Helmar

Hi, I had my surgery about 6 years ago, have lost over 70 pounds, and have been stable for quite a while. My wife and I are planning a trip to Germany, France, Italy, and Spain in the fall. As you all know, eating in a US restaraunt can be quite challanging, even when I know the foods. Eating in foreign restaraunts will be daunting, when I have no idea of what the foods are, nor how band friendly they are. Also, I have one or two Protein drinks (Glucerna) a day. Are there equivalents over there? Any suggestions? Thanks in advance for any help.............. HBH

Thanks for your reply and suggestions... The problem is when I go into a restaraunt, and I can't understand what "DerfargleSnitzel" is, or, for that matter, anything else, it's bound to get dicey. Once it's served, I shouldn't have much difficulty figuring out if I can eat it........ HBH

If you're not losing, don't lose hope! My surgery was 12/2005, having lost the typical 20 pounds from my pre-surgery high. 4.5 years and 11 fills later by 5/1/2010, I'd lost ground with a total loss of 11.03, with virtually NO lap-band symptoms that I was supposed to have. I'd resigned myself to the failure and was considering conversion to the bypass. Then, FINALLY, it kicked in. Suddenly, in the summer of 2010, I started experiencing all of the "Normal" LapBand symptoms. Since then, in the last 6 months, I've steadily lost 42.5 more pounds and still losing. The surgeon has no idea what-so-ever why it would "Kick in" after 5 years. He ordered several tests, which have shown that it's not for any "Bad" reasons. Although my situation is undoubtedly an anomaly, it does show .... well, I'm not sure exactly WHAT it shows...... but it does show hope...... I wonder if there's anyone else out there with a similar experience? HBH

My surgery was about 5 years ago. After 10 adjustments over 8 months, there was virtually no restriction. Then, 5 years later (about 4 weeks ago), overnight, it just SWITCHED ON! Nothing else has changed..... I now have excellent restriction (with all of the normal issues), and in the 4 weeks since, I've lost about 15 pounds. Has anyone ever heard of anything like this? I have an endoscopy scheduled to make sure that this "Switching on" isn't for any BAD reason (like a tumor). In the mean time, to quote Hubert Humphrey, I'm "pleased as punch"! HBH