Medievalgal

Hello all! How great to find a place for support like this! I should have been looking sooner. :wink: I had my lap-band surgery two years ago this past April and lost 50 pounds in the first year. I was traveling extensively between Kuwait and England (I'm an American expatriate) about 9 months after my surgery and literally had no time to get fills. So my loss slowed to a crawl that second year. I have only lost 15 pounds since that first 50 (total 65). While I was in England, I was very physically active (averaging 7 miles a day walking) and was feeling great and getting into really good shape. But...once I got back to Kuwait, my exercise regime fell to pieces and I could feel myself becoming depressed from not moving and was literally watching my body fall back into its old shape. I've pulled myself together and gotten back on track. My surgeon left the country (it happens here frequently), so I had to find a new doctor to help me with my fills. He's very nice and has been very encouraging. I had my first fill in over a year a month ago. I lost 1.5 kilos that month...not great, but I'll take what I can get right now. :sneaky: I'm only just getting back into exercising so I know that will help. I just had another fill yesterday and my band is super-tight right now. Phew. It's hit or miss with keeping anything but hot liquids (herbal teas at the mo) down. Everything else is getting stuck. It's been a while since I've had a fill this tight, but I'm thinking things will be better tomorrow. :crying: Thanks for listening! :laugh: Take care! Christine

Elgrad: I'm working on my PhD in medieval history, so it sort of absorbs my life at the moment. That's great that your date will be soon! Congrats! :sad:

Hi there! I'm in year three of my lap-band. Off to a great start but my weight loss fizzled out in my second year (mostly due to my lifestyle at the time), so I'm hoping year three is more productive. I still have at least 50 pounds to go. Look forward to talking with you here!! Christine

Thanks Jenny! Congrats as well on your weight loss!!

How much are you moving around right now? Some of the pain you are describing (particularly the shoulder pain) sounds very typical post-op. The shoulder pain is commonly a sign of the gas used during your surgery (to expand your abdomen during the surgery) and should go away with activity. My biggest pain (and lasted the longest) was at the sight of my port, which I would guess is the pain in the left part of your chest? That could also be the gas pain as well. Definitely communicate your concerns with your surgeon, but also make sure you are moving around to get rid of any of that excess gas in your system which can be VERY painful. Surprisingly, the more you move around, the better you will feel. Take care!!!

My stomach swells terribly when I get a fill. I have to stick around my doc's office for 30 mins afterwards just in case I can't keep liquids down. My first fill after surgery was 2 ccs and it closed me off completely. My doc took out .5 ccs and it was perfect. After that, he only gave me .5 ccs or .2 ccs, which is really nothing. But, it kept me from getting blocked off and I could eat soft foods after my fills. When I switched to my new doctor (my initial surgeon left the country), he gives me bigger fills and my stomach swells to the point that I can only get liquids down. My most recent fill was 1 cc and while I could drink Water in the office yesterday, I'm only keeping about half of what I drink down today. Ugh. Hopefully things are looser tomorrow. :wink: