Come out of the band failure closet!

[buchholzc 0]

Brandi,

What is DS? Sorry there are alot abbrev I do not understand on here.

Chris

[Kat817 19]

Brandy---from the sounds of several things you are saying, it seems as though your Dr. left out a lot of valuable information, as far as "slider" foods, and what makes one a good candidate for banding over other WLS's available. You also stated at one point, that he does mostly bypass.

So my question to you is....have you ever had a scope, or a fluor study looked at by another surgeon to determine if perhaps your band IS improperly placed?? I have read of them being placed too high for instance, and any restriction is too much restriction.

And another thing!!! (LOL)

MANY people react very negatively when they end up with an unfill. I have a friend, the very one who interested me in being banded. She was banded several months ahead of me---and was losing steadily---which is what I found appealing of course! She ended up too tight....unfill, and she did ok for a few days, then she felt tighter again, and began eating the easy foods, and weight began creeping back on. Soon---in a matter of 2-3 months she had regained all she had lost, and had been filled a couple of times, then unfilled, because she was so tight.

So she went for over a year with nothing. No fills, no weight loss---nothing. Then another friend who has been banded began going to a different place for fills, and interested her in going along....and they are putting the tiniest amount of fill in her you can imagine---now remember this is in a 10 ml. band designed to hold 4cc.'s when full----they are adding less than a quarter of a cc at a time....sometimes as small as .10cc. She paid a yearly fee, and can be filled as often as needed during that time---and she has begun to feel not so much restriction, as hunger control---which is the ultimate goal. But she had to go to nothing for awhile, and let her stomach settle seriously---he told her, she was so sensitive, that even a case of hiccups, might cause her to swell, and have trouble with food! And she noticed when she was having more problems digesting food is when she wanted ice cream, and cookie dough, and mashed potatoes and gravy, etc. So her body knew....and she craved accordingly. She said now any little blip, and she skips her next meal in favor of an Ensure or other Protein drink, and her tummy settles.

It took her some serious study of her own body AS WELL AS a Dr. who took more than a minute to unfill or fill her to figure it out.

Perhaps, before a change of surgery---maybe a change of Dr. would be worth a try?

I too am a massive Apple shape, and used to laugh at the horrid plus size clothes being offered, saying I looked like an Easter Egg on toothpicks!! I did a lot of video workouts---I found several on DVD at our library, and tried them til I found what I liked. I have a tumor in my leg, and cannot do anything high impact---such as running or step classed etc. So I improvised....and eventually, weight began coming off of someplace besides my butt and legs---but it took forever!!!

I wish you luck in discovering the answer......

Kat

[brandyII 9]

Asking if I eat sweets was the first question my doctor even asked me on my first visit. The psych eval or nutritionist didn't cover this either? That's awful. But as Jachut has stated- exercise is vital to any diet at no matter what age. You just got to move at least an hour a day. My father was in his 70's and bought a stationary bike and put it in front of a TV and he knocked out 10 miles a day while watching his favorite show. He had a ton of health problems along with rheumathoid arthritis. an exercise bike just isn't so jarring to the joints. And if you have ever been to a YMCA, I did aqua aerobics. Nobody cares what anyone looks like. We are all there for a reason. I am 3 weeks post op and am going to return to the Jenny Craig program. I lost 2-4 pounds weekly over a year ago. I quit when my father became ill a year ago. When he died last year, I had regained about 40 pounds. Dieting and exercise is not the problem for me, it is maintaining the loss. The minute I stop doing what I am doing, it creeps on so much faster than it comes off. That diet actually had really good food and you could have one of their sweets (desserts) each night. It was a small portion but nonetheless, you didn't really feel as if you were missing out. W/W is okay but too much having to figure out the points in everything I ate. I would exercise to work off 3 points just so I could use the points to eat something. Crazy..... I know. Set your goals small. One pound a week is over 50 pounds a year. You are stronger than you think you are.:welldoneclap:

That all makes sense to me and even though it's Mothers Day, I decided I was going to walk on the treadmill again. One thing it does do is keep me "regular", I know TMI. My daughter is getting gastric bypass surgery on the 27th and has been on her liquid diet for almost 4 weeks and had been watching the food channel to compensate for lack of food and today made me home made crullers for Breakfast. So obviously I need to walk on the treadmill. They went down pretty easily, I think because they were home made, another story.

