kbattal

She was calling me "the guy, the guy", and she was using an offending language, she would not do this to a female, would she? I do not think so.. I hope you did not sense a sexist argument. I did not mean to. Her arguments are not based on factual information, nothing material, and she also reveals her psyhologic problems, and bad eating habits in earlier posts, just search under her name. She also doesnt know why the band is called adjustable, and I bet she does not know what brand she has. In Romania, or Chech republic, there is not much after care, or support. Most patients do not even adjust their bands, because they are not properly educated about their bands and about why it is called adjustable. regards

Eficka, you are total failure as far as the band is concerned and a big liar. I read your previous posts regarding your eating disorders, and psychological problems, and you are trying to offend me without any intelligent argument. Yes my command of English is also not good, but never tried to offend anyone. You say you lost 27kgs, but if you do a simple math, you lost 19 kg , see below, day of operation 117kg. I lost more in 2,5 months than you did 9 months. You have psychological problems, and stick around your female friends, you can not understand a scientific discussion. Your signature says: BANDED 04/25/06 started 125kg/day of op 117kg/current 98kg I am not sure what size band you have, a swedish band perhaps, it is different. If you fill 1cc in your VG band, when you unfill you almost get nothing, almost all of it is soaked in the port and in the band. You just need serious professional help, honestly. Best luck to you, Dorin.

Are you open-minded person, and do you do your own research, or just follow the directions given by whomever is superior to you. I believe facts based on scientific research, I read them, search them, I read real-life experiences, with an open mind I do what I believe. In my case What I did was correct , though was risky (beareble in my case). I would prefer the doc did it, but I did it because I had good information, and little uncertainity, and a bad doc. Best luck to you.

You sound too prejudiced to talk to. I have over 10 years of college education. I just state facts, not hear-say. English is my second language, but it does not mean that I can not read and understand a written scientific material. Good luck to you.

I have no intention of filling and unfilling myself when appropriate. This just increases the risks. I just think I am wide open, and there are times that I can eat as much as I used to do usually in the evenings. Nothing of a restriction to speak of. The problem is that I do not trust the doctor's judgment, or accept his reasoning, everyone is different. His policy is fixed and the same for everyone. Many doctors have different opinions on the subject, even the Inamed people says VG band is for fatter stomacs, they should put 4cc after 6 weeks. Even a VG band filled with 4cc does not have the same tightness with the other bands with no fill. He is just a doctor who was raised in a state run health system. Besides the site that I stated is vey instructional. There are many good radiologic pictures about complications. http://lapbandtransformation.com/adj8.htm

I searched the internet how to do it, and what are the risks involved with it. I did my own fill. I still think it is not too risky for me. Will I do it again? I might, but I will search a private clinic to do it first. Will I drive 400 miles to do it. I might if only they have proper radiologic equipment. Dorin

I am not a medical prefessional, but a biostatistician. I used to work in the University of Florida, Gainesville, in the early 90s. You may still right in your mind, but I still think in my case, -- the possibilty of puncturing the tube --> almost zero -- the possibilty of port infection, bacteria --> minumum (less than 1%) -- the possibilty of port leak --> low (less than 10) (I am usually conservative in my predictions-estimates.) There are other risks, ofcourse, but I can control them myself. But the convenience of doing my own fills is too tempting.

I find the convenience of filling oneself very appealing, and it is not a rocket science. I am wondered why anyone of you even not tried it. Maybe you nullify the insurance. The cost are too high in the USA. This might be main reason. The whole process is very cheap here in Romania, about 2500 dollars. The cost is not issue for me. The issue is finding anyone well experienced in fills who is willing to fill me. Very few banders are around here. I would more trust myself than any nurse who does fills around here. They would have so little experience, and particularly not well educated and ethical around here. They might poke around more than me if they do it blindly I am afraid. Think about it.

Thank you very much for your thoughtful reply, yes, port infection risk is a good probability, so I had to be extra careful as they instructed in the Inamed manual. Cost issue is not major problem, as I only paid less than 2,500 dollars for the full process in Romania. The band is alone 1600 dollars (cost to the doctor) as far as I am told. Finding a good fill doctor in this case is major issue especially if you are outside the USA. Replacing a port and tube is not a costly surgery but the time it takes to heal is bothersome. My weight loss was about 4 pounds last month, becuase some evenings I was not able to stop eating, just like this evening. My appetite is too high in some evenings, everything I eat just goes down easily then I wonder if I have a band. I am still in adjustment phase, so I have only 4.5cc, but for a proper restriction, I might need upto 8cc, which might mean another 4 fills upto 4 months. Best luck to you.

Well, I gusess you are too spoiled, you live in the states, I live in Romania, and I do not have acces to a proper fill doctor at 500 radius. Best wishes for you.

Anyway in my case, the port is very well placed, just under my skin, so noway I could miss the port.

The tube can be puctured easily, I can undersand that, but there is a connector to the port almost 15cm long, which is also hard, then the tube. I think in your case, the tube was accidently placed near the port, and someone was poking around, and he punctured your tube.

