Teneene
3/22/08 Possible bad news, but I hope not!
Mar 22, 2008
I went to my scheduled fill appt. earlier this week and received some possible bad news. I had regained the little weight I'd lost from doing the pouch test (even while sticking to the rules) and according to his records I had only lost 1 pound from 6 weeks ago when I had my last fill. That was disappointing to say the least. The Doc checked my fill level and discovered once again that there was much less saline in my band than what he'd put in. Once again I had to get an esophagram done.
One thing the Doc did differently this time is fill me all the way up to 4cc's of saline and I have a 4cc band. He says this is most likely not the max b/c my band can hold a little more than 4cc's, but it's still scary to know that I don't have much left to go. I still have about 35-40 more pounds to lose. This fill is definitely a kicker b/c my very first night after my fill I had the worst experience of being stuck than I've ever had since getting the band a year ago. I actually thought I was overfilled b/c it lasted for 4 hours and I even vomited. I was even going to go to the ER that night. I haven't had to vomit since before I was banded so this was very scary for me. I hope my band is okay. I'll know in a couple of weeks when I go back to check my fill level and the results of my test. That was about 5 days ago and I haven't had anymore problems since then. I'm definitely eating less now and I'm glad I didn't go get an unfill. I think the best thing I did after that night was have one full day of liquids the next day. I was afraid to eat anyway. Well, I guess I'll just hope for the best b/c I really don't want another surgery whether it be minor or not.
One thing the Doc did differently this time is fill me all the way up to 4cc's of saline and I have a 4cc band. He says this is most likely not the max b/c my band can hold a little more than 4cc's, but it's still scary to know that I don't have much left to go. I still have about 35-40 more pounds to lose. This fill is definitely a kicker b/c my very first night after my fill I had the worst experience of being stuck than I've ever had since getting the band a year ago. I actually thought I was overfilled b/c it lasted for 4 hours and I even vomited. I was even going to go to the ER that night. I haven't had to vomit since before I was banded so this was very scary for me. I hope my band is okay. I'll know in a couple of weeks when I go back to check my fill level and the results of my test. That was about 5 days ago and I haven't had anymore problems since then. I'm definitely eating less now and I'm glad I didn't go get an unfill. I think the best thing I did after that night was have one full day of liquids the next day. I was afraid to eat anyway. Well, I guess I'll just hope for the best b/c I really don't want another surgery whether it be minor or not.
3/8/08 It's my one year Bandiversary!
Mar 08, 2008
I cancelled my fill scheduled for February because I still had restriction. At around the end of February I began to realize I could eat way too much food and my next scheduled fill wasn't until the end of March. I read something on one of these boards about RNY patients who wanted to shrink their pouches by doing a 5 day pouch test. I researched the test and decided to try it out for myself even though I had the lap-band. Turns out that was one of the best decisions I've made in a long time. Not only do I feel more restriction now that the test is over, but I also broke my plateau and I've finally reached 196 pounds this morning! I am so excited about finally being in Onederland!
I have to admit I never really thought it mattered if you drank with your meals or not, or if you only ate within a certain time period. Now I'm convinced this works. From this point forward I will eat my meals within 20 minutes and stop whenever it's time. I also plan to not drink with my meals because I do feel full faster when I do this. I'm not feeling like I deprive myself. I'm really trying to listen to my body because it does tell me when I'm satisfied. It took me one full year to finally get it, and one little test proved it to me.
I have to admit I never really thought it mattered if you drank with your meals or not, or if you only ate within a certain time period. Now I'm convinced this works. From this point forward I will eat my meals within 20 minutes and stop whenever it's time. I also plan to not drink with my meals because I do feel full faster when I do this. I'm not feeling like I deprive myself. I'm really trying to listen to my body because it does tell me when I'm satisfied. It took me one full year to finally get it, and one little test proved it to me.
1/29/08 Saga continues....
Feb 01, 2008
No one can say I don't keep up with the maintenance of this band! I've been sick with a cold (felt like the flu), yet I still went in to get another fill. Doc says I lost 5 pounds from my last fill, but I had to explain to him that I've been sick and haven't wanted to eat much. Prior to getting sick I was able to eat whatever I wanted. Now that I've had this last fill I actually feel restriction. Doc says "restriction is a myth" and that the only thing the band is supposed to do is reduce my hunger and make me eat less. He thinks I've been lurking on the internet too much. I don't care what he calls it as long as I continue to lose weight. Right now I'm two pounds away from Onderland. My short-term goal is to finally get there!