Sorry to hear of the loss of your dad, I went through that myself two years ago and know how that can complicate how you take care of yourself for many many reasons. Everyone deals with grief and stress differently but it's never easy:sad_smile:.

If I'm at a certain stress level I do well and then there's a different stress level where I totally bomb out! With WW I have the points in my head and probably because there's a fixed number and I go over it I feel like I'm totally screwed and probably am not but there's something about that number that messes with my head:mad:

Anyway I'm going to try to follow the three meals and exercise and focus on more healthy and allow myself a treat now and again so I don't binge on the sugar stuff because I feel I'm in "starvation mode" or whatever.

Anyway thanks for your support and sorry about your dad, brandyII. And that sugar issue was definitely not brought up to me!

Edited May 11, 2008 by brandyII

[green 6]

I am another apple. Even when I was a fatty I had the legs of a racehorse, and now that I am skinny I still have a thick waist. I have inherited this unfortunate, kind of boyish figure type from my mum. And like her, I started gaining once I hit my very early menopause (I was 41 and she was 39). She used to say of her body that she looked like a spider with a giant egg-sac. I did, too.

[brandyII 9]

Brandi,

I know exactly what you are talking about. There is so much positive talk here I think we are just afraid of sounding pesimistic. I do not want to discourage anyone becuase it could work great for them. It is something you just need to try to see if it will work for I guess. I was banded 5 years ago. When were you banded? I lost weight at first when I was afraid of what I could eat and when I was on liquids and blended foods. Who couldn't then right. I never felt like my band worked for me like I was told or thought I was being told. I may have misunderstood. I was suppose to be able to eat regular food without pain, like chicken, be done eating within 30 minutes and feel full for 5+ hours. I have had multiple fills and unfills and this never happended for me. I followed all the rules but would be told one thing at my support group and another from my doctor. The fills are expense and like I said they were never to what I thought it should be, stated above. I finally was unfilled completely because I was gaining weight and again just frustrated. I lost 40#'s the first year but have gained it back over the last 4 years. Let me know your story. I would be very interested to here it.

Chris

First I'd like to tell you that DH is "darling husband" or "dear husband" I wish I had the thread from the woman who explained it to me. She also said it could be "drunk husband, damned husband depending on one's personal preference etc.... Hope that helps.

I was banded last 8/07. I also went through a phase where I was affraid to eat but the person who did my fills the first two times thought I had the small band and only put in less than 1 cc for the first two fills all together. Then my surgeon did my fill 3 months after surgery date and I was really filled and at the point where everything I ate had to be well chewed or I'd vomit and because I had gone the first three months thinking this is what it was like it kind of messed with my head in a way, hard to explain but it did.

Then when I was filled with 3.5 it was right before I went home for Thanksgiving and then Christmas came and that's when I realized that the sugary stuff went down just fine and that's when I started using those kinds of foods to compensate for the fact that I was probably overfilled but didn't question it at all thinking this is how it's supposed to be as my surgeon put it in, you drink, it goes down. I had know idea at the time that I could have been over filled.

Then I'm not losing but gaining so the next time I go to the fill nurse she assumes I'm gaining weight I must need more fill, so now it's worse, right.

Then two weeks later I go back probably put on more pounds and guess what I need more fill because I'm gaining. This time she put it in but had written the wrong amount last time and thought I had a certain amount so she put in wayyyyy tooo much and that's when I had the 10 hour puking up my own saliva day until midnight when "my hero" surgeon, actually my daughters to be, met me at the office and figured it out and took out enough so that this was not an issue.

Then went back a month later asked my surgeon to take out 2 out of the 4 so that I could possibly eat like a normal person, trying WW or something to lose. It is much better but since I'm not a bulk eater per se, I don't know what you call me maybe I am a sugar eater or it might even be more complicated because I was just choosing the foods that would go down easily because I was always overfilled. Then you get used to things the way it's been and hard to change back.

Anyway I felt kind of alone out there, but I probably wasn't but then I found a forum of people that all were changing from the band to a DS because either it didn't work for them or they didn't work for it whatever you want to call it so I thought well maybe this is my place and my option.

