Kimmy in MD

Hi All, Wow it has been a long time since I have posted or even read anything in this forum! But I am back for better or worse. I was banded in 2008 at OCC and had what I considered to be great success with my band and it was life changing. I always knew this day would come and have been preparing for it since the beginning of my banded life. Over the last year I have slowly been gaining weight back and have developed some health issues. In May I visited OCC again, my first time since 2008, and had my band checked. It was unfilled and I hoped it would be enough to fix my issues but it has been determined it is time to remove my band. I AM TERRIFIED! Just unfilled I am so hungry again. I don't completely understand how the sleeve works but I have decided to have the band removed and get a sleeve at the same time, hopefully. This will happen July 17, 2019. I keep telling myself that if i just follow all the rules and directions like i did with my band I will be ok and i will lose the weight I have regained but I cant even follow the pre-op diet! I am so afraid of returning to my old habits and unhealthy weight. Any suggestions would be helpful. I am not even sure where to get help on this forum any more.

Hi Sherri, Congrats on the excercise you are doing!!! Keep going. Just thought I would add my two cents on the subject. Please take it for what it is worth. It doesn't sound like you are doing enough exercise. You are going to the gym frequently but not doing enough. Think of it this way. It is actually very simple. You probably don't need a trainer or fancy classes at this point. JUST WALK!! According to most fitness experts you need to walk 10,000 steps every day to lose weight. For most people, that is the equivalent of 5 miles. If you are walking a 15 minute mile, which is a little slow, you only walk 2 miles in 30 mins and that only equals about 4,000 steps. Way short of the 10,000 needed for weight loss. At a 15 minute per mile pace you need to be walking (outdoors or on a treadmill) for about 1.5 hours. As you get in better shape your pace will pick up, but even if you get your pace down to 11 minute miles, fairly brisk, you still need to walk for about 55 minutes or 1 hour EVERY DAY. While you are walking you can break up the walk by doing push-ups on the back of a bench and squats and/or lunges during the walk. This will help build your core and firm your muscles. Try to build up your biggest muscles first as it will give you the most bang for your buck. That would be your quads and glutes. Voila squats. I realize the 10,000 step goal is lofty and it is supposed to also encompass the other activities of your day but for me personally, I walk about 6 miles most days of the week (at least 5 days) and then consider all the rest of my daily activities as "gravy" on that. Hope this helps!! All the best to you in your journey. Kim

Hi, I actually just had the same problem. Rest assured though the band did not cause your fibroids. they have probably been growing for quite some time. I do have had constant issues with tightness of my band and have wondered if the swelling of the uterus has affected it and in reality it probably has. I had a complete unfill of my band back in May as I prepared for the invetible surgery. I can tell you for certain that the fibroids made my uterus swell and that pushed on my bladder, you could see the indentation in the bladder on the MRI, which caused recurring UTIs. I had the hysterectomy on July 6th and was told I had to wait one month before I could get my band filled again. I am getting a fill tomorrow, August 10th and hoping they give me a good one because I am STARVING and can't wait to get back on track. I am also looking forward to seeing how this affects my band and if I have less problem with tightness now. It is amazing but I always thought our body cavity looked like the plastic guy in biology class that we took apart and put back together like a puzzle. The reality is we are all different, our organs are shaped differently too and sometimes we just don't fit together like that guy did! If you want to PM me feel free as it seems we are the only ones going through these issues. Best of Luck! Kim

Gosh don't complain about no hunger. It is the goal and what you just went through surgery for! Enjoy it while you can and good luck with your weight loss.

Hi Heidi and welcome back! Hoping it all starts working for you again!! Shelby love your new profile pic. You are looking HOT, HOT, HOT!! Kim

Try some pineapple enzymes, available at stores like GNC, to help with the nausea.

Thank you to everyone who took time to read this and to reply. It is appreciated. Even the comments that if you can't control your eating without the band you need therapy for your food issues. That was a little off topic but really? If that worked we would have all been to counselors, which I believe many have already for food issues and would not have needed surgery to insert our bands. Maybe Lindsay you should try the therapy route and get rid of your band since you have the ultimate self control. Sorry I know that was catty but couldn't resist. Regarding everything else said you are all right about many of the things. Watching a loved one suffer with the vomitting is painful. Yesterday I was having something to eat with a friend of mine that has the band and he got stuck and started sliming. I just wanted to reach over and hug him. I know how awful it is. Just the thought of heading out to a restaurant and knowing you may have to go running to the restroom is STRESSFUL! I am trying to address my restriction issues but they have been present sent the band was put in and even when it seems like the band is right something will happen and throw it all off and the thing seems to seize up and nothing, including water will go down. I have tried to cope with these episodes in many ways waiting it out etc.. but I have had to have 3 unfills in the last year and now I am completely empty. I have had several days to think about this now and really it comes down to this for me. It is my body. It is my band. I need/expect the person I am with to be SUPPORTIVE of whatever I decide. PERIOD. They can express they don't like it. They can express their concern, but ultimately they need to support whatever decision you make. Now if I was saying no way I am going to get tighter and tighter and just keep throwing up that would be another story but if I am actively dealing with the band and the restriction issues and trying to find the optimal fill level for me. There should be support. PERIOD. Finally, in later texts he said a few other things. He called the band a "cheat tool". This tells me he doesn't understand it and has not taken the time to learn about it and just looks at it as an easy way out. His doing this disrespects all the work and sweat I have put into losing these 90 lbs. The work it took to go from a size 16/18 to a size 2. I walked and still walk about 6 miles a day, at least 5 days a week. I do ab work daily and I do 150 pushups a day (against a bench) and was doing up to 400 a day early on trying to keep my body toned as it lost weight so I hopefully wouldn't need surgery at the end. there are other things but no need to go into it all. thanks again everyone. your opinions were apprecited!

