BrandNewDawn

Linda, You are fabulous at fifty. I am so sorry to hear about your difficult year. I wish you so much happiness in 2011. You look absolutely beautiful. Dawn

I have been banded about 2 and a half years now. I started at around 230 and got down to 175 but I kind of go up and down about 10 pounds depending upon the time of year and my activity level. I would still like to lose some more weight but would need to exercise more and give up some foods that I just don't want to give up right now. I have had only 2 fills and I had to go right back and have my second fill removed because I was too tight. I have less restriction than when I had my fill but after my "too tight" experience, I was not in a hurry to go back and get any more fills. There are things that I do not like about my lap band but I know I would be right back up to 230+ without it. I like maintaining (even if I am still "overweight" on a BMI chart) rather than gaining and constantly fighting the appetite. I can breathe better, I sleep better, I have more energy, I generally feel healthier than I did at 230. I come back to read the forums usually a few times a week. Many of the people who posted on the forum back when I was banded have moved on. I enjoy reading the updates from the people who were banded around the same time I was and of those banded before me who were inspirational to me when I first started. I will continue to read the forum. Maybe we will see some more "oldtimer" updates. Take care and have a blessed holiday! Dawn

I can eat bread and rice, at least on some days and at some times of the day. Just depends, usually only my evening meal. Rice, maybe 1/4 cup and bread, a few bites (sometimes more) at the end of the meal. I do not keep my lapband tight though. I agree with Angie, you might have some irritation and swelling and should just take it easy a few days. Then start small, SMALL bites too, think toddler size and chew (I used to count to 30) before swallowing. I would skip trying to eat bread until you can manage protein and vegies/fruits. It is supposed to be the last thing we eat anyway (if we have room) and I think that is because it is so troublesome for so many of us. Good luck with your band.

Congratulations!! So very happy for you. What a special blessing. Take care of yourself.

jojobeans, It is my understanding that some minor band slips can be repaired. A slipped band can be replaced after the healing process is complete if the patient wants to replace it. I have read that if you have had a slipped band, it makes it more likely that you may slip again. I do not know if any actual medical research has been done to support this theory. A band slip does not mean that there was anything "faulty" about the band itself. Nicole, Good to hear from you. I have gained back 10 pounds from my lowest and that was with my band (although kind of loose). I would be lost without it. Best wishes for maintaining what is still a substaintial amount of weight loss. Take care.

Carrie, Hey, the holidays are hard. All those extra holiday foods that only come around once a year. Everybody (even "normal" people) gain weight around the holidays. Don't get so down on yourself. Make your goal to get through the holidays without gaining any weight and then get back on track with the New Year. I know you can do it. Dawn

Yeah, What is it about the holidays and this forum!!! Last year, the same thing. Personally, I have always felt that there is room for everyone's opinion, if you don't like what they say, ignore it and move on. Using the search feature is valuable for the wealth of information it provides for those who want to take the time to read. And asking the question over and over is okay too, because the forum always has new people with new experiences to talk about, plus it builds new relationships between new and old members. If you don't want to read/reply to a post, no one is making you. Sure,some of the posts get old to those of us who have been around awhile, I agree with Pammie about the "am I too tight" posts but I usually do not read them. People do seem a bit sensitive on this forum, especially to anyone who does not agree with them. But, it is what it is... Dawn

Angie, Hey, I'm still around, just been busy as well as maintaining the same 40 pound weight loss for the last year and not losing any more even though I need to. So, most of the time, I really feel like I do not have much of anything to add to what is being said on the forums by people still in their active weight loss phase. I'm happy to hear that you got your restriction back. My band is fickle like that too,so is my husband's. I think that is just part of the having a lapband. I have not had a fill in over a year and there are days when I PB or slime. Most of mine is from not chewing enough or taking too big of a bite or not waiting long enough between bites, occasionally, I try to eat more than I should. Just poor eating behavior and I'm almost 2 years into this. Without this band I would still be 225 or heavier. I probably need a fill to lose more weight but I'm really just not interested in EVER being too tight again. Most meals I can eat about a cup of food before I get that soft stop feeling, that would be like some meat, some vegetables, small amount of starchy food like beans, rice, mashed potatoes. On the days I can only take a few bites, I get annoyed because I know myself well enough that if I am NOT getting good, solid, nutritious food down, I'm going to substitute some slider food which is not good. So, I really hate the days when I cannot eat food. I started exercising more but it still has not budged me off my plateau so until I can figure out how to "diet" successfully, I guess I am stuck here. I do not consider myself a lapband success but I am not a lapband failure either, somewhere in between I guess. Anyway, good luck with the restriction, hope it works out well for you. Dawn =)

