9/7/07 7th fill and possibly bad news
Sep 04, 2007
I went in for my 7th fill today and was hopeful that I would finally have restriction by the end of my visit. Well, instead I learned that I might definitely have a leak in my port or tubing. My doctor only took 1cc of fluid out of my band today and says I definitely should have had more fluid than that. Tomorrow I go in for a UGI in which I will have a barium swallow test to confirm this suspicion. If the slow leak is confirmed then I will have my port replaced. He says he doesn't think the leak is in the band itself, but if he discovers that it is then he will either replace the band with one of the newer versions, or try something else if I have too much scar tissue for another band placement. I specifically asked about the VGS surgery and he says he could do it, but doesn't like this particular surgery. I wouldn't have him do this revision anyway since he says he doesn't like it. I would want someone who feels very comfortable doing that surgery, has done revisions several times, and doesn't have negative feelings about it.
Anyway, I plan to take this one step at a time for now. I'm going to focus on hoping we find the problem and promptly correct it so that I can get to the business of losing weight.
8/20/07 Doing low-carb diet
Aug 20, 2007
I've decided to eat low-carb Atkins style. I've gained weight on vacation last week and now I have to lose it. Seems this is the only way I'm going to lose weight anyway. I'm not fond of low-carb because I'm really not much of a meat eater, but I have to say it does work. I'm doing this in hopes that I will someday have restriction and be able to keep off the weight that I lose doing LC. I do not want to go through this yo-yo diet thing that I have for the last 15 years. Oh and by the way, I've recently learned that I made a mistake. I have a 10cm band, not a 10cc band. Now I can understand why my surgeon is so careful about my fills, but I still don't get restriction. He says my band can hold almost 7cc's. I'm going to try not to worry.
8/5/07 I had my 6th fill on Thursday
Aug 05, 2007
I went in on Thursday and had my 6th fill. My doc told me if still didn't experience any restriction to let him know on my next appointment (beginning of Sept.). He said he would check to see if I have a leak in my band. My doc doesn't do fills under flouro so he relies on how much should be in my band when he goes to fill it in (by taking the fluid out) and then puts a little more in. This seems to work with other people he's filled, but I don't think it works so well with me. He has been underestimating how much fluid I need in my band. This time is no exception either. I thought I had restriction based on how slowly my water went down during my drink test, but now that it's 3 days later I can definitely say that I still don't have much restriction. I was able to eat a whole cheeseburger w/ the bun and french fries today. Granted, I know I shouldn't be eating these things, but why am I able to eat the whole thing? On my 4th fill I remember not being able to eat bread at all! I'm going on vacation this month so I really wanted some type of restriction before I went. Turns out I'll have to wait to return before I can say something to my doc. I really hope I don't have a leak, but it would explain things. I have to wonder if I've made a mistake by choosing this band? I'm thankful that I don't experience the problems other people have with the band, but I also haven't experienced much weight loss either.
7/28/07 I had to call!
Jul 28, 2007
I'm sorry, but I had to call my doc for another appointment. I can eat anything I want again and I'm not getting full faster like I did after my last fill. I don't know why I'm having such a hard time getting and keeping restrictions, but this is starting to get on my damn nerves! I'm trying not to become a problem for my doctor because I want him to give me more fills sooner than he wants to, so I have to be nice and not complain when I see him. I have an appointment for next week so I'm trying to get opinions from my friends on how I should talk to him. I can't let my frustration with this whole thing come out during my appointment so that he doesn't think that I don't trust his judgement.
7/25/07 Had my 5th fill yesterday
Jul 25, 2007
Here I am on my 5th fill and I'm back to not having any restriction again! How is that possible? He told me I had 3.3cc's of fluid in my band and he added another .25cc's of fluid yesterday which brings me to about 3.55cc's. I don't know why he only added .25 when I told him that my restriction was gone. I think he's trying to be careful and not give me an overfill, but I also think he's being too cautious. I tried to tell him yesterday to keep me on a 4 week fill plan for now, but he insisted I be kept on a 6 week plan. I've only lost 4 pounds since my last fill which means I'm losing 1 pound per week. I'm okay with that as long as I continue to lose. The problem is that when I don't have restriction I either gain or stay the same. I've had enough time staying the same and I want to keep up the losing momentum (as slow as it is). Looks like I'm going to have to call him again!
