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Surely there should always be someone in the practice that is available to do unfills in case of emergency. To not have someone is crazy!

I am not sure about the not drinking before - I still haven't figured that one out. Not drinking after is so that the food can remain in the pouch for longer so that you stay full for longer.

Sorry to hear about the accident, glad that you weren't seriously hurt. Also glad that your surgeon was on the ball and sorted the problem out really quickly.

Just had the yummiest lunch and it was really quick. Stirfried some lean beef strips and had it in a l/f wholemeal wrap with lots of tabbouleh(I love the stuff) and a dollop of tzatziki. YUM. Breakfast I normally have a poached egg on toast sometimes with a slice of smoked salmon.Today i had l/f cottage cheese and tomato on wholemeal toast plus a slice of ham. no snacks so far today and have no idea what i am going to cook tonight.

Last night I woke up and was amazed at the loud gurgling noises my stomach was making. It was so loud I swear my neighbours could have heard it and I live on 5 acres so they are quite a distance away! Its definitely in the lower part of my stomach and doesn't really seem to be causing any problems.I don't have reflux or anything like that. I assume that its just because my stomach is empty and objecting to the fact. Good job my husband is a heavy sleeper!

I'm trying to remember what colour English cheddar cheese is - I haven't lived there for a while.I have a feeling that it is more orange than it is here. They also have a number of other cheeses that have a distinct orange colour e.g Red Leicester. I think with a lot of these foods its not the colour but the fact that the texture has changed to something which has a consistency similar to plastic. I bought some grated mozzarella recently, it was under the grill for more than 20 minutes and still hadn't melted. YUCK. We also found a lot of differences in foods when we first moved from the UK to South Africa. All the fruit and veggies in South Africa were much bigger but had no flavour. e.g tomatoes,cucumbers,apples. Bigger is not always better. Here they have giant strawberries and most of the time they are pretty tasteless. As for Vegemite it's not quite as good as proper English Marmite but it's almost as good. You just have to know how to eat it properly. Spread it thinly. It's really good with melted cheese and it's very nutritious - full of B Vitamins.Most English kids are brought up on the stuff. I know as a kid we used to have toast soldiers with marmite and PB was almost unheard of so PB is not something that I eat very often. They have just brought out a new variety of vegemite which is apparently a lot milder and smoother but I haven't tasted that yet.

Erin you seem to be struggling a lot either with having the band or possibly the knowledge that you have the band.You seem to be convinced that either something is seriously wrong or that something is going to go wrong. I think you need to make an appointment with your surgeon urgently to check that everything is OK and put your mind at rest. Once you have seen him/her then perhaps you need to find a counsellor that you can talk to about your concerns. Or alternatively is there a support group with other people that have been banded that you can go to? Meeting other bandsters in person is a great help. I am concerned that you are very young and either you weren't fully prepared or you don't have the support systems that you require. Hope you are OK and that you can sort things out so that you can relax. Good luck.

Maybe it's designed for hikers? Lighter to carry than traditional peanut butter?

I think most of us are guilty of that. i may have had liquid meals when i was younger but those days are long past. LOL

Yes but if it was just a case of being overfilled then it would have been easy to fix. Being overfilled is said to be a cause of slippage. I have read that sometimes they can fix slips by completely unfilling you for a while. Best not to jump the gun. rather make an appointment to see your Doc ASAP. It might be nothing or something that is simple to sort out. I will keep my fingers crossed for you.

It seems pretty obvious that you should have seen your Doc earlier. It may be slippage - it could be something as simple as just been overfilled. The fact that you have left it so long has probably made it worse. I cannot understand why anyone would have symptoms like these and not go back to their Doc as soon as possible!

I quite like this weight calculator. Instead of using the one method it gives 4 different methods.Based on my height of 153cm and my age 46 it tells me I could weigh anything between 44 and 59kg. I don't think i could ever get to 44 - I struggled with that even when I was young. The people's choice weight of 53kg is the one I think I would probably be happiest with. I was around that weight for a short period about 5 years ago and felt pretty happy.I am currently 59.9 which is close to the range that I can be in but I am not comfortable, I still have a large stomach and weight carried around the middle is the unhealthiest kind. I think we should set a goal, see how we feel once we get there and then reassess. It is possible that we may set a new goal or we may decide we are happy. Better Ideal Weight Body Calculations

There is no normal. Everyone is different.

