I of Beholder

I was just wondering is there any one who has been baned and did not lose weight. I was baned in 2004 lost 40lbs and gained it back. I have had 2 fills but I can eat very well 2 months after my surgery my Dr. relocated to another state and until now have I found some one willing to treat me. I was thinking of getting the RNY but I am wondering if I should give this band another try maybe :

have you heard of another person who did not lose.

I'm right there with ya'. I was banded April 24, 2007 and had my first fill June8th. Honestly, I haven't noticed much of a difference, beside the fact that I feel uncomfortable still with the port. My diet is super healthy, but I find that I can pretty much eat as much as I did before, which is depressing, I just can't eat as fast. I don't think I lost more than 10 pounds. When I was starving I was losing quicker.

What's up with that?

I of beholder

Hi Colin,

So how are you doing. Still losing like crazy?? Well I have that female thing working for me. Don't get me wrong I have lost weight just not as much as you have...and I'm jealous . Well I actually gained weight right after the surgery. Bummer right? Since then I have lost 10 lbs. I can't complain that is a heck of a lot for me. How are you doing with pain? Anything? I'm still having some pain at the post site. I just think I over did a few days ago. Cause I was doing really well until then. Hopefully It will improve. I'm really taking it easy now. Today was my first day back to work. I did well not too bad. Hope your well. :-h

Jamie

HEY! It's Christine, I was the other one to get banded with you and Colin. I'll tell you, this has been a very painful and uncomfortable, but 3 weeks out, I feel so much better. When are you guys going for your fills? Keep in touch! I have reservations for 6/7/07, and have been looking forward to it, since for Mother's Day I ate as much for dinner as I ever have, and I KNOW that didn't help!

Keep in touch and send me an email, I miss you guys so much! Colin, I bet you are doing GREAT! Jaime, you were a stunning, statuesque beauty before, and now you will be feeling that way!

Hi Colin,

So how are you doing. Still losing like crazy?? Well I have that female thing working for me. Don't get me wrong I have lost weight just not as much as you have...and I'm jealous . Well I actually gained weight right after the surgery. Bummer right? Since then I have lost 10 lbs. I can't complain that is a heck of a lot for me. How are you doing with pain? Anything? I'm still having some pain at the post site. I just think I over did a few days ago. Cause I was doing really well until then. Hopefully It will improve. I'm really taking it easy now. Today was my first day back to work. I did well not too bad. Hope your well. :-h

Jamie

HEY! It's Christine, I was the other one to get banded with you and Colin. I'll tell you, this has been a very painful and uncomfortable, but 3 weeks out, I feel so much better. When are you guys going for your fills? Keep in touch! I have reservations for 6/7/07, and have been looking forward to it, since for Mother's Day I ate as much for dinner as I ever have, and I KNOW that didn't help!

Keep in touch and send me an email, I miss you guys so much! Colin, I bet you are doing GREAT! Jaime, you were a stunning, statuesque beauty before, and now you will be feeling that way!

Eight days out and I am starting to feel better. Like you, it is getting easier to bend. I still can't sit straight up very long. The pain in my shoulder is mostly gone. Thank goodness. All the surgery cuts are healed and looking good. I don't feel much hunger, only if I go longer than 3 0r 4 hours before drinking soup. Juices and liquid yogurts dont stay with me, so I've been blending up soup in the blender before I heat it. Any kind works, but if it's a creamy thick kind, I had more water. It seems to satisfy me a lot longer. How much can you drink at a time? I drink a cup of soup at a time then 15 minutes or so I can drink more. I thought may be that was to much, but I emailed Dr. Miranda and Dr. Ortiz and they said it's fine as long as it's liquids.

I would say about 8-10 ounces at at time, and then I feel like eating again. I'll tell you, I am really hungry. I know that the band is just a tool to help you diet, but I would like to eat REAL food if I have to diet! I'm 14 days out and only down 5 pounds, without solid food. I was never a "bad" eater, and was able to control my weight most of my life, until a few years ago. Are you having gas? Like, uncontrollably? LOL, I just don't even bother excusing myself anymore, it happens too often. Keep in touch, have you made an appointment for a fill yet? I"ll be making mine sometime this week.

Hang in there.

(

:-? Oh Boy! Do I know how you feel?! All this pain, is it normal? I can't hardly even sit up without hurting. I've only been banded for 6 days. I drink soup (in the blender first) and weight watchers liquid yogurts, so i'm not really hungry. I just want to feel better!

I'm 13 days post op, and I can tell you YES, the pain does get much better, but it still is there (I can almost bend!). I"m not losing the weight like everyone else is, but I haven't started to exercise, since I am dealing w/bad allergies in the NE US.

I started out weighing in at 172, and I haven't weighed myself since, but I can tell, it hasn't moved much. I'm 5'2" and my goal weight is to get back to my prepregnancy weight of 115. I have a lot to work towards, I"m a cardiac patient, and hoping losing this weight and bringing my meds down, and I have another event, my wedding!

Let me know how you're doing!

I was banded on April 30, 5 days ago. I have the same pain you are describing. I can hardly sit up to drive anywhere , it is very uncomfortable. The pain up to your neck I believe, is the after effects of the gas they fill your abdomen up with. I don't know how people go right back to work after this ! I have been taking tylenol.

