Gall bladder surgery went great... But now no restriction!

[Princess_Gottalose 1]

Well I finally had my gall bladder surgery yesterday! I'm doing great very sore but I'm ok! I'm kinda depressed.... He removed all the Fluid from my band last week to give my stomach time to heal from all the throwing up i was having from the gall bladder.... So now my band is empty.... I was FINALLY at my green zone!! and I had just came off a plateau and was loosing 1-2 pounds a week... Now my weight has gone up a few pounds UGH!! I feel like I am hungry all the time... I am soooo not use to being hungry! I cant even remember the last time my stomach growled until now.... I am scared of gaining weight back... and i hate that my restriction is gone.... He said he was not putting any Fluid until i had time to heal... He also told me not to worry about weight loss right now just healing... I had finally gotten under 200 pounds and i WILL NOT go back over!! I will not get a fill until my 2 week post op on June 2nd... and he will only put back in half of the fluid he took out... Im so frustrated... I have worked so hard and I try to continue to eat my small portions but they just do not fill me up now!! I know I need to heal but i want to lose weight too :(

Thanks for letting me vent... i needed to get that off my chest!!! I know all of you in band land will understand

[elcee 3,341]

That would be hard. I just had surgery - a hysterectomy but my surgeon and anaesthetist were happy to leave my fill in. I was impressed I came through really well - this was the first surgery I have had where I have not felt nauseous afterwards. I was dreading having to get unfilled and then slowly filled again. I do feel for you.

For now just concentrate on healing and you will be back on track soon. And don't do what I have been doing because I am stuck at home bored - eating way too much chocolate!

[Princess_Gottalose 1]

When the gall bladder started having its attack i threw up so much my stomach was so swollen and i couldnt even take a sip of water... I was hoping he would take "some" of my fill out.... surely wasnt expecting him to take it all out!! I was lucky he gave me some stuff in my iv before they took it out for nauseousness... so I didnt get sick at all! (Thank goodness since i was sick all last week!) It makes me very thankful for restriction and my band! If I can just hang on!! I'm ready to go back to work as soon as I can... I always eat better when I am there because I can only eat what I bring! Being at home makes it worse LOL

[Acadia 20]

Take this experience as an opportunity to see how well you're able to cope without restriction.

Once you lose all of your weight you may be at an ideal point to have most of your fill removed and learn to live without a fill.

This is an opportunity - not a hinderance.

[ghalib 0]

Ca you elaborate on the actual surgery on what happened how it compares to the lap band procedure etc. I will have to get gall bladder surgery soon and i am just two weeks out with Lap Band.

Take this experience as an opportunity to see how well you're able to cope without restriction.

Once you lose all of your weight you may be at an ideal point to have most of your fill removed and learn to live without a fill.

This is an opportunity - not a hinderance.

[Princess_Gottalose 1]

To me it was similar ... I believe I was up and about a little faster with the band... The pain wasnt much different... There was just this strong pulling feeling inside where the gall bladder was and it made it hard for me to sit up or get out a chair alone for the first day or two... but it wasnt unbearable! Not the best but not too bad

[Jachut 487]

I've been through it, I know how you feel. I had to ahve all my Fluid removed for a big surgery to remove my rectum and part of my colon and to form an ileostomy. Part of this was several colonoscopies and bowel preps, a fair bit of fasting pre procedures and a whole lot of fear and stress, then it took about seven days to get back onto solid foods following the surgery, followed by a couple of weeks of very very high stoma output, diarrhoea. As you can guess, i dropped a fair bit of weight during this time, and had also done so during the pre op chemo and radiation so all in all, I finished up at a BMI of 19, from my previously healthy 21 or so.

