After 1 3/4 years, the band is finally working...

Ok...So i got the band in August '09....You know there is that time period where it is not tight enough to help and it can get really defeating sometimes...you feel yourself getting sucked into the belief that the band did not work for you....i had to get my band undone after one year because i got sick and then had to go through the re-filling process again and now coming up on my 2 yr anniversary - it is starting to do what I expected it to do....help me.

I can't tell you how defeating it feels to not have the band work and I think I come back to this board every so often to see the success of others to remind me that it can work.  If it is not the right fit - it makes it very hard....You begin to wonder if you should have gone for full gastric bypass versus just the band - you think you should just get it removed....

I guess I am writing this to say for those that keep that glint of hope that it will work....that you might not lose the weight as quickly as others and you might not feel as successful right off at the beginning but we can all get there if we have patience - it didn't take us over night to get approved for the band...it didn't take over night to gain the weight....now after this much time and such defeating thoughts at time...I can say, it is working for me.  It is finally filled where it can be helpful...I think it is hard to know when it is filled just right for you.  I think you expect to work one way with your body and it MUST be tight enough NOW....but I think I finally get it now...it is right now.  It took me almost 2 years to get here and now my journey begins.  I am down 15 lbs since I got a fill on June 6th and now have lost 15 lbs.  To make my goal - I just need to lose 2.5 lbs a week and I will be where I want to be....

Those who are giving up or losing hope....it may happen - don't get too down...I can't change your feelings but I can tell you I am finally doing it - it is working...there is a fine line between success and failure with the band....you just have to feel where you are....I am not saying everyone should go get a fill but if you feel like you eat large portions still or too much....check your band even if it is a year later or 2 years later....

Thank you God for giving me this chance again after 2 years of defeat.

Melanie :)

Thank you for this!!!!   Its so nice to know that I am not crazy and that I am not a failure.

Melanie,

Thanks so much for sharing your story. One of the most frustrating things about the band is that it can be hard and time-consuming to find an optimal fill level, and then keep it that way.

I lost 100% of my excess weight with far less restriction than I have now. Like you, I had to have a complete unfill and then the slow process of refilling (during which I regained 25 lbs). When I finally got my band in a cooperative mood again, I was (and still am) amazed by how different restriction feels this time. I too thank God for giving me a second chance, and I pray every day that my band will go on working this way as long as I need it to.

Jean 

I'm curious why you had to have a complete unfill?

They are not exactly sure what happened but it went something like this...I was flying back and forth from KY to Phoenix, AZ each week.  I was in Phoenix and all of a sudden on a Wednesday afternoon, I just felt sick....I went "home" early to my room at the Hampton Inn where I lived....and I slept for about 3 hours - then from that point on it gets kinda gross...I could not eat, I had diarrhea so bad that I could barely stand.  This was the time out west when there was a Salmonella poisoning in eggs and I had one for breakfast on that Wednesday.

Well, I flew home - barely making it home...and I thought - well I am home - it will get better...I continued with the diarrhea and not able to get anything into my system.  I called my band doc and asked on Friday if anything could cause the symptoms and they said no...so it wasn't my band.

By Sunday morning, I knew I had to fly back to phoenix and I was so weak and felt terrible.  I went up to Urgent Care and asked if they could test for salmonella...they said if I could provide a sample - well I hadn't eaten since Wed.  So I left....then I went back later because my stomach shape changed - it looked like a long ribbed balloon on the outside...they took an xray and said I needed to go to the ER...they sent the xray to my doc to his EMR and I went to the ER.  I got there at 8pm and didn't get back till 10pm.  They took blood and found that I was dehydrated and my potassium and calcium was so low it was affecting my heart rhythms...they told me I had to wait for my bariatric doc - so he came in and said, I have never done a complete unfill but I am going to now.  Your stomach is distorted.  I had lost like 10 lbs since Wed.  He took out everything including the surgery fill.  Guess what happened?  I burped REALLY loud for like 5 minutes and felt so much better.

He checked me in the hospital for the nite and I had an Upper GI in the morning - they pumped me with potassium through and IV, fluids, and all that stuff.  I couldn't give them any samples, I had nothing left in me...so we could never figure out what was wrong...

They wanted to test me for C Diff which can happen after a round of antibiotics - I had been on some about 2 months prior....but I just couldn't and they weren't allowed to give me food...

