GirlBarb

This is copied from another forum, it is written by a gastric band surgeon, I was surfing the internet and came across this, I liked it and it made me laugh.

#58

DrWatkins

Gastric Band Surgeon

Join Date: Dec 2007

Posts: 130

City: Cincinnati

State: OH Opinions differ about how gastric banding actually works.

My opinion is based on the fact that stretching the stomach wall shuts down the appetite hormones. When your stomach size is reduced from a football to a golf ball you are going to get stomach wall stretch and appetite hormone diminution on much fewer calories.

Also, the food takes a while to empty through the restriction so the full feeling lasts longer. Some patients will forget to eat dinner because they are still full from lunch.

We know about some of the appetite hormones floating around but we know that there are many more and that the way the stomach and the brain communicate is very complicated. The drive to eat is a very powerful biological drive. If the brain thinks for an instant that you're trying to starve yourself it will take drastic measures.

The small stomach pouch above the band fools the brain into thinking you've just eaten a Thanksgiving meal.

In some patients the appetite suppression is very powerful and some patients say they are never hungry after band surgery. Some patients deal with lots of "head hunger" which is a complex process and not easy to deal with sometimes.

As you lose weight, the stomach tissue inside the band loses weight and that is why you need additional fills as you lose your weight. At your goal weight, the stomach tissue thickness stabilizes and the need for fills diminishes quite a bit.

I read a lot of posts where patients do not have their bands perfectly adjusted.

Here's my version:

Perfectly adjusted - full on small meals, not hungry between meals, easy to lose 1-2 pounds per week, amorous feelings toward your surgeon and staff, send them a Christmas card that will bring tears to your eyes

Too loose - hungry, can eat large amounts of food, hard to lose weight, feels just like you are on a diet.

Too tight - everything wants to come back up including liquids, hurts to eat or drink, bad heartburn especially at night (when you lay down), the only thing that wants to go down is Cheetos and ice cream (bad stuff)

I think if you don't fit the "perfectly adjusted" description you should call your band surgeon to make it perfect with an adjustment.

Also keep in mind that each patient's band journey is very individual.

Hope that helps

brad

__________________

Gastric Band Surgeon since 2002

www.SynchronyHealth.com

"There are no secrets to success. Don't waste time looking for them. Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure...and persistence." Colin Powell

Remember that every band patient's journey is individual and that reaching your goal is far more important than how long it took you to get there.

8-10 pounds a month is a high expectation.

I would be happy to lose a pound a week!

I have lost so slow the last couple of months, I am going for another fill as soon as I can get in to the doctors office.

I still struggle with giving up food or being overweight. But that is because I am looking for food to be more than just nurishment. I guess that I am not one of the bandsters that have "gotten it" yet. But I am looking forward to the day it

will all just click for me.

Boy oh boy Amber, do I remember your story...I was horrified by it, it was just before my first fill! I truely feel bad that you are going through this ordeal! I pray that you will need to have only your port replaced and will not have to go the long wait for another band and the 21 phase that goes with it.

I know that Dr Ortiz will take of you either way and I hope that the forum will offer you some comfort knowing that we care about you. Be brave girlfriend, do what needs to be done, becasue a working band is worth multiple times it's weight in gold.

hugs, Barb

I was banded in June as well and have lost 33 lbs so far. I started out with more to lose than you did, so you are doing well...being a smaller person I would say. By comparison, I've had 4 fills and now have a total of 4cc's in my band (see my signature for fill sizes).

I never had restriction until my 3rd fill and this last tweak I received finally got me to where I feel full after eating about 1 cup of food. So, now I'm just waiting for the weight to fall off! I've got to concentrate harder on getting in enough water though. I know that's my biggest problem.

Good luck to you and breaking the plateau!

Denise

I think that I will need a fill, I thought that the slimming meant that I didn't. I worry about so much, I worry that I am stretching my pouch.

Hi Barb,

Sliming doesn't necessarily mean restriction..it means you are taking too big a bite and not chewing well enough.

If you are not feeling full after eating 3/4 cup of food per meal, you need a fill.

You are doing great so far, but if you need a little help, book a fill!!!

thanks Cat, I will

HI Cathy,

Sorry that I didn't respond earlier, I was without a computer for a month.

Here is my response, "HURRAY" you look so different, where did the bottom of you face go? LOL.

I always like to read the encouragment that you give to others, it inspires me to hear what you tell them, you are losing the weight very quickly from the way I see it. Keep being kind to yourself and keep you a priority.

Hugs, Barb

Hi Michelle,

As usual, you look fantastic, I have to say that I showed your profile to my husband and he said you are such a pretty girl. Thank you for all the sharing you have done and the motivation you have been to the rest of us. There are so many wonderful people on this forum. I am happy to be active again after not haveing access to the computer for a month!

Barb

Hi,

Boy this is confusing, I mean about how much fill to have. I got banded in June and have lost 30 pounds so far. I got my first feeling of restriction when I had my last fill 6 weeks ago. I lost only a couple of pounds.

I have had food get stuck a half a dozen times and after spitting up slime for 5-10 minutes, I am fine. Does this mean that I have the right amount of fill. Because I don't ever seem to feel full and I am hungry a lot of the time, feels like there is no band.

I have 20-25 more pounds to loose, and my weight is not budging.

