cheri634

Yes, this is exactly what happened to me. I just had my revision surgery on Sept 4th and they gave me my first fill the next morning. You must have the Realize band, like I do. Doctor showed me under flouroscopy where the prongs were turned wrong because it's flipped and one of them wasn't there at all. Turns out my port was defective, as that one particular prong stayed inside the port when it was installed; it's apparently supposed to pop out to clamp on. My surgeon raised hell with the manufacturer and they had to give a free replacement port. My revision surgery was done with a local anesthetic and I was awake, but got real nervous so they gave me a bit of something in my IV to help me relax. I'm guessing maybe valium, or something of that sort. I just know it made me feel pretty high. yay! I had no problem returning to work this Wednesday, and could have easily gone back sooner if I didn't hate my job. Surgery on Friday, went shopping saturday(still moderately sore), drove halfway across Texas alone on Sunday to visit my grandbaby(a little sore, mostly from sitting for so long), and then that long drive back on Tuesday and back to work Wednesday. I'm feeling good! :wink:

:w00t::frown::eek::w00t: Good point! HAHA!

Oh, yes, I'm so sorry you're having to go through this. I had terrible pain attacks for many months from the end of 2007 through the middle of 2008. My doctor finally sent me to another doctor and it just took him one visit and one sonogram (which my doctor had never done) to finally diagnose it. And thank God he did. I have never had any worse pain in my life. My attacks could last anywhere from 5 minutes to as long as 2 hours and I was completely incapacitated by the pain. He asked me a couple of questions and then had a pretty good idea. He told me I fit into the category of the 5 'F's that are most likely to suffer GB problems (Female - Forties - Fertile - Flatulent - Overweight) I told him it's ok to say fat, but he preferred not to, LOL. Get your surgery scheduled as soon as possible. You're doctor should give you some diet restrictions for between now and the surgery, and sitck with them!! My doc told me avoid fat and drink lots of water (there was some other diet advice that I can't remember now). I had only one more attack between diagnosis and surgery date, and it was the one day that I decided some bacon wouldn't hurt me, and that happened to be by worst attack ever and seemed to go on forever. (this was long before I was banded) You'll be amazed at how much better you'll feel after having the GB out. The recovery was no fun, I was feeling pretty bad for about a week afterward, but once that passed I felt like a whole new person.

This is something I forgot to ask my doctor about, so decided to base it on how I felt. I was ready in 2 weeks, but my hubby was so apprehensive, and for another two weeks he kept telling me he was afraid he'd hurt me. I finally had to tell him that I was going to hurt HIM if he didn't give me a little. It was toooo long to wait for me.

Congratulations!!! I hope to be in Onederland within the next year to 18 months. I bet it feels fabulous!!! :wink2::thumbup::nanahump::thumbup:

Ooooo, that sounds good! I'm gonna try that next time. Thanks!

I have had the Realize band since May 18 and I have no complaints. I feel slight restriction although I haven't had a fill yet and I've lost close to 35 lbs. I did flip my port and I'm not getting it repaired until Sept 4, but I think that is my fault because I was so excited and I started going back to the gym and working out 2 weeks after surgery. After my repair, I'll wait longer to work out again.

Could it possibly be gastric sounds? Or do you feel pretty sure that it is your lungs? If there is any inclination that this sound is from your lungs, you really need to see a doctor quickly. Sometimes after surgery pneumonia can occur, but it's usually in people who are not moving around. I hope it's your guts making noises, because that is normal and two months after surgery I'm still having the gut sounds, I think it's air or digestive fluids, or both. Please, talk to your doctor about your concerns as soon as possible. Best of luck to you!

Another thing I enjoy is the oscar mayer deli selects oven roasted turkey breast. A serving is 6 slices and has only 45 calories and I think the Protein was 8 or 9 grams. So, if you add that with your meal twice a day, it's almost 20 grams of protein and still less than 100 calories total. Sometimes I just have one or two slices when I have a between meal cravingg and want to deter myself from any snacking. (i haven't had a fill yet, so the between meals urges are still hitting me in bandster hell)

Woo hoo!! Way to go! Keep up the good work and keep that horn tooting away! :thumbup:

Yes, you are not alone. I was banded05/18/09. Went in for my first fill on Tuesday of this week and my port is also flipped over,:cursing: so I have to get mine fixed as well. I never had a clue, no pain or any other indicator that something was out of place.