So I read up on the DS and it's one of the most extreme of the surgeries they do for gastric patients and start thinking is this really what I need to put my body through for the rest of my life and I'm almost 50 and don't know if that's really what I should do. Everyone is supporting me here as I've labeled myself a failure and have come up with solutions other than the basic ones but are more directed to my personal issues and have been very helpful and don't seem as condescending to me anymore. Because I really didn't want to come across as someone who hated the band I just felt like it wasn't for me.

So 8/07 banded and lost about 25 pounds from prior to surgery to post surgery because I was on Medifast liquid shakes for four weeks, my poor daughter is on them from 6 weeks!

Then slowly it started creaping back on. Sometimes I've crashed dieted and because it was a crash diet it goes back on quickly so maybe that's partially why besides the fact I was under filled or over filled and never hit that "sweet" spot that everyone talks about. By Christmas it really started coming back on because of all the "eating" holidays all the good baked goods were in the house and I couldn't eat the Protein but those went down so I ate them. I think your body/mind thing is pretty powerful and mine was telling me I'm starving and I was telling my stomach well these will feed you and did. So up to 248 to 250 now after starting at 253 around April of 2007.

I've had motivational issues because of depression about the surgery and my failure and various things that come across in every day life like my mother in law coming next Thursday and stressing that she's going to judge me for not losing the weight after going through surgery and of course she's one of those who doesn't know the difference between a lap band and gastric bypass anyway!

So that's my story and I also am on anti-depresssants and anti anxiety meds which toy with your metabolism and your hunger and I have an underactive thyroid but am on meds for that and have just had more blood work to see if I need to go back on my Metformin my GP took me off prior to surgery thinking I wouldn't need my diabetes meds becuse I would be cured by losing weight. I'm a 48 year old premenopausal woman who was fat all of her life except for the two times I lost 100 pounds but gained them back and then some. Plus have had two children, sure that has to be added to the pot!

I know it sounds like a lot of excuses but I'm a fixer type personality, (alcoholic father) so when something is not working I try to find out why and fixing myself is the hardest thing ever!!!!!! Sometimes I do need a kick in the pants but also I still wonder if any of my other physical/emotional issues are keeping me from succeeding.

Anyway I've told this story before and have totally lost most people because I've b:bored:red them to death! I don't know if this sounds similar to you or if you can think of why you're having probs or why I am but it's a good place to discuss and try to work out our issues because a lot of us for whatever reason are having them and if we all wanted gastric bypasses we probably could have had them but we wanted something easier and less traumatic on our bodies so we want it to work!!!

Take care, Nancy and keep me posted about what you think about the situation.:welldoneclap:

[brandyII 9]

I am another apple. Even when I was a fatty I had the legs of a racehorse, and now that I am skinny I still have a thick waist. I have inherited this unfortunate, kind of boyish figure type from my mum. And like her, I started gaining once I hit my very early menopause (I was 41 and she was 39). She used to say of her body that she looked like a spider with a giant egg-sac. I did, too.

I guess you'd be a "green apple" then. I know not too :Banane53:.

I'm the same way when I lose weight I want that thin waist and it never shows up. I'm sure when I was thin I looked good but still felt like my waist was always too big. My arms are large so I don't think I would consider myself as a spider. My legs were always my "good" part until I had my first pregnancy and obtained my mothers varicose veins!!!!!!!:welldoneclap:

Had them removed and they come back and I'm not talking "spider" veins although they are at my ankles I'm talking the really big gross ones. The more I walk on the treadmill the more they seem to come back too which really sucks! I'm not going through that surgery again though it was the worst ever. I won't go into details but when you finally put weight on your legs after having a few incisions on both legs and you have almost two pounds of pressure guess what happens to those incisions. Let's just say it wasn't a pretty site and God knows what stain is still under the carpet! brandyII:scared2:

[brandyII 9]

Brandy---from the sounds of several things you are saying, it seems as though your Dr. left out a lot of valuable information, as far as "slider" foods, and what makes one a good candidate for banding over other WLS's available. You also stated at one point, that he does mostly bypass.

So my question to you is....have you ever had a scope, or a fluor study looked at by another surgeon to determine if perhaps your band IS improperly placed?? I have read of them being placed too high for instance, and any restriction is too much restriction.

