Second fill date coming soon...

[Brighton Belle 0]

I am now in the process of organising my second fill.

I had my lapband on 9.9.09 and for quite a while I felt the satiation and satiety expected with the band. I assumed that although there was probably only a little saline in it, there was obviously swelling of the stomach. Most of the time I did not think about food, I could generally lose track of time and not think about eating, and when I did eat I was easily satisfied with only a small amount. It was great not thinking about food! I lost weight on the pre-op diet and also after the lap band. However as I approached my first fill these effects were wearing off and the weight loss was slowing, if not stopping.

I had lost a total of 12lbs from the start of the pre-op diet to the date of the first fill and it showed. I was delighted with the weight loss and the way I was feeling about food.

The first fill was on 12.10.09 under X ray guidance. The anaesthetist was a little concerned to fill it too much because of the distance involved if I was too restricted. Four hours after the fill we went out with my daughter for a Chinese meal that night. I was surprised to find that I was really hungry. I had some clear Soup, still felt really hungry and did not feel any ill effects from the fill apart from some very slight discomfort late that night.

I have left it 2 weeks post-fill to see what would happen. I had put on a pound before the fill and the three days of liquids post-fill saw that go again. However my weight is now stationary and has been for the past two weeks but my trousers are getting tighter again-another sign that things are not as good.

I am trying to be sensible with what I eat - completely avoiding biscuits, chocolate etc and sticking to low carb low calorie choices. However I finding that I am gradually increasing the amount I am eating at meals, otherwise I am not satisfied. I am still hungry a lot of the time, and thinking about food again, Although I do sometimes experience some restriction (a tight feeling or discomfort in the chest) it is generally only if I have eaten something fast and not chewed it well enough. The “half a glass of food” is not enough anymore. I am snacking at times but on healthy foods. My husband has also noticed my eating is gradually changing back. I remember well how I felt after the banding and I am concerned because I feel that is the state I should be in and I am definitely not in that state anymore.

I emailed the above to my consultant and got a lovely email back in which he says I am describing "pretty much a standard course" and that I might not be too far away from having a pretty good level of restriction.

So I am organising another band fill as soon as I can.

[Brighton Belle 0]

I have had my second fill by a combination of serendipitous circumstances. It was really easy, went like a dream, in went 2mls, no problem.

I feel that I have good restriction back again. I have managed Soup easily, but more solid food has to be chewed carefully. I am not as hungry as I was before but at work we have been really busy so not much time to think, the real test will be when I am at home but I am pretty hopeful that I am at my sweet spot.

[Mimilou2004 13]

Hi, BB, I am glad you got some restriction from this fill. I hope you are at your sweet spot, that would be great!!!

Mimi

[LouLouBell 0]

I too am not feeling resticted and I am having to eat more to keep myself from complete misery! It is so frustratiing! I hope I get some satisfaction from my second fill on December 2.

It is great to hear that others have found their sweet spot! I hope it happens for me soon!

[Brighton Belle 0]

I realised my second fill was not enough as I was still hungry-I did not have satiation and satiety.

Had another 1ml in yesterday and initially did not feel any different but today I think there is a difference.

Here's hoping this is getting me into the green zone...

[hmarko 0]

Brighton Belle how much are you at now? I am at 5.2cc w/ my second. I feel restriction. Only if I am having drinks it works against me. Can definitely eat more then. And after exercise.

[Brighton Belle 0]

I don't know how much was put in at my first fill but have had 2ml added at my second and 1ml at my third.

Initially no real difference but we were away this weekend so staying in a b&b and eating out. I did notice a difference this weekend. I ate Pasta in the evening with sauce, no starter or pudding, and felt quite satisfied. For Breakfast I had smoked salmon and scrambled egg but the second day I could not manage it all-did not really want it and realised I was full.

At lunch the first day I realised I was not hungry and had coffee and a small amount of fruit slice which was soft.

The next day we were in a coffee shop for lunch and I had some of my husband's toasted pannini and it got stuck for about 5 mins which was uncomfortable-lots of salivating and the feeling of it all stuck in my chest- I drank Water and then walked to the loo but by the time I got there it had suddenly gone through so I did not eat any more!

I will see how it goes. I may just need another 0.5ml to get to the green zone but I feel I am nearer than ever and it is a real difference.

I do realise I have to be careful to chew carefully- no chatting away and taking big bites when hungry and swallowing food in big gulps that is not properly chewed! I must have been doing this for years!!

[thinin10 0]

You def. sound like you need a fill. My dr. office is pretty aggressive about fills.... They had me schedule a fill appt. now every month for the next 3 months...If I don't think I need it I can cancel it.

A bit of background. I had my surg. on 9/2. I had 4 cc's in at surgery. I had my 1st fill on 10/21 under florescopy and they put in 3 ccs. WAY too much. I woke myself up puking and it hurt to even try to swollow water.. so they took out 1cc after 2 days of misery. That's probably why I delayed getting a 2nd fill...but I can in 2c of food now so I know I'm ready so having that done this coming Thursday. They gave me this little graph to veiw and I am to get a fill set as soon as I hit the green zone of sensations... did any of you get that graph?

