How to see is everything ok.?

[Katarina29 0]

I was banded last month, 27th.

I didn't lose anything. I'm still on my old weight, 110 kg.

I can eat all food and I am affraid that the band is not on the right position. Can anyone tell me how too check is everything ok. whit the band? RTG maybe, or something else?

Did someone had the same experience whit not loosing the weight after banding?

Haven't had fill jet.

Is that normal?

My English is bad, sorry.

[Alexandra 55]

A stop of weight loss shortly after surgery is absolutely normal, Katarina. I just posted to someone else with essentially the same question.

If you have not had an adjustment yet you very likely won't feel any restriction or effect of the band. You're in what's known as "bandster hell"--that time when you know you've had surgery but can't feel any difference. Patience is called for, and you'll feel the difference once you've had one or two adjustments.

YOU ARE NORMAL and everything is fine.

[Katarina29 0]

Thanks Alexandra.

[Katarina29 0]

I would like to now, what is the method to be sure that the band is on right position?

[mandi78 3]

The only way I know of is an x-ray. Did you doc do one after surgery before he sent you home? Mine did.

[Katarina29 0]

No, he didn't.

Thanks Mandy.

[Anna Banana 555 0]

I was wondering, after you've eaten, are you supposed to have a feeling of actual fullness or is it just a feeling of discomfort? The last few times I've eaten, I've felt dicomfort just under my sternum. Is this what it's always going to feel like?

[jenf3 0]

I am soo glad you asked this question, I too dont have that full feeling! And I have the pain when I eat. And a lot of spitting up (YUK,sorry) I dont understand how this thing is supposed to work. I am misserable, my stomache is always growling, but I cant eat anything most of the day, I am living off frozen yogurt! I hope someone can answer this for us.

[mandi78 3]

For me, I just don't feel hungry much at all. I have not had any pain, discomfort, vomiting, nausea or anything unpleasant unless I drink too much liquids when trying to get my medications down. Maybe you should call your doctor's office because I don't think you are supposed to feel a lot of pain and discomfort. When was your surgery?

[jenf3 0]

Hi, my surgery was in june, I hadnt lost any weight since then and I just had my third fill on 10/08, I'm at 3cc. now I had my fill done with the floroscopy(?) and the dr saw that I had little to no restriction with the 2.6 fill that I had done in september. Im following the rules and all that so maybe I still have swelling or something. I probly have more mental hunger than anything but I can hear my tummy growling quite often. :cry

[WASaBubbleButt 41]

Feeling full feels different banded than it does unbanded for many people. I was writing to someone the other day and I realized that I can't remember what the "old" full feeling feels like anymore, I've forgotten.

You have to realize that feeling full might feel different from before and you have to recognize your soft stop and your hard stop. For me my soft stop is a single hiccup. If I don't stop at that point then I get non stop hiccups and I know I'm headed for trouble. One more bite and I barf.

There are different soft stops for people. Some it's a single hiccup, some it's a deep sigh, some a runny nose, some coughing, ... you have to really pay attention to what your body is trying to tell you and how it is trying to tell you that it's time to stop eating.

Most of all you aren't looking for "full" anymore. After the band you eat like a normal size person. Normal size people don't typically eat until they are Thanksgiving Day full, they eat until they are satisfied. Big huge difference. Every couple of bites (while you are eating slowly) stop and think, are you still hungry or are you satisfied? If you are no longer hungry, stop eating. You are done.

Think about head hunger vs. stomach hunger. Stomach hunger is almost painful, head hunger is when you simply like what is on your plate and you want more. Stomach hunger is very difficult to fight, head hunger is rough but much easier to battle. It's easy to tell yourself you are still hungry but if you keep eating beyond your soft stop you are going to barf and if you barf you are risking a slip.

This is where the hard part of the banding comes into play. The surgery is a piece of cake, dealing with the head part is the buggar. But, this is why you got a band. This is what you want to change, most of all this is what you need to change so that you can complete your goals.

It will happen, but you have to constantly think about your food intake while you are eating.

[WASaBubbleButt 41]

Hi, my surgery was in june, I hadnt lost any weight since then and I just had my third fill on 10/08, I'm at 3cc. now I had my fill done with the floroscopy(?) and the dr saw that I had little to no restriction with the 2.6 fill that I had done in september. Im following the rules and all that so maybe I still have swelling or something. I probly have more mental hunger than anything but I can hear my tummy growling quite often. :cry

Hearing your stomach make noises is not hunger, that is air in your stomach and intestines moving around and making noise.

Hunger is something you FEEL, stomach growling is something you HEAR. They are not the same.

Being banded means really seriously going back to the basics. Relearning things that for whatever reason we all never learned or we learned it and forgot. We don't even know what true hunger is because we always ate before it happened. We fed head hunger before we had a chance to FEEL hungry.

I think one of the reasons the post op diet is so hard is because it's the first time in years we have actually felt true hunger. For those that have to do two weeks of Clear liquids, they get hungry. Feeding head hunger always prevented stomach hunger and now suddenly they are feeling it and they don't like it one little bit.

Keep in mind, hunger is not the same as starving. As my doc says all the time, little children in Africa dying are starving, we have minimal hunger, we just don't deal with it well due to all our various issues that got us fat to begin with.

It's all about keeping it in perspective and relearning basic eating habits.

[WASaBubbleButt 41]

I am soo glad you asked this question, I too dont have that full feeling! And I have the pain when I eat. And a lot of spitting up (YUK,sorry) I dont understand how this thing is supposed to work. I am misserable, my stomache is always growling, but I cant eat anything most of the day, I am living off frozen yogurt! I hope someone can answer this for us.

When was your surgery? Just very recent or months ago? Do you still have swelling?

Remember, air in your stomach or intestines is not hunger, that is something you hear. Hunger is something you feel.

If you had your surgery long ago and the swelling is gone then you need to talk to your doc about this. You might have a cycle of swelling/barfing creating more inflammation or you might be too tight. So much depends on when you had surgery.

[WASaBubbleButt 41]

I would like to now, what is the method to be sure that the band is on right position?

This is why a post op barium swallow is so important. The doc pretty well knows if the band is in the right position but the patients really need to SEE it with their own two eyes. They need to see barium flowing through the stoma, they need to see the tubing, the port. It really sinks in and it all falls into place.

Watch the posts around here. The people that are most upset and worried that they slipped are people that never had the opportunity to see their band and how it works. Every newbie wonders if they slipped, but the folks that didn't have a post op barium swallow are the ones that really seem to stress over it the most.

A bariatric center in the US cannot be considered a Center of Excellence without doing a post op barium swallow. If your doc doesn't do this, insist on it. It puts everything in perspective of how the band is working inside your body and it gives you a great deal of peace of mind. It also does provide a second opportunity to be sure of band placement and stoma size.

There is one doc in Mexico that I know of that claims he doesn't do a barium swallow after surgery because the barium is too thick and the patient can't handle it after surgery. That's a load. Barium comes in a powder form and it is made as thin or thick as needed. It can be watery or thick like pudding. If it's too thick all they need to do is add more Water.

Docs that don't do a post op barium swallow are saving themselves money, that's the bottom line. If the barium was too thick to swallow then then US Bariatric Assn. wouldn't insist on doing one to be a Center of Excellence.

You paid for it, get the test.

[Brenda G. 0]

I was banded on 10-5-07 I have a few complications and was kept overnight for low oxygen levels, I don't remember a whole lot except that they did an x ray in recovery but I did not have a Barium Swallow, does the xray show enough to be sure it is placed correctly or should I request to Dr. to be a barium swallow to be sure, your right about stressing over band slippage. thanks