vangirl

I had some issues with my first fill due to the fill dr. having trouble finding the port and having to poke around for it, which was very unpleasant. But the poke from the needle going in is really minor, less painful than getting blood drawn. I prepared myself by watching a fill being done on youtube and was freaked when I saw it. But when it went in for the first time, I was surprised at how small of a deal it is. I don't think the numbing is necessary, if it's easy to find the port.

An update: I called OCC this morning, and they patched me through to one of the doctors. He told me it could be that the saline wasn't emptied into the port but into the scar tissue surrounding my port, or there could be a leak, or I could be one of those few patients that need a larger fill. But there is no way to know for sure unless I do it under fluoro. I can save some money and go to NW Fills which is about 3 hours away and across the border, but I don't want to gamble with any unknowns now. I figure if there is anything wrong with the band, I'd have to go back to Mexico anyway, and it's just better to suck it up, pay the airfare and go to the experts who can give me a definitive explanation as to what is wrong. And fix it if necessary. So back to Mexico I go! Have to now find some decent fares and book my ticket. It was so reassuring to talk to the Dr. He told me to call them anytime if I had any concerns about anything. Reminded me of why I was so impressed with their professionalism and caring in the first place.

I really hope there is a good explanation, because I'm not able to sleep now with the worry of what could have gone wrong. I'm terrified that maybe there is a leak or something. I know he did put in 3ccs because I saw it go in, but there is a possibility that some leaked out or didn't go in properly because he had so much trouble finding the port, it was all guesswork. I am sorely wishing I had gone back to OCC for my first fill like I had originally planned to do. I had hoped to save money by going to the local fill doctor, but in hindsight it would have been worth to pay that extra money for the reassurance of everything being ok. I am most definitely going to call OCC tomorrow and hopefully get some advice on what to do. This sucks.

It's been more than a week now, so I thought that it would have kicked in by now. So far I haven't noticed any change in the level of restriction since I got it on the 16th. My appointment to get more fill is on the 30th, so I'm hoping that if something were to happen, it would happen by then. In any case, I am going to give OCC a call on Monday. There are so many possibilities as to why this could be happening (e.g. fill not kicked in yet, a leak, mislabeling, or fill just not being enough) that I officially need some expert opinion on what I should do. I am curious, though about the idea of a fill kicking in later. I've heard that from a number of people, but the fill dr. I went to said that I should feel it pretty much right away. What is the mechanics behind a fill kicking in later? My thought was that once the saline is there, it's there, it can't really move anywhere else, can it?

Ok it helps to know that they both close to about 1/2 an inch irrespective of the size. I'm just confused why I have so little restriction compared to what I hear from others, especially when I'm now filled 3/4's of the way through. Not to say that I don't have any, but I know that I'm doing all of the work right now. Yes I'm frustrated... And worried too... What if 4ccs is not enough? What happens when I lose the stomach fat and the band gets looser and I've used up all my ccs?

This makes so much more sense now. It says 10cm on my card. I did show it to my fill doc but I think I confused him by saying I had a 10cc band which I thought I did. It doesn't say on the card how much it actually holds. So I have a 4cc band, not a 10cc one. Crap, I really hope that upping it to 3.5ccs will give me some restriction because I don't have a lot to play around with now.

I apologize if this topic has been posted before. I have a 10cc band, and I have a vague recollection of Dr. Ortiz telling me after the surgery that I could have up to 4ccs in a 10cc band. I was still loopy on medication, so I didn't really understand or trust my memory of what I was told, but I made sure to tell this to the fill doctor I went to for my first fill, as this gave him a guideline of where to start. When he put in 3ccs (which I have right now), I was able to drink water no problems, but when he increase it to 4ccs, the water started to gather at the pouch and a few drops started coming up. So he reduced it back down to 3ccs. I now have an appointment to see him next week to see if I can increase it by .5 ccs or something because I don't have enough restriction with just the 3ccs. But it got me to thinking, why did Dr. O say up to 4ccs in a 10cc band? I guess he would have known from operating on me that that would be around where my 'sweet spot' would be. My experience during my first fill suggests he was right on the money with that. But I am curious as to why I'd need a 10cc band if 10ccs was more than what I could have. Maybe I was just on the borderline, and 4ccs would have been too little? I guess this is a question best asked to a doctor, but I'm really curious about how they decide what size band is best, and why that doesn't necessarily correspond to how many ccs you can have. I assumed that it did. I.e., that a person with a 10cc band could potentially have up to 10ccs.

All of those things you've mentioned Yes, chances are you will miss being able to eat the things you used to eat and the amounts you used to eat. And having to plan can be a pain in the ass. And for me, it was and still is hard to get used to not being able to drink with my meals. But despite these frustrations, I am still glad I did it. That's what sold me on it in the end. When I was pre-band and asking people about their experiences, everyone had different things to say, including recovery time, rate of weight loss, post-surgery issues, and what they could/could not eat. But across the board, they all said they were really happy they had done this for themselves.