I have to say though I am a bit disappointed in how slow I"m losing. I was 14# down pre op and over 13 weeks post op and only down another 29#. I am working out at least 4 days per week and active every day. I KNOW I am losing inches... even when I went 3 weeks with nothing on the scale my clothes continued to get looser and looser. I try to remember that when the bloody scale does not move for weeks on end but it is indeed hard. I need to get online more often... reading these threads people having the same issues I am really helps. There is only 1 person in our clinic support group that has been banded besides me.

[hmarko 0]

You def. sound like you need a fill. My dr. office is pretty aggressive about fills.... They had me schedule a fill appt. now every month for the next 3 months...If I don't think I need it I can cancel it.

A bit of background. I had my surg. on 9/2. I had 4 cc's in at surgery. I had my 1st fill on 10/21 under florescopy and they put in 3 ccs. WAY too much. I woke myself up puking and it hurt to even try to swollow Water.. so they took out 1cc after 2 days of misery. That's probably why I delayed getting a 2nd fill...but I can in 2c of food now so I know I'm ready so having that done this coming Thursday. They gave me this little graph to veiw and I am to get a fill set as soon as I hit the green zone of sensations... did any of you get that graph?

I have to say though I am a bit disappointed in how slow I"m losing. I was 14# down pre op and over 13 weeks post op and only down another 29#. I am working out at least 4 days per week and active every day. I KNOW I am losing inches... even when I went 3 weeks with nothing on the scale my clothes continued to get looser and looser. I try to remember that when the bloody scale does not move for weeks on end but it is indeed hard. I need to get online more often... reading these threads people having the same issues I am really helps. There is only 1 person in our clinic support group that has been banded besides me.

Wow 7 cc's on the second fill total is ALOT. Do you have the realize band it sounds like you have the lap band as that chart you speak of is on their site. It does seem the Realize band takes more cc's before people feel restrictions just based on what I read here. I am familiar with the chart they always ask us where we are when they do a fill to determine how aggressive to go. I had my third fill (surg 9.11) on dec 1 and they took me up to 5.9 from 5.2 and I was THIS close to going back in on Friday for an unfill. I woke up 2 - 3 times choking but I am also realizing now that I can't eat too late anymore. only the first time was legitimately due to being too tight. I had to be on liquids for 3 days and I am being VERY careful now w/ mushies. I eat w/ a stopwatch to make sure i chew for 30 seconds and then wait another 30 seconds.

I noticed when a bit too tight you salivate as if your mouth is watering when hungry. But its not from that.

Actually what you said sounded interesting. we get a fill when we are yellow to take us to green. Does your practice start you at red then get you back to green? Green is the sweetspot. I can honestly say I was red those first few days after the fill and if I called them they probably would have taken a couple of cc's out. and if the night choking was going on for consecutive days I would have called. But it did not and I was able to keep down my Protein shakes (thin) and liquids.

So for example I went in and said 70 pct of the time i am yellow and 30 pct green plus i only lost 2.5 lbs this last month -so she said she was tempted to go to .7 and i said do it. But it was probably more than i needed. Or maybe just right I'll know in a week.

My office wants us in there every month for the next year (whether we need fills or not). I think they want to keep tabs on us and I don't think everyone goes but I like to go because I think people run into trouble maybe when they can't tell they need a fill and suddenly they start gaining, then they feel like they failed and don't want to go back. So my plan is to go every month. I mean they may do .1 or .2 up or down little tiny adjustments thats the beauty of the newer bands you can refine the fills alot more.

are you down 14 PLUS 29 or 29 overall. Either way you are doing great. I lost 14 lbs pre-op too now I am at between 32-35 (not sure now that I am off liquids if I will regain 3 lbs back). Our guidelines are to lose 1-2 lbs a week (if its more we should get a bit of an unfill and if its less we should get a fill).

[LouLouBell 0]

I am going to have my second fill today. I am a bit nervous that my Dr will be disappointed in me as I am losing so slowly. Initially I lost quite a bit but since my first fill 5 weeks ago I have only lost about 2.5 kilos. My brand new scales weigh differently every time I get on them and they are driving me crazy! I think I have lost nearly 14 kilos (30lbs).

Edited December 7, 2009 by LouLouBell
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[thinin10 0]

hmarko: I am down 43# total, the 14 pre op and 29 post op. yes, the red/green/yellow graph is what we use and my understanding as well is green is good. I'm there about 80% of the time.. once in awhile red but the last week or 2 have been lots of yellow! I do have the 10cc lapband. I get the salivating thing more than I care to as well and I have learned to urp up whatevers' causing it or be miserable til it passes. I think that is from not chewing enough and like you I am being very careful. I got the green lite to start being free with fruits and veggies for now for a more balanced diet. One of my all time favorite Snacks is hummus with raw veggies. I've been doing flatbread til now but actually ate veggies today with it= YEAH! It's so much fewer calories and I need the Fiber. I got down the jicima and cauliflower just fine but the carrots I had to be very diligent about chewing for a long time... practice right! I took 5 hours on Sat. and cooked non-stop. One of the meals I made were the cutest little meatloaf muffins (portion control) and "frosted" them with mock mashed potatoes (the pureed cauliflower). I think I might even do some sweet potatoes on them next time....they're almost too cute to eat!

