What we are eating and what's eating us,Thursday....
Good morning, sweet Linda and all.
My leg was driving me crazy last night, too much walking yesterday. I finally got up and took a divocet. Now I am sort of dizzy but my leg doesn't hurt LOL.
I woke up at 4AM and had 3 tabl. of wheat germ with lowfat milk
B. oatmeal LF milk and 1/2 banana
S -yogurt
L seafood salad
S. yogurt
D. ham and veggies
s. popcorn
I leave Saturday on a Youth Mission trip so not buying any groceries this week. Will be gone Saturday through the next Fri.
Sleeping on the floor on an air mattress is not my idea of a good time. I am too old for this!!!
Jeane
My leg was driving me crazy last night, too much walking yesterday. I finally got up and took a divocet. Now I am sort of dizzy but my leg doesn't hurt LOL.
I woke up at 4AM and had 3 tabl. of wheat germ with lowfat milk
B. oatmeal LF milk and 1/2 banana
S -yogurt
L seafood salad
S. yogurt
D. ham and veggies
s. popcorn
I leave Saturday on a Youth Mission trip so not buying any groceries this week. Will be gone Saturday through the next Fri.
Sleeping on the floor on an air mattress is not my idea of a good time. I am too old for this!!!
Jeane
Food wouldn't go down well yesterday. Lots & lots of liquids though. My surgeon has ordered more testing, I'll find out what & when this morning.
This morning my scale read 720 pounds. It must be time for new batteries. A couple of pounds might have been sad - over seven hundred pounds was funny.
Kisses
Annette
This morning my scale read 720 pounds. It must be time for new batteries. A couple of pounds might have been sad - over seven hundred pounds was funny.
Kisses
Annette
Annette 
Annette,
I hope they find out and fix you. Before they found my ulcers, I got where the pain was so intense that I was going to the ER two or three times a week just to get pain meds to stop the pain. I, too, couldn't eat and when I did, it came back up because nothing was going through. Good luck. Let's hope it is something that can be fixed with meds.
Annette,
It must be time for new batteries.
You think?
I swear, there have been times when I got on the scale in the morning and fully expected it to read 720 lbs, only my scale can't measure anything over 300 lbs. I wonder if my scale flashes an emergency message over 300 lbs. Hope I never find out...
Jean
It must be time for new batteries.
You think?
I swear, there have been times when I got on the scale in the morning and fully expected it to read 720 lbs, only my scale can't measure anything over 300 lbs. I wonder if my scale flashes an emergency message over 300 lbs. Hope I never find out...
Jean
Jean McMillan c.2009-2013 - Always a bandster at heart
author of Bandwagon (TM), Strategies for Success with the Adjustable Gastric Band & Bandwagon Cookery. Bandwagon for Kindle now available on Amazon. Read my blog at: jean-onthebandwagon.blogspot.com
Annette,
Excellent question. I like this question so much, I'm going to re-post this over on the Lap-Band and Realize Band forums.
The band (both the Lap-Band and the Realize Band) is designed to last forever. There is nothing in it that would wear out. Unlike an artificial joint, it has no moving parts that could wear out through use. Although the adjustable gastric band is relatively new (used overseas for 23 years now), It is made of the same kinds of materials (silicone, surgical stainless steel, etc.)as have been used for other medical implants for decades.
People often ask if the port doesn't wear out or start to leak because of being stuck so many times with a needle. First of all, the port membrane is made of "self-healing" material that closes up after it i*****tured. Secondly, a knowledgeable fill person (this is an important reason to only allow qualified professionals to do your fills) will use a special, non-coring needle (called a Huber needle) that does not excavate a "core" of silicone when it penetrates the port membrane.
Manufacturing defects that might cause the band to "fail" (for example, through leakage) are extremely rare. Leaks are usually caused by fill needles mistakenly jabbed into the port stem or tubing (which are not self-healing). It's possible for saline to leak if the tubing becomes disconnected from the port (I guess that would be considered a manufacturing defect, although I'm not sure Inamed or Ethicon would admit to it). I know of only one OH bandster who had to have surgery to correct a leaking band, and I don't know if they ever figured out where the leak was. Every band is tested for leaks, not only at the factory but by the surgeon when the band is placed. Doing that is part of the surgical protocol that Inamed requires of surgeons (only surgeons who have completed Inamed's training program are allowed to buy the Lap-Band). I would assume that the Ethicon protocol is the same.
I have one more comment about the durability of the band. Over on the lap-band forum and sometimes on the main board, I sometimes hear rumors about the band only lasting 7 years, or 4 years, or whatever number. This kind of thing is often posted by OH members who had some other kind of surgery, or who list no surgery type (making me suspect trolls), or by newbies who say something like, "My hairdresser has a client whose sister had the band and it broke after 3 years and she had to have it removed."
To which I always reply, "And my hairdresser has a client whose brother-in-law's best friend had a UFO land in his pasture."
