No one in Nov?

[smilin_apple 0]

As for me I have lost about 35lbs since surgery. I have had 4 fills and 1 un-fill. I started with about 2.8 cc's in my 10 cc band @ surgery time. In January I had my first fill and was brought up to about 4.5 cc's. In February I had about 1.7 cc's put in which brought me to about 6.2 cc's. I thought at this point I was pretty good..for the first 1-2 weeks I could barely eat anything! Then it relaxed enough that I was getting hungry only 2 hours after eating.

So my surgeon decided to put just a little bit in and he put .3 cc's; the grand total at this point (March) was 6.5 cc's. Well after one week of barley being able to even drink Water I went in for my an un-fill. Becuase of any possible swelling he removed .6 cc's of Fluid which brought me back down to 5.9. Well after only 1 day I was able to eat almost anything and I felt like I was ravagin looking for food!!! I was felt like I was starving all the time. So this time he brought me back up to around 6.4 or 6.5 cc's again and it feels PERFECT for now!

I say for now because I think after a week or so I might be hungry again; but I certainly hope not. I really do hope this is my last one for a while.

Sorry to ramble on but it has been a while since my last post on this thread. I noticed all the other November bandsters haven't posted in a while either. I hope everyone is doing well!

[Rose_angle90 0]

Wow you are doing great! Keep it up.

I would like to be where you are, but its my own fault. I have not lost any weight for the past 6 weeks due to cheating. However I have recommitted myself and have joined the gym.

I started at 212 and am down to 183 but should be where you are.

But thats Ok, I am back on track.

Rose

[smilin_apple 0]

Wow you are doing great! Keep it up.

I would like to be where you are, but its my own fault. I have not lost any weight for the past 6 weeks due to cheating. However I have recommitted myself and have joined the gym.

I started at 212 and am down to 183 but should be where you are.

But thats Ok, I am back on track.

Rose

Thank you and that is the right attitude to have Rose! Keep it up!

[DLW 0]

Hi Rachel, you're doing awesome girl. You must feel totally wonderful. Isn't it a nice feeling to go to your closet and pick anything out that you want instead of searching for something that fits? Good for you. Keep it up it sounds like you are doing great. Congrats, Dianne

[kandiceb 0]

I don't post much either though I am a Nov Nymph and I lurk almost daily. I am the type who is running my band tight. I'm at 7.75 in a 10 cc and am very limited as to what I can eat. I get my Vitamins and my Protein to at least 60 mgs daily, so I'm ok. I've lost 62 of my 100 pounds so I'm on track. I don't cheat. I'm on a mission. I do enjoy what I can eat so I'm not deprived. I will lighten up the restriction when I get to goal. I try to walk at least 1 mile 5 times per week. That is the limit of my energy. My 57 years is really showing up as the fat melts but hey, what can you expect? I think the wrinkles will even out eventually as my weight loss slows. I am happy and much healthier and still on a MISSION!!!!!!!!!!

[DLW 0]

I must tell you all that I went to the emergency room the other night, Wed the 9th after a fill on the 8th. My fill took me from 6.5cc to 7.5cc's in a 10cc band. I had this in my band before and was fine. I went in for a fill because I felt like I was eating too much and hadn't lost any weight in 3 weeks. When he withdrew the Fluid there was only 6.5 cc's in it. He said that sometime the body absorbs the Fluid and they are not sure as to why that happens but there is no leaks.

Anyway... the next day I could barely get down 3/4 of a can of slim fast and about 2 ounces of Water. I got home that night from work and wanted some Tomato Soup (made with water). I had 2 tablespoons and couldn't do anymore. I then started sliming. I couldn't keep anything down including my saliva. It would foam up when I burped and when I swallowed it would have air bubbles in the saliva and build up in my pouch, I'd get a terrible baseball sized air pocket, then burp with the saliva coming up like foam. Yuck. It really, really hurt. I ended up having to go to the emergency room which was 45 minutes away. So with bucket in hand my husband drove me to the hospital. All I needed mind you was some fluid taken out. I got there and had to sit in the waiting room with several other people - looking at me with my bucket in hand, foaming and spitting into it. My name was called and off to see a doc I went. Waiting....waiting...waiting... in that cubicle of a room, cutain half drawn. Finally the doc comes in and I'm thinking... there's no way in hell I'm going to let this man try to attempt to take any fluid from my port....which by the way was tilted sideways. They really didn't have a clue as to how or even what the lapband was. I had them call my doctors office. Around 2 in the morning my doctor's associate came in. He tried and tried and tried and tried to draw some fluid from my port but couldn't. Thank God for novocaine!! He had them roll in an ultra sound machine to see if he could find where to insert the needle. Guess what? No one knew how to run the machine. They just pushed button after button after button until it worked. He rolled it over my port and tried again. I've had about 6 novocaine injection by now. My husband had a fit. He said, "If you don't know what you're doing then don't you think you should stop"? It must have been a terrible sight for him to see. Laying down and having him pushing and poking on my port wasn't so wonderful either. I had to sit up many times to spew the phlem. He couldn't do anything for me and said in the morning we'll have to get an ultrasound done to find where he can insert the needle. (He's new to this lapband world). Good surgeon but not very helpful for this issue. All I wanted was my "own" doctor. The one I go to for fills and the doctor who did my surgery and knew that the port was twisted. Soooo.. there I was all night long in distress, retching and spitting and vomiting, no sleep, no rest, no blanket, no pillow. Very sad and depressed. And to know that it would only take my doctor 2 minutes to help me. Stunk.