My doc almost exclusively uses large VG band or Swedish band, because it is easier to place around the stomac, and it causes less complications. VG bands are used quite extensively outside the USA, maybe the doctors are not quite well educated for what people VG bands for, or they are not afraid of litigation issues. Normally they are intended for fatter stomacs, but who cares. The doctors use what is easy for them outside the USA.:angry

I dont know if a port can be punctured that easy because it is hard shelled, but the tube can be puncured if someone is not very careful, and and if the tube is especially too close the port.

I examined the port and the tube, before the operation, the assistant doc showed me how it operated when he injected saline in the port, then unfilled the port. No rocket science. It was a sample band, to educate the patients. He had different brands to choose, then I chose the Inamed brand, but I was not properly educated about how large it was. I would choose 4cc band over 10cc, because 10 cc band was intented to be used for fatter stomacs. I dont have a fat stomac for sure, I had a BMI 38, otherwise I would feel some restriction. My other friend with VG band can not eat more than one plate at a time, and he was a lot fatter than I was. I believe the doc could use a smaller band for me, but he never uses them. Yes Lisah they can also puncure the tube, but it was not possible for me because I can almost see where the port is, there was no need to poke around.

I am pretty sure I did not damage the port or the tube. The tube is far away from the port, the only risk I was taking was a leaking port because I was using a standard needle, not a non-core one. Since the port is self sealant I thought the risk was minimal, since I didnt poke around. Some practionaries may poke around, or the port may be tilted or flipped around, or down below the muscle tissue, then it is really hard to fill it. There was no blood, or burning sensation, i applied some force to inject, I intended to fill in 4cc, but it thought it was too much, so I had to stop at 2.5cc. I didnt want to use the needle the second time, because of port infection risk. I will try another fill after 2 weeks, this time by 1cc only, because I still feel I am not properly restricted. If I dont stop at the first plate, I can keep eating as much as before, though I am usually satisfied at the first plate, which is mainly a Protein meal.

My port was easy to locate. I do not recommend everyone, but I thought it was too easy. I used to inject to my brother haliperidol. There are similar ports and the similar fills for cancer chemotherapy patients, there are so many instructions in internet for those. I thought the risk too minimal, afterall I feel my own port better than a nurse or a doctor.

I did mine.

It is not so diffucult to understand. There are nerves in the pouch. If they are triggered, they send signals to the brain that yau have eaten enough up to the upper stomac. Not a sense of fullness, but sort of you have eaten well. I usually stop at the first plate, which is highly rich in proteins. I also drink geen tea, in the evenings, which decreases my apetite.I usually eat read meat, well boiled in the water and stay away all kind of sweet stuff, except fruits.

Because I am still wide open, last month I panicked, hit a plataeu, stayed around 105kg too long, eventhough I was eating less than half and making healthy food choices I was not losing. Luckily last week I started losing again, now I am under 102 at the digital scale. I am hoping to lose 3-4 kgs a month on the average. Since I am wide open, I have to force myself to diet, which is very hard. The only benefit I get from the band is that I get a full feeling pretty quick, and I can stop if I am in good mood. Overall I am pleased with the experience, and have not had any difficulties. I never vomitted, as long as I dont drink Water and chew well, I never felt like. I had diffuculty with cold steak, hurt quite bit, but went down less than a minute.

Dear Jachut, My point was I could eat 2 whoppers at a time, and I could feel they go down right away without staying in the pouch. Normally When I eat, say , half of a hamburger, I get a signal, it is enough, but if I keep going, nothing stays in the pouch. I do not drink anything. This is not how the band should behave or is designed to do. Yes I dont have a large appetite, but if I keep eating, nothing is in between, even if I eat solid food, chewed well, it goes down quickly----> I am wide open. Luckily I stop eating at the first signal, and lost 15kg in two months. I can live with this, but there is still something wrong, it is too wide open. But I am still losing weight, but slowly, following basic guidelines for healthy eating. Last two months I only ate twice fast food, do not get me wrong. I used the following guideline for self fill, am I going to do it, Yes I think so. It is easy as a-b-c. I should wait 2-3 weeks to feel the adjustment.:confused: http://www.allerganandinamed.com/pdf/health/94800-12_LB_Product_Data_Sheet.pdf page 20

One day we will all have bands with remote control just like the one below. They will start trials in the USA.

I did mine yesterday. It did not hurt much, I had to apply pressure, it took 3-5 seconds till I injected all 3cc. I did not feel any burning sensation, and it is almost invisible now. I have a large VG band. This was my second fill and my first self fill.

Its late nite in Bucharest, and I prefer to eat fruits in the evening. I hit a platou for a month around 105kg, and now I feel like starting losing weight again. I never ate so much fruit after banding , and I was curious if I could.Now I know I can eat as much as I want, then what is this band for. Nothing stays in the pouch. Hope you understand my frustration.

You must be his inspiration, what can I say. I was talking about an average Joe. I am not an avarage Joe either. I lost 30 pounds in two months, and 50 more pounds to go (BMI 25 is the target). If I had a 4cc band, I would not even consider filling it. I just ate 6 oranges and two apples , all of them went down without discomfort even if I have 5cc in my band. Go figure. Maybe my body is different.