Zoey2

I met my boyfriend about five months post op in March 2009, though we started off as friends and didn't really get serious until this year. I told him as soon as I met him that I had a lapband but mostly because I had been so sick and was living on liquids (way too tight of a second fill.) He's seen me at my worst through the complications I've had and I really don't know how I would have gotten through the last year without him, so I am definitely glad that I told him right up front.

Some of the stuff really freaks him out (like sliming and pb'ing and accidentally touching my port, moreso that because it hurts me) and I think, even after a year and a half, he still hasn't quite wrapped his head around what the band does and does not do, but he's always been very supportive (and tolerant of the neurotic tendencies that come with having been a 300lbs+ recluse.)

I actively date and was in a pretty serious relationship up until recently. I always hold off telling, but it is hard because I have a very hard time eating many things and usually a date involves lunch or dinner, etc. So, therefore, I end up telling some that I have had the surgery. I don't think that it has had any ill effects on my relationships at all.

One time recently though I didn't tell the guy and we went (for a second date) to a very nice restaurant that had fabulous food and I had to go puke twice! It was very embarrassing and I don't know what he was thinking. I guess we will always have these experiences.

Drinking - as I understand it, drinking while eating does a few things....

A. Washes food through the stoma or pouch.

B. Puts more pressure on the band which could lead to slip or enlarged stoma.

That is how I understand the drinking thing.

Food should be in your pouch so it can send signals to the brain saying you are full.....beverages wash the food through.

You seem to have had success with eating and drinking. I as a general rule follow the no drinking rule nearly to a tee.

Hope this helps -

Thanks Angie B, will need to try not drinking. I drink so much all the time and seem to think I HAVE to while eating. We'll see how it goes.

Thanks again,

I am scheduled for Surgery May 20...anyone else for the 20th? I am so excited, doing my pre op diet and doing very well with it!

I have 4 family members who have been banded...each and everyone of them look great. My sister is a year into the band, is now

at her goal weight and doing great.

Three cousins have had theirs for 3 years...all are healthy and doing well. I am so excited to join my "banded family"

Good luck and keep us posted. Nice that you have so many close to you that care share with you. That is awesome!!

Not exactly the same, but I did have my surgery out of the U.S. and have had problems after the fact that insurance did pay for. I had to have my port removed and then had it put back in after I paid out-of-pocket for the band. My insurance did pay for it. But if all else fails, if it is an emergency they have to treat you regardless. I had issues with that and the biggest problem is finding a doctor that will properly diagnose the problem. They just don't want to deal with us people that have chosen to have surgery in another country. I did have one doctor lie to me! Very frustrating. Just be very persistent with your issues and don't take no for an answer if it becomes a big problem.

Good luck!

OMgoodness.....I gotta say this.

You might be a bandster if you have two starburst candies.... Took a drink of my CL a few mins later.....and could feel it in my esphogus (sp) ended up leaning over and letting the liquid come back up....the starburst clogged my darn drain! LOL

Nice.....

Very funny and so true!!! Enjoyed reading these today. Since I didn't have my surgery at the OCC or in the US, I still don't really know why you aren't supposed to drink while eating. I can't eat without drinking. Please fill me in.

The one thing that I wonder about is..... why doesn't chocolate ever get stuck or cause bping????? Go figure.

Congrats! I was down in TJ today visiting my other doctor and saw the OCC van as I was in line. I wanted so bad to walk up to the passengers and say congrats!!

Congrats on your journey and welcome!

WORKING ON DAY FIVE...SO FAR I KNOW THAT THESE DRUGS MESS WITH MY MIND. I CUT UP SOME VEGGIES FOR MY SALAD, ATE THE VEGGIES, THEN I COULDN'T FIND THEM...DUH CAUSE I ATE THEM...I WAS GOING TO PUT THEM IN MY PASTA SALAD...

