JanB23

I agree Zeniada! I start my post op band fit classes today. I am hoping it will help move the weight. I have not lost in 4 weeks. Having said that i haven't had a fill yet due to a minor complication so i have no restriction what so ever. If it wasn't for the scars i wouldn't even be aware i had weight loss surgery, i feel completely "normal". I can eat what ever i want - i am trying not to but some days it is hard, especially as i am on holidays from work so have no structure to my days. Back in a week so hopefully will get back on track and then get my first fill a week after that (fingers crossed). Keep up the good work everyone. With support and understanding from each other we will do our best to reach our goals.

Having the port fixed is really not a big deal. Nothing like the original surgery. This is good to hear. My doctor could not access my port but found a pocket of fluid and took out 20 plus mls. I now have to wait for 3 weeks for the doctor to attempt a fill under xray and i am worried the port may have flipped or will need to be repositioned.

I need a fill!! We have just been away on a road trip and i have been eating almost as much as before my band.I have no fill in my 10ml band. I have to have a fill under xray as my port is surrounded by fluid and the doctor can't feel it properly. He is away for the next 3 weeks and doesn't want anyone else to do my fill so i have to wait till the 25th. I really need to get back on track, luckily we did lots of walking and climbing while away so i only put on 1 kilo (2.2lb) but now at home i will probably not be quite as active. I am a bit worried about the port, as reading posts here, sometimes the port needs to be moved when a pocket of fluid forms (seroma i think it is called). Roll on the 25th.

I am 2 months post op with no fill. We have just done a road trip and i managed to eat an entire burger with the lot at a seaside cafe. It was huge and delicious and i only felt a little over full. I was amazed, shocked and feeling guilty. But got home last night and my weight is only slightly up so i am happy because the burger wasn't my only bad choice while away.

Band meals are frozen meals especially designed for people who have a band. They are about 200 - 240 calories a serve and are designed to be easy to digest. They have all sorts of things, pasta, curry, asian, shepards pie. On pre op i had 2 shakes and a meal and still have some in the freezer. Theyare great to take to work when i am running late or cant be bothered preparing something. Holiday is going well. Buying lots of clothes - but none for me - i will wait. Eating a bit too much i think - scales will tell when we get home - but walking heaps and going to the gym at the apartments where we are staying. Hope all is well with everyone.

Went to the surgeon today and he was going to do my first fill - i am 7 weeks post op - haven't lost any weight in 2 weeks - my scales say different but thats another story. Any way doc couldn't access my port but removed 20mls of fluid that was surrounding my port - a bit of a mystery as to what caused the fluid - clear yellow fluid. Put the needle in 4 times looking for port and removing the fluid. Ouch! Any way i now have to have my fill done under xray. I hope the port hasn't flipped! Doctor wanted to do it next week but i will be interstate and then he is going to be away for 3 weeks after that so i have to wait till the 25th November. Apart from wondering if everything is OK i am hungry and starting eat more. I don't want to put any weight back on so i am going to have to be really strong and try to make good choices. Anyone else have fluid around their port?

Anna 89 - What?

I nearly had my first fill 2 days ago but doc couldn't access the port as it was surrounded by fluid that he removed (20mls clear yellow fluid). Any way he didn't ask about what or when i had eaten. I now have to wait till November till i get a fill under xray as the doc is going away. He specifically said i don't have to fast. Zeniada - good luck with your fill.

Someone on a different post suggested the fluid the doctor found could be a seroma. I googled it and it sounds similar - should clear up on its own but on a couple of old post here the port had to be repositioned. I set out this morning being good and having a shake for breakfast and a band meal for lunch - thought it might kick start things again. Well i didn't sleep well last night - for various reasons, so am very tired and grabbed chinese take away on the way home and ended up eating way too much and now i am feeling bad(emotionally, not physically). Just went for a short walk but am too tired to go for the long walk i need. Going on a road trip at the end of the week for 9 days so i will have to be really careful what and how much i eat. By the way my weight was up .1 of a kilo when i went to the doctors and the nurse was just short of saying tut tut tut. Doctor was great though - he just said i needed a fill and then i would start loosing again - then we hit the snare. Hope you have hit your sweet spot. Roll on 25th of November.

Well i had my follow up appointment today and my weight was the same as 2 weeks ago so the surgeon agreed to do a fill. He could feel my port but could not access it. At first he couldn't feel it at all and stuck the needle where he thought it was and found a pocket of fluid that he drained a good 20mls of yellowish fluid from. He thought it was the antiseptic he put in at surgery that hadn't been absorbed but then said it was too much. He thinks maybe i had a reaction to the chlorhexidine he put around the port.( It did give me a nasty rash on the outside). Any way he eventually hit the port once the fluid was drained from around it but he couldn't find the middle after 4 tries - i hope the port hasn't flipped. Now i have to wait 4 weeks because i am away next week when he wanted to access my port under xray and then he is away for 3 weeks after that. He says he wants to do it himself - so no restriction for another 4 weeks! That worries me a bit but i am more worried about exactly what the fluid is - surgeons not concerned though .because i feel fine.

