kcweir

I would love to hear some opinions about my situation. I had my lapband put in five and a half years ago. I have been truly loved it but have had problems with it from time to time. Port sight pain is pretty much constrant since I had my tummy tuck two years ago but I just choose to ignore it. Recently, the night choking and reguritating has gotten to the point that I just can't take it any more. Even though I sit practically straight up I'm woken several times at night drowning in liquid from my stomach. I'm twenty pound higher than my lowest weight of 155 and fear that if I take the Fluid out of my band or remove the band entirely I will just end up back where I was in 2009. I came to these forums looking for some information on revising to a sleeve. Honestly, if the sleeve had been available to me back in 2009 that would have been my choice but it was not an option. No I read so many scary stories about what kind of damange my band could be inflicting on me right now and my syptoms don't make me feel any better. I have already made an appoitment with the bariatric doctor at my hmo to look in to everything. My questions for everyone here are these: I currently have an HMO, I had a PPO when I got the lapband. Would the HMO pay for a revision to a sleeve even though I am currently not obese? I don't want to have to remove the band, regain the weight, then get the sleeve! Thank you in advance for any help you can offer.

Thanks so much for the input everyone. I'm off to see the doctor in a couple of hours. Definitely going to have some saline taken out so I can sleep at night and going to ask him to get the ball rolling on moving on to a sleeve. I have not been vocal with the doctor about my problems because I don't want to lose the band and gain any weight back but I'm at the point where I just can't take it any more. Even if I have to jump through insurance hoops for months, I'm going to start jumping now!

I am scheduled for surgery next week to fix my deviated septum. Has anyone had surgery after the band and not had it unfilled? I'm at such a good level of restriction and I don't want to mess it up!

It's been just over a year now since I was banded. The last month or so I've been in serious need of a fill, and I just had it done on Monday. I'm enjoying the new restriction and finally watching the scale go down again after stalling for six weeks. I'm now down to 171 pounds! I've lost a total of 70 and have 30 more to go, hope to have that off in the next year. I'm really enjoying shopping now for the first time in years. I'm getting rid of all my big clothes because I'm very confident that I won't be going back this time. I love this band!

I couldn’t believe my scale this morning, 192.4! I’ve lost a total of 49 pounds so far, only one pound from half way there. My last fill really did the trick for me, I’m comfortable most of the time and even though I still can’t eat a whole cup of food at one sitting, I’m held over after eating for at least four hours. This must be the sweet spot everyone talks about. I had a fabulous vacation with DH earlier this month to celebrate my 40th birthday. We flew to Cancun and stayed at a gorgeous hotel on the Rivera Maya called The Valentin Imperial Maya. I highly recommend it. I discovered a new favorite dish that is terrible for me but was so wonderful tasting called Lobster Thermidor. I’d never heard of it before but DH had. It was decadent and saucy and perfect. I ate it twice while we were on vacation. Even with that and the daily doses of yummy alcoholic beverages, I came home three pounds lighter. DH gained 8 pounds, but has already managed to take it back off in less than two weeks. Men! I was able to do the physical excursion that I was so excited about on my birthday. I would not have even attempted this when I weighed 240 pounds. We hiked through the jungle, rode a zip line over a lagoon, hiked some more, repelled in to an underground cave filled with crystal clear water called a cenote to swim, hiked some more, climbed to the top of a Mayan Pyramid, hiked some more, and collapsed. Such a fun day! It was definitely the highlight of our trip. I didn’t like looking at the pictures they took of us during the excursion though. I was still by far the biggest woman on the trip, and my fat legs oozing out through the repelling harness was not a pretty sight. I’m not going to let that bother me because I did something so remarkable and I know that with the help of my band I will never be this weight again. It’s only going to get better from here! Kimberly