And another thing!!! (LOL)

MANY people react very negatively when they end up with an unfill. I have a friend, the very one who interested me in being banded. She was banded several months ahead of me---and was losing steadily---which is what I found appealing of course! She ended up too tight....unfill, and she did ok for a few days, then she felt tighter again, and began eating the easy foods, and weight began creeping back on. Soon---in a matter of 2-3 months she had regained all she had lost, and had been filled a couple of times, then unfilled, because she was so tight.

So she went for over a year with nothing. No fills, no weight loss---nothing. Then another friend who has been banded began going to a different place for fills, and interested her in going along....and they are putting the tiniest amount of fill in her you can imagine---now remember this is in a 10 ml. band designed to hold 4cc.'s when full----they are adding less than a quarter of a cc at a time....sometimes as small as .10cc. She paid a yearly fee, and can be filled as often as needed during that time---and she has begun to feel not so much restriction, as hunger control---which is the ultimate goal. But she had to go to nothing for awhile, and let her stomach settle seriously---he told her, she was so sensitive, that even a case of hiccups, might cause her to swell, and have trouble with food! And she noticed when she was having more problems digesting food is when she wanted ice cream, and cookie dough, and mashed potatoes and gravy, etc. So her body knew....and she craved accordingly. She said now any little blip, and she skips her next meal in favor of an Ensure or other Protein drink, and her tummy settles.

It took her some serious study of her own body AS WELL AS a Dr. who took more than a minute to unfill or fill her to figure it out.

Perhaps, before a change of surgery---maybe a change of Dr. would be worth a try?

I too am a massive Apple shape, and used to laugh at the horrid plus size clothes being offered, saying I looked like an Easter Egg on toothpicks!! I did a lot of video workouts---I found several on DVD at our library, and tried them til I found what I liked. I have a tumor in my leg, and cannot do anything high impact---such as running or step classed etc. So I improvised....and eventually, weight began coming off of someplace besides my butt and legs---but it took forever!!!

I wish you luck in discovering the answer......

Kat

My Hero Kat, you have to change your name!

No I even suggested a fluoro and he didn't seem to bite and after he took out the 2 ccs I didn't want to press because he didn't think I had any problems with the band placement because if I had I'd be throwing up. This is what he told me, am I wrong?

You see your friends sound a lot like I do but they're not on this site are they and I can get that info from your which is really helpful. It's hard to know what went wrong and maybe since my doctors are new at the band they haven't come across too many people like me, obviously no one has, but it's hard to get it right. Now I have to sit here and wonder is my band okay at 2/10 full. I can feel full but I can also eat more at a sitting than I could prior to the time I was constantly vomiting up Protein. bread still fills me up but in time I hopefully will get out of the "habit" of using those other foods because I don't need to anymore.

But I still don't know if I'm at "the sweet spot" maybe there isn't one for me because I have issues that some people don't have. I really have no idea. My insurance covers all my fills with a $40 copay so that's not a problem for me. I'm going to give this a chance and go exercise right now. I appreciate you sharing your stories about your friends because it's not a band bashing thing it's very helpful to a lot of us who are struggling with getting it right. Even though we see you as a person who has done really well on the band after a while we start thinking what's wrong with us and are we the only ones and why are we not doing well like everyone else. Not saying you shouldn't be up there we need to know it does work and you should be very proud of your success!

Anyway I've been toooooo wordy today, I'm getting off the computer and going to walk on the treadmill:thumbup: Thanks again Kat, Nancy.

[brandyII 9]

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO ALL YOU MOTHERS OUT THERE AND THOSE WHO ARE MOTHERLY TO PEOPLE TOO! brandyII

[taz 2]

Happy Mothers Day to you too, brandyII. You have some tough times to work through. I'm glad you aren't giving up. I think you feel you are but you continue to ask for help and continue to try new things. I think you should be proud that you are exploring many other things. Yes, in the past you took an "easy" way of eating but that was because you did not have all the information about the band being too tight. You have learned the information in a very hard way.

You have learned much through your challenges and now you are helping other people by sharing your information. I know I have learned and been encouraged (yes, encouraged) a lot by the information you and other people have shared with everyone. It may sound strange in a way, but you give me hope to succeed. You have gone through all your struggles and you are not giving up. I think you and other people who have posted deserve a thank you for the courage you all have shown by sharing your experiences. As they say in 'Galexy Quest'. "Never give up! Never surrender!" Take care.