6/27/07 4th fill seems to be the charm!
Jun 27, 2007
I went to see my doctor again yesterday and asked for another fill, to which he obliged. He thought he gave me an overfill and had me do the standard drink test, but I passed the test yet again. I thought I was doomed to not have any restriction again and would have to wait until next month. Well let me tell you, I had soup for dinner that night and it went down fairly smoothly. My problem came when I tried to drink water and learned that I couldn't gulp like I normally do when I drink. It got stuck and it hurt! For my next meal the next day I had breakfast at IHOP and ordered eggs (soft), toast, bacon, & hashbrowns. Everything was fine until I tried to eat the toast. That hurt too! For the first time I think I'm finally experiencing what it is to have restriction. I'm not sure I like it though. I don't want simple food to hurt when I eat. I ate in very small bites and my 15yr old daughter who weighs half my current weight watched me eat long after she'd finished and asked me why I was bothering to try eat when it looked so painful? I had to laugh because she was right! I stopped trying and left most of my food on the plate. My eggs were cold by then anyway. The thing is I was only full for about 2 in a half hours, and by 3 hours out I was downright hungry again. I generally only eat twice per day and very rarely snack in between. I'm not used to eating 3 times per day even though I'm supposed to. This is going to be a challenge for me. It's also exciting for me once again. It's something new and different and learning what things I can and can't eat are going to be somewhat of a sight for those sharing meals with me.
6/20/07
Jun 20, 2007
So here we have my third fill yesterday and I'm just now starting to feel a little restriction. I complained to my surgeon about my lack of restriction and he still only gave me a .5cc fill. This brings me up to 2cc's in a 10cc band. What boggles my mind is that he says only 4-5cc's can fit in my 10 cc band. That doesn't make any sense to me. Either way I'm still struggling to lose weight. He keeps telling me to relax, the restriction will come before I know it, and that it's only been 3 months blah, blah, blah. One bright spot is that he told me I could come back next week if I still don't feel any restriction at all. I burped when we did the drink test after my fill and he thought it was a good sign. Today I found that I'm still able to eat in volume. I chose to stop myself because I'm tired of being fat. I'm also going to eat more meat (even though I'm not really a meat eater) just so I can try to get full faster. I have to do this on my own because my band isn't helping me much. I have to say my overall feeling is that I'm disappointed in the outcome of my surgery so far.
5/16/07 Second fill yesterday and still nothing!
May 16, 2007
Yesterday I got my second fill of another 1cc in my 10cc band. My doctor told me that I only had about .5cc's left from first fill. I asked him what happened to the other .5cc's he put in the first time. He gave me an explanation about air bubbles and fluid which made absolutely no sense to me. In any case he says I now have 1.5cc's in my band. Guess what? I still have no restriction! I tested it today once I could eat solid food again and I found out I can still eat alot w/o getting full faster. He gave me a follow up appointment for 2 months from now, but told me I could come back earlier if I felt I needed to. I will definitely be calling him for another appointment earlier than July. I need the structure that the band is supposed to provide. I haven't lost anymore weight since I had the surgery. That was 2 months ago!
4/17/07 I had my first fill!
Apr 17, 2007
Today I had my very first fill of 1cc in a 10cc band. I was initially afraid of the needle and I asked for a local anesthetic (sp?), but my surgeon assured me that I would not need one. He had me do a simulated crunch like I was exercising and he put the fill in my port. He was right I didn't need the local. I was actually shocked that it didn't hurt like I anticipated. Anyway, I'm on liquids for dinner and mushies for breakfast, then I can have regular food for dinner tomorrow. I started to eat all the wrong food for meals once I began to eat solid food again. Old habits die hard. I'm hoping with this fill it will jump start my good eating habits again. Actually, I'm in control of that 100%.
Doing better 4/6/07
Apr 06, 2007
I've been on soft foods for about 2 1/2-3 weeks and feel so much better now that I'm off liquids. I don't get hungry as much, but I also notice I can't eat as much as I used to. I haven't had a fill yet so in my mind I should be able to eat the same since I don't have restriction. The scale didn't move for about 2 weeks once I started soft food (which is what I expected) and then all of a sudden I lost 3 pounds! It's not like I've done anything different so I don't know why I lost weight. I'll take it though. I start solid food next week. Let's see what happens now.
