elcee

Well done

and don't forget the hello. Hello to the new, healthy, slim you.

It's hard but because it is being done with an end date and goal set it makes it easier. I have never been able to stick to a meal replacement diet before but preband because I knew I had to do it to get surgery I managed. Yes it was tough but I got through it and I am sure that you will too. It is amazing what a person can do when they want something hard enough.

exactly - ABOUT.

Juicy My apologies that your thread appears to have been hijacked. Here is hoping that some other people will attempt to answer some of your original queries. I am sure when you posted your original query you were hoping for some more supportive helpful answers. As for Dr Sanction who has been in the medical field for 25 years...................(If that is the case I would have expected the information that you posted to support your argument would have come from a more scientific source - not one of the first sites that comes up when googling this question). As you obviously have far superior knowledge to the rest of us will you please explain what the point of Allergan producing different sized bands was? Also people are different sizes, as far as I am aware that means there are going to be variations in the size of their organs. We have babies, children, adults. Presumably organs grow as we as progress from birth to adulthood - at what point does the stomach reach its "one size fits all" stage? Even when you reach adulthood people vary dramatically in size. I am female and 5' - there are people who reach 7' and over. I am stunned and gobsmacked to discover that we all have the same size organs. Wow - that is amazing.

sanction I hate to tell you that not everyone has the same size organs and this has nothing to do with how obese a person may or may not be. Why do you think Allergan decided to make bands in different sizes? If everyone is the same inside there would be no point in them wasting money producing different sized products. I am sure that the reason behind the different sizes was based on very thorough research. to quote The.LAP-BAND.AP®.System.is.available.in.two.sizes,.Standard. and.Large...The.physician.should.choose.the.appropriate. size.depending.upon.the.patient’s.individual.anatomy...Most. patients.with.correctly.fitted.bands.report.minimal,.if.any,. restriction.following.resolution.post-operative.edema.until. saline.is.added.to.the.band,.regardless.of.band.size..The.Large. band.is.normally.used.for.re-operations.(particularly.conversion. from.other.procedures).and.the.pars.flaccida.dissection.. Surgeons.are.advised.to.evaluate.the.amount.of.tissue.within. the.band.prior.to.band.locking.and.suturing.in.place,.and,.if.it. appears.excessive,.to.remove.some.omental.tissue.or.move.the. dissection.closer.to.the.stomach.wall.or.higher.on.the.stomach.. Additional.information.regarding.size.selection.is.provided.in. the.training.program.

There are a number of different bands. The old lapband was 4ml(I think) but this not used anymore except possibly in Mexico. The newer bands are 10ml and 14ml(again I think). Which band is used depends on the size of your insides not your BMI. The Dr will generally be able to tell which is best once you are "opened" up. Then there is the Realise band as well. I think this one is 11ml. The difference with the Realise band is that it is a low pressure band and typically more fill is required before any type of restriction is felt. I have even heard of patients with this band being filled to more than the apparent capacity. So you not only need to know the capacity of your band but also which type. More importantly however is what are you doing? Are you following the rules? That is not drinking with meals or for a min of 30 minutes afterwards, small bites, chewing well. Eating good quality dense Protein and some healthy veg/carbs? Exercising etc. If you are doing all these things then you should be losing some weight. But it is important that you are honest with yourself. Lots of people don't lose because they think that the band will do all the work, they forget it is only a tool. Try to forget the term sweet spot. I think it is like the G spot. Some swear it exists others don't. The sweet spot isn't some magical place where you suddenly lose weight with no effort. If there is a sweet spot it is the place where if you are following the rules you can eat a smaller portion than previously of healthy food and not be hungry for 2 - 3, if you are lucky maybe 4 hours afterwards. Hope some of this helps.

The band can cause shoulder pain. It is not something I have experienced but I know of several others that have.Maybe your fill is too tight or it might settle down shortly.It can be caused by the tubing rubbing on a certain area which then causes pain that is felt in the shoulder. Don't ignore it - if it doesn't go away go back to your Dr.

Why are you still vomiting? Is it on purpose or can't you keep food down. Are you not taking small bites , chewing slowly etc? What size band have you got? 1cc in a band is not much , even with the older, smaller band that would not normally be enough to cause problems. I'm a bit confused about what your problems are and what sort of help you are looking for, from your post it is not very clear. To me it seems as though:- You have some kind of eating disorder. You said that you became obsessive - if this is true you need professional help. Can't tell if you have been successful with your band or not.You don't mention what you weigh or what your goal is. I would love to be able to offer some help or insight but you need to be a bit more specific with what you are struggling with. Please give us some more info.

I didn't have a long list. One of the things on your lists that would definitely not be on mine is the rides at the amusement park - I hate them,. Can't stand heights and when they are combined with speed and sudden drops as well no way! Yes I'm chicken. As I am already on the other side here are some of the things I love about being slim. Being able to go into a shop and have stacks of choice because just about everything will fit and should look pretty good. Being photographed instead of just hiding behind the camera. We went for a family makeover/photoshhot and it was good to feel realxed and to look great. Nobody ever believes my age. I have always looked younger than I am but when my weight went up so much I think I started looking a lot closer to my actual age. Now its gone people are usually way out when they guess. Modelling - I have done this twice and at only 5' it is something I never ever thought I would do. Ok it was only at 2 local fashion shows but it was still a huge buzz. Being able to pick up bargains on sale and at the op shops. The Burlesque thing sounds like fun. Enjoyed watching it on Rafters the other night but I don't think there are any classes out here in the sticks. I would love to do one of those raunchy photoshoots but I still don't think I'm brave enough plus what would i do with the photos afterwards? Plus I would probably have to remortgage the house just to afford it as those places really know how to overcharge.