THIS MORNING MY DRAIN OPENED ALL OVER ME, THE COUCH THE PILLOWS...YUCK...SO THEN I HAD TO CLEAN THAT UP...FEELING A BIT SHAKY, SO MY FRIEND IS BRINGING ME OVER SOME SOUP... MY POOR DOGS JUST LOOK AT ME AND WANT TO SO BAD TO BE IN MY LAP...UHHHH NO!!!I AM FARTING, BUT NO POO FOR 5 DAYS...I KNEW THAT WOULD HAPPEN, SO I HAVE UP'D MY BOWEL MED PROGRAM..NARCOTICS WILL BLOCK YOU UP SOMETHING FEIRCE...I KNOW I KNOW TMI!!!

THIS HAS BEEN A GREAT EXPERIENCE FOR ME..THE BAND YEAR AGO, AND NOW EVERYTHING IS PERKIE AND FLAT...WERE GETTING THERE...

TAKE CARE AND THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR WELL WISHES.

KIM

Glad you are doing well and can't wait to see the pics. Keep up the good work.

Had you taken any medication (post op pain meds they gave you from OCC)that might have made you nauseated after drinking water? How are you feeling now? How is liquid going down? If you just threw up liquid you probably just drank to fast and still had gas in your abdomen that caused it to come back up. It is sutured to your stomach and it would take some real forceful vomiting to move it. I still have a discomfort (gas) that is worse when I drink something and feel pressure in my chest/ esophagus.

I'm sure others will comment but think this is very normal. I remember one of my first few days and a car ride and I had just eaten some frozen yogurt (very little) and I puked it up too. My doctor just said that it was probably too fast, etc. I don't think that it is real east to have the band slip.

I've had worse episodes of puking recently because of an over-fill and I'm totally fine. I know it is hard because we are so nervous of things that could go wrong. I'm sure you are fine.

Good luck to you.

Yes please post everything about this, would LOVE to get my arms and inner thighs done! Do you mind asking what this procedure cost?

Good luck to you and Ashley!

Carrie

Good luck to you. I'm also very interested in this and the cost as well. Please share and can't wait to see pics.

Yes, they didn't say that I couldn't use my "regular stuff". I am doing the injections so maybe that is different. Wow, that is unbelievable that those things could also affect the weight loss. Interesting, I still continue my research on this and find it interesting.

I agree, the doctor should be the one making the decision on how much of a fill. He may ask for a suggestion. My experience with fills is that the doctors were very conservative, saying that too little is better than too much. I always thought that was easy for them to say as we were paying for each fill and why wouldn't they want us to keep coming back and wanting more. But I also know that when you can't swallow and hurt so bad and need an unfill that you don't want that either.

You should talk with them about this, but I also would be uncomfortable with the doctor wanting you tell him/her how much to put in!!! Yikes!

Wow, that is awesome for you. I have had a port removed for different reasons, but they took it totally out and for some people they don't put it back in if you have reached your goal, etc. I needed to loose more as I had gained it back so I wanted it to be put back in. The placement of my port now (on my right side) also protrudes. I also wonder once I lose the last bit that I want what it will be like.

I'm surprised that they haven't contacted you on this. Good luck. Maybe you no longer need the port and they can just remove it. They are working on a procedure (not approved yet) where they will be able to adjust lapbands without the port. My doctor was telling me I would be a perfect candidate for this as he wasn't for me having it put back in. Don't know how far off that is, but it is in the works.

Not to get off the subject but my W***butrin has the added side effect of an appetite suppressant too Your so damn happy you just arent hungry

Too funny boogiesmom -- I like that. I actually probably need an "un"fill as I can't eat much without puking. I tend to stay towards the foods that slide and know that is part of the reason I haven't lost what I gained back. I only have a 4cc band I'm sure and only have (now I'm not sure), but think only 1.5 cc, and it has been there for like 5 months and for awhile (up until maybe the last month) couldn't eat much of regular food. On occasion I would get "lucky" and eat something that I would normally have trouble with.

