1 Yr. Bandiversary Update

Actually the band IS the problem! Beleive me...........I left the place where the idiots were! (The fill Dr. there was very nice but some of the other staff..................Well I"ll just leave it at that!

Where I am now is good. Excellent staff! Unfortunatly, the band does NOT work for everyone. I apparantly........am everyone! Lol. There is some minor restriction when I first get up. It is gone soon after and I could eat almost unlimited amounts it feels like (note I said COULD not DO!).

As far as the port being an easy fix, I don't doubt that. Seems simple enough. HOwever the cost would NOT be!

I think it's important to get all views so you can make a decision that's right for you.  I came to this website before hand to help me decide on the type of surgery and I felt the Band was the safest option forme - my family Doctor supported all of the options. 

I am very sad that the Band has not worked for you.  I went into this thinking this was my last hope so I can imagine how I would feel if it didn't work (I am self pay as well $16,000).  I hope that they can either figure out what is wrong with your Band or you are able to get a revision. 

Well u have done great with yours so far! 34 lbs. in about 6 wks.! U go girl!

Maria,
I'm so sorry for your frustration and disappointment.  You and I are both Support Group Leaders trained by OH so I'm sure you didn't mean to sound like a band basher!  You and I both know how counter productive it is when these battles rage on.  Facts need to be shared and feelings should be welcome, but all posts should be read with the understanding that this is one individuals' experience. Ultimately we all had to make the impossible decision regarding which WLS to have and there are no guarentees.  There is no perfect surgery and rarely is there a perfect experience with any surgery choice.  We're all just trying to do the best we can.

You clearly posted out of frustration and you knew this would bring contorversy.  It seems that everthing that could be said has been said, so can we please just stop?  Once we get beyond sharing the facts as we understand them and our personal experiences, we really aren't helping anyone. 

Now, to your issue with your band...
I've easily had 13 fill/unfills and my restriction has varied over-time. It's been all about fine tuning for me.  I've been too tight, (not recommended), and I've been wide open.  I've also had great restriction for several months at a time.  But, restriction changes for a number of reasons and that's where the fine tuning and adjustments come in.  I don't mind it because I knew when I chose the band that the maintenence was a BIG part of this particular surgery choice.  

For me, my most important new skill I had to develop has been how to learn to read the signs that I've eaten enough...that is, when one more bite will be too much.  If you've never had restriction or been so tight that you've had a PB experience, or even close to it, then there is definately something wrong with your band or fill level.  After all, if they keep filling it, eventually it will get too tight. If you haven't experienced a too tight senario then the limits haven't been tested. 

IMO, the "sweet spot" is a bit of a myth, becuase it's not that easy and just when you feel you're there, things change.  THIS is what people need to know about life with the band.

Hang in there an feel free to PM me if you want to "chat".

Lisa O.

Thanks for the post Lisa.

Would u mind giving the last poster some info please? I think it was mama2haven? Anyway something she learned from the Drs. office or her support group didn't sound quite right and maybe u could make that a little more clear for her?

Thanks!

O.k., I did it. For what it's worth...my two cents!

Lisa O.

Me again :)

I was just thinking about you and the lack of restriction.  Do me a favor if you will...for the next few days eat only dense proteins (chicken, steak, pork, fish).  Nothing else.  Don't drink a half hour before eating or a half hour after eating (also don't drink while eating). See how you feel.  Just take 5oz of protein and see if you feel any differently.  It sounds like your initial surgeon and team were idiots and you didn't get the proper care or follow-up or nutrition info.

Let's see how that works, ok?  I hate that you have this and it's not working.

As far as your feud with Jean.  I think the comment to you was harsh and I've told her that in a PM, but I know she is NOT on this board to promote her book.  I know you were frustrated when you wrote your initial one year summary and I think some people took it the wrong way.  Jean has been here since day 1 of her band journey and she's been very helpful to so many so let's not accuse her of being here to make money on her book.  I know deep down you don't think that.    

Let me say to both of you that you can agree to disagree.  Let's let the name calling and accusations go.  Life is so hard as it is and then to argue over this is really insane.  I want both of you to think about this.  Perception is everything...Jean, Maria may have restriction and she may not...it's her perception that counts.

Maria, Jean may have a book out but that is not why she comes here and helps people try and succeed with the band. 

I'm battling a pretty bad flare with my vasculitis and I want you all to know that health is EVERYTHING.  If you don't have it you have nothing.  This added stress of fighting over a band is silly on all of our parts.  Let's support one another in the good, the bad and the ugly.

Ok, the teacher is going back to bed LOL.

have a wonderful weekend everyone!

 maria i am so sorry you are having no sweet spot yet. i am having surgery in 3 weeks and have to say am well informed. my surgeon was very clear that i would do all the dieting and that the band would only help me after i lost all my weight since that was when i would feel full restriction. if it takes me 2 to 4 years to lose all the weight and have had 20 fills thats what it will take. he told me it all depended on me and how i handled the food restrictions. now i am not saying that it depends on you and that your the reason for your not having restriction since you said your port flipped. i'm just saying i hope that all new banders do understand that if your not at your goal weight you may not receive that sweet spot yet. i have met a bunch of people in our support groups at the office that still after many years battle their weight. also i know one woman that had her last fill 4 years after surgery. i would hope that not all banders expect their last fill to be one year out. i hope you are speaking with your surgeons office since mine has numerous support groups and help when things don't go as planned. i hope you get the peace you deserve. and congratulations on the 55 pounds lost all on your own. i hope to be able to report that on my 1 year anniversary.