LisaBen, I have been reading on this forum since March 2008 and the swelling and needing to have some fill removed seem pretty common. I think their is a fine line between "sweet spot" restrictiona and being too tight. I also think that the "too tight" fill is the one that works the best for rapid weight loss. And, many lapband patients are looking for quick results and are willing to tolerate the tight restriction required for rapid weight loss. The only thing is, that tight restriction can cause the swelling and the need for unfills. And, if you go back in for another fill without letting all of the swelling go down, you end up right back in the same situation but patients want their fill back because they gain weight without it or stop losing (like me). It is a vicious cycle. You can end up slipping your band from being too tight for too long. Congrats on losing 120 pounds. That is great! Good for you for being able to maintain your weight without a fill. Hopefully, the longer you can go without a fill, the more the swelling will go down so that if you ever need a fill, you will okay. Good luck.

I've always had a sweet tooth. Even as a kid, I liked the sugar cereals and the snack cakes more than real food, and I used to eat ice cream sundaes for lunch instead of lunch (only occasionally) so I do not find myself craving sweets anymore than what is "normal" for me. I find that I eat less sweets than I used to though and more salty, crunchy stuff which I used to be able to leave alone completely. I usually try to eat the healthy stuff that I need, but I know I won't make it through the holidays without an eggnog or pumpkin shake. All things in moderation! Kudos to all of you who can and do substitute "no fat, no sugar, no carb." To me, all of that equals "no taste" or that funny fake sugar after taste and the fake fat texture is all wrong. If I am going to eat it, it has to be the real thing or nothing at all. But, I know the only way for me to manage sweets is to not eat any at all and I have not been able to manage to do that yet!

Hey Carrie, Good to see you back. I have not tried to "go it alone" without a fill but I have not had a fill in more than a year now. I plateaued around March and then I ended up gaining weight over the summer (about 5 pounds) and I still have not gone for another fill. I have decided to try to lose the weight I gained over the summer in the traditional manner, better choices about eating and more exercise but so far, I have not been able to budge the summer weight. I still have restriction at 1.4 cc's in my 4 cc band. Some days, I have quite a bit of restriction and I am just not willing to go get another fill when I have days when I struggle to eat 3 meals. There are days when I think about getting fluid removed so that I can consistently eat three healthy meals a day and stop grazing/snacking because of never feeling full. But, I think that I would be right back with my bad eating habits if I had absolutely no restriction. Not good! I just don't know, I know I do not want to be too tight. I guess, at 50% of excess weight lost, I am successful but I would be happier with a greater percentage of weight loss but it seems the only way to do it is by being too tight (for me anyway) and I am just not willing to do that which leaves me the tradtional weight loss methods for the moment. I still have the band restricting me and I guess I really need to learn to eat better.

I thought it was a little too much information and I can see the dramatic writing style might have scared off some people. However, I understand it can hurt to have food stuck. I do not get food stuck very often after 18 months of having my lapband but it does still occasionally happen. Sometimes I do not even really know why. I guess I have never had something stuck in the way it was described in the post, whatever is stuck usually comes right back up with little effort and it is usually a small amount, like the last bite or two. But each of us are affected differently by our bands. I also do not have problems with anxiety but I can understand how that could cause a stuck session to seem worse, especially if you get your breathing all messed up. Once again, it is important to emphasize that we are all going to "react" differently to stuck food. The lapband is a unique experience for all of us. Stormy, I hope you are feeling better.

Wow! someone must be really bored at work today. Five (5) newbies between 10:00 and 1:30 all posting in this incredibly interesting thread about nothing. Fascinating!

No, like Lindsay I was concerned about being turned away and needing to re-schedule and I did not want that to happen. Also, I felt that following the pre-op diet was the beginning of my commitment to the necessary lifestyle changes I needed to make in order to get my eating under control The pre-op diet is also supposed to shrink your liver and make surgery safer and easier for you and your surgeon. Will you find people on the forum who overate the night before surgery? Of course you will. It seems like lately there are more than the usual number of posts dedicated to telling all. And while I personally do not have any issue at any time with how people want to manage their lapbands, I do not really want/or need to hear about how we continue our same old patterns. I find our successes much more uplifting than our failures. But, maybe that is just me. Good luck with your surgery.