Wow, trs893 is only 15? I'm so impressed! I'm in Vancouver Canada and I went to Dr. Arseneau at St. Paul's for my fill. Much cheaper and convenient than than the other options I considered, including going back to the OCC, but he does not do it under fluoro. If I want any adjustments within a two week period, he'll do that for free (it's included in the price). I'm actually going back to him next week because I'm just able to eat too much and working too hard to keep it under control. My willpower is starting to wear thin and I'm getting frustrated, not a good sign!

That is so sweet of you! And very much what I needed to hear this morning. I often feel like I am not winning the battle against the hunger and have been down on myself lately. My post was as much to give myself a pep talk because I'm actually in a bit of a discouraged space. So thank you for that! What a wonderful board this is! And WOW, looking at your weight loss, that's such an inspiration. You've lost the amount that I need to lose. -vangirl

I have been able to eat everything, which is probably not been a good thing. But I have found it surprising that I am not more full with solid foods than I am with drinking large volumes of liquid. I can get a fuller feeling from a glass of water than I can with a protein bar.

I too had the potato and cheddar soup posted by Jazzy Jude and it was yum! I liked this soup in particular because the potato in the soup (the liquidy parts, not the chunks, which I threw out) helped give some fibre and helped with gastrointestinal issues. I also had the chicken tortilla soup posted in the recipes section, which I loved and made countless times, and that really helped me to get through the liquid stage. I also experimented with butternut squash soup and other soups in the soup aisle, to help provide variety. I actually really enjoyed the creamy soups (I was never much of a soup-drinker) and I miss those days when I was full from just a 1/2 cup to a cup of those soups. My daily calories never went about 900, and I only felt deprived if I was around food in social situations. Thankfully I live alone, so I don't have to deal with others eating food around me that I cannot eat. I have actually, on a couple of occasionally, reverted back to the creamy soups stage for a day or two, when I felt like I couldn't keep the solid foods under control and was overeating. It actually helped. I might do that again soon.

Not drinking while eating has been the most challenging thing for me about life post-band. I can deal with waiting half an hour after drinking, but not being able to drink for an hour afterwards is killer. But as with every other struggle or challenge I've dealt with post-band, this too has gotten easier with time, and I hope it will continue to get easier as I adjust to this totally new way of eating. I've found that chewing gum helps or having one of my chewable multivitamins following a meal. Even ending your meal with a sweet food can help to get rid of that aftertaste (e.g. a mint, strawberry). As for spicy foods, a small amount of sugar on the tongue really helps to get rid of the burn (much better than water actually). Plain yoghurt also helps with that (as well as cleansing the palate), although I'm not sure if that would count as a liquid or solid. I've been counting sf puddings and popsicles as a liquid.

Oh, and to expand on what Jude said, when I was on the pre-op, it felt to me like it was a test to see if I had what it takes to be successful with the band. It's more than just weight loss, it's seeing if you are committed to the process and likely to follow the rules and do the work that is necessary, since the band won't do all of it for you.

Looking at your numbers, you've made some good headway with your pre-op weight loss! You're more than a third of the way through. Congrats! You can definitely do it!

I agree that it is more to do with the consistency of the food than the actual number of bites. I sometimes mentally count them, but I actually do what snowbird described, which is partial swallows and controlling the rate of what goes down depending on how chewed up it is. Often I will start out with a smaller bite to test it out, and depending on how that goes, I might increase the size of my bite. So far, I haven't had problems with PBing and sliming, but that could be because I'm not filled enough.

Has it really been 8 weeks and one day since I've been banded? Strange how time flies. In some ways, it feels longer, in other ways shorter. I feel pretty much back to normal. I can sleep on my stomach again (yay!) and although I do feel the port sometimes, it just takes a minor adjustment in my position, and I'm fine. All of the issues I had in the beginning - the gas pains, having trouble bending over and touching my left foot, the backaches - are either gone completely or very minor. My advice to the newly-banded is, whatever you are struggling with right now (i.e. gas, pain, constipation, etc.), know it will pass. Try not to let it frighten you, post on here and receive the support the wonderful people on here give. It does get better, and you will have made some friends along the way. I've lost about 15lbs post op, which I'm happy with. I could have lost more if I hadn't indulged over Xmas holidays and for a couple of weeks after. I'm now down to where I was before I gained the extra holiday pounds, which is what's on my ticker. In a way, I kind of lost a month of potential weight loss. But the first fill has given me a boost of motivation to get back on track. Hopefully I'll be able to find that sweet spot and start shedding those lbs. I'm thinking about joining a gym again. I haven't exercised as much as I should have, mainly because my body was healing and I was in a kind of self-protection mode, afraid to hurt myself or do anything that could cause a problem. But once I get that going, that will surely help with the weight loss even more. I just have to get onto the program and stick to it consistently. The negatives are that I'm still battling the head hunger, and to a degree, the body hunger as well. Those cravings, particularly in the evening, are really hard to deal with sometimes, and it takes all of my willpower (more than bandpower, unfortunately) to keep those under some level of control. Meaning, that I can keep my calorie count to a small amount below the daily requirement (somewhere in the 1500-1800 range), but not at the level I would like (around 1200 a day). There are so many times that I pass by a coffee shop or a bakery or some place that has foods I like and I wish I could just give into the craving and gorge myself to my heart's content. I actually miss that. But my desire to lose weight is stronger. I try to remind myself of that. It's a daily - an hourly - battle, but it is much easier with the band. I'm so glad I did this for myself, and I look forward to more success, not just in terms of weight loss, but in terms of my personal growth.