Apparently whatever I got - some gastrointestinal disease, the band was not allowing me to throw it up so it went down and the gas went to my stomach - the pain and the weakness were incredible...but no one will ever know what it was...but I have recently had a reoccurence almost - and I figured out what potentially it was...

It is a combo that my body cannot handle.  I cannot eat vegetables twice in one day or over several days....too much fiber....and secondly, I cannot take a particular medicine...the combo of vegetables, medicine, and the band is not good for me.  I went for two days about 3 weeks ago and said - Oh NO!!!  What is going on...so i figured out the similarities - CORN is bad for me, salads are bad for me....the drug Hyomax is BAD for me with the band....so I instantly went back to eating proteins and fruit and instantly had no issues and felt better....diarrhea can start easily with the band....

Then I had to wait 7 weeks to heal before he would refill....let me tell you....I begged my doc to make it tight again with a big fill - he put in 7ccs all at once as negotiation with me...OMG - It hurt to swallow for a week....He had to sit me up in the middle of the fill because it hurt so bad...when he was filling it.....I would never recommend that to anyone....ever...Small incremental fills are best no matter how desperate we are....it hurt...I could swallow water for him and that was what he wanted to see.  But whew....let me tell you - it hurt....so I just recently got the last 3 ccs put back in so I am now at 10.5cc which is the most ever...very happy and very watchful of eating foods.

Don't ever ask me to tell a short story....hehehehehehe sorry for the length but it was a dramatic memory for me :).

I had a band slip, so had a complete unfill and 6 week rest period before starting to re-fill. The unfill cured the slip, but then my port flipped and became increasingly difficult to access...then it took me a while to schedule surgery to reposition the port (because of other things going on in my life).

I really appreciated this, too.  :)  i had mine in October 2009.  i have lost weight, but not as much as I should.   Some of the reason is due to not enough restriction, but a big part has been how i've utilized it, too.  So, I'm working to get to the point you are now.  :)  i haven't gone to see my surgeon for a few months.  mostly because i feel like a failure and really there is nothing he can do.  i mean, it's me that isn't making the right choices, you know?  argh!  hahaha!  honestly, i haven't gone because i don't need a fill (i have enough restriction) and just need to stop being lazy and start exercising again and stop eating stuff i shouldn't.  i also don't want to see that look of disappointment or exasperation on my doctor's face.  i give that to myself enough already.

I cancelled many appt due to embarrassment....but then I thought - i am not the first they have seen struggle...and they are there as part of what i got myself into...I went back and said I need it...and I will try and they were so kind and no bad words came from them other than - ok, see you next time and good luck!

It smells of defeat anytime you gain - but it will happen...so what I tell myself - I am still human.  Give yourself a break....I would find a doctor that doesn't do that look....mine certainly doesn't.  He just repeats the rules over and over again...he did his job - its done - we just need them to fill it up and shut up :).  In a nice way...of course....My mom is the one that gives me the look so I don't look at her when I discuss my life.

I don't know why I felt like posting this but I know that we all are way too hard on ourselves....we have to lighten up on our issue.  We have a weight problem....we have health problems....we need to do what makes us feel good and get rid of the negative thoughts about ourselves.  I will never be back to the way I used to be....period...end of story - but I can be better than I am right now....all our lives, we are negative, other people are negative - we need to decide that we have value in this world, every day.  Some of us are the best workers in the world and the best mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, aunts, uncles....we have empathy because that is who we are...

Ok, getting off my soapbox....never be ashamed of trying...it is where we should all be every day.  I am trying to live today.  Who cares what the doctor thinks....He gets a fat paycheck to give you the band and fills....end of story.

Love to all,
Melanie

thanks so much melanie, i have not been here on the board for a month or so because I am so frustrated. i am three months out, had my 4th fill last week and I am finally feeling like I should. i have lost 2 lbs but regained 4 because i hurt my back and have basically been sedentary... but the last few days have been really good feeling restriction and actually the thing i am surprised about the most is that i am feeling satisfied on a small amount of food. THAT is what i have been wanting. thanks for coming back here and inspiring us... it made my day!

I couldn't agree with you more. I had my band done in December of 2009. I have lost 34 pounds. Granted I was 216 pounds (my biggest being 240) so my weight loss has been slow and it has been really depressing at times. Also, the doctor I see is a jerk (my band was done in Mexico). I've had 4 fills and I dread going to see him everytime because of the way he treats me. I'm hoping one more fill should do the trick to get the last 20 lbs off.