priscilla

Emily you are being too hard on yourself. Yes, you have a problem with food addiction - so do I, so do most overweight/obese people. I would be right back to my pre-banded weight if I did not have this tool - the band. I was banded 3 yrs. ago and it has changed the way I eat and what I eat. Food is a very complicated addiction to have - it is not something that you do not need everyday, like alcohol or drugs. Accept the fact that you have an addiction, keep going for help and if possible, consider rebanding, or some other form of interventional (surgical)treatment. I am twice your age - have fought the food devils for my adult life and now because of the band, I am happy. I will never be a size 8 or small in the clothing world - but I am so much happier, self-confident and forgiving of my "humanness" and all the trips, falls, failures, successes, wins, triumphs and challenges that the band makes easier for me to handle. Please do not give up on your health - you are still so young and have so far to go, I hope you keep on trying but also be gentle with yourself. My hopes and thoughts are with you.

I was born in Ireland and moved to Canada some years ago. Have recently been diagnosed with Hemochromatosis as have some family members. Since Ireland apparently has the highest ratio of its population with this disorder, are there any persons out there who have this disorder and have had lapband as well. The protein is an important component for successful weight lossus lapbanders, but am wondering if anyone has experienced greater hemo problems because of it. I have been banded for 2 years. Thanks so much!

Thanks -you are so right - I checked my old records and it was a panniculectomy (or apronectomy as one nurse called it). Sorry for the confusion - message is still the same - TT's are better!

I had an abdominoplasty done 19 yrs. ago and it was covered by BC health plan due to the back problems I was experiencing after 80 lb weight loss. But, it is not as involved as an actual tummy tuck. Gaffer, your abdominoplasty is all that will be required since you are a man. Most women however, will get a tummy tuck which also tightens the pelvic girdle muscles. I only had the abdominoplasty, and of course now, gravity has once again taken hold. If I had originally got a tummy tuck, things would have been a lot snugger than they are now. My advice to women is, if you can afford the TT over abdominoplasty, do it - results will be better and last longer as you age. :tt2:

Hi needto - I just sent you a Private Message. Hope to see you soon!

I got immediate relief and although I could not eat a lot, eventually I could eat more than the suggested 1 cup per meal. I do recall though that because of some stress I was under, I actually pb'd once after the first fill. Now I have had 4 fills and doing really well. Hope your band hasn't slipped - sure sounds strange.:confused:

Sounds very much like my dilated pouch experience. Lots of heartburn, reflux, especially at night in the wee hours of the am. I got defilled completely for 6 wks. Gained around 12 lbs. Have been filled now to a comfortable level at 5.0 and have not had a problem since. The dilation or stretch of the pouch occurs when your new little stomach cannot handle the volume of food coming at it, so it backs up into the esophagus and creates a bulging, which in turn enables us to eat even more food, but with more pbing, vomiting, reflux and etc. I found I got hungry faster than before the stretch and ate more often. Get help for this quickly, or you will develop a slipped band and could lose it as a consequence. Not worth the risk - get it checked out soon. Good luck. Let us know how you are getting on.

Hi Mike - I would have the surgery all over again and plan to have this for the rest of my life. Now, however, I will have to take control again and listen to what my body is telling me. I find when I am under stress, I don't pay attention and try to revert to the "old days" where my need for helping deal with the stress is to eat. The band is around our stomachs,not our mouths or brains and it is not always easy to manage the stress or head hunger. Being vigilant is crucial to having success, along with healthy food, limited sweets and lots of self-talk. This surgery is not the easy way out at all; it takes self-motivation and good food choices. Once you get a chance, as I did, to start over, with quick weight loss, you feel stronger knowing your band is the friend inside that controls most of the bad food decisions. Good luck.

Yes Gingerbug, if I had not stretched it for such a long period of time, I would probably have a slight defill, but mine was very severe and required all the saline taken out. Good for you that you were smarter than I was.:huh2:

Slackation - I knew I was having a problem because I kept getting vicious heartburn and then when I lay down at night, either fluid or food would come back up and burn like H%LL. I put up with it about a month - but I should have fessed up sooner to my regular doctor. Once your pouch has been stretched, you can easily do it again and that will lead to more problems and possibly end up with band removal. I was also finding out that I could eat more and more, even though I was formerly at good restriction. Felt a lot of discomfort under my rib cage when I would eat and would feel like food was stuck for a long time. Lived on antacids and even prescription acid suppressors. Always felt like my bra had shrunk and it was uncomfortable. Stress started the whole process off. I would get stressed, eat, then get stuck, then eat a bit more, get stuck, vomit. Man, what was I thinking? Stress eating is BAD! :huh2:

Yes - a barium swallow is the only way to properly diagnose a stretched pouch. Xray doc has you swallow this stuff (not tasty - but bearable), then he takes a bunch of pics of your stomach and voila! it shows up real well and it looks like you have an extra little stomach. Yes, the only way to undo a stretched pouch is to have a total defill. I was defilled for 6 wks. and am now back up to 5.3cc in a 10cc APS Allergan band. During that 6 wks. I gained about 12 lbs.and now am losing it again. :huh2:

I too had a stretched pouch and was defilled for about 6 weeks. Got filled slowly again and so far so good. I am better now at being able to tell when I have reached that point where I should not eat even one more small bite. Also, one thing to remember is that if you are a chocolate eater as I once was, chocolate relaxes the esophagus (especially if you eat it late at night) and even though you had a stretched pouch and go back to normal, you will still get reflux or heartburn issues and will have more trouble. Good luck!

Hi lizzieann - congratulations on your surgery - hope you are doing well. It ws the best thing I ever could have done for myself. Dr. O. will put in the amount that your lapband surgery doctor/nurses suggest, if they are the ones who give you after band support. I always call the clinic in Mississauga who did my operation first and discuss my feeling of restriction and then they determine from what I tell them the amount that needs to be put in. I am at 4.5 cc right now in my band which is a bit different than yours - 10 or 12 AP I think. I found that once I could start eating bread, then I definitely need a fill. As a rule, I don't eat any bread, but to test my band, I will try it to see what happens. Right now, I can eat one piece so although I had a fill 2 wks ago, I think it is time for another small fill, perhaps .5. That will put me up to 5cc. At 5.2cc, I was too tight and had some issues, like food coming back up and major heartburn which is not a good sign and pretty much says go get a defill for a little while.With your 14AP band, you will probably be able to tolerate bigger fills - but check with your surgeon/nurses for guidance. Keep them informed of how you are doing because they are the experts and are the only ones who can properly gauge the amount you may need. Dr. O. always finds my port and it does not hurt. The more I lose, the easier it is to find, although I think as I lose weight it tends to move around (perhaps where the fat was and has now shrunk away?) a little bit. I guess it just makes sense that as you lose bulk out of your abdomen, ones organs, stomach, and the port will also shift (just my theory). Dr. O. and no other fill doctor I have been to uses freezing - but honestly, all I ever have felt is like a flu shot injection feeling and then he targets the port injects the saline into the port(does not hurt at all) and then he has you drink a glass of water - if it goes down with no ill effect, you are done. On my fill days, I only have fluids for food, cause I don't want to dilate the pouch before the fill - for me it just helps to have an empty pouch, so no big deal. Good to know we have backup with Dr. Jim, if there ever is a problem, but I'm sure that is a rare event, considering we have so many lapbanders here in GP. We should perhaps form a group for support. If you have any issues you are concerned about either PM me on this forum or post a message for additional wisdom and experience that is out there. Good luck.