Unfortunately, it's a capsule, so I can't cut the pill But this morning I drank warm water with the pills and swallowed the largest ones first, and it went down ok. I'm still concerned about what I feel is not enough restriction for the food. I can get down more food that I should be able to, and don't have those signs of fullness or any pb-ing, sliming, etc. Even in the morning, with the increased restriction. I want to ask my fill doc for more, but I'm afraid of not being able to get my morning pills down if I get more restriction, even with the warmer water... I suppose worst-case scenario is I have to empty the capsule and mix it in a drink, but my pharmacist warned me it tastes/smells horrible.

So I'm having an interesting time with this first fill. On the one hand, I don't get any of the soft or hard signs of fullness when eating, and there are no restrictions on what foods I'm able to get down - bread, pasta, meat, it's all good. There isn't any greater sensation of fullness from solid foods than there is from drinking high volumes of water. So this has made me wonder if I should ask for a tiny bit more restriction, so I would be able to get that definitive sense of fullness. However, twice this week, I experienced getting a pill stuck when taking my morning medications, and it isn't even that big of a pill (about the same length and less than half the width of a multivitamin pill). The first time, it went down on its own after about 20 seconds, but this morning, it wasn't going down and I had to force myself to vomit it up, which it did with a bit of the water I drank with it. I'm feeling some residual soreness internally after that, but not too concerned (yet) about the band slipping or anything. But it's made me more confused about my fill. On the one hand, my sense of fullness when eating hasn't changed that much, but on the other hands pills that are smaller than the bites of food I eat are getting stuck! I think this is an increased-restriction-in-the-morning thing, but I would ideally like to have more restriction when it comes to eating actual food. Especially towards the end of the day, when I really get hungry. So I'm not sure whether to just leave it alone, or to ask for increased fill or a slight unfill. The morning medications unfortunately have to be taken in the morning, otherwise I'd just leave them for the end of the day.

I too hope that your husband will join you because I think if he feels like he's a part of this process, he may be less threatened by it. But yes, this is for you to do for yourself and your own well-being and future. I too find this forum incredibly supportive, no matter what stage I am in in the banding process.

I too find that ensuring I get enough protein helps with the hunger cravings. But I certainly do understand what you are going through! Even with my first fill, I am craving things all over the place. Hang in there and don't beat yourself up!

I discovered that too during my post-op liquid phase. And today, I discovered that a serving of five Swedish meatballs was 190 calories and only 12 grams of protein, less than my protein drink. I had assumed that actual animal protein would be a richer source, but who knew?

Send a message to Dolittle and ask him to send you a great article on how to have a good fill experience. I found that article really helpful and informative. What I did was only have liquids the day of the fill and at least for eight hours before. I was told I wouldn't need to be on liquids after the fill, but to be on the safe side, I decided to have just liquids for the rest of the day and the next day. I progressed to soft foods on the third day and solids the fourth day onward. I didn't go to OCC either, so this would be different than their instructions.

I am not currently in a relationship, but my memory of something was triggered when reading this thread. About a year and a half ago, I told my then-boyfriend that I had a plan (at that time, a distant dream, now a reality!) to have lap-band surgery, and his response was, if I have this surgery, what if I start getting a lot of male attention? I didn't really think about the implications of that comment at the time, but this thread jogged that memory of his insecurity at the time. It is quite interesting, the assumptions many people make about looks, confidence, and sometimes the sabotaging behaviours I have sometimes heard about from partners who want to keep their spouses overweight, for fear they will leave them. I don't know if it is appropriate or relevant enough to this topic, but one of the concerns I had before the surgery was what if after I lose the weight, I end up attracting shallow, superficial men who only care about my looks? I want a man who likes me for the person I am on the inside and accepts the person I am on the outside. I also wonder about what a potential partner would think once I tell him about the band.

When did you have your surgery? I had a lot of trouble ingesting liquids for my first two weeks post-surgery. I wasn't able to drink much water or liquid at all in my first week. So it was quite a surprise when I found that I could ingest solid foods close to the amount I consumed pre-surgery. I think things will change for you as time progresses, so it would be too early to tell when to go for your first fill. And in my case, I don't seem to get more full on solid foods than I do on liquids, and I don't quite understand why...