So for me this was just to get me over the hump of not losing. I knew it was a long shot, but I did quite a bit of research on here and many other sites on the internet. Yes, it is true they only want you to do light exercising while on this. They say you should not be hungry and if you are to let them know which I will be doing on Monday at my first weigh in. I think the main reason that I'm hungry is that I've had trouble getting the 500 calories in because of two things, one because of the things that are very difficult for me to eat because of the lapband and the other reason is that I'm a picky eater and don't like many vegetables either. So trying to stick to the diet, if I don't like it or can't eat it, I'm just skipping that and trying to make up for it with other things I like.

I had read too about the fat that you do loose and it does seem to be in your abdominal area -- I can already see a pretty noticeable change which is unbelievable to me. Someone on here had thought that it had to do with the injections in your stomach, and they got people making fun of that. But I do think it targets certain areas. I figured it was worth a shot and I'm glad I gave it a try. When I'm done with this, I'll will be fine tuning my lapband to get to my "sweet spot" and hope to never have to deal with this again.

To me it is interesting that when I first got band it was so easy and nothing to losing the weight. I know this isn't always the case, but for me it was truly a "piece of cake". Then gaining much of it back with all my trouble and no restriction -- this has been much more difficult and a wonder why. Sometimes I do think it is our mindset in this.

Thanks for input on this -- it is all new for me.

It is the same hormone in much smaller amounts and it has found to curb your appetite, and that along with Vitamin B-12 injections seem to curb the appetite as well. Some people also take along with this appetite suppressants. They tell them to let you know right away if you are feeling hungry and at that point I would think then they would add that as well.

The only real problem that I am having is that there aren't many foods that you can choose from to eat, also for us lapbanders, there are food that don't work well with our bands, put in mix that I don't like many vegetables and you really need to be creative.

Now keep in mind this diet is for a 3 week period or 6 week period then you are off for I think 4 weeks before you can start again. It has actually helped people loose 100+ pounds which I was surprised by. I thought it seemed great for many lapbanders or other dieters that have reached a plateau and wanted a budge. This is why I chose the program and I'm really impressed so far. As I said I signed up for the three week program and they say most people loose between 4-8 lbs. a week on this. The thing is you can continue on your own after since you can buy the HCG on-line and you will already have the diet.

So I'll keep you posted.

Kim if you just put HCG injections for weight loss into your browser you will get tons of info there are many, many programs that do this.

what the heck is HCG--to me that is the pregnency hormone, and that part of my life only made me gain weight! So some one explain this to me!

Kim

It is the same hormone in much smaller amounts and it has found to curb your appetite, and that along with Vitamin B-12 injections seem to curb the appetite as well. Some people also take along with this appetite suppressants. They tell them to let you know right away if you are feeling hungry and at that point I would think then they would add that as well.

The only real problem that I am having is that there aren't many foods that you can choose from to eat, also for us lapbanders, there are food that don't work well with our bands, put in mix that I don't like many vegetables and you really need to be creative.

Now keep in mind this diet is for a 3 week period or 6 week period then you are off for I think 4 weeks before you can start again. It has actually helped people loose 100+ pounds which I was surprised by. I thought it seemed great for many lapbanders or other dieters that have reached a plateau and wanted a budge. This is why I chose the program and I'm really impressed so far. As I said I signed up for the three week program and they say most people loose between 4-8 lbs. a week on this. The thing is you can continue on your own after since you can buy the HCG on-line and you will already have the diet.

So I'll keep you posted.

Kim if you just put HCG injections for weight loss into your browser you will get tons of info there are many, many programs that do this.

Good luck to you on this awesome adventure! It truly will change your life. As others have indicated, you have many people here that will support you along this journey. I, like many others, don't have much support so this is awesome. It is a piece of cake surgery and I'm certain you won't regret it.

