AlienBandit

I live in Korea but I am originally from Canada. My family would freak out if they knew I had any of my surgeries so I decided not to tell anyone back home. I had to tell two of my co workers in case of an emergency but that was it for the longest time. I wasn't "big" enough for surgery and thought people would be so against it. Luckily in this country people are more accepting so I have been opening up more to 2 or 3 people but still not comfortable telling people.... except ones that piss me off. I was on a date the other night when the guy said that weightloss surgeries and plastics are the easy way out and people like that were lazy.... of course I lost it and told him about what I have done. It was so envigorating to tell him off and I actually feel better about telling people now. However when I do go back home I think I will keep my mouth shut.

I had to have a colonoscopy once and it was nothing. The day before you will need to be near the bathroom all day so no work for sure. As for after the procedure, I simply stayed at the hospital until the "air" was out of me ( so lots of farting..... yuck) and then went home. At the time I was dating a guy whom I didn't tell about the surgery and I spent the night at his house only a few hours after being at the hospital and I was completly fine. It wasn't painful or hard to recover from.

I took some meds for 2 weeks and had a complete unfill. I then went back and had another endoscope that showed my erosion was basically healing by itself very well. My doc said I could keep my band and he would stitch the erosion or I could take out the band and wait a minimum of 3 months for a new band. I decided to let my stomach heal 100% on its own. I waited 5 months and then got a different band. Photos of my erosion and more details are all on my blog in the Feb-mar section.

I had erosion, it is really rare and often docs dont find it until your band is already in your stomach. I was lucky and found it when it was the size of a pea. I didnt really have any symptoms my doc just checked my band randomly with endoscope. Things that can cause erosion are alcohol. spicy food, rapid fills, consuming things your should like advil or other things that can weaken your stomach walls and not following your doctors rules. Symptoms are usually being able to eat huge amounts even with a big fill, port or tubing infection, pain in your band area, vomiting etc.

I have PCOS and my doc never suggested bypass. He is a big go getter for the band ( and my BMI wasnt high enough). 4 months after getting the band I had already lost 50 pounds. I had a few bumps in my journey and lost my band for 5 months but I was recently rebanded and am losing weight again Lots of people with PCOS get the band and are successful. If the scale doesnt move just be happy your not gaining weight. Some peoples journeys will be slower then others but good things come to those who wait.

Yes advil is bad for your band same with things like metamucil because it can weaken your stomach and help cause band erosion.

I was banded oct 10 09 and since then have lost 24 kg ( bout 53 lbs). This is even with my bumps in the road and 5 months being bandless. I am still loving the band and have no regrets Great weight loss everyone

BioEnterics Intragastric Balloon, Obesity Treatment, BIB System, Obesity Management Asia check out this link. I had the BIB balloon between my bands and though I didn't lose weight, I didnt expect to because I am so close to goal. I know of someone else who had the balloon before getting the band surgery ( to help lose some weight) and it worked.

Thats great to hear! I wish this website had like buttons like facebook does. This would for sure get tons of likes

if you really want to get the band and not have a more intense weight loss surgery then consider getting the BIB balloon placed in your stomach to help you lose weight so that you can have a BMI that is safe for the band surgery. The BIB is a great temporary solution to help you lose weight but it doesn't last forever.

I am a teacher so I walk and stand a lot during the day. I didn't take any time off work and had my surgery on a Sat and went back to work on the Monday. Monday and Tuesday were a little hard but I was fine Thursday and 100% back to normal by the Friday so if you take a week off work you will be fine. I went away a week post op to a beach and mudfest where I was on my feet all day for 8 hours and even forgot I had the band. The more you move around the faster you recover. Good luck

you can not tell if you have erosion from an xray. The only way to see erosion is with an endoscope. Docs usually dont like to do that until it is a last resort because it costs a lot of money etc. When I found my erosion I didnt really have any signs but I did have pain just below my breasts from my tubing my doc said that needed to be moved and could possible have been from an infection too ( which is why I had an endoscope right away and found a small amount of erosion).

just got rebanded on the 10th, 5 days post op and my 4th day back at work. Feeling 99% back to myself. I am go glad to have the band back

hahaha yellow pee is not from the powder its from the multivitamin in my experience. Where I have seen the Protein powder in Itaewon near the end where it is close to Noy or nok something station ( heading west). I never asked how much it cost.

oooohhh thats great news! Is he korean or foreign? Did you tell him about the surgery etc?

