Hello, Hello!
I had the lap-band procedure done in October of 2002 and have been up and down with my weight over the past 6.5 years.
Post-Op, we discovered that I had issues if I was bloated, leading to my not being able to keep anything down, including Water. This made using the band as a tool very difficult, as they could not put more than .7cc's into the band.
I've definitely struggled, and after getting down to 199 in March of '03, I am now back up to 242.
In the past year or so I've developed insane heartburn and pain in my left shoulder, and I finally saw the doctor today, as I had never thought it could be lap-band related. They think that my esophagus is severely inflamed where it meets the stomach, and they had to take out all of the Fluid. I'm on liquids for 2 days, then soft foods, and I'll go back next week for a barium swallow to see how it looks.
Kind of frustrating and definitely not where I thought I would be at this point when I had the surgery in 2002. But, it is what it is, and I'm ready to figure out how to make it work at this point as opposed to just accepting the difficulties involved.
Looking forward to reading other peoples experiences as well!