melly37

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I emailed Dr. Frezza and asked him directly what kind and what size band I have.  He danced around the question....so my husband send him a more direct email.  LOL  I then got a straight answer.  I have a 10 CC AP Band.  Why was that so dang hard?

This fill has actually done me some good.  I have lost a couple of pounds, well actually about 6 pounds since my fill, and I am feeling tighter restriction.  I can still eat breads okay...but I DO have to chew better and take smaller bites.  (When I don't remember, I get a harsh reminder!)  Getting stuck is almost worse than PB'ing.  On Tuesday night I was stuck for a good 45 minutes.  It sucked!!  I do get full on smaller amounts of food also.  

I am flying out to the DC area tomorrow for the conference.   I hope the plane ride doesn't mess with my band.  Being down at sea level might feel different also.  If when I get back I have the same restriction that I have now, or even less, I will schedule a fill with Fill Centers USA.  I don't think it will take much more saline to have REALLY GOOD restriction.  I'm guessing 1 CC or less.  

I am extremely excited about my trip.  I hope that this only helps my chances of moving up at work.  This job has been such an awesome experience for me.  I doubt I will have access to a computer while I am gone, so I probably won't have a chance to update until Friday or Saturday. 

  I am still very angry with Frezza's office.  I have been trying to get someone to answer the question about my band since Wednesday, it's Monday.  I finally got someone on the line today and got the same crap.  She said that I have an AP Band.   She then says it holds 4 CC's.  I told her one of the two is wrong.  Either it's NOT an AP Band or it's not a 4 CC Band,  She sounded flustered then irritated.  She finally said she would email Frezza, but said I wouldn't hear back right away.  What a joke.  I need to know so that I can start getting fills here in ABQ.  I do not want to see them again.  I have a feeling that I have the AP Band, but I need to know for sure.  
I was feeling some good restriction this weekend.  I started eating food on Friday.  I would get a small amount down and be full.  I wouldn't be hungry for awhile after that either.  Although today I ate small amounts for breakfast and for lunch, at about 2:30 I was starving.  I have been hungry ever since.  I hope that's not a bad sign.  
Aunt Flo came to see me on Friday, so I could have had more restriction because of that.  
I just messaged Dr. Curry and he confirmed with me that the AP Band comes in two sizes:

Hi Dr. Curry.  First, let me thank you for donating so much of your time to us!  I'm not hear to bash my surgeon to you, however I have to tell you that he is absolutely no after care, and I am very confused.   I was told by him right after surgery that he put the AP Band in me.  I was sent to a radiologist to get my first fill and got 2 CC's.  The second fill was done by my surgeon and he told me that I had an AP Band and that it holds 5 CC's.  He said he didn't prime the band during surgery.  He gave me 1.5 CC's.   I am very confused.  Everything I have read about the AP Bands tells me says they come in two sizes, 10 CC and 14 CC.  Can you please help me?  Thank you!

You are correct, the AP comes in a standard and large size and holds 10cc and 14cc, respectively.

  Why can't Dr. Frezza's office know this also??

I am so ticked at Frezza and his office!   
Well, they changed my appointment AGAIN, but luckily they still fit me in since I was already in Lubbock.

Dr. Frezza told me that the AP Band holds 5 CC's of saline.  WHAT??  I just don't think he knows his product at all!!  Everything I read shows the AP has two sizes, a 10 CC and a 14 CC.  What the heck?  So, even though I was worried he was going to over-fill me, I was way wrong!!  He only gave me 1.5 CC's. 
I am done dealing with his office.  I have a call in to them today, asking them to look in my file and tell me what size my band is.  I am going to just spend the money and get fills through the fill center here.  I'm still waiting for them to call me back.  
I have done well following the clear liquid diet though.  I would love to know if I have more restriction, but there is plenty of time for that.  I am going to stay on clears until Friday I think.  Maybe I will at least lose some weight that way!

Well, it's Saturday.....my fill is on Tuesday.  I am really hoping to feel good restriction after this fill.  Since I already have some restriction, I do think it's possible.  I am not sure how to approach Dr. Frezza though.

I don't know if he will be nice enough to allow me input on how many CC's of saline I should get.  I first need to know if he primed the band.  I somehow doubt that he did.....if he did, that would mean there were 3 CC's put in at surgery and another 2 at my first fill.  I don't think I have enough restriction if I have 5 CC's in my band.  UGH!  I just don't know.  I know that he believes in filling up the band ASAP, so I am not afraid he will be stingey with the saline, I am afraid he will be too generous.  On the other hand, I'm afraid if I tell him to only give me a couple of CC's that I will regret it if I still don't have good restriction.  It's so hard to know.
Most bandsters don't have to worry about it, they trust their doctor to do the right thing.....I don't.  Not anymore.  It would be different if his office was in town, or even an hour or two away......but a 12 hour round trip drive isn't very convenient.  
I tried to do the plateau buster's diet this week.  HA!  It was extremely hard!!  Then a bandster posted a way to test your restriction.....trying to eat two cups of oatmeal, etc.  Since I wanted to try that and didn't want to deprive myself too much before my fill, I went off of it.  It did show me how addicted to carbs I am though.  I was so hoping this surgery would be another magic pill, and all of the sudden I would only WANT small portions of HEALTHY foods.  LMAO!  What was I thinking??  It's still a battle with my mind.  I am taking this upcoming fill very seriously though.  I am really going to stay on clear liquids for at least three days...and full liquids for a couple.  I will probably have some swelling after this fill and don't want to stretch out my pouch.  If I stay on liquids that long it might also bring me back to a safer place in carb land.  Maybe I will have detoxed!  LOL  I did buy some more Isopure and have lots of soup on hand still.   I know I can do this.....it's time to get on with it!!

Dr. Frezza's office moved my fill to April 15th, instead of today.  Oh well.  My husband is going to go with me now, and we will go up the day before and make a small trip of it.  I really hope that this fill does the trick for a little while though,.  The only thing that I am really afraid of is being too full....and I will be flying out to D.C. about two weeks after my fill.  I will be a nervous wreck I am sure, and some say the flying made their band tighter.  
All I can do is hope for the best  I am so ready to start losing weight again.  I have been trying to be better since my last post about how much I eat in a day.  I did log my food and calories for a few days.  LOL    I just feel like I don't have time to do it.  I've been trying to keep count in my head though.  I am starting to be able to eat too much at a time and getting pretty hungry between meals.  

Debbie finally found out the cause of her having no restriction with her band.  The band IS NOT placed around her stomach and esophogus!!   We don't know yet if Frezza made the mistake, but it sure looks like it!!  She will get another surgery in a couple of weeks and her new doctor will be able to tell if something went horribly wrong, or if Frezza frucked up!!  If he messed up the surgery, I hope she gets welll compensated for her year of hell!!