Reflux - and had .5cc taken out to relieve pouch pressure

I had .5 cc removed after the dr showed me on my bariium swallow test how the pouch is enlarged (but the band is in perfect place) so he thought to remove .5cc to start and see how that relieves my burping, and vomiting.  Previously I really wasn't able to eat food, more like soup and soft things.  Well.  Big problem.  I can eat now.  Anything.  Even a sandwich!  Could it be he removed a lot more so that I would start eating again and want to switch to the sleeve? Do you think surgeons are that devious??!  I am freaking out, I feel as tho I have absolutely no restriction.  Does it kick in later?  Does anyone else have experience in such things? 

As a rule that is called a slip and most doctors remove all or nearly all of the fill and have you on liquids only for several weeks. So hard telling what he is thinking. Maybe others will have better info for you.

you were  too tight when you said you could  not eat solid protein. If you were only eating soft food and soup you needed to have some  fluid taken out. I would suggest you start with solid protein when eating meals. You will get full faster and will be able to go longer between meals. Just because you can eat some things does not mean you should. You will need to portion out your meals and stop even if you do not fill full there is a big difference between full and satisfied. hope all goes well with you and you get some relief from the reflux

The usual action for an enlarged area above the band is a total unfill for several weeks,. So even if he did remove more than you thought, it was only what might have been expected. 

But even if he only did take out 0.5cc, that can make an enormous difference. For me ( but I have the small, old band), just 0.1 cc makes an enormous difference.

Your surgeon was right by removing  saline before your band fully slipped. Your pouch was dilated. Typically with pouch dilation your surgeon SHOULD have emptied your band to allow the pouch to heal and after 6 weeks start refilling again -- I know it sucks but that is only way to get your band to work again and sometimes that does not work after pouch dilation.

40 percent of lap banders experienced the EXACT SAME PROBLEM, lap band damage from being too tight, and it is completely preventable IF you and your surgeon work together to tweak the band.

The good news is you CAN eat, if your band was permanently damaged after being too tight, an unfill would not have helped -- with a permanently damage band many people still have vomiting and reflux on an empty band, so that is a good indication that your band is still healthy.

Once you are ALMOST at your sweet spot you have to carefully add smaller amounts, .5ccs in a AP band is a BIG FILL, and sometimes it takes only .1 or .2 or .3 cc to get to the sweet spot, sometimes adding only just .1cc is the difference of being too tight and burping and vomiting and throat discomfort or being at the green zone.

Never ever keep a too tight fill, if you get a fill and you have throat discomfort,frequent burping and vomiting, go back immediately and get saline removed, for example if you were burping and vomiting and your surgeon removed .5cc ...3 or .4cc was probably your sweet spot.

And YES, sometimes if you've been too tight for a LONG time, your surgeon will take out MORE to prevent the band from slipping and reduce swelling.

Getting to the green zone takes art and skill and cooperation from both the patient and the surgeon. You must be honest in HOW much you can eat where your surgeon can estimate on how much to give you, if you say you can eat a full sandwich when you get a fill, your surgeon may give you a bigger fill, if you say you could eat only 1/2 a sandwich he may give you a smaller fill, but if you go in and can't really eat that much and you say you can eat a lot -- your surgeon may fill you too tightly.

The  way I gage my future fill is how much I can eat NOW, for example before I was at my sweet spot, I COULD eat a sandwich too, but I had *some* restriction, so I knew that I needed MORE than .1cc added, my surgeon added .6cc more, we played around with it and he did a dynamic fill and filled my band while drinking water where I could gage the tightness.

If you can't eat solid food at all, that is a good indication your band was too tight, being too tight does not serve any type of purpose, it only causes complications and complications can get ugly.

Many people don't have to revise to the Sleeve IF their surgeon filled their band properly, also restriction only last for so long with the Sleeve, no weight loss surgery is perfect.

If your band is not permanently damaged, I would wait for about 6 weeks and go back and ask for .3ccs put back in.

Good luck

Um, hello!!!  You could not eat and you have a pouch dilation!  Your Band is not in perfect condition and will become dangerous keeping a tight fill!  Why am I furious with your post post?  You are supposed to be able to eat with your band!  Your surgeon so "devious" he made it where you'd be able to eat and want to switch to the sleeve!  Um HELLO,  there is no money to be made with the sleeve AND haha, how tricky of my slick surgeon -  I CAN EAT EVERY SINGLE THING WITH MY SLEEVED STOMACH.  And that is the way someone who Is invested in changing to a healthy lifestyle should want it.

Maybe begin to make choices like trimming the bread or wraps from your sanwiches.  Using low cal breads that are rich if your going to eat bread.  Eat more of what comes with the pasta like meatballs and sauce instead of pasta.  I eat the tops of pizza if that is what is being Served - if I want.  If family is serving rice & beans, I will have the beans with a sprinkle of rice & the meat or fish.  The first rule of WLS is protein first!  If you can't learn that, YOU WILL FAIL especially at having any long term success because not only does our restriction become Relaxed, mostly we can learn to eat around it.

Good luck.  I hope you can take this time to educate yourself  and get healthy

Hi - thanks for your reply.  Just to clarify, I simply tried a half a sandwich and sadly discovered I could eat it and that it stayed down.  (it was soo good).  

My favorite thing to tell people i know about the band (or any WLS) is you have to 'buy' into the fact that you can never ever eat the same way again.  Ever.  Sure, you could teach your way back to old habits but thankfully, so far so good.  Now, it may get to a point where I HAVE to get this band out and what I am reading here on this site is Yes, it may come to be.  You are right, the Sleeve is a 1 time surg but the surgery itself costs thousands so the surgeon is making money on another surgery.  Just distrustful of the medical establishment and the sweeping discovery that the band isn't all it's cracked up to be.  

Weight loss is a battle, truly a war battle and even with the band, fought for every single pound I lost.  Your tips on avoiding the carbs are excellent and I need all the tips I can get! Another thing I learned was that we truly do not need to eat so much to sustain ourselves.  Hallalujah - I just unlocked the key to weight loss!!! 

All the best.

No your Surgeon is not being devious.  He make money on the band and switching to the sleeve is a one time thing for him.  Welcome to life with a band.  If you have an enlarged pouch you should have ALL the fluid removed. And that is the only thing I could fault him.  I too had barium swallow test that showed the band perfectly placed. 

I would be so tight I couldn't swallow, they would remove .5cc and I could eat anything.  Things like pizza and such.  They would add .25 cc and I would have to go for an emergence unfill because I couldn't swallow my spit.  I had a 10cc band.

At the end they just kept taking small amounts out so I could eat other than shakes.  Never could I find a spot were I could eat solid protein and feel full on small amounts.  I was hungry and wide open or tight and hungry.

Good luck!

well, congrats on your weight loss so far.  I'll try to 'weigh in' how the progress is over time.  wishing us both a lot of luck and good health!