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"A gastric band is one of the most dangerous and painful operations you can have". No not my thoughts something I just read in an article about Coleen Nolan in an English magazine. The article is about how Coleen went from a size 20 to a size 10 not by getting a gastric band but by "working her ass off".(Because of course all of us that are banded don't do a thing do we - it's a magic tool that just melts the fat away with no effort involved). She then states that she couldn't have surgery as she is a complete coward and A gastric band is one of the most dangerous and painful operations you can have. Where do they get this information or should I say misinformation? Most dangerous as compared to what.......... open heart surgery, a kidney transplant, a hip replacement? If it's one of the most painful ops then I can honestly say that if I ever have to have another op it should be a breeze. Yes I know everyone is different and feels the pain differently but I had next to no pain after my surgery and what I did have was quickly sorted out with meds. Again i am sure there are lots of surgeries that people routinely undergo that cause far more pain than having a gastric band fitted. So congrats to Coleen on losing weight the hard way and lets hope that she keeps it off. I am sure the motivation of working with Rosemary Conley to produce her own fitness DVD helped a lot. That is a tool that most of us mere mortals don't get!

That sounds fabulous. Enjoying the holiday, eating like a normal person and not having to go on that post holiday diet. Well done

That sounds awful. Whenever i get stuck I know about it immediately.Instant pain and I can't carry on eating as nothing will go down. Sometimes it relieves itself after a few minutes - sometimes I have to go to the bathroom and attempt to bring it up.

Try meal replacement products i.e soups or shakes. I don't know what brands you have in the UK but they are complete nutrition and you shouldn't have a problem getting them down and they shouldn't cause any problems.

Confused. As far as I am aware apples don't have waists - they are normally wider in the middle than above and below. It is good to know that i am not alone in being such an odd shape though. For the moment I will have to stick to buying pants and tops and avoid trying to buy dresses. If the pants are designed to sit lower then they are not too bad.

Spud I agree. I was banded not long before you on 2 June and have some good days and some bad days. 4th fill was last week which put me up to 2.6ml in a 10ml band.Yesterday I had my worst day so far - I got stuck at lunch and dinner. Lunch I was eating a wholemeal wrap with avo,tinned salmon and tabouleh. I got stuck within the first couple of bites. The bites were all small, well chewed and the foods were foods I had eaten before. I had to stop - walk around etc. Eventually chewed 2 papaya enzyme tabs which didn't work on their own so I took a few sips of Water and the combination seemed to help it go down. I waited a while and was then able to eat with no problems. What caused the stick I have no idea. Fast forward to dinner.We had chicken with ratatouille.I know chicken can be a problem but this was really moist and I had the dark meat. Again a couple of bites and I was stuck. This was more embarassing as my son had his GF over. Tried sipping water(I know you are not supposed to ) in the hopes that it would move it. It didn't. I ended up in the bathroom bringing up copious amounts of slime.There was nothing that had obviously caused the stick. I came back to the table made some excuse about not being very hungry and then ate about an hour later. Maybe it was the chicken but I am also considering that the skin on vegies cooked that way may be causing me a problem. Maybe the fault isn't always with how you are eating but what and how it is cooked.At the moment it is a huge learning curve. The other thing that maybe caused the problem is that it is currently my TOM. Strangely I do not seem to have a problem in the mornings when most people complain about being tight. I can easily eat a slice of wholemeal toast with poached egg and smoked salmon - I seem to have more problems later in the day. Hopefully soon we will have this whole thing down pat!

USA = Esophagus Rest of the English speaking world = Oesophagus!

Some surgeons also prefill the band at the time of surgery. This would obviously give restriction without needing further fills. But prefilling can also be associated with all sorts of problems.

