Am I doing the right thing?

Mom2Sassy · 05-18-2007, 02:09 PM

I was banded on 2/14, I have had 2 fills and now I am at 2.6. The first time I went in the filled it to 2.0 and I went back a couple of weeks later because I could eat just about anything, and they filled me to 2.6

That was almost 2 months ago, I am very restricted and with a few exceptions, most days all I can eat is soup and chips....which I don't understand at all. Why can I eat chips, but any meat or veggie or cracker or fish or potatoes all get stuck? That doesn't make any sense to me....I understand the soup, but why do the crunchy things work too? I can't even eat yogurt until the evenings...

Anyway, I finally called my doctor and made an appointment for a slight unfill on Monday, I was thinking of just having them take out .1 cc's.....? I have lost weight since the last fill, but now I am at a plataue and I think it is because I am eating mostly soup, and it doesn't stay with me very long, so I am eating more often than I should be....does that make sense? Anybody else have a similar experience?

waterlily1072 · 05-18-2007, 02:16 PM

Chips go down almost no matter how tight you are. Super crunchy dry things sort of melt down to almost nothing when chewed. As fot the rest yes I'd say you are definitely too tight. A .1 unfill may not be enough, tell them what you can and can't eat and how much, this will tell them volumes as to how much needs to be taken out.

**Iluvharleys** · 05-18-2007, 05:27 PM

You should be able to eat meat and veggies. You do sound like you need a small amount taken out.
Junk food always goes down good!

lisah25 · 05-18-2007, 05:29 PM

I think you are. Tempting though it is to stay tight, thinking it will lead to better weight loss, it won't. And you can cause yourself problems by doing so (says the woman who spent last Sunday morning in the ER with a esophegeal spasm we think was triggered by being too tight).

You need to be able to eat healthy solid food for the band to do it's best. I got .2 taken out Monday, and dropped a few pounds even though I was eating again. SOOOO worth it.

***Susan*** · 05-18-2007, 05:30 PM

As unfair as it seems, it is true that the junk seems to go down way to easily. Does your doctor ever do fills under flouro? If so, maybe he could do one that way to help better determine what is the appropriate amount of fill for you. I had been having some problems for the past couple of months, so we did my last one under flouro and I am at perfect restriction right now. I can pretty much eat anything except bread, just in small amounts.

Mom2Sassy · 05-19-2007, 12:01 PM

Thanks for all the feedback. My doctor does do all his fills under fluero. I think the real problem is that the 2nd time I went in, they read the chart wrong and thought that my first fill was to 2.6 instead of 2.0, 0 and 6 can really look alot alike in hand writing.
So they thought that some of the fluid wasn't there from the first fill and wanted to get it atleast to the same point I was after that. So even though 2.6 looked really tight under the fluero, they figured it would be fine after a couple days of liquids.
I should have said something then, but I made the mistake of thinking it would be better to be too tight than not tight enough, and I didn't want to question them.
Anyway, I go in Monday at 1:30 for the adjustment. It will be nice to eat "normal" food again. Soup is getting really old.

Mom2Sassy · 05-22-2007, 04:55 PM

Went to the doctor yesterday to see about an unfill. They had me drink the barium and watched it go through, they said is actually looked more like I needed a fill than an unfill, after much discussion, we decided to take .1 cc out of my band.

But they did remind me of a few things....which I already knew, but maybe I was being diligent enough....
1. small bites, this means SMALL, not just smaller than before the band
2. Chew, chew, chew. Not small bite, swallow, small bite, swallow
3. No drinking.

So, today has been successful so far, nothing has stuck. I am looking forward to seeing how I do at dinner. Not sure what I am making yet, but I know it will be cut up very small and I will chew the heck out of it.