1/2/08 Got the fill but it was a strange process...
Jan 02, 2008
I went to get my fill that very next week and my doctor did my fill a little different this time. He had me stand up and drink water as he was giving me the fill. The object was for me to drink as he filled my band until my water didn't go down anymore. He was then supposed to take a little out so that I would be at restriction but not overfilled. He says this is a little trick he does when the person is close to capacity in their band. Apparently I'm already close to capacity by having 3.8cc's of fluid in my band at this point. Prior to giving me the fill he checked to see how much fluid I actually had in my band and it was only 2.?cc's. That's why I didn't have any restriction. The same thing happened as the last time when he had inadvertantly taken fluid out instead of putting it in. The thing is he stopped at 3.8cc's because I never told him the water stopped going down. I can't eat a subway sandwich anymore, but I'm not at the restriction level I was before either. I can live with this though. I'm not losing weight right now, but if I exercised like I'm supposed to then that might kick start my weight loss again. (Duh!) This time I think it's my fault that I'm not losing weight. I can't expect this thing to do all the work. Also, I'm afraid of getting to capacity in my band and I'm not even close to goal. I haven't even made it to one year out yet.
12/15/07 I have to go back to the Doc again.
Dec 15, 2007
It seems that when I went in for another fill this past Tuesday the doctor must have inadvertently taken out more fluid than he thought he put in. I literally have no restriction at all! Prior to my appointment on Tuesday I did have a little restriction. I am now able to eat a whole cheeseburger if I want to bread and all. As much as I'd like to live off of pizza and cheeseburgers and subway sandwiches again, I know that this will just get me right back where I started. It's not worth it. I called the doctor and got another appointment for next week to get another fill. Yes, I did this right before Christmas! I have parties to attend, but I want restriction for Christmas.
12/10/07 I'm back from my cruise
Dec 10, 2007
I just got back from my 7 day cruise last evening and I've only gained 3 pounds! I'm excited about this because I've always gained at least 7-10 pounds each cruise in the past. I get my fill tomorrow and I'll be back to having restriction again. On my cruise I did have some problems with breakfast, but I didn't have to eat with the group at those times so it didn't matter much. Once dinnertime came which was around 8:30p I was fine (and this was the time I ate with the group). I think the only reason I had problems at breakfast is because my period hit at the last leg of the cruise. In any case I have to say my cruise was a success and fun! I probably wouldn't have gained this much if I didn't drink as much as I did. It's something about cruising that makes me want to eat and drink. I think it has something to do with the waitstaff from the bar coming around about every 10 minutes asking me if I want anything to drink. What am I supposed to say on vacation? No? That'll never happen!
11/11/07 Turning a corner in my life
Nov 11, 2007
It's been a month since I posted here. I still have the same fill and haven't gone back for another just yet. I have a cruise to go on the first week of December and then I go in for a fill right after I get back. I did it this way on purpose so that I'm not embarrassing myself during meal times by getting stuck. It's a group cruise and these people have no idea that I had this surgery. I really don't want to have to explain why I didn't eat most of my food, or why I had to excuse myself to the bathroom. On another note, I've been going through a hard time personally. I recently broke up with my boyfriend of many, many years and I'm trying to find a way to move forward with my life. I haven't been on this site for a while until now. I'm trying to maintain the monthly updates even when I don't feel like doing it. I've lost a total of 30 pounds so far and it may not be much to others, but for me it's a blessing. I haven't been this weight since I had my daughter. This is what I'm thankful for on this Thanksgiving holiday, well among the other obvious things like my family, good health, and having the experience of loving someone like I did.
10/11/07 It was the worst day for food!!!
Oct 11, 2007
Let me start by saying I thought when I ate that fish before and it got stuck that it was the worst feeling. Well let me tell you, some friends and I went to Ruby Tuesdays for lunch today and I experienced the absolute worst stuck feeling I've ever felt. It was probably foolish of me to order the southwestern egg rolls (or taquitos) in the first place, but I love those things and I've never had a problem eating them before. Today I had a problem. I was eating my second one when it got totally stuck in my chest somewhere. I completely stopped talking for about a minute. I tried to swallow again (actually several times), but nothing happened. I eventually got up to walk outside thinking that all I needed to do was stretch a little and try to relax my muscles. Still nothing. It was so embarrassing even though my friends were aware of the issue. One of my lunch pals has the lap-band too and the other one had gastric bypass surgery. Eventually I went to the bathroom with the hopes of having a PB because the stuck feeling was lasting so long. I heaved, but only mucus would come up. I thought I was dislodging my band when it felt like I was finally going to vomit, but still only mucus and no food. 
