GE Mom

Well, I'm the lap band failure. I am now about 13 pounds less than the day of surgery. I have been filled to 10.5 cm in an 11 cm band since about 3 months after the surgery and cannot lose even one pound. I am hungry all the time. I can eat far too normally -- except for occasional esophogeal spasms, you wouldn't even know I have the band. By normally, I mean that I eat what people of normal weight eat. I've had several people (who have spent a lot of time with me) tell me I don't eat nearly enough to weigh what I do. I've been xrayed several times, and the band is in place, and filled as it should be. I finally quit going back to the doctor after about 6 months. They couldn't figure out why I wasn't losing. So, if I knew what I know now, I wouldn't have done it. It's been a total failure for me. Any advice would be welcome.

I'm coming up on a year since my surgery, and I've only lost 22 pounds. I'd love your opinions on what I can do to get back on track. Since the surgery, I started off doing well at exercising, but had two falls in which I hurt both knees, so walking got really rough. Before the surgery, I fell (in the locker room at Water aerobics) on my keester and am still hurting from that, though I guess I didn't break anything. (My keester has adequate padding!) So now I'm back to walking, but I guess not frequently enough. I have 9.5 cc in an 11 cm VG Band, and feel like I can eat far too normally. I never was a really big eater -- I've had people who spend a lot of time with me tell me that I don't eat nearly enough to be as fat as I am. I've always said I don't eat too much, but I do eat the wrong things (carbs). I have frequent episodes where I swallow too fast and then start coughing (PB and sliming, I guess). This happens as often as 3 times a day but not every day. I'm thinking maybe I was too aggressive with the fills and need a slight unfill. So the good news is, I'm stronger and a little bit less fat than before the surgery but I haven't lost anything since Christmas. HELP!

Thanks for the advice, Betty. I did go to the doctor. He did a fluroscopic exam of the band, and found it's where it should be, with no slippage or stretched pouch. So he withdrew all the Fluid, found there was no leak. He had me swallow barium, then filled the band until no more barium would pass. He then withdrew .5cc, so I now have 10.5 cc in an 11 cc band. To my astonishment, I'm coughing/gagging/pbing a lot less than I did before, and I'm not nearly as hungry. This was done 10 days ago, and I've lost 2 pounds! YES!

Of course, the patient is the last to know. I think it's about an hour.

We just got back from vacation in Disney World and both my husband and I got sick with (probably) a virus that caused severe diarrhea and vomiting. I threw up at 60 minute intervals from midnight to 6 AM, when we finally decided to go to the hospital and get some medication to stop the vomiting. They did an xray and decided the band is still in the correct place, then gave me IV fluids and reglan to stop the GI problems and (at my request) a scrip for Phenergan to take later. That is what actually helped. Questions: Will such violent retching actually hurt the band? What should I do in the future if such a problem happens?

So does throwing up actually hurt the band? Did I really need to go to the ER?

Yeah, I do actually have a prescription for Phenergan (generic: Promethazine) at home for my migraines but, unfortunately, I was in Florida and the medication was in Illinois!

I've had my band since August, 2006 and have lost about 27 pounds. Recently I had a fill to 9.5 cm in an 11 cm VG band. (I know, that's pretty tight.) Since this last fill, I've definitely felt restricted. I've had a number of incidents where, upon taking the first bite of a meal, I begin coughing and ultimately spit up the bite along with a large amount of thick saliva. There seems to be no particular pattern, except that it is more likely to happen when I'm very hungry and presumably haven't chewed adequately. Questions: Is this what's meant by 'pb'ing'? Is there a reliable way to prevent it? (I know, chew well, eat slowly...) Does this mean I'm too tight? Does this do damage to the band? Should I just tolerate it if I'm losing? Advice, please.

There are two kinds of lumps -- one is tissue that seems to be swelling right beneath the incision, then there's a lump about the diameter of a walnut that must be the port structure itself. Port pain is pretty common. It eventually fades.

My pain was somewhat worse than some of the folks have described. Yes, I had the worst pain around the port, but I think it was almost as bad as my 2 cesarean operations. It was particularly hard to get up from bed for, say, the first week. I took liquid tylenol with codeine, which tasted so awful that I stopped taking it about day 4. But each day was better than the one before and it was very much worth it.

My bariatric program had to start a separate group for lap band folks because the RNY folks were too mean to the lap banders. I do not understand this at all. But I think separate is better.

In the individual insurance market, most seriously obese people are uninsurable. So the best bet is to find some way to get group insurance through a large employer, either your own or spouse if you're married.

It's great to hear that we're all finally getting the weight loss going. I'm down 28 pounds from my surgery in August, which is slower than the rest of you but still fine. My doctor is OK with it. And the clothes are getting looser and looser. I'm still having knee problems, and will probably have to have the other one operated. (DARN IT!) And that has slowed the weight loss because it hurts to exercise. I went to a meeting yesterday wearing a suit that had been in the closet for a couple of years because it was too small, and a friend told me I shouldn't wear it any more because it's hanging off me. I now have 8.5 cc in a Vanguard band and I really do feel restricted but not in a bad way. I still get full pretty easily. When I eat a bit too much I feel a bit of heartburn. I wish I'd known how much difference this would make -- I'd have done it a long time ago.