The point being that this kind of thrice-told story is about as accurate as the message you used to get after playing the game "Telegraph" (maybe they call it "Telephone" now). Maybe that sister did have to have her band removed, but probably not because it broke. More probably because she found ways to eat around the band, didn't lose weight or made her band slip through overeating, revised to another WLS procedure, and wants to blame all that on the band.
Finally, I would have gotten an adjustable gastric band even if I had been told I was going to have to replace it every 10 years for the rest of my life! I know 2 women my age, one a fitness instructor whose joints take a beating, and the other a nurse who is on her feet all day, *****cently had hip replacements. They know perfectly well that this new hip isn't going to last her for the rest of their lives, but living with pain and disability for the next 30 years wasn't part of their life plans. Or mine either.
I don't mean to sound like I'm preaching. Obviously, this is a hot button for me!
Jean
Excellent question. I like this question so much, I'm going to re-post this over on the Lap-Band and Realize Band forums.
The band (both the Lap-Band and the Realize Band) is designed to last forever. There is nothing in it that would wear out. Unlike an artificial joint, it has no moving parts that could wear out through use. Although the adjustable gastric band is relatively new (used overseas for 23 years now), It is made of the same kinds of materials (silicone, surgical stainless steel, etc.)as have been used for other medical implants for decades.
People often ask if the port doesn't wear out or start to leak because of being stuck so many times with a needle. First of all, the port membrane is made of "self-healing" material that closes up after it i*****tured. Secondly, a knowledgeable fill person (this is an important reason to only allow qualified professionals to do your fills) will use a special, non-coring needle (called a Huber needle) that does not excavate a "core" of silicone when it penetrates the port membrane.
Manufacturing defects that might cause the band to "fail" (for example, through leakage) are extremely rare. Leaks are usually caused by fill needles mistakenly jabbed into the port stem or tubing (which are not self-healing). It's possible for saline to leak if the tubing becomes disconnected from the port (I guess that would be considered a manufacturing defect, although I'm not sure Inamed or Ethicon would admit to it). I know of only one OH bandster who had to have surgery to correct a leaking band, and I don't know if they ever figured out where the leak was. Every band is tested for leaks, not only at the factory but by the surgeon when the band is placed. Doing that is part of the surgical protocol that Inamed requires of surgeons (only surgeons who have completed Inamed's training program are allowed to buy the Lap-Band). I would assume that the Ethicon protocol is the same.
I have one more comment about the durability of the band. Over on the lap-band forum and sometimes on the main board, I sometimes hear rumors about the band only lasting 7 years, or 4 years, or whatever number. This kind of thing is often posted by OH members who had some other kind of surgery, or who list no surgery type (making me suspect trolls), or by newbies who say something like, "My hairdresser has a client whose sister had the band and it broke after 3 years and she had to have it removed."
To which I always reply, "And my hairdresser has a client whose brother-in-law's best friend had a UFO land in his pasture."
The point being that this kind of thrice-told story is about as accurate as the message you used to get after playing the game "Telegraph" (maybe they call it "Telephone" now). Maybe that sister did have to have her band removed, but probably not because it broke. More probably because she found ways to eat around the band, didn't lose weight or made her band slip through overeating, revised to another WLS procedure, and wants to blame all that on the band.
Finally, I would have gotten an adjustable gastric band even if I had been told I was going to have to replace it every 10 years for the rest of my life! I know 2 women my age, one a fitness instructor whose joints take a beating, and the other a nurse who is on her feet all day, *****cently had hip replacements. They know perfectly well that this new hip isn't going to last her for the rest of their lives, but living with pain and disability for the next 30 years wasn't part of their life plans. Or mine either.
I don't mean to sound like I'm preaching. Obviously, this is a hot button for me!
Jean
Jean McMillan c.2009-2013 - Always a bandster at heart
author of Bandwagon (TM), Strategies for Success with the Adjustable Gastric Band & Bandwagon Cookery. Bandwagon for Kindle now available on Amazon. Read my blog at: jean-onthebandwagon.blogspot.com
thank you so much Jean. I will have to do more research on my own but you gave me some excellent information.
The people in my LB group are under one year from surgery. Nobody who is long term ever comes to the group so I have to learn as we go.
I should start reading on the LB forum but am afraid of getting "opinions" rather than facts. I am not implying that you gave me an opinion. This was very helpful information.
My LB group is wonderful. I was worried that there might be a problem since I had the RNY. No problems, they crowned me the Slice & Dicer.
Kisses
Annette
The people in my LB group are under one year from surgery. Nobody who is long term ever comes to the group so I have to learn as we go.
I should start reading on the LB forum but am afraid of getting "opinions" rather than facts. I am not implying that you gave me an opinion. This was very helpful information.
My LB group is wonderful. I was worried that there might be a problem since I had the RNY. No problems, they crowned me the Slice & Dicer.
Kisses
Annette
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