Just curious. Has anyone else had a problem in their relationship because of their band? I just broke up with my boyfriend today because of the band or should I say because I PB/vomit frequently when I eat. Please don't get on me about the vommitting. I know it is an issue and am working with my fill doc to get the right restriction. I have had the band for 2 years now and have lost all my weight so it was very successful that way. At this point my band is completely empty due to other health issues and possible upcoming hysterectomy surgery. So back to the band/relationship problems. I am empty not vommitting etc...but I am mourning the loss I feel right now by not having any restriction. It is as if my arm has been cut off or something. I feel hungry and my appetite is out of control. In my mind I can't wait to get these health issues resolved and get a fill again. So I can feel like I have some control back in my eating habits. On Sunday my boyfriend was extoling the virtues of my band being unfilled. How nice it is to go out to restaurants now etc... So I told him in no uncertain terms I plan to get filled again and that at some point I will probably throw up again. Well his entire mood changed. Today we broke up over it. It is like it is a deal breaker. There was not even discussion about finding the right fill level. He just wants it emptied and out of my body! I can't do that!! I won't do that. This is my body. My decision. He told me I am mentally weak that I can't control my own eating. That I am a hypocrite because I bug my son about his eating habits and I can't control my own habits without the band. etc... Part of me is sad. Part of me is glad. Part of me is mad. and part of me wonders will I ever have a normal relationship or will I be an old skinny woman with a band and cats living alone!! The last thing he said to me before leaving is "good luck finding a man that will put up with you throwing up"

Sorry to hear about your leak. I have never had one but I could swear that I read on here or some place else that sometimes they are able to use a thicker liquid that doesn't leak as easily as the saline, so it may be fixable without any surgery. Good Luck!!

Carrie, Really sorry to hear what is happening. You must be going CRAZY! I know I would be!! I feel your pain. Since February I have been hospitalized twice for about 10 days total. When I am in there I am totally defensive of my band and won't let them near it. To make a long story short they still don't know what is wrong with me and I am seeing more specialists. I contacted Dr. So at OCC about what is going on. He had me fax/email him all my reports and test results. He reviewed them fully and did a phone consult with me. He was able to tell me that he did not believe any of the current issues I am having are symptomatic of the band (YEAH!) but he did say that he recommends a complete unfill of my band so that my body is not under any addtiional stress while they figure out the rest of what is going on. I was able to scan all my reports and tests and send off to OCC. You can even get the doc/hospital you see to put your barium swallow etc.. on a disk and send that to OCC so they can take a look and give you some advice on how to proceed. You don't necessarily have to make the trip down there is all I am saying. Good luck and please keep us posted! Kim

I find getting back to basics really helps. All great tips above but I didn't see these suggestions: If you are not keeping a food log start one or re-start one that you have abandoned. There are several online. I use fitday.com and love it. It will help you track your food and excercise and it gives you a breakdown of the type of calories you are consuming,i.e. how much fat, carbs and protein. Using this you can make sure you are eating enough protein and fat and not too many carbs. Also, maybe find an excersice buddy and set a time each day where you walk about 90 minutes, if you are doing 15 minute miles that should be about 6 miles which is well above the recommended 10,000 steps per day. Also a pedometer can help you make sure you are getting enough exercise and not being a couch potato. Good Luck getting back on track. You can do it!

Have to agree with Steve. When I was in the weight loss portion of my journey I walked almost 8 miles every day. Along the way I did push-ups on the backs of park benches and dips on the benches as well. I used a pedometer to make sure I got in at least 10,000 steps EVERYDAY! for most people this is the equivalent of about 5 miles a day and it is what is recommended for weightloss.

Congrats Mindy! Thanks for sharing your story. It is always so good and so inspiring to read about another's success and successful living with their band! Here is to many more years of successful band living! Kim

Hi couple things on this topic. I have not had any fills at the OCC. I live in Maryland and it was just too much of a time committment to get back to Tijuna for the fills. I lost all my weight (80 lbs) with 3 fills. I had an unfill of 1.10 ccs in August 2009 and it took me 2 more fills to get back to my sweetspot and I was good for about 4 months then bang I tightened up and had an emergency unfill on Tuesday evening (3/9/10) of .30. I had asked my fill doc to take out .50 but she thought that was too much. I now have 3.05 ccs in my band. All my fills have been blind. I love my fill doctor. She practices internal medicine but she had the band put on in Mexico about 5 years ago and has learned how to do the fills and now does them in the Washington DC area. It is great going to her because she is totally empathetic about the band and has been in our shoes. She lives our life herself and it is very refreshing. One final note, don't let your band get too tight. It can be disasterous. I was down to under 120 lbs and am a size 0. Way too thin, but more importantly I just spent 5 days in the hospital on an IV for dehydration and getting antibiotics in the IV because my body wasn't taking in water to flush my system. It is a mess and am now trying to put on weight and get strong again. PLEASE BE CAREFUL!! LISTEN TO YOUR BODY AND YOUR BAND!!!

Gibby don't forget to try and get in protein during this stage. I really liked the Special K protien water in the pink lemonade flavor. you can add it to water easily and sip it all day and it counts as a clear liquid too! the protein will help take the edge off your hunger. When it was time for creamy soups I really indulged and enjoyed cream of crab and lobster bisque. I know fat content was high but they were so flavorful and filling they really helped me! I still go back to them when I am excessively tight and/or have had a fill. Good Luck! You will do great!