I couldn’t believe my scale this morning, 192.4! I’ve lost a total of 49 pounds so far, only one pound from half way there. My last fill really did the trick for me, I’m comfortable most of the time and even though I still can’t eat a whole cup of food at one sitting, I’m held over after eating for at least four hours. This must be the sweet spot everyone talks about. I had a fabulous vacation with DH earlier this month to celebrate my 40th birthday. We flew to Cancun and stayed at a gorgeous hotel on the Rivera Maya called The Valentin Imperial Maya. I highly recommend it. I discovered a new favorite dish that is terrible for me but was so wonderful tasting called Lobster Thermidor. I’d never heard of it before but DH had. It was decadent and saucy and perfect. I ate it twice while we were on vacation. Even with that and the daily doses of yummy alcoholic beverages, I came home three pounds lighter. DH gained 8 pounds, but has already managed to take it back off in less than two weeks. Men! I was able to do the physical excursion that I was so excited about on my birthday. I would not have even attempted this when I weighed 240 pounds. We hiked through the jungle, rode a zip line over a lagoon, hiked some more, repelled in to an underground cave filled with crystal clear water called a cenote to swim, hiked some more, climbed to the top of a Mayan Pyramid, hiked some more, and collapsed. Such a fun day! It was definitely the highlight of our trip. I didn’t like looking at the pictures they took of us during the excursion though. I was still by far the biggest woman on the trip, and my fat legs oozing out through the repelling harness was not a pretty sight. I’m not going to let that bother me because I did something so remarkable and I know that with the help of my band I will never be this weight again. It’s only going to get better from here! Kimberly

I spent the day Saturday with my sister, attending a baby shower and having dinner at my house. The conversation was almost exclusively about weight. I still haven't told a soul about the LAP-BAND®® except my husband, and I almost cracked under the guilt pressure I was feeling that day. I can say that I haven't lied at all about how I'm losing weight, but I am not telling about this one amazing tool that I had installed. I did tell my sister how much my weight had gotten up to (241) and she was amazed that I'd ever been that heavy. I have always heard that I carry my weight well, and I suppose that's true. I actually thought that my sister looked pretty heavy this weekend and she told me that she weighed 173 and had just lost 5 pounds on Medifast. I thought that at this point I look thinner than her but she's only a few inches shorter than me so this may be that my own perception of how I look at this point is not realistic. I never seem to think that I look as bad as I do until I'm confronted with a picture of myself. Anyway, we talked about what my goal weight was going to be and she told me she thought I was quite thin on my wedding day 13 years ago. I remember that I had starved myself down to 145 for that day and I agree, I was very comfortable with how I looked that day. Of course I came back from the honeymoon at 153 and never looked back! Anyway, I think that the 140s is a more realistic and reasonable goal than my original 130, so I am changing it to 141.4 to make it an even 100 pounds that I want to lose. I love even numbers, I'm an accountant and something about them makes me happy. When I told her that I wanted to lose that much weight in 2 years time, she said that was great, especially since I hadn't had gastric bypass or anything like that! Yikes. No reply from me, I just moved on to something else. I feel so guilty for being less than honest, but I don't think that my sister would even qualify for the surgery if she wanted it at less than 180 pounds, so I don't think it would be a help to her even if she knew. Maybe that's just my selfish justification for keeping my secret. What does everyone else think?

I spent the day Saturday with my sister, attending a baby shower and having dinner at my house. The conversation was almost exclusively about weight. I still haven't told a soul about the LAP-BAND®® except my husband, and I almost cracked under the guilt pressure I was feeling that day. I can say that I haven't lied at all about how I'm losing weight, but I am not telling about this one amazing tool that I had installed. I did tell my sister how much my weight had gotten up to (241) and she was amazed that I'd ever been that heavy. I have always heard that I carry my weight well, and I suppose that's true. I actually thought that my sister looked pretty heavy this weekend and she told me that she weighed 173 and had just lost 5 pounds on Medifast. I thought that at this point I look thinner than her but she's only a few inches shorter than me so this may be that my own perception of how I look at this point is not realistic. I never seem to think that I look as bad as I do until I'm confronted with a picture of myself. Anyway, we talked about what my goal weight was going to be and she told me she thought I was quite thin on my wedding day 13 years ago. I remember that I had starved myself down to 145 for that day and I agree, I was very comfortable with how I looked that day. Of course I came back from the honeymoon at 153 and never looked back! Anyway, I think that the 140s is a more realistic and reasonable goal than my original 130, so I am changing it to 141.4 to make it an even 100 pounds that I want to lose. I love even numbers, I'm an accountant and something about them makes me happy. When I told her that I wanted to lose that much weight in 2 years time, she said that was great, especially since I hadn't had gastric bypass or anything like that! Yikes. No reply from me, I just moved on to something else. I feel so guilty for being less than honest, but I don't think that my sister would even qualify for the surgery if she wanted it at less than 180 pounds, so I don't think it would be a help to her even if she knew. Maybe that's just my selfish justification for keeping my secret. What does everyone else think?

