Bandster Hell?

I am most definitely officially in the period known as "Bandster Hell" and boy am I EXCITED... not. In case I haven't previously explained what bandster hell is ... it's that fun period of time between post-op diet after surgery and decent restriction, aka I have an expensive medical device implanted in me but I have no restriction so it's not really doing anything for me right now besides giving me something neat to rub at in my belly (I can feel the alien baby port beneath my skin in my tummy) so right now I the way I am eating and how much I am eating is based on sheer will power alone. WELL, let me tell you - if you have a head demon (whether it's food, alcohol or a cigarette demon) you and I both know that demons and will power do not ride on the same bus. Demons fly first class and will power if it's lucky gets put on standby for the red eye flight. Is it March 10 th yet? I want my fill... (see note at bottom of this post in case I haven't ever actually explained what a fill is).

"Psssssst HEY, GET OFF" ... yup that's my scale telling me that I didn't lose any weight last week, as a matter of fact I actually gained 4 lbs ... GO TEAM ME! I know that this is a common thing between surgery and restriction once you are done the post op diet but it doesn't make me any less annoyed or mildly discouraged. The past week has brought on a flood gate of emotions about the weight loss surgery, while I don't regret it one bit it's frustrating to be at a standstill. I realize I'm not going to wake up a size 6 overnight but can we PUUHHHLEEEASE get the show on the road. So poor Darrell has to put up with me being moody, grumpy, teary and all that fun stuff that goes with it. Poor guy.

Okay so what exactly is a fill Angela? Oh my gosh, I'm so glad you asked let me tell you:

Before the lapband is placed I'm sure most people know what a stomach looks like... while once the lapband is on it basically sections your stomach into two parts the upper part above the band is supposed to be what holds your food and it passes through the band into the "lower" stomach and then the standard digestion stuff happens (can you tell I didnt take past biology 11?). The band itself has an "inner skin" membrane on the inside of it, there is a tube and a port attached to the band. To give you a fill the doctor uses a special type of needle to inject saline into the port located just under your skin (mine is near my belly button) and the saline goes through the tube and inflates the "inner skin" membrane of the band which then causes the band to restrict more making the opening between your "two stomachs" smaller. Therefore, as you eat food it fills up your "upper tummy" an causes you to be full and only eat smaller amounts and then slowly processes it's way into the bottom and off it goes. So right now I don't have any restriction which means that when I eat something it goes into my mouth down into "upper stomach" straight through into "lower stomach" and so on.

Please see images below which I "borrowed" from The LaparoscopicBAND Center website (http://www.tlbc.ca/gastricband-how.php).





Fig. 1 The LaparoscopicBand is secured to the top portion of your stomach with sutures


Fig. 2 The interior balloon is filled with saline (via injection) to slow down food flow.





Fig. 3 The restriction allows the patients to hasten and extend the feeling of fullness.

Components of the Band