Tina

[brandyII 9]

Thanks Tina,

I still think there is an answer out there, it may be far far out there in the Galaxy somewhere but I will find it, I never give up. Thanks again, Nancy.

[plain 12]

I'm with all the people that blame your doctor for the lack of information. My doc was sooooo freakishly OCD about drilling "It's just a tool, you have to do your part" into my head that I was sometimes tempted to say the words in unison with him!

I think the overwhelming consensus among us right now is don't give up!! Every day is another chance for you to get back on track and eat better. Every day! There is no too late until you take the big dirt nap. So do it! What is helpful to me is to not even buy junk food at the store, so it's rarely in the house. And never go grocery shopping when you're hungry.

So, I'm a smartie, eh? I'm assuming you meant that in the worst possible way...

[brandyII 9]

Plain, No I didn't, some people I respect their advice more and you are one that I do. Others, I try to ignore, lol. But I really don't want to do anything too drastic and if I can get it working like everyone else seems to be doing then I would feel that would be a pretty big accomplishment right now, thanks brandyII.

[ReadySteadyGo 8]

Jachut,

I didn't want to give the impression that the people on this forum weren't compassionate, because I've enjoyed everyone here whether we agree or disagree, it's my favorite forum.

It's just that a lot of people have been afraid to come forward with "band-human-failure" for many reasons. Some are embarrassed, some don't want to hear it's not the band it's you, some just read posts and never write anyway but I do think some have been scared off.

I think it helps people who are going to get the band to know that maybe there's a chance it won't work out the way you think it will. But more for those who are already in that situation of "failure".

Maybe it depends on how the band is presented or not presented. I don't know why some fail and some don't but it helps those of use who have failed to know there are others out there and what options they're going to take etc...

We all wish we would be successful and when we can't it's really hard. It's not that we don't want to hear about the successful people but we all wish we were in that same group! It's not being anti-band to me it's more like what probs are you having and how did you solve that and do you think you'll get a revision surgery. It's really not band bashing at all and don't want to come across that way but we need a place to discuss these issues openly and freely and not have to hide because we're afraid we'll get bashed or lectured or be accused of being band haters.

Like I've said I've been PM'd by many people who you've never seen on these boards because they have similar stories and there must be more out there.

Your success stories have helped many people and that's a good thing but you can imagine how a person feels when they see everyone else is doing well and think they're the only one out there that isn't.

I'm not hear to bitch or vent, I basically want to see if there are others who can't get it to work like I haven't been able to not to bash but to commiserate in a way and go forward with ideas and such, thanks brandyII.

Brandy- Sometimes I think it's fear, especially when there is not a medical reason that the band isn't working. It is fear that people who the band is working for will think that they are a failure. It is fear that the unmoving scale has made them a failure.

Especially in a forum like this where the results are so positive for so many people. And I think that sometimes people do attack when someone finds the courage to say "its not working and I don't know why" because these particular people NEED a logical or illogical reason that it isn't working for that particular bander or it might not work for them, or it might just quit working, and some of us are a little desperate for this to work(IMHO). I think sometimes someones own fears and insecurities make them quicker to jump on the "it's something wrong with you" bandwagon and fear can defintly cloud sympathies.

Though I think most people on this forum are supportive and kind, sometimes teeth are bared for no visable reasons, and I have to think that people are dealing with their own issues. I see what your saying, anyway.

I also think others who the band has been almost effortless for forget that others have not had it so easy. This is easy to do.

Thank you for bringing another perspective in, especially for those who are unbanded and are doing research. IT's better to know all the possibilities going in I think.

[brandyII 9]

Thanks Readysteadygo,

You've always been supportive and have keen insight to a lot of different things and I always enjoy you on threads, Nancy.:thumbup:

[Guest USMC23]

I have never lost any weight with the band, just a few pounds in the the very early stages. I can understand wanting a place to talk to others about it. I have tried to find support before but when there really is nothing you are doing wrong people just don't believe it. Sometimes I go over and over the "rules" of the band trying to find what could possible going wrong but still no weight loss. I am considering a revision but I want to check to make sure there isnt another problem hiding somewhere. I do however understand wanting a place where people can come who have just simple not lost weight.