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Glad that you had good news. Jachut next time you are over this side of the world give me a shout.

That was the part that jumped out at me as well. Reading the post it sounded to me as though the Op thought that everything would just magically fall in place once she got restriction. Well it isn't like that. When I introduced myself on this board initially I was told that the band is only a tool and that I have to make it work. I was probably a little shocked and taken aback but I kept that info on board. I realised that in order to be successful I had to be in control. Yes of course I needed HELP to lose the weight and keep it off but I also had to remember that it was only HELP and that the band wasn't going to do it all. For the first couple of months I kept "chasing" the sweet spot(restriction) as people used to refer to it then. It sounded like a wonderful place. I would be able to eat tiny amounts and not get hungry in between. What I hadn't realised is that the sweet spot in the way it had been marketed to me doesn't exist. But what I also should have realised was that i was already there. I was eating smaller amounts, not getting hungry as quickly and losing weight. If you do your part and eat the type of foods that you should be eating. Protein, veggies, good carbs, fruit you will probably find that your band is working and that you will lose weight. You may not lose it as fast as you would hope but slow and steady is good. Also noone expects you to be perfect 100% of the time. Stick with the 80/20 or 90/10 rule. And as Sharilo says the tighter you are the harder it becomes to eat the kind of foods that you should be eating. So yes you may need another fill but do not expect that it will suddenly turn you into a perfect eater overnight. And recognise each fill and the help it gives you and work with it to achieve the body that you hope to have.Sometimes the changes from the band are subtle, it doesn't always scream at you so make sure you are listening carefully.

Wow Cheri that is scary. That would put me off for sure.

He is an excellent surgeon but all his aftercare is done by the other staff and I believe he also has others installing bands now too. I now see Stuart Eaton in Ballarat which is much closer, the waiting time is much shorter and I get to see him and not one of his fill staff.

It sounds to me as though you are expecting the band to do everything. You seem to have forgotten that it is only a tool that will make eating properly and less easier. It will not do it for you.

Go and speak to a Dr. It could be anything. Kidneys, band, female parts........... the only way to find out is to get and get checked out

Peter did my band. I have been seeing a different Dr though for the last 12 months as I got too lazy to drive all the way to Williamstown.

Hope this all turns out well. Where did you move from - to and who is your new Dr?

I'm at goal too

You shouldn't have continued trying to eat. You should have waited until you felt the pain /pressure disappear or felt the object move through.Putting more food ontop of something stuck usually just makes it worse.

Yes it can hurt when you have eaten too much or too fast.

I'm amazed that the job market over there is so good that the health insurance offered can be a factor. At the moment in Aus things are pretty tough(though we are supposedly doing better than the rest of the world) and there is no way someone would turn down a job because of what was/wasn't included in health insurance. At the moment people, especially those starting out can be lucky to get any job at all.

I think you are over thinking this. Neither band is going to make any difference to your ability to play sport. If as you say you are sporty and do exercise a lot that should make your weight loss journey easier. Your Dr is perfectly qualified to decide which band to use . Having been a member of this board for approx 3 years my thoughts on the subject are that both types of band work well but typically people who have the realize band need larger amounts of Fluid before they feel any kind of benefit from the band. i have even heard of people with realize bands having more fluid in their band than the band should be able to take. It all has something to do with the fact that it is marketed as a low pressure band. I would say if you are happy with the Dr then you should be happy to go with whichever band they use. Hopefully you are not using this as some kind of excuse not to go ahead?????

My BMI was almost 32. My PCP was against me being banded as he said it was too dangerous so I went to the surgeon without a referral.I am so glad I did. Now almost 3 years out , at goal and maintaining and my only regret is that I didn't do it sooner.

I would hope that her Dr has given her specific instructions and if not she should be asking him/her. She won't be eating, she will be drinking - juices, clear broth, Jello then moving onto Protein Shakes, Soups etc. I am not an endocrinologist so do not know if this has to be adapted for a person with type 1 diabetes which is why it is important that she gets professional advice.