There's a graphic that describes exactly your symptoms as being an example of someone who's too full and needs Fluid taken out. And being too full often results in eating things that are sweet and easy to swallow, resulting in inadequate weight loss. (www.core.monash.org/patient-care.pdf )

RLittman, thanks for the advice on knee surgery rehab. I remember when you got yours fixed, I was still hoping mine would heal on its own. No such luck. I hope my experience is similar to yours and I start losing again when all this swelling goes down. I hadn't thought about that. I think I'll still get a fill on Friday, though. Maybe I need just a little bit more. What's this about port flipping? Why do they do that?

Thanks, Libra. I'm at 8 cc in a VG (11cc) band, so I think I'll ask for just a bit more fill. How was everybody's Thanksgiving?

I'm very discouraged. I'm down about 24 pounds (doctor's scale, I returned the inaccurate piece of trash that had me thinking I'd lost more!) and I have not been able to get the scale moving. I've had to stop exercising, which I know is causing this problem because I had a badly torn meniscus (knee cartilage), which was surgically repaired on Friday. So now my bedroom looks like an old folks home -- CPAP machine, mask, cane, ice pack, knee brace, pain meds... So in about 2 weeks, I can start walking again. Does anyone know any exercise that does not require moving the knee? (I know, laugh...) So I'm in a quandry about whether to get another fill when I see the surgeon Friday. I'm exactly what I was last month when I went in, I'm sometimes having a pain in my throat when I swallow too fast. But I can still eat pretty much whatever I want. Ideas?? :angry ;)

My employer's policy is with Unicare and they did pay for my band. But I think there are different policies with different employers. I think you just need to ask. If you're purchasing non-group coverage, I think you'll have trouble in any case, because companies don't like to insure people who are morbidly obese to begin with. They'll also decline you for most of the co-morbidities, like sleep apnea and hypertension. Then they'll still decline you if you've had the lap band surgery, though I'm not sure why. (Maybe they think you'll regain?) To put it bluntly, you're screwed any way you go. You want to have a group policy with a large enough group that they don't individually underwrite. Usually, that's over 50 people. Most states have a high risk pool that will cover uninsurable people like us, though at a very high cost. Another option that may not help you is COBRA after leaving a group plan. In any case, you have to make sure you get the insurance within 60 days of leaving a group policy, or they're allowed to have pre-existing condition exclusions.

I got my second fill last week, and now all of a sudden I feel RESTRICTION!!!! If I swallow real food without adequately chewing, or take too big a bite, I feel this terrible burning pain in my throat. It seems that this happens a nanosecond after I swallow, before it could even have hit my stomach. And this reminds me to slow down, chew, take small bites, follow the rules. I'm also finding it's a negative reinforcement for eating, so possibly a good thing in the long run. And I learned I'm getting a big award at work, and had nothing to wear to the ceremony. So I went shopping today, tried on suits, and none of the 24s fit. I ended up getting a 22 and could have pushed it a little and gotten into a 20! But I really want to look good for this award ceremony. The weight just continues to drift down, down, down... YES!

My surgery was more painful than I expected. I had pain around the port site for about 2 weeks after the surgery. It was almost as bad as my C-sections. I was really glad I didn't have any solid food in my colon because it would have been really, really painful to wipe. But the important point is, whatever pain you do have will pass, and the diet restrictions will ease up and you'll lose weight!

I share(d) your annoyance with the lack of explanation on why. I'm now 10 weeks post op and I think (maybe) it is also to get a clean break from your old (bad) eating habits and get a genuine fresh start. Now that I can eat more normal foods, I'm having a hard time not eating my old favorites that got me into this mess.

By the way, all (or nearly all) of your co-morbidities can either be caused by or worsened by sleep apnea.

Well, I wouldn't want to get by on tylenol alone. They gave me dilaudid, which was very, very nice. Made me more mellow than I've ever been in my life! But one of the side effects of all narcotics is respiratory depression, which affected me in a major way when I slept. I think the only solution is to talk with surgeon and anesthesia, and they will know what to do.

I'm puzzled that the surgeon will perform the surgery without having you evaluated for sleep apnea. If you really do have it, anesthesia can be very risky for you. So I would talk to the anesthesiologist. And the post-op period, when you're taking narcotic pain medication, can also be risky. I apparently do have sleep apnea, and the surgeon insisted I stay in the hospital the first night after surgery and use CPAP. That whole night, every time I went to sleep, my oxygen levels dropped to an unsafe level, and an alarm went off on the pulse oximeter. If the doctor had done what I wanted and let me go home, I suppose I could have simply died in my sleep. Sleep apnea is both a cause and an effect of obesity. So it could be that you have apnea 'cause you're obese, or that you're obese because you have apnea. Like it or not, you should figure this out and get adequate treatment.

I got my second fill today. I've now got 8 cc in an 11 cc Vanguard band. I've lost 4 pounds this month for a total of 20 pounds on the doctor's scale, 26 pounds on mine. (I like mine better.) I'm supposed to be on liquids for three days. I had some Soup for dinner, and I feel comfortably full. I sure hope this rather aggressive fill gets the weight loss going faster, and that I continue to have no problems with the band. (Next day update) Well, I had a roast beef sandwich for lunch, and as soon as I took the first (inadequately chewed) bites, I felt a burning pain in my esophagus. OOH! So I slowed WAY down, chewed thoroughly, waited a long time between bites, and finished my lunch that way. But I was ravenous by the time I got home at 5:30. So I guess I've got restriction now?