I had no idea anything was amiss before I went in for my fill. No pain near the port, no burning, pulling, or weird sensations. So, I was taken completely by surprise to find that it was flipped. :tongue2:

Not yet, but looks like I'm going to have to. I was banded on May 18th and went in today for my first fill. The doc couldn't do the fill because she said my port is flipped. I was self pay and had my surgery done in Mexico. I'm going to call around and see how much port revision will cost here and I have also left a message with my surgeon's office for return call so I can ask how much it will cost to have him do it. I'm not opposed to returning to Mexico if I have to, but would prefer to have it done closer to home. I'm wondering if it's possible for my medical insurance to cover the revision, but I can't figure out how to ask about it without identifying myself. If they won't cover it, I can understand that; but I fear that just the flag saying 'this chick got weight loss surgery in Mexico' will cause me problems with my medical coverage down the road. Know what I mean?

I was banded May 18th, self pay. Used some of my savings to pay for my surgery because I work for the state and our insurance does not cover any bariatric procedures. ( I did wait until I built up enough savings to have 6 months salary left after taking out for the surgery). Then, I read our update this week because the state legislative session has just ended. Guess what? They are allowing state insurance to cover bariatric procedures 'when it will not increase insurance rates'. Not sure what that part means, but damn!! I had no idea this was even up for discussion, or I might have waited.

I'm not terribly upset about it, just cursing the irony of it all. I'm glad I have it done and now that it's done I wish I had done it years ago. My mom was only 48 when she died of congestive heart failure and was terribly overweight her whole life, but no more overweight than me at the time of my surgery. I'm 43 now and knew I had to do something. I hate that she wasn't around to see her great grandkids, they are so awesome. I plan to be here and be healthy and active for mine. But, I haven't told my hubby about the addition of bariatric procedures to state insurance covered procedures. He would #&$* a brick. Although, maybe I will tell him just for kicks to see him freak out. (kidding) ... His job is stressing him pretty bad right now, I may wait a while to fill him in on the news. :biggrin:

I love sparkpeople.com. You can track food, Water intake, exercise on there. I haven't been on there for long, but it is definitely making a difference for me. I also have found that sparkpeople has an iphone app, so I can log my food when I'm away from my computer. You'll also enjoy browsing other sparkpeople user pages and blogs. It's all very motivating and you get to GIVE as well as RECEIVE motivation from others. I haven't set up my user page on their site yet, but I will very soon. If anyone here is on sparkpeople and wants to add me to friends my user name on there is cheri634

I also take the Viactiv multivitamin in milk chocolate flavor and the Viactiv calcium in caramel .... I find myself looking forward to my vitamins each morning, it's like a little treat

My surgeon told me it's not unusual for some people to be able to lose without ever having anything put in the band, and others may only have one or two fills in their lifetime. He said trust your body and see what works for you. I'm 4 weeks out from surgery, and currently in lap band hell, and scheduled for my first fill on July 1. My hope is to have small enough fill to feel full and satisfied with less food, and to be able to avoid vomiting and other problems. As it is now, I can eat anything I used to, but have to chew very well and can eat a good deal less than before. My own paranoia helps me, because I have a horrible fear of vomiting, so I stop before I get uncomfortably full. I haven't thrown up in several years and I'm planning on keeping it that way.

22 for me + 902 = 924:thumbup:

I can't take liquid Vitamins, or children's chewables, or anything that could possible burp a Vitamin smell or taste. When I was little I ate an entire bottle of flintstones chewable when my mom was taking a nap, and it made me violently ill. Ever since, any smell or taste of vitamins brings back terrible nausea. So, I have been taking the viactiv chews since my surgery. They do have 20 calories, so I account for it in my food tracking. When I was still on liquids, I would let it dissolve slowly in my mouth, but that took forever. Now, I just chew them very well. And, it's like a little chocolate treat too!

Thanks for your post! I'm 3 weeks post-surgery, and pretty happy myself, mostly because I'm excited about what the future could hold for me. I'm glad you described what your doc said about slippage, because my doc explained it to my daughter-in-law while I was still in recovery, and it seemed to have lost something in translation when she told me about him putting part of my stomach over the band. I didn't "get it" until now. Best of luck to you! :grouphug:

I was banded May 18th. The little sattelite incisions are pretty much fully healed now. My largest incision seems to be coming along pretty good too, with the exception of a little spot in the middle that oozes just a bit. It's not dripping or anything major, just a small ooze, no odor, pain or redness. Is this normal, or should I get it checked out?

Hi! I finally did got banded on May18th. I'm feeling pretty good now, some constipation, and I'm uncomfortable at night, but not really in pain. I'm glad I did it one minute, and the next minute wondering what I was thinking. Seems they sure do advertise a lot of good food on TV the last few days. I know overall in the big picture of my life, I won't regret it. But this first period of time on liquids can be a trial. I can't wait to see what the future holds for me.

I'm LDS, technically, although I've been inactive for several years. I'm pretty new here too. Not banded yet, my bad date is May 18. My name is Cheri. Good to meet you!

Hi! I'm a new member here, this is my first post. My surgery is scheduled for May 18. I'm so excited I can barely think about anything else. And a little nervous too. Just want to say hi and good luck to all !!