Get rid of your boyfriend? LOL , only joking. The reality is there are always going to be other people around that have not had the surgery/don't need to lose weight/don't care if what they eat is healthy or not etc. A big part of living with the band is finding ways to deal with this and stick with your program. You are doing this for you so you have to remember what your needs are. Don't let others sabotage your new healthy eating way of life.

Your Dr seems to have been negligent so because of that you advise everybody that they should not get a lapband. People get organ transplants and their bodies reject them - would you advise them not to get the transplant? Women get pregnant and die in childbirth - does that mean people should stop getting pregnant? You can get MRSA in hospital - does that mean noone should go into hospital. You can have surgery for something minor and end up dead because of a blood clot or some other unforeseen complication. You can take medication and have a serious allergic or anaphylactic reaction - should everyone give up taking medicine. Yes you have had a bad experience and I am sorry about that. It sounds as though the NHS or whoever it is in Scotland messed up. That is hardly a good reason to advise others not to go ahead. If you want to caution others maybe you should make them aware of the risks of this particular Dr or the NHS in general. Life itself is risky. There are no guarantees. Imagine trying to live your life without taking any risks - that life would be no life at all. You wouldn't be able to go outside your front door because you could get struck by lightning or run over by a bus. You certainly couldn't go in a car as that is one of the most dangerous things people do every day. But staying at home is dangerous too, that is where most accidents happen. You could:- Have a fall Burn yourself Get electrocuted Be poisoned by food, or chemicals or gas or plants You certainly wouldn't want to have sex as that could involve catching a life threatening STI You would probably be so bored sitting in your room wrapped in cotton wool to protect you and keep you warm that you would over indulge in food and then you would get fatter and fatter and fatter and probably die prematurely anyway from a stroke or heartattack

I don't remember what my first meal was but I do remember my first mushie - tuna and avo mashed. After almost a month of liquids it tasted fantastic.

You should not be putting anything on your wounds and you should be keeping them as dry as possible. Self medicating without being advised to by your Dr can cause all sorts of problems.

That is correct. A huge number of the population have it without knowing it, it only becomes a problem in surgery or if you have an open wound or a depressed immune system. I think it should be standard practice to test everyone prior to surgery as that could help alleviate problems but unfortunately they don't.

Better to be safe than sorry. My father caught MRSA after a hip replacement and was in and out of hospital/surgery and now has 1 leg shorter than the other. If you were to infect your wounds you could end up losing your band or worse so doing this cleanse and making sure your wounds don't become infected is really important. It's good that they tested and picked this up.

Me too which is great when you want ballet flats or trainers , not so great when you want heels. I got really excited the other day because I found a stunning pair of shoes in my size. I actually don't understand why our big stores don't carry more small sizes as in Australia we have a huge Asian population and a lot of them are very petite and have small feet.

Take up a hobby. Sew,knit, scrapbook,paint whatever. If you are busy you won't be running back and fore to the fridge. Even the internet helps. I need to go and get dressed as i have an appointment in just over an hour but I have been sitting at the computer on LBT for the last half an hour and haven't got round to eating Breakfast yet!

The band doesn't cause malabsorption. I would think that it is just to do with the reduced quantity of food. Make sure that you are eating regularly(nutritious/healthy foods) and plan a healthy snack in between meals. I would make sure I carried something in my bag to eat to make sure my BS didn't drop.

I have to disagree with you there. I am short - 153cm or 5'. I get teased about my height quite often. I used to hate it but these days I'm quite cool. There is also lots of height discrimination out there except people don't realise it. At movies or the theatre you often can't see over the head of the person in front. Shops put goods on really high shelves that shorter people can't reach Clothes are always too long and have to be taken up. Dresses can be a nightmare to buy because even if you can take them up the neck to waist ratio is all wrong. Lets not even talk maxi dresses - take those up and you lose all the pattern. I am still convinced that shorter people are the only group that are regularly discriminated against with no law against it!