric bands, antibiotic prophylaxis (ie, preventative course of antibiotics) should be considered if endoscopic polypectomy (i.e., removal of polyps from the colon) or other potentially contaminating procedures are performed, in order to prevent dissemination or translocation of intestinal bacteria. I know, on the basis of this, that I'll be having a preventative course of antibiotics each time I need a scope and dental procedures, etc. I would recommend that everyone else consider this too - according to all the specialists we've seen over the last 10 days, the risk of an infection travelling to the foreign body (the band) should there be any breaching of the barrier between gut and abdominal cavity is high. Lots of love to all Lili