What is your experience? Do you think that maybe I need to get the band fill tweeked up a bit? I have under 1.5 CC's

thanks for any advise, I really want to know what you think.

Hedi, You look beautiful, if it wern't for the dress, I would have to guess which of you is the queen.

Sorry about your husband, it must have scared the crap out of you.

I haven't lost as much as you , but I am real happy with the progress so far. I have lost a ton of inches.

And ten ponds since this picture was posted.

You have 16 year in your house. You are a hero. I hope all works out for you, anything has got to be better than what you have just gone thru. You are a strong young woman and I know you can are ARE handling things well.

So glad to hear from you, Barb

Hi Trina, I'm glad you got a good fill, it makes a big difference. Be carefull to chew 30 times and eat real slow, expecially the first couple of bites and first thing in the morning.

Barb

Denise, I feel like I know you and so I am so proud of your 50 pound loss. I am right behind you. best of luck to you and your Mom.

Barb

Wow 18 pounds. I was about the same starting weight as you. I have strugled with platues and was very frustrated, I just got restriction three weeks ago. Hang in there, if you are like the rest of us, you want instant results, weight loss is a slow process and ove time you will get there. The beauty is you will learn over time and keep off the lost pounds.

I can't tell you enough how much it is worth the wait, to slip into those smaller clothes and go off meds and like the way you look. You are worth it, you know it, or you wouldn't have invested in this great tool "the band"

this is a great place to help keep you on track, you are not alone, look at all the great suport and sugestions that have come your way.

I have had the band for four months now, I have had restriction for three weeks. Big difference. I am now learning what I can and cannot eat and to listen to what my body is telling me when it comes to eating. Sometimes I eat a bite or two and that's all I can get, other times the band will open after a couple of bites and let me eat. Soft foods like flounder and well cooked spinage go right down and one bite of hamuger will hurt and make me slime.

So because of this, it makes me want to know how afraid I should be of erossion and slippage.

Is there anyone out there that has experienced either of these and would they please let us know how it happened to them and what we should do to avoid it?

Thank you for your help.

Barb

Kathy, I hope you are feeling better soon.I am not a nurse, but for years I have used warm salt water to gargle with for the whole family, it is a safe thing to do until you get to the doctors, also use the nettie pot (sp) for your sinuses.Be well, Barb

Welcome Jo

Yeah, that post op glue is gross looking and made me feel dirty!!! It will come off, the longer it stays on your cuts the better for you.

Hi Trina,

Yeah it happened to me, they kept filling me (3 times) and I was not getting restrction, so they pulled out the fluid and found only 1 CC I had three fills and was supost to have 1.7 in there. She put in .5 on my fourth fill and I now have restriction.

It's a mixed blessing to have restriction. LOL

Barb

When I am sitting up, the port is behind to slightly above the incision...but when I lay down, the port is about an inch below the cut mark.

The OCC clearly told me no ab work for 3 months, I did wait, I was afraid of the port twisting.

I was taken OFF my BP meds yesterday! The Dr checked for kidney and liver damage, there was none.

I find my husband to be more appealing to me

I keep dropping jean sizes

Hearing coments from neighbors that they see how my face looks different

Getting looks from strange men (I was invisable before)

Getting to read and get support from this forum

Going for a whole hour on the tread mill with very little sweat (10 minutes was a killer and I was wet)

My headaches have gone away

I rarely crave sweets any more, I look at them in a negative way, so I care too much more about myself to eat that crap 99 % of the time anyway

The ladies that I met while getting banded and have remained in touch with

Having my husband proud of my accomplishments

Jessica, so many of us didn't lose anything until the first fill. Some even gained during banster hell, you are showing yourself how well you are going to do at reaching your goal. YEAH!

Hi, I met him. Dr Ortiz was later getting in for sergury so Dr M talked to me before hand in my room. He was a beautiful man is all I can say, he does all the bands with Dr O and when Dr O is away, he will do them without Dr O.

The thing I remember most about him is what he said to me just before being banded:

"This is a place of God and Healing"

Oh Cathy, so sorry. I once went for over a month! I had a blockage the size of a small bowling ball and almost had to have surgery, it pasted with medication, tears and blood.

My point to this grusome story is to not let it continue. Rub your tummy counter clockwise to help move things along in addition to taking whatever will work to get those toxins out!

I think that the PB medication that I am taking (mostly a diuretic) is making me get stuck again. I try to drink a lot but is goes right through the kidneys and not the bowel. Gez

Barbara

Hi Mail Mom,

You could also try to call all the bariatric surgeons in your area, some of them will the fills for much less. Mine charges me 50 dollars a fill, and if I have to go back within three weeks, it's free.

good luck, the band will work as a great tool, be patient.

Barb

I think the OCC BMI standard is lower. I qualified and I am classified as obese not morbidly obese and there was a lady from England there, really sweet gal, that I could not for the life of me figure out what she was doing there. She looked like possibly she could drop 20, 30 pounds maximum and that's stretching it! I know she was done on the day after me.

I met that same lady as I was leaving TJ. She was with her husband and had heard about OCC on Oprah. She was in the back of the van with here legs tucked and her knees under her chin. I would have loved to be thin enough to that. Your right, she is a lovely lady and her hubby was very nice too. I got banded on June 6th