199.2 this morning! Yay me! I really didn't think that I would ever get there. I chose the band partly because I didn't want the weight loss to be too fast, or obvious, to other people. I guess I got what I wanted. Love my band!

199.2 this morning! Yay me! I really didn't think that I would ever get there. I chose the band partly because I didn't want the weight loss to be too fast, or obvious, to other people. I guess I got what I wanted. Love my band!

I made it to a 40 pound loss finally. SOOOO close to onederland! I had my best fill ever on Tuesday and I hope this restrictions lasts for a while. I have 8.3ccs in my 10cc band now. I've planned a vacation with my husband for my 40th birthday in April. My goal was to be under 190 when we leave, but I don't expect that to happen. If I can make it solidly in the 190s I'll be happy. Part of the trip is going to be climbing a Mayan pyramid and doing a zip line through the jungle! I need to hit that treadmill hard for the next three weeks so I'm up to the task.

I made it to a 40 pound loss finally. SOOOO close to onederland! I had my best fill ever on Tuesday and I hope this restrictions lasts for a while. I have 8.3ccs in my 10cc band now. I've planned a vacation with my husband for my 40th birthday in April. My goal was to be under 190 when we leave, but I don't expect that to happen. If I can make it solidly in the 190s I'll be happy. Part of the trip is going to be climbing a Mayan pyramid and doing a zip line through the jungle! I need to hit that treadmill hard for the next three weeks so I'm up to the task.

The only person who knows is my husband, my kids are too young to understand. I chose not to tell anyone because I didn't want to be watched carefully and constantly asked about how it was going. Also, I know that my mother would not agree with it and I didn't want anyone to try to talk me out of it. So far I'm down 40 pounds, so the loss has been slow enough that not many people have said anything or even noticed. After 5 1/2 months, and 8.3cc in my band, I finally feel like I have restriction enough to cause a significant weight loss. My thinking is that I'll never be able to untell, so I'm being very careful about if and when I decide to. As my weight loss becomes more noticeable, I may choose to tell some people, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

How about Advair? I've found that works just as well as prednisone when I'm having trouble.

I had a great weekend in Las Vegas with my mother, sister, and all four of our kids. The first happy thing happened when Mom walked in to my hotel room and said, “You’ve lost a lot of weight!” Funny thing is, she saw me last week but she said that I was wearing more fitted clothes and now she could really tell. My Lap-Band®® is a secret, so I said I was eating more protein, less carbs, and walking on the treadmill. Not a lie, but I still feel guilt about it, especially when talking to my sister who shares my weight problems. The next day I put on my new size 14 jeans and we headed out to the Hoover Dam to take a tour. I was on the escalader in front of Mom and Sister, and they commented that my butt was so much smaller! This is the best I’ve felt about my body in a very long time. We met up with some old friends for dinner, and I wasn’t embarrassed to see them. Usually I would dread seeing old friends because I just knew they were thinking, “Wow, she got so fat!” They didn’t notice the weight loss because they hadn’t seen me at my highest; they had only seen our yearly Christmas photos which are strategically cropped every year. After our dinner, Mom watched the kids while my sister and I went downstairs to the casino for drinks and gambling. I won about $250 and we headed home the next day. Truly the highlight of the trip was hearing the compliments after so long. Yesterday I had the day off from work but braved a bad rainstorm to go to my 4 month post op appointment. Dr. Oliak charted my progress on a graph and it made me feel so much better about how I was struggling for the first three months. I’ve lost a total of 33 pounds now, and most people I read about of LBT have done much better than that. I was below the average curve for the first three months, but my last fill made the weight loss jump way over that line. We decided against another fill right now, and I’m going to go back to see him at my six month post op in March. Next goal, get to Onederland!

If I tell my sister I'm telling the world. I don't want to do that yet. I'll reconsider as time goes by. I know that once I tell I can't untell, so I'm going to make sure that I really want to do that before I let the cat out of the bag.