In the morning, change of nurses shift a really nice older nurse came in to see me. I told her, I need to have my own doctor come and help me. Can you pleeease help me. She said that she would try to track him down. And you know what??? SHE DID!!! Oh, happy day!! When is he coming, when is he coming I say. She said to tell me that he would be there soon. SOON?? When will that be? It's 8:00am. Well bless his heart he came in within 45 minutes. He had had the nurse have the needles, novocaine and syringes ready. He took out about 1 cc and had me sit up to try to drink. I was petrified to even swallow any Water since after all I was spitting all night long to avoid anything going in my pouch. I took a sip.... then another tiny, tiny sip. I could still feel it in my throat. You know like you have to burp kinda feeling? He had me lay down to take out some more. I told him to just suck it all out. I don't mind starting over from the get go. So he did. He left in 2cc's. It was immediate relief!! Oh, thank God, thank God!! I love this man! I said, "you can never leave me". He is a wonderful doctor and he knows his stuff. He said that he'll have to teach his nurse practioner how to fill and unfill my port. It's tricky. My husband came to pick me up.. (he went home at 2:00 to get like 3 hours of sleep before having to go to work). I came home and crashed out for about 4 hours. I was totally exausted from this experience. Mentally as well as physically. I'm still feeling the effects of the retching this morning in my shoulders, chest and throat but feel almost 100% better.

Sooooo. I'm so sorry about being so graphic and long but just wanted to vent and voice my most resent episode. I want this lapband to work for me but I surely cannot go through Hell in order to accomplish it. I won't really. I've decided that. I have lost 27 pounds since Nov. 5th and feel wonderful. I would like to lose another 50 and really hope that I do. My doc and I decided to take this very slowly. I go back to see him on the 23rd for my "first" new fill. I'm really hoping to not gain any weight before then. Say a prayer that I won't okay my fellow November lapbanders?

Take care everyone and stay well. Dianne

[Sades 4]

How awful Dianne. I would never want to go through that. I have 7.5cc in a 10cc band and can still eat too much food. I do get stuck sometimes if I eat too fast but am okay once it's sorted. I'm going for more fill next week and I'm going to ask them to check if it's okay. The last time I was there I was told that most people find restriction between 7-8cc. I have lost 31 lbs since Nov but know I could have lost heaps more if not for the cheating I've done throughout this time. For the last 3 months or so I have lost the same few lbs over and over again. This last week I've been back on track so am looking forward to new weight loss this coming week.

Rachel, you're doing really well as are all the other Nov Nymphs. It's a long and sometimes hard process but I know we will all get there. Good luck everyone!

[smilin_apple 0]

Sorry to hear that Dianne...but I do know what you are going through I have had one unfill myself. But he only took out .6 cc's which helped. From what I hear it might have been the fact that you were stressed as to why the 1 cc he took out wasn't enough to let the Water go down. I know that sounds weird; it did to me the first time I heard it but the band is on a muscle and when you are stressed or tired; I know for me it has made it extremely tighter than normal.

I hope you are doing much better soon! I will say a prayer for you! Hang in there!

Edited April 12, 2008 by smilin_apple

[DLW 0]

Sades, it was an awful experience. I'm going to ask my doc on the 23rd about maybe fixing the positioning of the band? We'll see. Wow, you sound so like me. The 7.5cc's in the band and all. Not losing too fast like others. It's a little frustrating. Not that I'm living on salad, veggies and all the other "diet" foods though. I'm not a big sweet eater but really like the carbs. bread, cheese, Pasta. I was on the Atkins for 3 1/2 years and when I came off and started eating the carbs again.... yeeeee hawwww! haha. I came off the Atkins about 3 months before becoming banded. i gained 25 pounds back. I had lost 60 total. After banding I lost the 25 pounds. I now would like to take off another 40. But I don't mind "slowly". I'm not going to go at this real aggressively. Slow and steady for this kid from now on. Too scary for me to handle. I don't need to be admitted to the hospital for anxiety/panic attacks either. lol

Thanks for the message Sade and good luck to you with your next fill. Remember..... take it slow. It took us 50+ years to get where we are, it should be okay to take a few years to take it off too. Right?

Godd luck! Dianne

[DLW 0]

Thanks Smilin Apple for the well wishes. Yes, I do think I was stressed out and extremely exhausted - probably the reason for it being so tight at the hospital. I'm back to square one but on my way. Slower this time, I'm okay with that, really. I just have to be careful not to overdue it before getting my fill on the 23rd. I'm trying to stay with the same sort of food and the amount as before letting the Fluid out. Hopefully I won't gain too much back before then.