Hun your info is not correct at all!

~my surgeon was very clear that i would do all the dieting and that the band would only help me after i lost all my weight since that was when i would feel full restriction.~

After a few fills (3-7 seems to b the average from what I have heard) one should reach the "sweet spot"/restriction. As soon as u reach the sweet spot/restriction the band is then able to help u. As u lose weight it becomes looser and u need more fills.

This comment about the band is not suppose to help untill u have lost all your weight is completely incorrect!

Please post on the forum and ask others about this and get their input!!!

I personally do NOT like the band but if know all the info and that is what u want I wish u all the success in the world! However it sounds like u have some incorrect info and I'm sure others on the forum can explain it to u in detail!

Again.........Good luck 2 u!!!

Hi Mama2,
Maria asked me to respond to your post just to clarify a few things.  I'm two years out and don't have all the answers but can only speak from my experience.  I've never heard restriction explained quite the way your surgeon has explained it t you. 

While it takes some bandsters several fills to feel "restriction" some experience it, at some level anyway, from the beginning.  My surgeon does a 3cc primer fill at the time of surgery and while I could still eat ove 1 cup of food early on, I didn't have a lot of hunger.  One thing we tend to forget that is that the placement of the band itself does decrease hunger.  It presses on a nerve that goes through your stomach and that signals the Hypothalamus nerve in your brain that you are full.  If we are eating dense protein to give a physical feeling of "fullness" in our new pouch we should be able to go 3-4 hours without experiencing real hunger.  Restriction is different.  Restriction is what happens when we tighten the band and it decreases the opening from our new pouch to the larger stomach.  It basically controls how fast food moves from the pouch to the stomach by restricting it's movement and the amount you can eat per meal.  If you over-fill the pouch before the food has been able to pass through the opening you can still over-eat, (usually with some discomfort), because the food will press down on the band or back up into your esophagus.  I call this food stacking and it's really dangerous because that's how we stretch our pouch out and it will eventually, after time, cause a permanent dialation or possibly a band slip.  It seems logical to me that eveyone will eventually experience restricition if they keep getting fills because eventually the opening will be come too small for solid foods to pass or it may become closed completely, but that is why it is necessary to keep up with the maintenence, (fills and un-fills), to keep the band at it's optimal level so dense foods will stay in your pouch for a while but eventually pass normally without discomfort.

Portion size, IMO, is the single most important thing a bandster has to learn to control.  If we overfill the pouch and push the limits over and over again, that will eventually cause problems.  It's key to only eat 1/2 cup or less at a time because that's the amount of food your pouch should comfortably accomodate if you have some restriction.  The thing with the "sweet spot" is that your restriction level will change with weight loss, water retention, fills, unfills, stomach irritation, etc.  It can be a complicated dance so you have to be prepared to listen to your body and be prepared to do the fine tuning.  And, you're right, it doesn't stop after a year.  As you body changes so will your level of restriction.

I think what your doctor was saying is that it can take a while to get your band to a level where you feel it is limiting your food intake, but the time it takes varies for everyone depending on several things:  1.  Your anatomy, if you have a lot of fat around your stomach organ it may take more fills to feel restriciton.  As you lose that fat you'll need to adjust your band to regain restriction.  2. How fast you are able to get fills from the beginning.  Some surgeons are very conservative and give fills very slowly starting with no primer fill and giving only .5 increments every 4-6 weeks.  My surgeon is agressive in the beginning and then conservative afterwards.  He believes that it's important for the patient to have success early on so they don't lose momentum.  This worked for me, because even at 2 years out I have only 5.3 cc's in my band with decent restriction and 3 of those were given to me during surgery.  But, everyone is different and all of the methods can work depending on the individual. 

Which comes down to diet...In my opinion, what you eat is just as important as how much you eat.  If you want to lose weight quickly or at least at a steady pace then you must change the quality of foods you put into your body.  For me anyway, it was a combination of not experiencing a  lot of real hunger and the changes I made to the type of foods I ate.  I followed the rules to a tee for the first 9 months and lost 104 lb,but I was very strict with my diet.  I followed the Dr.s program and ate 800-1000 calories a day, rich in protein and low in carbs.  I also drank 64 oz of non-calorie fluids and did light exercise 3-4 days a week.  

So, in summary,  the band itself placed around your stomach SHOULD decrease feelings of hunger.  Restriction is important but not the only variable or key to WL success with the band.  Diet, (quality and quantity), is what actually causes weight loss combined with exercise.  You absolutely must burn more calories than you eat to lose weight.  Learning portion control was and still is the hardest thing for me to manage along with emotional eating, aka, feeling hungry when I know I'm not physically hungry.  

For me, the band has been an awesome tool but it's not magic.  I've done a lot of hard work to lose the weight, but no more than what a average weight person does to maintain their weight.  The band allowed me to learn the difference.

Best of luck on your WL journey!

Lisa O.