Don't do what I did

[Painter]

It has been a year and a half since my surgery and I wanted to share my story. You know the old saying if you can’t be a shining example then be a terrible warning, lol. When I went to OCC I had a wonderful experience but I ran into some trouble that I think would be relatively uncommon yet I wanted to share in case any of you end up in the same situation. My first mistake was to wait too long for a first fill. I had it done about 9 weeks after my surgery and since the doctor was local and new at the procedure I received a somewhat conservative fill of 1.0. My next fill about 8 weeks later was .6. After that I went to TJ to the OCC and got sick immediately upon arrival. I mean I was SICK! I believe I had food poisoning from the airport in Colorado. I was on my back for 2 days and couldn’t keep anything in my system until the end of the second day. The fill doctor at OCC was very kind prescribing drugs to settle my system and he thought he could do a fill for me on day 3 since I was flying back the next morning. He gave me 1.5 which put me at 3.1 in a 4cc band. That day I felt pretty good but I was totally unaware that I was majorly dehydrated from being sick. I got on the plane and flew home to Canada and by the time I arrived back home I was in major trouble. I couldn’t keep water down. Needless to say OCC was too far away to help me so I contacted my local fill doctor. He was out of town for 3 days. I barely managed to keep myself hydrated until I could get an unfill. I had lost 15 pounds in 5 days. He removed 1.0 and after that for about 8 months I choked on everything I ate but was determined to leave the fill as it was. That was an unfortunate choice. When I learned that I could be harming my band I went and had .2 removed. I was very concerned that .2 wouldn’t make a difference (I was now at approximately 1.9) but it did. Now after a year and a half I have not lost weight because of my own poor choices. In the time I was overfilled I got in the habit of eating all the wrong foods. This week I started on Weight Watchers with my fill of 1.9 and hallelujah I feel full on a small amount of HEALTHY food. Please don’t be in a rush to get big fills and don’t wait too long if you are overfilled. Please do eat healthy no matter what and if you are choking on veggies and protein don’t eat unhealthy high fat food and leave the fill where it is. Get some removed and take your time. I lost a year and a half. If I had gotten an unfill earlier I would be farther ahead. Please remember your body changes constantly and the doctors at the OCC and fill centers do the best they can but it is up to you to stand up and say “something’s wrong”. I am still not sorry I had the band put in. I have not gained weight so I am ahead by what I know I would have gained and I still have a great tool which now should work for me. So let me be a terrible example for now but I plan to be a shining example down the road.

[determination]

Thank you for sharing. We all need to hear the flip side to what could happen if....... I am glad that you are back on track. I find it so easy to eat the food I shouldn't instead of the food I should.

Anne

[Red]

Thanks Cheryl...

I've only been banded for a month and haven't had a fill yet, but I can already tell that this is going to be something I figure out as I go along. I think the wise thing to do is to use all your resources, like the forum, the OCC, other sites, your instinct (because we are all the experts on our own bodies). If something doesn't seem right or feel right, then it probably isn't and you need to take action. Thanks again for your input!

Red

[skinnyagain]

oh sweetheart, you should of gone to the ER...I am a ER nurse and they could of hydrated you and taken out some in your band. The port is just like a mediport that folks have in there chest for venous access....Any nurse who accesses mediport can access this port. Never wait that long...That is a horribly story and thanks for sharing.

Kim

[Elizabeth36]

oh sweetheart, you should of gone to the ER...I am a ER nurse and they could of hydrated you and taken out some in your band. The port is just like a mediport that folks have in there chest for venous access....Any nurse who accesses mediport can access this port. Never wait that long...That is a horribly story and thanks for sharing.

Kim

Hey Kim, Who done your fills? Did you go to a fill center?

[robbynnoel]

(((((((((((((((Painter))))))))))))))))

Thank you so much for sharing your story. I agree with you. I waited a long time for my first fill because I was moving from San Francisco to Dallas. I waited close to 3 months for my first fill so I gained a little not from my surgery weight but from my lowest weight...and then I started to gain weight after my 2nd fill because I didn't schedule my next fill apt.

Hugs to you and thank you so much for sharing your story.

It has been a year and a half since my surgery and I wanted to share my story. You know the old saying if you can’t be a shining example then be a terrible warning, lol. When I went to OCC I had a wonderful experience but I ran into some trouble that I think would be relatively uncommon yet I wanted to share in case any of you end up in the same situation. My first mistake was to wait too long for a first fill. I had it done about 9 weeks after my surgery and since the doctor was local and new at the procedure I received a somewhat conservative fill of 1.0. My next fill about 8 weeks later was .6. After that I went to TJ to the OCC and got sick immediately upon arrival. I mean I was SICK! I believe I had food poisoning from the airport in Colorado. I was on my back for 2 days and couldn’t keep anything in my system until the end of the second day. The fill doctor at OCC was very kind prescribing drugs to settle my system and he thought he could do a fill for me on day 3 since I was flying back the next morning. He gave me 1.5 which put me at 3.1 in a 4cc band. That day I felt pretty good but I was totally unaware that I was majorly dehydrated from being sick. I got on the plane and flew home to Canada and by the time I arrived back home I was in major trouble. I couldn’t keep water down. Needless to say OCC was too far away to help me so I contacted my local fill doctor. He was out of town for 3 days. I barely managed to keep myself hydrated until I could get an unfill. I had lost 15 pounds in 5 days. He removed 1.0 and after that for about 8 months I choked on everything I ate but was determined to leave the fill as it was. That was an unfortunate choice. When I learned that I could be harming my band I went and had .2 removed. I was very concerned that .2 wouldn’t make a difference (I was now at approximately 1.9) but it did. Now after a year and a half I have not lost weight because of my own poor choices. In the time I was overfilled I got in the habit of eating all the wrong foods. This week I started on Weight Watchers with my fill of 1.9 and hallelujah I feel full on a small amount of HEALTHY food. Please don’t be in a rush to get big fills and don’t wait too long if you are overfilled. Please do eat healthy no matter what and if you are choking on veggies and protein don’t eat unhealthy high fat food and leave the fill where it is. Get some removed and take your time. I lost a year and a half. If I had gotten an unfill earlier I would be farther ahead. Please remember your body changes constantly and the doctors at the OCC and fill centers do the best they can but it is up to you to stand up and say “something’s wrong”. I am still not sorry I had the band put in. I have not gained weight so I am ahead by what I know I would have gained and I still have a great tool which now should work for me. So let me be a terrible example for now but I plan to be a shining example down the road.