(posted on LB too) leak, erosion??idk what is going on but I am OVER this band.
I've had this thing for 4 years. Seemed ok at first though I never really thought it worked as described. I never got full, just got stuck. Over the course of the first 2 years, I had many fills and slight unfills trying to find that sweet spot. I ended up losing about 85 pounds with the band and 15 before surgery. Anyway in 2008, I had gotten to the point of vomiting all day. It felt like forced bulemia. No good food would go down: salad, grilled meat, fruit, etc only mushies and liquids or sometimes crunchy stuff would go. I ended up getting all the fill out.
Over the next two years I had a couple of fills and unfills and in April of last year decided to have all of the fluid taken out again and try to do this on my own. Well since 2008, I have gained back 60 of what I lost. Of course I ate normal and had quit excercising (divorce played a part too with the emotional eating :-(
Anyway, I havent had any restriction with the band unfilled though I do notice if I completely scarf something down I will get what I call mini -stucks. It goes down, just slow.
I decided to get my band filled back up last week. I asked the doctor to put me back at where I had lost the majority of the weight before it got too tight. He looked at his records and put me at 3.5 cc. Four cc is where I got wayyyyyy too tight and had to have it all out for a while.
During the appointment I gave permission for a med student to observe my fill. When I went back to have my fill done, she was the one who actually did it. She put in the needle for the fill and seemed like it took forever for her to find the port. Once she thought she found it, I had to then sit up like normal and walk over to the xray thing to drink the barium and look at restriction. I noticed when she was pushing in the saline that it burned and I told the doctor who was watching her. She put in 3.5cc and he saw no restriction, she put in 5cc and still no restriction. So she withdrew and only 2cc came out. He said that the needle must have slipped out of the port or something. So I went back over to the table and he did the insertion this time. He finally gave me numbing meds since he was having a hard time getting it in the port. (My stomach is all kinds of shades of purple, black and blue)
Anyway I walk back over to xray (just a few feet) and he does the fill. 3.5 still not enought restriction he says. Keep in mind the most I have ever had is 4cc and that was vomiting all day. At 3.5 there is usually ample restriction for me. He put in 5cc and said he saw enough restriction.
I stuck to the directions, liquids for a couple days then onto mushies and solids. I noticed though that I was still having stomach pain but wrote it off to the bruising. No restriction.
I moved to solids this weekend and still no restriction. I have been fighting a cold/fluish sinus junk so I am pretty sure my lack of appetite has been due to that. But, so far I can eat tough chewy steak, bread, basically anything i have tried (i have been testing to see if normal foods that would normally cause stuck issues would go) No restriction. I don't get it... At 4cc I was vomiting all day, but now when I supposedly have 5cc in...nothing. My stomach is sorta achey and burning a lil but no horrible pain, no vomiting, no stucks, etc
FYI waiting on a call back from the doc.
Over the next two years I had a couple of fills and unfills and in April of last year decided to have all of the fluid taken out again and try to do this on my own. Well since 2008, I have gained back 60 of what I lost. Of course I ate normal and had quit excercising (divorce played a part too with the emotional eating :-(
Anyway, I havent had any restriction with the band unfilled though I do notice if I completely scarf something down I will get what I call mini -stucks. It goes down, just slow.
I decided to get my band filled back up last week. I asked the doctor to put me back at where I had lost the majority of the weight before it got too tight. He looked at his records and put me at 3.5 cc. Four cc is where I got wayyyyyy too tight and had to have it all out for a while.
During the appointment I gave permission for a med student to observe my fill. When I went back to have my fill done, she was the one who actually did it. She put in the needle for the fill and seemed like it took forever for her to find the port. Once she thought she found it, I had to then sit up like normal and walk over to the xray thing to drink the barium and look at restriction. I noticed when she was pushing in the saline that it burned and I told the doctor who was watching her. She put in 3.5cc and he saw no restriction, she put in 5cc and still no restriction. So she withdrew and only 2cc came out. He said that the needle must have slipped out of the port or something. So I went back over to the table and he did the insertion this time. He finally gave me numbing meds since he was having a hard time getting it in the port. (My stomach is all kinds of shades of purple, black and blue)
Anyway I walk back over to xray (just a few feet) and he does the fill. 3.5 still not enought restriction he says. Keep in mind the most I have ever had is 4cc and that was vomiting all day. At 3.5 there is usually ample restriction for me. He put in 5cc and said he saw enough restriction.
I stuck to the directions, liquids for a couple days then onto mushies and solids. I noticed though that I was still having stomach pain but wrote it off to the bruising. No restriction.
I moved to solids this weekend and still no restriction. I have been fighting a cold/fluish sinus junk so I am pretty sure my lack of appetite has been due to that. But, so far I can eat tough chewy steak, bread, basically anything i have tried (i have been testing to see if normal foods that would normally cause stuck issues would go) No restriction. I don't get it... At 4cc I was vomiting all day, but now when I supposedly have 5cc in...nothing. My stomach is sorta achey and burning a lil but no horrible pain, no vomiting, no stucks, etc
FYI waiting on a call back from the doc.
That sounds like what happened to me when I had a leak. They would keep putting fluid in and I would get no restriciton at all. I recently had my revision from the band to the sleeve and I LOVE the sleeve. You have restriction 24/7 and NO sliming. Plus you lose weight and you are not hungry. It's great!
Sounds exactly like the leak situation I had - awful awful situation to be in. I left my band alone for 7 years because I was so disgusted with it before I went to a revision to the DS. Best decision... ever!
Jill - revision - band to DS 3/10/05 Dr. Baltasar, Spain
440/140/149 hw/cw/gw - 5'5" -300lbs -- bmi 73.2 to 24.8 :) GOAL MET 10/26/10!!.... Even made 140 September 2012. Been ranging 4-6lbs from 144-146 since then. Back to 140 December 2012, hoping to see it again after I feel better and start working out.
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