That is really low. To take advantage of people like that.

Well I eat what I want(within reason), don't count calories, don't focus on Protein and don't stick to a plan and my band works just fine. The reason I don't do those things is that I got the band so that I could give up the dieting mentality and concentrate on having a normal relationship with food. It works for me. However I agree that your Dr sounds like a total A@@e and it really doesn't sound like he has a band or even has any idea of what they are all about. I would say your decision to change Drs is the correct one.

It is actually quite common for the band to be too tight if fluid is inserted at the time of surgery. The fluid combined with postop swelling is for many people a really bad combination. There have been many people on this site that have posted wishing they had never been banded as they had just had surgery and couldn't eat/drink etc. When they went to their Drs many of them had had fluid inserted during surgery and this was the cause of their problems. Now that yours has been taken out hope you start feeling better . You can heal first and concentrate on getting fills and losing a little later.

I drink tea all day long, always have. Never noticed that it makes any difference.My stomach regularly sounds as though some beast is waking from its winter hibernation in there. Lucky for those of you who tea does help.

Mine does this all the time. Not too much you can do other than get used to it!

I would eat omelets,burgers (just the patty not the bun),salad - so long as they are salads in the true sense of the word(lots of raw veggies not cheese, dressing fat, meat etc etc with a couple of token lettuce leaves), the asian food and Soup could be OK. I have no idea what a quizno is. I would try to find someway of getting out of the meal plan or buying some food to add to it but if you can't then you will just have to do your best. It's no wonder so many people have a weight problem if that is the kind of food that is served and deemed to be acceptable. I still feel sorry for Jamie Oliver who tried to help change some of this bad food culture and got no thanks for it just heaps of resistance.Maybe you could get onto the student council or some body that has an input on the food served in the canteen and try to make changes that way.

I agree that at the start of the journey it is easier than later on. Initially you are excited, fired up and committed but you eventually get tired of that. Also the longer you have been banded the easier it becomes to eat many foods that were difficult before. It is not something that a fill would fix as that would probably make you too tight .I am a grazer and always have been. I only work casually and spend a lot of time at home so it is easy to go back and fore to the fridge. Luckily my grazing doesn't seem to have reached the level where it is causing problems. I am obviously not consuming as much as I think I am because I am still maintaining. However this is what I think is going on. The initial period after banding is the honeymoon period. You don't normally see this term associated with banding it is normally talked about with a sleeve but I believe the same thing happens with all WLS. This is the timeframe when you will have the most benefit from your surgery and are able to lose the most weight. Gradually over time you will find that you get hungry quicker, that you can eat more and a wider variety. If you had a bypass and had dumping syndrome that may no longer happen etc. People need to make the most of this period to lose their excess weight or as much of it as they can. They also need to try and learn good habits in the hopes that once the period is over some of the habits will remain. Once your honeymoon period is over you can still lose weight but it will be a bigger struggle. Hopefully if you have lost all the excess by then the band/sleeve/bypass will still give you enough assistance that you can maintain without too much effort. It is normal to eat "unhealthy/sometimes foods" sometimes. The trick is to make sure that you don't break all your newly learnt good habits and go back to the way you were preband.

Your Dr is also the person you should be talking to if you want to advance your post op diet ahead of schedule. Instead people come on here and say is it OK or I have done this is it so bad. As a support group we can give tips etc on how to stick with the diet even when it is hard as we have all been there. But we should not be saying yeah sure go ahead do this/that/whatever against what a persons individual Dr has recommended. I can imagine in the future someone trying to sue the group or a member if something goes wrong.

I hate Dr's like that. One at my Dr's practice was similar when I was still in the weight loss phase. At one point she told me that I had lost what i was expected to with the lapband so I was successful. Yes maybe I had but I was still either overweight or right at the top end of normal at that point and I certainly didn't go through surgery to settle for that. I hate the way they have so much power over fills and yes I know they don't want people to be too tight but I only had just over 3.5ml at the time and I have a 10ml band. What is the point of having the band if they aren't going to let you use it properley. She was also skinny and I mean skinny in the true sense not what a lot of banders consider skinny which is often normal weight. After that I always asked for the other Dr when I went for my fills and she was so much more understanding. I eventually got fed up of travelling so far for followups and managed to swap Dr's last year to one a lot closer to home.( Not sure how I managed it as generally he doesn't take other Dr's patients). He is great. I actually get to see him and not an assistant and he always seems to have time to talk and discuss how things are going.

I agree you should get it checked out. Better to be safe than sorry. I have issues with the surgical dressings - they always make me itch but it doesn't normally spread. As the above posters have said it could be the meds, it could be an infection , it could be anything. Only your Dr can tell.

I got my first fill (a very small 1ml) at 3 weeks out. I lost 4kg 8.8lb between surgery and that first fill. I was extremely happy with that.

Yet another person that has decided to go against their Dr's instructions and then come here looking for approval/validation. What is there to say that hasn't been said before............................................ NOTHING

Why would we think you are crazy. Stretch marks can be caused by rapid weight gain or rapid weight loss.

Do you have any op shops? They are a great place to get cheap clothing whilst you are still losing weight.

It is standard procedure to stitch a part of the stomach over the band to stop it slipping. As to the plication as far as I am aware that is another procedure where they sort of fold the stomach and staple it to make it smaller. So it is like getting a sleeve except they don't remove any of your stomach. It is supposedly reversible but I would think that would be hard to do without any damage having occured as I am sure scar tissue would form at the points where the stomach is folded. Sometimes the plication is performed in addition to a banding. So do you know which procedure you are actually getting?