I hate to be so graphic, but this is the only way I can explain what happened to me. I felt a little better after the mucus and thought maybe the food went down. Nope. We finally left the restaurant and went back to work and I was still stuck. The food finally went down after I was sitting in a meeting after lunch pretending to act normal. This stuck feeling lasted over an hour.
I was gun shy for dinner this evening and didn't want the same thing to happen to me again. I made tuna in the food processor so it would be mushy and had some crackers with it for dinner. At first it got a little stuck, but afterwards the food went down fine. I hope tomorrow is a much better day with this band.
I hate to be so graphic, but this is the only way I can explain what happened to me. I felt a little better after the mucus and thought maybe the food went down. Nope. We finally left the restaurant and went back to work and I was still stuck. The food finally went down after I was sitting in a meeting after lunch pretending to act normal. This stuck feeling lasted over an hour.I was gun shy for dinner this evening and didn't want the same thing to happen to me again. I made tuna in the food processor so it would be mushy and had some crackers with it for dinner. At first it got a little stuck, but afterwards the food went down fine. I hope tomorrow is a much better day with this band.
10/9/07 Had another fill today, my 9th one!
Oct 09, 2007
I don't know how many other people who've had the lap-band surgery has had 9 fills in only 7 months but I sure have. That sounds so crazy to me! I guess that shows my determination to make this gadget work the way it's supposed to work. I learned today that I lost the weight that I had gained back from having a lack of restriction. I'm down 7 pounds in one month. This brings me to where I was before I got my first fill. I've decided to join the Turkey day challenge and try to lose 14 pounds by then so that I can be in Onederland. I didn't let anyone else know about this goal because I don't want others asking me how I'm doing along the way. I hate getting asked, "How much weight have you lost so far?" I know people don't mean any harm, but it's just one of my pet peeves.
Today I only got .2ccs put in my band bringing it to 3.7ccs. Dr. Tishler said I only needed a little tweak and since I have a cold he didn't want to overfill me. I agree with him about this because I debated about whether I should keep today's appointment since I couldn't even eat my breakfast this morning prior to going to this appointment. I did the water drink test and it went down, but got kind of stuck when I left his office. I thought about going back in and asking for a slight unfill, but changed my mind when the water went down. I've been fine since then. I'm chalking this up to having a cold and not having my morning coffee before trying to eat. I did get really stuck on fish once and couldn't bring it back up no matter how hard I tried. I don't think my body agrees with Pb'ing. I had to wait for the fish to finally go down before I had any relief. I never thought I'd wish for a PB so bad like I did that day!
Today I only got .2ccs put in my band bringing it to 3.7ccs. Dr. Tishler said I only needed a little tweak and since I have a cold he didn't want to overfill me. I agree with him about this because I debated about whether I should keep today's appointment since I couldn't even eat my breakfast this morning prior to going to this appointment. I did the water drink test and it went down, but got kind of stuck when I left his office. I thought about going back in and asking for a slight unfill, but changed my mind when the water went down. I've been fine since then. I'm chalking this up to having a cold and not having my morning coffee before trying to eat. I did get really stuck on fish once and couldn't bring it back up no matter how hard I tried. I don't think my body agrees with Pb'ing. I had to wait for the fish to finally go down before I had any relief. I never thought I'd wish for a PB so bad like I did that day!
9/11/07 Had 8th fill today and good news!
Sep 11, 2007
Finally my doctor understands! He saw my film from my UGI test and determined my band is still in the right place. He took the saline out of my band and determined that I don't have a leak in my port because I had the same amount of fluid in it as he put in last week. So he then tells me, "I'm just going to have to fill you more aggressively than I do my other patients." I'm thinking, "You mean you finally get what I've been telling you for months?!!" So today instead of .25 or .50cc's of fluid, I get a one full cc of fluid in my band. Last week I had 2.5ccs of saline, this week I have 3.5cc's. I had cream of broccoli soup for dinner and I burped alot. I hope this means I have some restriction finally. He scheduled me for another fill next month, but told me if I don't have restriction after this fill to come in next week and he'll put more in. That's what I want to hear! Please God let this surgery work!
About Me
CT
Location
32.3
BMI
Surgery
05/08/2013
Surgery Date
Nov 07, 2006
Member Since