Back to task.. my dr. office on the charts shows .2-.5cc as an avg. fill but they've really ramped that up. I made him promise no more than 1cc this next time and if more needed past that I will do .5cc. I don't ever want to feel like that again (when they did 3cc at once). The fills though aren't an issue but I do wish he'd quit playing with it. He likes to try to pull all the Fluid out to see how much is in there (my body likes to stash 1cc that he can never seen to retrieve).It feels like a funky kind of tickle tummy ride when he pulls and pushes that fluid in and out.. makes me want to tell him to knock it off!

Seems like most have hit a wall at about 3 months so must be common.

Lulubelle...you're going great.. I can't beleive your dr. thinks you're losing too slow.. you're only what- 10 weeks post op and you're down well over 30#... that's uber good! The charts say 1.5# on the low side to 3# on the top end for wt. loss per week and you're over the top....pat yourself on the back and keep up the good work... it's you top acheivers that set the bar for most of us to reach with out own goals!

I'm so glad I got back on line.. this is very much what I needed.

Thanks Ladies.. have a great evening!

[hmarko 0]

thinin10 I think the salivating is from being too tight just a tad... I salivate well after eating. I'm still in between mushies and solids and carrots I won't even try (anyway they are too high glycemic for me but have you tried raw stringbeans w/ hummus?) thanks for reminding me about that. Can you post that recipe it sounds really really good - is it in the life after lap band book? I think meatloaf and cauliflower mash is in there.

I do not foresee any fills after this one being more than .2 if I make it without getting unfilled! I'm trying to hang in cuz i also have a cold! ugh.

[LouLouBell 0]

I went for my fill yesterday and my Dr was happy with me.:sneaky: It was all in my head! :thumbup: I had lost 4kg (9lb) since my first fill 5 weeks ago. I have lost 14kg (30lb) since my Sept 24 surgery date. I wasn't on a pre-op diet.

[thinin10 0]

hmarko: you might be right about the salivating. I have not been doing that this last week or so and ready for a fill so...

I didn't know there was such a cookbook. I love to cook and make up recipes and so it's something I made up. The first time i made meatloaf muffins they got too dry... i overdid the grains in them given how small they are. I use the livestrong site to keep track of my calories so thankfully I can now track my recipes (before they were a little different each time since I could never quite remember what I put in them the 1st time!). It's as follows: 1# of ground turkey; 4 eggs; 1/4 cup dry oatmeal; 1 1/2 cups of loosley ripped up fresh spinich and 2T (1 oz) of crumbled blue cheese. Mix up and put in muffin tins sprayed w/ pam and cook at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.. they're fabulous! It makes a dozen of them. If you like them let me know... I did up a recipe for fiberful meatballs cooked in an arrabiata sauce that I just love... I have 3 and it's plenty with a side of seasoned stewed tomatoes and a 1T of course grated paremsan on top. My husband has always said he can spot ground turkey in a recipe and does not like it.. that was like waving a red flag in front of me of course! I cooked chili, meatballs and meatloaf muffins all with ground turkey and he had no idea and loved them all. The meatloaf is pale so he suspected...but by then he liked them and no longer cared. I did a waldorf salad with pears and apples and greek yogurt with a bit of agave necter in it too and that I really like, but not as filling for the calories..but I can eat apples that way without discomfort and had to have some honeycrisp's when they came out this fall.

I have not tried the green Beans yet.. i'll have to. I have done pea pods but they can be a bit stringy. I adore the jicima though... even just plain.

I'm going to do a stir fry this weekend... think I'm ready to tackle all those veggies at once! I'll just make sure they're cooked a bit softer. I can use tofu then too and that is easy to eat and a good protien source.

[thinin10 0]

Oh and Loulou belle- you're doing fabulous! Keep up the good work!

We are having our first snowstorm right now... very late for us and it's SO pretty! I have the tree lites on both in and out and no other lites but this screen... so cozy! I don't nee the fireplace on but really have to for the ambiance. ...my dog is laying in front of it and keeps looking at me waiting to bask it's heat... she'll lay there til she's too hot to touch (while my border collie heads to the closet to keep cool!).

The snow was a bit brutal to drive in during rush hour but i met up with freinds and waited the worst of it out.. won't be so lucky tommorow at 5am going out the door into it since I am sure we won't get a snowday at work out of this. I live 63 miles north of the city so although I love living in the woods (the only souds besides my typing is my windchimes outside)... the drive each way can get more than a bit old. I also end up planting 25 or more trees each year to offset my giant carbon footprint!