How have you been healing? I have been getting the hiccups, wihch is good since I think it means that things are shifting back to normal.

Bump!

...Still looking for May Banders!!

I was banded May 25th, and can't find anyone on here who will reply! How are you doing? Four days into it, I was in so much pain, I was regretting everdoing this to myself...I'm eith days out now, and with pain killers, have the pain to where it is tolerable. I am very hungry, though, and I noticed that I can't consume as much.

Christine

I want to buy a 4" Hueber needle, you will see why after you read this. Here is my emergency room experience: First of all, be sure to get a LapBand wallet card from your doc that has an x-ray of what the LapBand looks like in case you have to visit an emergency room. Also, keep handy the toll free phone number 877-LAP-BAND which will locate the nearest bariatric doctor to you 24/7. I accidentally swallowed a piece of shrimp shell that got stuck. I have never thrown up so loudly and violently in all my life (mostly dry heaves). It was painful, loud, and scary. I thought I was going to die. Put it this way, my husband is as tough as nails, but when he saw how violently I was throwing-up, he literally cried. This went on for thirty minutes before I went to the nearest emergency room which was an hour's drive away (it was on the weekend, after hours, of course). The emergency room docs had never even heard of a LapBand before, much less seen one. The x-ray on my wallet card helped immensely; however they only had a 2" Hueber needle so they could not unfill me (requires a 4" Hueber needle). After about three or four hours of periodic, violent vomiting, the shrimp shell finally passed on its own, but if it had not, I would have needed to know where the nearest bariatric facility was that had a 4" Hueber needle (877-LAP-BAND). A few days later, my doctor's office called the emergency room to request that they keep 4" Hueber needles in stock because he has several LapBand patients in the area, but the emergency room refused, saying that I was the only LapBand patient they had ever seen, so they could not justify keeping 4" Hueber needles in stock. I asked my doc if he would sell me a 4" Hueber needle in case of emergencies, and he refused because of liability. Does anyone know where I may purchase a 4" Hueber needle?

OMG! what a horrifying experience! All the while, I thought that after a few weeks, that we could go back to eating just about anything! I can't help you with the needle, but you helped me realize how careful we all need to be.....what is surprising is that the band didn't slip, must be sewn in there rather well, so that was a good thing, at least...watch those shrimp!

Hello...

Just got back this afternoon. Got banded on Monday. It was a great experience. Everything went like clockwork. My incision sites are a bit sore, but this pain in my upper body (assuming it's gas pain) is killing me. I've taken Gas X strips, I've walked and walked and walked, I tried the heat pad this afternoon, my hubby even tried massaging it. The only thing that helps are the little disolvable pain pills they gave on discharge. The problem is I only have one of those little pills left and I'm going back to work tomorrow. Please tell me this pain will go away soon. It is a sharp stabbing pain up in my shoulders. It feels like a knife is just sitting in there. Also... is there anything else I can take that will help?? I was thinking of trying to find some liquid tylenol, but thought I would seek your advise first.

I'm completely happy with my surgery!!! I just need a little help with this post op pain. I didn't get any sleep last night at the Lucerna and am hoping to try and get some rest tonight since I'm home.

Thanks for any thoughts or insight!! I really appreciate it.....

ps. How long does this pain last?? What is "normal"???

Theresa :-)

Hi, and I would like to know what is "normal" also. I get a feeling as though my whole asophegus is spasming, and I can't help but bend over in terrible pain. I was banded April 25, and feel worse now then I did the day of, and after surgery. Let me know what else might work for you....nothing is helping me...

Hello. I am asking questions on behalf of my mother. She had her operation on Monday, April 23, 2007. She is doing great (with a few acceptions). We figure there is no one better to ask than those people who have been through the procedure.

Our first question is: How long after surgery (the average) should you experience the gas pains? My mother had the sharp pain in her shoulder the evening she came home from the hospital. We called her dr. and he said not to worry about it unless it persists. Needless to say it went away. She was feeling great for the next three days. Now today, she is having abdominal pain (gas pain). Is this normal??

Second question: What can she do to aleviate the pain? She was perscribed pain medicaiton but it is a litter hard for her to get the whole pill down, so she has been breaking them in half.

Third question: She has been coughing alot. Is this normal??? She had a cough prior to surgery, but then it went away but we are not sure if it has come back or if this is due to the surgery.

Hi there and I feel your pain. I was banded on April 25th, in TJ by Dr. Ortiz. I also, have terrible gas pains, and there is a noticeable "lump" (over all the other weird gassy pockets)by my port incision. I thought for sure after a few days that it would subside, but it hasn't. I guess it will take quite a while to get out all the op gas. Don't forget that what we had was surgery, "minimally invasive", but surgery all the same. We were poked, blown up, organs shoved out of the way, and an artificial "vice" placed around our stomach, how are we supposed to feel? I would say to keep hydrated, as that will help in getting the aenesthesia out of our systems, and to be as active as possible, to help dissipate the gas.

The coughing may be lack of moving around, and if she is heavy, as I am, the heart strains under the added pressure, and doesn't work as well in cleaning out the body. Make sure that she sips plenty of water, luke warm or warm, and keep moving around, it really does help. Otherwise, time will do the healing. Best of luck to you gals.