Thank you for your prayer too. I totally believe in the power of our prayers. Amen.

Blessings to you,

Dianne

Edited April 14, 2008 by DLW

[cindyg1212 0]

Wow, Dianne. What an awful experience. My first fill was like that. 1 cc was too much and for 2 days, I couldn't swallow Water. Had an unfill at the doc's office and now we're moving slowly, only filling .5cc once a month. I'm at 6.5 in a 10cc band and feel pretty restricted. Weight is coming off slowly but it is coming off. Can't rush it! How did your port get twisted? Will you need surgery to correct it?

[DLW 0]

Hi Cindy. Yes, just by him putting in 1 additional cc to the band made it close up by the next evening. Nothing was stuck that's for sure because I hadn't had anything solid since the fill. I had 3/4 of a can of slim fast and about 2 tbs Tomato Soup. Maybe about 2 oz Water.

The night I went to the hospital I couldn't even keep in my own saliva. I was trying really hard to not swallow too because it was kinda foamy and when I had to swallow the pressure would build up in the pouch - it felt like a baseball. It hurt really bad. Then I'd retch up whatever was in the pouch. Came out just like Water. Then a few dry heaves. I'd get about 15 minutes of peace after that. This went on for 12 hours! Terrible, terrible. Not a thing was going through the pouch. The funny thing was I was at 7.5cc's before and did just fine. Somehow lost 1cc and felt like I was eating more. This is the reason I went back to the doctor. He just put it back up to the 7.5cc's and boom! Didn't work this time that's for sure.

My port turned sideways during the healing process for some reason. The scar tissue probably. I'm going to ask him on the 23rd about maybe fixing it surgically? yuck, don't even want to think about going back in the hospital to have that done. It was hard enough for me to do the surgery from the get go let alone having to go back in. The smell of the hospital kinda turns my stomach over. Buuuuutttt.... if it is what we should do then I'm going to do it. I really want this thing to work.

I'm thinking about having him put the fill up to 5cc's when I go in the 23rd. Then maybe .5cc's after that. No more full cc for me. Know way Jose'. lol I'll also make sure that it's during the week and not on a Friday. Also that he'll be in the office the next day or two, or that he's the one on call. I'm going to be fussy going forward. If I'm afraid of this thing then it's not going to work for me. I have to feel confident that I'll be okay.

Thanks for the message Cindy and good luck going forward for you too!

Dianne

[stI24nger 1]

I haven't checked in with the November Nymphs in MONTHS! I'm really relieved to find that I'm pretty much in the same boat as many of you! I have had one unfill--we went from 5 to 7 on my third fill and I had to go straight back in the very next morning to get 1.5 taken out. I couldn't keep down Water either. Now, I'm at 6.0 (I think--need to double-check my signature!) and, unlike some of the others, am definitey feeling restriction. I'm really happy with the portions I'm eating--not abnormally small, but "impressive" to other people! LOL. They always ask, "Is that all you're going to eat?" And I say, "Yeah, probably so. I don't eat very much." HAHAHAHA!!!! I love saying that!!!!

Another similarity I have with some of my fellow nymphs is the slow weight loss. I lost 15 lbs on the pre-op diet, and have averaged 3 lbs a month since surgery. It kind of sucks because after 30 lbs of weight loss, I'm still wearing the same size clothes, but I know if I keep it up the weight will continue to come off. Like Dianne said, it took me a Loooooong time to get where I was before surgery, so I don't mind investing the full 18-24 months to get to where I WANT to be for the REST of my life!

[smilin_apple 0]

All you are so INSPIRATIONAL! I finally feel like I know I am not alone in this whole process. I can totally feel what you are going through. I have had to do the un-fill like I said previously. But what really rings a bell is losing the weight slower. But what I always have to remember is that one of the many reasons I chose this surgery over the Gastric bypass is that I would lose it slower. And now that I am 5 months out and about 40lbs lost since November I sometimes start to feel like I am losing too slow. Then I just remember what I said to myself in the beginning, that I want to lose slow and steady.

Every month I am averaging around 6-7 lbs lost but that is sooooo much better than the 5-10 lb gain I was averaging this same time 1.5 years ago. Well I am off to take my daughter to her softball practice and I will catch up with you all later!

Have a BLESSED day!!!

April

[cindyg1212 0]

Dianne, surgery may be worth not having any complications in the future. I had to go to the ER a week after surgery because of dehydration. The gas was so bad that nothing was going down. My doctor's office always has a nurse practioner on call that does the fills so if there's a problem, someone will meet us at the office for an emergency unfill if it can't wait till morning. What you went through sounds traumatizing. The sacrifices we're making to get this weight off will be worth it when it's over. I keep reminding myself every time I have a stuck episode, almost everday, that a year from now I will be happy I did this.

Good luck from here on. Let us know if you're going to have the surgery to correct your port.