I had a great weekend in Las Vegas with my mother, sister, and all four of our kids. The first happy thing happened when Mom walked in to my hotel room and said, “You’ve lost a lot of weight!” Funny thing is, she saw me last week but she said that I was wearing more fitted clothes and now she could really tell. My Lap-Band®® is a secret, so I said I was eating more protein, less carbs, and walking on the treadmill. Not a lie, but I still feel guilt about it, especially when talking to my sister who shares my weight problems. The next day I put on my new size 14 jeans and we headed out to the Hoover Dam to take a tour. I was on the escalader in front of Mom and Sister, and they commented that my butt was so much smaller! This is the best I’ve felt about my body in a very long time. We met up with some old friends for dinner, and I wasn’t embarrassed to see them. Usually I would dread seeing old friends because I just knew they were thinking, “Wow, she got so fat!” They didn’t notice the weight loss because they hadn’t seen me at my highest; they had only seen our yearly Christmas photos which are strategically cropped every year. After our dinner, Mom watched the kids while my sister and I went downstairs to the casino for drinks and gambling. I won about $250 and we headed home the next day. Truly the highlight of the trip was hearing the compliments after so long. Yesterday I had the day off from work but braved a bad rainstorm to go to my 4 month post op appointment. Dr. Oliak charted my progress on a graph and it made me feel so much better about how I was struggling for the first three months. I’ve lost a total of 33 pounds now, and most people I read about of LBT have done much better than that. I was below the average curve for the first three months, but my last fill made the weight loss jump way over that line. We decided against another fill right now, and I’m going to go back to see him at my six month post op in March. Next goal, get to Onederland!

You're not alone, I had surgery in Sept and have only lost 30 pounds. I spent the first three months being hungry and miserable, but I think my fill three weeks ago may have finally put me in a good spot. It is frustrating to come here and see that pretty much everybody has lost more weight than me. Congratulations on your success, two years from now we’ll both look back on this time and forget that we were even frustrated at all.

I occassionally have beer, but it makes me feel very full. I don't think I could have more than one if I wanted to.

My weight is very slowly falling, I’m down to 215 now from my highest of 241. Not too shabby, but I think I expected to be below the 200 line by now so I can’t help but be a little disappointed. I definitely have restriction and still accidently don’t chew enough so I’ve had a few sliming and pbing incidents since my last fill two weeks ago. The problem is that I don’t stay full for 4-5 hours after eating one cup of food. I’d say I’m still at about 3-3.5 hours before I’m hungry and by 4.5-5 hours I’m STARVING. Next fill appt is December 15th, hopefully that will do the trick. On the exercise front, I completed my first 5k this weekend. It was so fun, and really great to have DH and the kids cheering me on at the finish line. My goal was to complete it in under 50 minutes, and I was shocked to see that I got it done in 42:52. Woo hoo! Next race is January 23rd and I’m working on getting that one done in under 40 minutes. Wish me luck! I have to say, I feel like I’ve come a long way since deciding to have surgery, so it was shocking for me to see the pictures my husband took of me during the race. I can’t believe how fat I am! I long for the day when I see a picture of myself and I feel like I look good. I don’t know if that’s ever happened for me, except maybe my wedding pictures. I starved my way down to 145 pounds for that day, and was 153 when I got back from our honeymoon, and I guess I never looked back. Kimberly Surgery Date 9/23/09

My weight is very slowly falling, I’m down to 215 now from my highest of 241. Not too shabby, but I think I expected to be below the 200 line by now so I can’t help but be a little disappointed. I definitely have restriction and still accidently don’t chew enough so I’ve had a few sliming and pbing incidents since my last fill two weeks ago. The problem is that I don’t stay full for 4-5 hours after eating one cup of food. I’d say I’m still at about 3-3.5 hours before I’m hungry and by 4.5-5 hours I’m STARVING. Next fill appt is December 15th, hopefully that will do the trick. On the exercise front, I completed my first 5k this weekend. It was so fun, and really great to have DH and the kids cheering me on at the finish line. My goal was to complete it in under 50 minutes, and I was shocked to see that I got it done in 42:52. Woo hoo! Next race is January 23rd and I’m working on getting that one done in under 40 minutes. Wish me luck! I have to say, I feel like I’ve come a long way since deciding to have surgery, so it was shocking for me to see the pictures my husband took of me during the race. I can’t believe how fat I am! I long for the day when I see a picture of myself and I feel like I look good. I don’t know if that’s ever happened for me, except maybe my wedding pictures. I starved my way down to 145 pounds for that day, and was 153 when I got back from our honeymoon, and I guess I never looked back. Kimberly Surgery Date 9/23/09

Okay, now I'm too embarassed to show pics of my house! Beautiful job, I'm sure your family appreciates it.

Update: Just got back from the doctor, they put in .7cc for a total of 7.2cc in my 10cc band. She didn't seem to be too worried about my PB incident, just told me to be more careful from now on.