I've been in contact with my lapband clinic regularly. From telling me when they emptied my band that I could begin refilling 3 weeks after surgery (and then unfill again for the second surgery to close the ileostomy some months down the track), my doctor has steadfastly refused to give me ANY fill at all because of my low weight. I get this, I havent truly asked for it, but most people will need fill to maintain their loss and I'm no exception. Anyhow, today I finally got some, six months later. I've worked so so SO hard over the past six months to not gain weight and all I've regained is just enough to bring my BMI up over 20, but with chemo finished, full recovery complete, my appetite is returning to normal and its been getting easier and easier to gain and I've had several weeks of "dieting" after small gains to get them off before they stick around. Today I had to absolutely do my block in the surgery because my doctor didnt want to give me any because she said "you're a healthy weight". Well, duh, it was that same doc who told me to expect a weight gain with the unfill, that virtually nobody could keep the weight off long term without it. I wasnt looking for tight restriction to lose, just enough to maintain my weight. After I kind of yelled a bit and said that I had this damn band and I wanted to use it, she gave me a 1cc fill, with another 1cc sheduled for 3 weeks time.

So...... it IS possible to keep the weight off for quite a long period of time. I simply "dieted" the whole time. I finished eating when I knew I should, i stayed away from bad foods, I filled up on fruit and salads, I exercised, and overall tried to eat not much more than I did with restriction. I found I moved from a pattern of little and often eating to 3 square meals, but overall calories remained about the same. You can do it, its simply a matter of how much you want it, harsh as that sounds. But six months was stretching the limit of my abilities, I'm finally starting to crack and am very very glad to have had some fill. Good luck to you!

[elcee 3,341]

Can't believe that your Dr was so unsympathetic. Glad that in the end she decided to give you some fill. I think that unless they have been through it themselves a lot of them just don't realise how hard it is to maintain a healthy weight.

[Princess_Gottalose 1]

I go thursday for my fill! THANK GOODNESS!!!! whew... I have gone up a bit ughhh but i know i lost quite a bit from not eatting or drinking anything for 3-4 days (it was like 10 pounds in 4 days! so i knew that it wouldnt stay off once i started eating again) and plus he had me on a diet of mashed potatoes as not to upset anything ... which carbs carbs carbs ugh lol and chicken noodle Soup and crackers... carbs carbs carbs ! haha He told me not to worry about losing weight during this time but dang... im still dissapointed at myself! but hopefully after thursday i can pick up my usual routine and get my bottom to the gym again!!!

[glentk 0]

Went through the same nightmare experience a month ago, after 2 wekks from gallbladder surgery the clinic would only put 50% of the Fluid that I once had back, and then the other day they added more. So in a months time since gallbladder surgery I gained about 10-12 lbs. I was kind of upset, but its not the end of the world I will lose the weight again.

Well I finally had my gall bladder surgery yesterday! I'm doing great very sore but I'm ok! I'm kinda depressed.... He removed all the Fluid from my band last week to give my stomach time to heal from all the throwing up i was having from the gall bladder.... So now my band is empty.... I was FINALLY at my green zone!! and I had just came off a plateau and was loosing 1-2 pounds a week... Now my weight has gone up a few pounds UGH!! I feel like I am hungry all the time... I am soooo not use to being hungry! I cant even remember the last time my stomach growled until now.... I am scared of gaining weight back... and i hate that my restriction is gone.... He said he was not putting any fluid until i had time to heal... He also told me not to worry about weight loss right now just healing... I had finally gotten under 200 pounds and i WILL NOT go back over!! I will not get a fill until my 2 week post op on June 2nd... and he will only put back in half of the fluid he took out... Im so frustrated... I have worked so hard and I try to continue to eat my small portions but they just do not fill me up now!! I know I need to heal but i want to lose weight too :(

Thanks for letting me vent... i needed to get that off my chest!!! I know all of you in band land will understand

[Acadia 20]

I'll be having an ultrasound and HIDA test on Tuesday to find out if I need gallbladder surgery. On one hand I'm looking forward to it to know if that's the issue I've been experiencing, on the other hand I'm not keen on another surgery. But, it will be nice to not fear that horrendous pain.

[Princess_Gottalose 1]

I will say I feel TONS better after the surgery... no reflux medicine any more!!! Woohoo!!! I know he will only put probably 50% back in ughhhh Stupid gall bladder... LOL

[Acadia 20]

I will be having gallbladder removal surgery in three weeks. The ultrasound was positive, no HIDA scan necessary. Not sure if my fill needs to be taken out as I have virtually no restriction right now. If it weren't for this surgery I would have gotten a 0.5cc fill the 23rd and been in my green zone.

You give me hope this surgery will go without issue.