I have a lower BMI but I am a bit older and a bit shorter than you. I'm 46, 153cm and my starting weight was 74kg(163lb). My surgeon told me that due to my low BMI I would probably lose all of my excess weight where as they calculate an average of 50 - 60% of excess weight lost as being the average. I had surgery on 2 June and am down to 59kg(130lb). I feel great and can still eat most foods albeit a lot less and a lot slower than previously. I got my 4th fill last week and am sitting on about 2.6ml in a 10ml band. I live in Australia where the protocol is to fill very slowly. I think that this last fill has probably brought me close to my sweet spot. I have been told by one of the assistants that does fills that my weight is now acceptable and that as I have lost more than 90% of my excess weight I am considered to be a success. I still want to lose another 7kg which would bring me back to the weight I was 5years ago after being on Reductil - I didn't manage to maintain it for long! Good luck with your upcoming surgery. I am sure you will soon be on your way to becoming FAB! I am so glad that I got banded. I could not have done this on my own.

yep don't know where the NUT got the burping info from, since being banded I am the burping queen!

It depends on your Dr. Check what is on their list. I was allowed yogurt,soup, custard etc. It was fine so long as it was thin enough to go through a straw, but every Dr has different requirements so stick with what yours recommends.

My Dr doesn't require this, I am allowed to eat up till the time of the fill but only have liquids for the rest of the day afterwards. So this is one that differs from Dr - Dr. The no drinking beforehand one seems to be a pretty universal requirement . It would be good to know why.

I got told yesterday that I am officially a lapband success. Apparently the expectation is that you will lose between 50 - 60% of your excess weight. According to the fill Dr's calcs I have lost 90% so therefore I am a success. I will consider myself a success when I have lost what I consider to be 100% of my excess weight and successfully maintain that loss. It was nice to be told that I am a success but it doesn't feel right when my BMI is still in the overweight range! I did not go through this to settle for mediocrity.

What energy and stamina/ To get it back means i would have had to have had some in the first place. LOL

I agree restless this one bugs me too as it really doesn't seem to make any sense. I am interested in the answer. Are you going to ask the other question too?

Sorry to hear about this. Hoping you are soon healed and back on track.

I so agree with you. I did not go through this only to gain again, I have done that too many times in the past. I got a little frustrated yesterday when I went for my 4th fill. I was told that my weight is acceptable! No its not I have a BMI of 26 which is still overweight(apparently 27 is OK these days). I was told that to be considered a success with a lapband you will lose between 50 - 60% of your excess weight. According to my fill Dr's calculations i have lost 90%. I disagree. I will not settle for mediocrity. My goal is to be around the middle of the accepted weight range for my height. I am 153cm and am aiming for 52kg (115lb) - I do not think this is unreasonable.I am going to get there and this time I am going to stay there. I think the worst part about being told that my weight is fine when I know damn well that it isn't is that the fill Dr that was telling me this is skinny! Why is it OK for her to be skinny(which is not my aim) but not for me to be slim! GRRR

You can always go through the june 2009 surgery thread as it is definetly in there. Its a long thread though so it might take you a while!

It may have been gonnaloseit who had it on their profile but not sure. I think a few others have it too.

Oatmeal is great. It is one of the suggested breakfast foods on most Australian plans and it helps to lower your cholesterol and keep your heart healthy.

I have lost 14kg (30.8lb).The only person who knows I am banded is my DH.Oh plus my surgeon, support group etc. I have one friend that I see every week and she started commenting way back at the beginning. I have another friend that I see fairly regularly and every time she sees me she asks how much weight I have lost. Then I have a group of friends that i don't see as often. They haven't commented at all and you would think that as I don't see them that often the loss would be more noticeable! My daughter came home from uni last week and asked if I was still on my diet! I was quite dissappointed as I would have thought she would have noticed how much I have lost. So it seems everyone is different.

Ses, where do you live?

I am amazed that you didn't sort this out before the surgery.From what I have read on this site a lot of US doctors don't like taking patients that they have not operated on themselves. I would have wanted all my ducks in a row. Good luck , hope you manage to find someone.

Numbness around an incision is fairly common. I remember that after my Caesars it took ages before normal feeling returned.

I have had 3 fills but am still only at approx 3ml so I can understand why you don't feel at this stage you need any more. Everybody is different and so are their doctors. If you are losing well and can still eat then there is no reason for you to have to get more Fluid put in.