Had my first consult early July - given 2 weeks to think it over - next visit given instructions for pre op diet and a surgery date 5 weeks later. Now 7 weeks post op and feeling great. My sister went public for weight loss surgery - waited 2 years and was talked into gastric bypass instead of the band - which she was leaning towards anyway. Wasn't advised to go on pre op diet and had an open procedure and took 7 weeks to recover. 2 years later she has lost 60 kilo but has low iron levels.

If they are taking out/bypassing intestine and reducing stomach size it sounds like a full on Gastric bypass. The GB has its advantages but it also has its disadvantages - malabsorption and vitamin deficiency for a start. My sister had GB and she can eat almost anything in small amounts but is suffering, she is 2 years out and is still loosing weight - about 60kilos now - but is very iron deficient and lacks energy often.

Mine was the same as Shelly. But now things are "unblocked", so to speak, the pain has resolved. I think i ate food that was a bit heavy and slow to move through.

I am now nearly 6 weeks post op and remember that pain.It wasn't until i read through my post op instruction day 3 that i realized i could take ibuprofen on top of my panadol and wow what a difference that made and i turned the corner. Please check with your doc as i know a lot do not allow ibuprofen as it has been associated with damage to the stomach lining.

I am nearly 6 weeks post op and had a similar pain and i havent had a fill. It was on my left side lower than my stomach and i had radiating shoulder tip pain - typical gas pain. It was worse when i breathed in and i could feel the gas bubbling away. Every time i was ready to call the doc it would settle down. Lasted about 4 days - worse in the evenings. I think i was backed up - no BM for 4 days and had some fluid on board. It was scary but i did not feel unwell and was able to continue as normal so i decided it wasn't anything nasty. I am fine today. It will be interesting to see what happens when i eventually get a fill. Hoe you are Ok now too.

I was banded 30th August. Went for my first post op visit this week expecting to get a fill or at least an appointment for a fill. Doc said i was doing so well i didnt need a fill yet and to come back in 6 weeks!!!. I told him my weight had been the same for several weeks now so he finally agreed to see me in 2 weeks and if my weight is the same he will give me a fill but if i loose i will have to wait. I think i am starting to eat more slowly and i am not always making the best choices. Dietician said there is no liquid in my 10ml band and that the surgeon usually puts in 5mls at the first fill - seems a lot!

WTH type of vit B are you taking? Fluorescent green? Bright yellow/orange maybe. I was a nurse for more than 20 years and have never seen urine i would describe as any type of green that i remember.

My clinic recommend benifibre and say to stay clear of metamucil as it can swell in your pouch. I also made a vegie soup with cauliflower and broccoli, that helped but also gave me gas.

What are grits? I'm an Ausie and if we have grits they are called something different and i hear about them all the time.

Fay, yes you may have some pain from the surgery and at times discomfort but.... it goes away! And for me, who is only 5 weeks post op and i have lost 1/3 of my excess body fat (according to the dietician), my back pain has also gone away along with my struggle to bend down to put my shoes on and off and to walk up the stairs without getting puffed and many more positive things. Getting into clothes that were too tight a few weeks ago, not so paranoid about if i am too heavy to sit in that chair, the list goes on and on. So any pain or discomfort is just about forgotten because the positive out weighs the negative. There is alot of negative here because that is what we need support with so we can then focus on the good things and some times you need to have the good things pointed out to you. Good luck with you journey.

My dietician gave me a web address in Queensland where i can get chewable vitamins - Bandbuddies.

Any one know where to get chewable adult vitamins in Adelaide? I can not tolerate the vitD or caltrate, they give me pain. Bariatric Advantage in the US have them but dont supply Aus yet -on their way apparently. ( as far as i can tell)

Yes, about 2 weeks post op though. It felt like something was moving around/fluttering under my skin - a strange feeling, not unpleasant or scary . It stopped after a week or 2 and i have no idea what caused it.

Just got home from my appointment with the dietician and the surgeon. Dietician says i have exceeded expectations. Yay! He told me i have a 10 ml band and that there is no fill in it. Said the doctor might do a fill today and usually puts in 5 ml. Surgeon looked at my wounds and said i will see you in 6 weeks. I was like "6 weeks before you look at doing a fill". He said because of my good weight loss i didn't need a fill yet and that he normally doesn't do them till then and that i obviously wasn't eating too much. I told him i had lost very little in the last few weeks and that i was afraid i would start eating too much so he will see me in 2 weeks. If i haven't lost any more weight he will do a fill. So now i am thinking if i am not so careful then i might get my fill but i think i am more keen to loose more weight! I have been booked in for my exercise classes and they gave me a calorie counter and cook book. Dietician said not to focus too much on calories but to make sure i get enough protein.

Could it be old blood from the surgery that pooled in your belly button oozing out because of the sitting position in the car or if you got a bit sweaty? I had lumps of dry blood and betadine in my belly button that i found a few days after surgery. Good luck at the doctors tomorrow. Hope it is something simple.