I didn't either and I'm sure most banded people don't. Unfortunately because its such a big learning curve its easier to do than you think. Since my last fill I have got stuck/PB'd a couple of times. It can happen because the bite that was small enough the day before isn't quite small enough today, or you didn't chew quite as well as you thought or maybe for some reason food that went down fine yesterday for some reason won't go down today! So here's hoping you are lucky and never have to experience it but if you do then don't beat yourself up over it!

Hi Erynn. Another Victorian here but not Mildura - I am just outside Ballarat. Welcome to the group.

Can't help you but wanted to congratulate you on your success.

Thought I should go back and check my book to see what the rules are:- 1.Eat 3 or less small meals per day. - I break this all the time but my surgeon when I asked him said that it was OK to have a snack as it can be really hard to go for 6 hrs or more without food. 2.Do not eat anything between meals - seems to be a repeat of number 1! 3.Eat slowly and stop when no longer hungry. 4. Focus on nutritious foods. 5.Avoid calorie - containing liquids 6.exercise for at least 30 minutes every day - still working on that one! 7.Be active throughout each day 8.Always keep in contact with us. Just checked and this book was written by Prof Paul O Brien in 2007. Not my surgeon (Jachut's). So no I am not breaking any rules! I actually just ate a slice of sourdough raisin toast and had a cup of tea at the same time.Shock, horror LOL. Not normally what I would do but I got home from a long day at work thirsty and hungry.Yes the food won't stay in the pouch for as long but it will still get to the other part of my stomach and I am sure that will still help. As some people have already mentioned this is not a diet its a lifestyle change.I firmly believe that what you do 90% of the time is what is most important. If foods are banned then you are more likely to crave them. If all foods are allowed then you are more likely to only consume them in moderation.

One of the guys in my support group is on a cruise at the moment - his second since being banded. Apparently the first time he actually lost weight. He said it was great - at Breakfast for example he would decide what he wanted e.g a fresh cooked egg on toast and order that , ignoring the huge buffet. I think one way of looking at it is that there is lots of great food but you don't have to try everything in one go.Order what you fancy the one day and then try something different the second. Hope you have a wonderful time.

I had the same thing happen and I was concerned. I was told not to be as they do not draw everything out.The Dr explained it as being an adjusted fill total - I got very confused but I assume that it is not a problem.

Fluoro is not used here in Australia or if it is only rarely. I have had 3 fills - one by my surgeon, the other 2 by two of his team. They have all managed to find the port really easily.

Glad you said its painful Erin because it sure is.It certainly isn't the simple process that I thought it was when it was first explained to me.It hurts like hell, takes a while and all the slime makes it really disgusting.

I think that most people have difficulty loving them selves. It seems to be part of human nature that we are never satisfied. When I was younger I usd to weigh around 48kg and I was always on a diet. I only wish I weighed that now! I look back at photo's and wonder why i wasted so much time dieting and being unhappy.

3ccs is not conservative by Australian standards. I have a 10ml/cc band. First fill 1.5, 2nd 1, 3rd .6. So here it is really slow and steady. the funny thing is that although I have less than 3ml in a 10ml band I am already starting to feel some restriction.

Correct. Liquid in food doesn't count, strong coffee doesn't count,alcohol definitely doesn't count - it dehydrates rather than hydrates but a lot of things do. And checking with your own doc is always a good idea.

I find it amazing that you are expected to drink that quantity of water in addition to other liquids. My bladder gives me enough trouble as it is! People often don't realise that other liquids actually count towards your Fluid total. The recommendation from my NUT is at least 2 litres (which I assume is 64oz) of low energy fluids between meals. Those fluids can include :- water, mineral water, tea/coffee(no sugar) and diet cordial. Water is obviously the best but there is no way I could drink that much plain water especially in the colder months. I find hot water with a tea bag and a splash of low fat milk goes down far easier. Often magazines, websites and diet plans give us this incorrect idea that we have to drink 2 litres of water plus whatever else. I actually went for tests a while back and when I told them how much I was drinking I was told its not surprising I run to the loo so much! At that point I was striving to do the 6 - 8 glasses of water +++. I was informed then that it was incorrect that other fluids count towards your total and a number of doctors /NUTS have confirmed it for me since.