Your in Korea:) do it the korean way start with a coffee date, do a drinking date, maybe hit up Indian ( mostly creamy things can avoid Pasta, bread etc easily) and then move up to bigger kind of restaurants.

Hey! band erosion can be caused by many different things like spicy food, caffine, alcohol, smoking, rapid fills etc. There is no one way to determine what causes it. 7cc is what Dr Kang usually gives as a first fill though I declined to get that amount with my first band and I will again with my second band only because a) I had erosion once before I didnt find big fills helped my hungry I felt the same full filled and completely empty c) I only have 10 kg to lose so I am in no rush to lose a lot of weight fast. As for me I was a very rare case (if your referring to me) and even the doc was surprised to find erosion ( it was only the size of a pea as he caught it early). As for Protein powder and such I have found it in itaewon so if you want to go sometime we can meet up one weekend. I am not sure how much it would cost though maybe a little pricey but trust me it is great :eek:

If you feel it is right to tell the guy your dating then go ahead and tell them. I have been banded, de banded and then banded again and there is a guy I have kind of been seeing the whole time. The poor man must be confused, first I never ate a lot of dates then I did and now I am on liquids so I am avoiding dinners with him al together. I haven't told him because I am not exactly sure where I stand with him. Another guy I was dating right after I got debanded I told because we were more exclusive and it didn't even phase him. He was great helping with excuses etc when we went out with friends who didn't know about my surgery. Now there is a new guy who wants to go on a date with me and now he has to wait because I just got rebanded so I have to go through the liquids, mushies etc before we can go for dinner. He doesnt know about the surgery and I think it would take me a long time to tell him that I had surgery because he is basically a complete stranger to me right now. Personally I feel more comfortable telling people that I have known for a long time. Telling an acquaintance is a little hard for me. Just follow your gut. Everyone I have told ( some co workers and friends) have all been supportive so it gives me hope that a guy I'm dating won't judge me either

After my first fill I felt funny too. It takes a few days for the saline to settle in your band and your stomach might be a little swollen. Rest and don't try to force yourself to eat anything. If you don't feel better after a day I would call your doc and ask for a slight unfill.

First of all be careful with rapid fills they can cause band erosion. Second of all be careful with acid reflux i had it one time and went to my doc who did an endoscope check ( no other test can show erosion) and low and behold I had erosion. I was 7cc in my 10cc band at the time. Getting fills so fast in those 4 months i was banded could have caused the erosion. Also you might have 10cc in your band plus air which can cause some eating problems. Maybe you should ask for an endoscope exam. xrays and swollows to see if liquids pass through your stomach will not show erosion.

Its strange that your doc didnt tell you the max capacity of the band. yes an APL holds 14cc and an APS holds 10cc I have the smaller one and would never need it filled to the max. As for making you do many small fills, it is because it is safer for your stomach. Rapid fills can cause erosion and trust me erosion isnt fun. My doc barely charges anything each time I went and will go for fills so it is not only your doc that makes you go often for small fills.

I knew of someone that had very bad band erosion too. She had the surgery on a Sat, stayed at the hospital til the Wed and then went back to work the following Monday. I think 1-2 weeks should be good for recovery time unless your erosion is super super super bad. ( emergency removal case). After removal you dont really feel any pain at all. A week after my surgery I went to a ski resort, had a massage, went drinking with friends etc. It was the lipo I had to stay longer at the hospital for not the erosion. However if you are required to have a draining tube you must stay at the hospital min 5 days I believe. It feels good to be rebanded just going through all the pains and such of the first week. I am back on my feet faster then last time but thats because I am experiencing different pain ( no gas more surgery pain). I wish you the best in your journey.

I had one small episode of acid reflux for a few hours one night after I took too big of a gulp of Water. When I saw my doc for a check up I told him about it and about my tubing pain. The tubing hurt because it was too close to the surface of my skin. My doc did an endoscope just to check my stomach since it had been 4 months since I was banded and found erosion. If you want more details of my time then check out my blog in the feb-mar section. There is also a pic of my erosion there too.