Well, I know there seems to be much controversy on this topic, but just had to add my experience thus far. I read all the posts on this subject a week or so ago, and weighed all the pros and cons and decided to take a risk! So glad that I did, even though this may be in our heads or whatever, but it DOES work.

Met with the doctor on Saturday and had my first injection then. So Saturday and Sunday were regular diet days advising you to eat regular number of calories and not shy away from fat, etc. So that being said, Monday was my first day on the diet so I've only had two diet days. Okay ready for this, remember only 2 diet days and for me Saturday and Sunday were very high calorie days as I like sweets and wanted to get my fill of the things I really like. Well as of this morning I've lost 8.2 lbs!!!!!!! Yes, of course, I realize much of this is water but honestly I don't think I've ever lost that much weight so fast.

Now, of course, I realize that for people who go right back to their old eating habits after losing weight would gain that back. That I won't do. After gaining some of the weight back after my original weight loss with the band, I now watch it very close and the minute I see a gain of even 1 pound I react. I will never have to loose this weight again, I'm so very sure of that!!!! So my weigh in isn't until Monday so I have 5 more days to loose. Wow, if I loose say 15 pounds in that one week I will be so excited.

I know this isn't for everyone, but if you do it right it certainly does work. I'll will keep those that are interested posted on this. I'm originally doing it for only 3 weeks and may upgrade to the six week program depending on what I loose. I only wanted to loose between 20-30 so I'm well on my way ALREADY!

Awesome! congratulations to you

You are awesome Debbie!!!! That is great news and you should be doing the happy dance. You are definitely an inspiration to many. Keep up the great work. Enjoy the new YOU!!!

Thank you all so much!!! I'm in shock that it happened so fast!! I'll keep you all posted!

Wow, fabulous -- great news for you!!! Congrats. Another life-changing experience for you. You go girl!

So I came to TJ with Mom this time. She got banded and I got my fill today. She is doing fine, in the hospital room, lonely haha. I am here in the hotel switching from spanish television to movies I brought with me; oh and writing my college graduation thesis paper... sort of... haha!

I got my fill this morning and it went better than I could have thought. I wasn't sure actually what to think, but I was nervous that it was going to be like the surgery for some reason. Nothing like it. I went into the room and had to drink a white thick liquid that showed up on the xray machine. It was cool to see my band, my stomach, and the liquid pass from my throat into my 1st stomach and then into the 2nd stomach.

I had my surgery in January, so my stomach has had more than enough time to fully heal with the band in there. This also means that I got the maximum for a first fill, 5cc. So I will have liquids for two days then jump back into eating; however I think it will be less than before.

We shall see...

Wow, that is quite a fill!!! Good luck with that and glad your Mom is doing well so far. That seems like so much for a first fill, or any fill for that matter. That should make a huge difference I would think.

Awesome, would have made my day as well. You should be proud, as it sounds like she is as well.

You look awesome girl!!!! You should be very proud:) I can't remember have you had any other surgeries like the tt or anything, that is amazing.

I'm still interested in hearing updates from those of you who are right now getting these injections. I know everything doesn't always work for everyone, but when you do hear many success stories it makes me wonder. Seems like it would be worth a try. So anyone have more information and/or updates, please share.

Thanks so much and good luck to all!

What a great story! Congrats and can't wait to see the pics!

Great story -- thanks for sharing!!!! Nice job so far on the weight loss too, keep up the good work!

So far I agree with what everyone else has posted. Although, I have had a ton of problems, I would not hesitate to have this surgery again. As other's wrote, wish I had done it sooner. I didn't have as much weight to lose as many on here, but have had the same difficulties with dieting. I wish I had been able to have my surgery done at OCC but didn't. You have many on here with lots of great information. It sounds like you've already made up your mind, just want confirmation from others that know about this, that you made the right decision. I think you are on the road to a new and more healthy YOU!!!! You and your husband both deserve that chance. Go for it with your eyes wide open and make it all happen -- you won't regret it!!!!

Good luck and keep us all posted. Other questions, ask away!!!