nuevavida

I didn’t really lose weight between my 2nd and 3rd fill even though I had 8cc. Part of it was my fault. I was able to eat more than I thought I could so I said oh well, might as well drink while I eat since it is passing through the restriction anyway. I think it would have worked a little better if I hadn’t given in and had taken a different approach. It doesn’t matter now because since a week ago after my last fill I have lost 12 lbs!!!!!!! Unreal! This is FINALLY working. Part of it was my fault, but some other things were out of my control. First I learned that Mexican doctors often do not put any fluid in the band to begin with. If he had maybe I would have lost some early on. Secondly, I couldn’t get in for my second fill until 5 weeks after my first. The Dr. was booked. I am not completely blaming my lack of weight loss on these factors, but I feel that they played a roll in it. What matters to me now is that I met my first goal and I am finally down to 400 for the first time in almost two years! Even though it’s been a few months since my surgery and I feel like I am so behind on my weight loss, I now feel like everything is finally coming together and that I am going to be successful at it. Congrats to all of you who have been doing so much better than me! I will be catching up with you all soon!

I went in for my second fill today. My first fill did virtually nothing and an appointment was made for 5 weeks later (they wanted me to come back in 3 weeks but the doctor was booked). My weight went up and down and I was as hungry as I ever was before the surgery. I was getting frustrated but I was able to find several threads where many people said they didn’t have restriction after their first fill, so obviously I had been highly anticipating today’s fill. During my first visit the doctor could not find my port. It was tough because of my BMI. He found it under fluoro (which I loved because the screen was turned where I could see it being done) and I felt great seeing my band and port and knowing that it was attached right and not flipped over, etc. When I went in today Dr. Custer started feeling around and found it with his fingers!!! I didn’t believe him because he thought he had found it last time before he had to put me under flouro (after poking and prodding!). I was reluctant because of how bad it was having him poking me several times last time (who knows what he thought he felt) and the security and precise nature of having it done under fluoro, but I told him he might as well try and he hit it! Of course the whole needle disappeared into my upper abdomen! I have noticed in many forums people talking about getting a “2.8cc” fill, for example, making it sound so exact….my doctor was like “It’s about 3” and I know what he means by “about” because there was air in the syringe with the saline and since I was standing there and of course due to the air, gravity pulled the saline to the bottom of the syringe and it was hard to know how much he really gave me. When he tried to pull out the earlier fluid to make sure he was in the port it came out very slowly and he wasn’t patient enough to wait to pull it all out, so if he is in a hurry next time as well then I may never know exactly how many CCs I have, but it doesn’t really matter to me, as long as it works! I just wanted to share that I don’t know how people can be so exact with their numbers. Maybe their doctors are more meticulous than mine. Dr. Custer doesn’t seem to care that much about the exact CCs, as long as when I swallow the water it goes through well without giving me any problems. The surgical nurse told me after the doctor left the room that even with the VG band it seemed like I was getting pretty aggressive fills and many of his patients (especially men for some reason) don’t tolerate such large fills like I have gotten, although my band didn’t have fluid in it to begin with. They also told me that people with the VG usually don’t get more than 10ccs total and now I am at 8. I was told that there is about 13cc of room in the entire band including the tubing and port. So I guess in a few days when I am back on solids I will see how things go! With all that I have been told and I have read, I hope that I am within a few CCs of my sweet spot!

I had my surgery on June 11th with Dr. Rumbaut in Monterrey, Mexico. Everything was wonderful and I have been doing following their dietary rules with no problems. It has been scary though how much I can eat now! I will be four weeks out this Thursday and am on soft foods, but as long as I chew well and drink with the food (which I was instructed to do at this stage) it all goes down so easily. Before I started tracking my calories and getting into my exercise routine though (last week), I was weighed and weighed the same as I did pre-op! I was stunned....although I think I really overdid it when I started on the soft foods and just took in too many calories so I only have myself to blame. Now that I am writing down what I eat and have been exercising daily I hope I will start losing. I was just shocked and pissed off at myself too see that I had not lost more. I think another aspect is that I was given the larger VG band with the 10cc balloon, so I think that large, lack of restriction is what has allowed me eat too much with no problems. Generally I am not too concerned though since I made an appointment today for my first fill exactly 6 weeks post-op and then the weight should start to come off. Anyone else able to eat a lot a few weeks post-op and think it may be partially due to the larger VG band? I am not complaining, I was just expecting more weight loss earlier and to feel fuller faster.

I can't hardly handle shakes either. My Dr. gave me some Isopure brand drinks that you can get at GNC. They are a little pricey but each bottle has 40g of protein. They come in grape, apple, and other flavors. They are not that great and quite sour, but they are so much better than those shakes. I am glad something so thin exists that has enough protein in it. Good luck and hope you like them enough for you to get your protein in!

Haha, yeah, I was thinking about how many hours I have waited in Dr.'s offices in the US after I wrote it. I guess what I mean is that everything runs so smoothly with Dr. Rumbaut and his people that you expect everything go be perfect.

I am two days post-op. My surgeon was Dr. Roberto Rumbaut in Monterrey, Mexico. I know it would go smoothly and had a lot of confidence in the doctor, the facilities and other arrangements, but everything has been even better than I had expected! As long as you are flexible with some of the minor cultural differences (being told something will happen at a given time and it not, or taking a few hours to see the doctor) then you will have an amazing experience in Monterrey. Dr. Rumbaut has done so many of these and has such a competent staff that everything works like a well-oiled machine. The Dr. could not stress enough how easy I made his surgery by strictly following the pre-op diet. He said my liver had shrunk a lot and it made a big difference in making the surgery a success. His bedside manner and just overall personality is unmatched and the effort and time he takes with his patients individually means a lot—especially considering how many patients he has.

I am two days post-op. My surgeon was Dr. Roberto Rumbaut in Monterrey, Mexico. I know it would go smoothly and had a lot of confidence in the doctor, the facilities and other arrangements, but everything has been even better than I had expected! As long as you are flexible with some of the minor cultural differences (being told something will happen at a given time and it not, or taking a few hours to see the doctor) then you will have an amazing experience in Monterrey. Dr. Rumbaut has done so many of these and has such a competent staff that everything works like a well-oiled machine. The Dr. could not stress enough how easy I made his surgery by strictly following the pre-op diet. He said my liver had shrunk a lot and it made a big difference in making the surgery a success. His bedside manner and just overall personality is unmatched and the effort and time he takes with his patients individually means a lot—especially considering how many patients he has.

I am not sure if I am getting the single incision or not, the website does not say what the requirements are to be a candidate for it. There are apparently several people getting theirs done on your date, but guess what...I am his only patient on the 11th! Dr. Rumbaut had a trip scheduled on the 11th so they didn't schedule any other patients after me and then his trip got cancelled so I am the only one getting banded on that date! I told Cathy that I expect to be treated like a king. :biggrin:

I am scheduled for surgery on June 11 with Dr. Rumbaut in Monterrey, Mexico. I am really surprised how I am doing on my liquid diet. Sure, I am hungry, but I don’t feel like I am starving to death like I thought I would be. I hope this is a good sign for future behavior. I am a strong person most of the time so as long as I can get through the rough spots relatively quickly I am confident that I can use the tool of the Lap-Band to its fullest! Good luck to the rest of the June bandsters out there!