Ask Dr. Curry?

Hey Dr. C
If a person has all of their saline taken out (an empty band), is it physically possible to lose weight without starving yourself?

Thanks

Crystal,

It depends on what you mean by starving yourself.  If you mean is it physically possible to lose weight without being hungry, then the answer is no.  If you mean literally starving yourself, then the answer is yes.

Dr Curry - thanks for answering all my pesky (and sometimes irate) questions.  Your patience with all of us is so much appreciated.

I have a question about digestion and the band.  My doctor advises 2 days of liquids followed by 2 days of mushies followed by the re-introduction of solids on day 5 after a fill.  Is your protocol similar?  Also - I am on day 3 of my fill.  I have found that liquids are a LOT HARDER to get down than mushies.  Is there a reason for that?  I would think it would be the opposite.

Hi Dr Curry,
I have a question all of a sudden out of no where I can nto eat anything ****ep getting sick). I can drink stuff but eating is hard.  My band does nto hurt at all but I am havign major acid reflux tyhat I never had before since I have been banded do you think I may have had a slip or soemthing like that I have been like this for a week now?  Let em know thank you.

It could just be that your band position has changed a little and you need an unfill.  We find this a lot in our patients.  It could be a slip, but I wouldn't get too worried just yet.  The important thing is to go see Dr. Geiss ASAP and have it checked out.

Dr. Curry - I had port revision surgery this past Friday.  Other than "don't lift, push or pull anything over 10 pounds and don't shower for 24 hours" I really wasn't given that much after-care instructions.  What should I do/not do in the next few weeks?  I recently joined a gym - can I still run on the treadmill, take the cycling and aerobics classes and do the elliptical machine?  I know weight training is out of the question for a while.  Thanks Dr. Curry.

I would not take the chance of causing another port problem, I would probably take it pretty easy for about 2 weeks.  Maybe walk on a treadmill, but not run, and I'd stay away from cycling/aerobics/elliptical.

Dr. Curry,

Okay, now I'm really curious - who did your band surgery?? 

From your headshot, it didn't look like you needed to lose weight.  Is that why it was just a headshot?

Jan from Alexandria

I was suprised it took so long for someone to ask!

Dr. Jaime Ponce from Dalton, Georgia did my band, who in my opinion is one of the best gastric band surgeons in the world.  He and the entire staff at Hamilton Ambulatory Surgery Center took great care of me.

My BMI was 30, I had hypertension, high cholesterol, and pretty bad GERD.  Every year I gained a few more pounds and seemed to come down with another comorbidity and went up on my blood pressure medication dosage.  I was considering having anti-reflux surgery then I thought - why not have a band which will solve more problems than just my reflux?

It's amazing, even though I have done a couple thousand bands, how little I really understood about what it is like to be a band patient until now.  I never thought anything could control my hunger and my obsession with eating.  It's awesome.

Yay Dr. Curry...you're AWESOME!!!!!

Sue