Coco

Hi All, Well good news about ACS sending us all letters. I wonder what it'll say. I hope its good news whatever it contains. Just a word of warning, until we know who is reading this thread for the wrong reasons (ie:media) maybe we should communicate about this letter by PM. I have no advanced knowledge about what it contains but after last Sunday's Daily Mail, I don't think we should say too much. If the Daily Mail want to know whats happening let them contact ACS or wait until someone contacts them. In my view and the view of a few of ACS patients the Mail on Sunday were partly responsible for having Jerome taken off the medical councils register and although there are valid cases against ACS none of them are to do with banded patients. Yet. Maybe I'm being slightly paranoid but I would just hate for any more damage to ACS which in turn will have to effect our aftercare.

Hi Holly123, My sentiments exactly. I hope ACS have read enough on this forum for them to take matters into their own hands and not wait until they receive a heap of letters from us. It is only common courtesy to notify all their patients of changes to their agreed aftercare. Its the only way that they can restore any level of confidence from us.

Hi Terry, What are you like :thumbup: page 42, here I copied it for you...... I'm heading over there in March for some lipo and an arm lift with Dr dedonckers who is a colleague of Dr de Bruyen in Jan Portaels hopspital. Can't wait. De Bruyen will defill and refill my band as I'll be getting a general anaesthetic for the lipo. Thats from a post by Ellen. I'm sure she won't mind me copying it for you. Hope it helps.

Hiya Terry, If you look back on page 42-43 there is some info about the hospital from Ellen who is thinking of PS there. Here is a copy of what she told me....... Coco You were asking about cost of arm lift. With the guy Im going to its carried out in a hospital not a clinic and it costs 2200 Euro under sedation (not general anaesthetic). He's got lots of fans on wlsinfo and is in the same hospital as Chris de Bruyne. Full body liposculpture (as opposed to liposuction which apparently is riskier, involves more bruising and more pain) costs 2500 and tummy tuck with muscle repair (which incidentally shrinks your waist by at least 4 inches) costs 2700. In due course I'll report back as regards the pain element.....don't actually care about the pain - just want to see bucketfulls of fat being hoovered out!!!!! Ellen __________________ I hope that's helpful but if you PM Ellen I'm sure she'll tell you all she can.

Hi Elsie, Welcome home and welcome to the losing side. :eek: I'm delighted you're feeling so well. Take it easy though, don't do too much too soon. Keep us posted on your progress.

quote=Marge;749529]Hello everyone I think I would be very angry and scared if I had been banded at ACS. At E10K all of you deserve better and while additional surgery may be difficult at the moment for ACS there is no reason why they should not be able to provide good after care. From what I gather from the posts here ACS have always been managed very badly with everyone (except perhaps Coco) getting angry and frustrated and not knowing what the future will bring. I can understand that many of you don't want the world to know that you've been banded, but for the sake of your health and the fact that you paid E10 grand you have to act. If I were one of you I would be organising a meeting of all of you to meet and decide exactly what you want from ACS and write it down point for point. I would write to the owner of ACS outlining exactly what your concerns are and what you want done about it. I would be asking for a meeting with her giving her a choice of 2 or 3 dates. If she doesn't answer, and I have a feeling she won't, I would then organise as many of you as possible ( the more the merrier) and all meet at the ACS offices determined to stay there until you meet her. But you all have to be committed and you have to be clear in what you want and stick to that. I presume you all signed contracts with ACS. Let that be the basis for what you want. Sitting around and hoping for the best isn't going to bring change. Marge Hi Marge Just to answer a couple of your points. If you have read all the posts on here for the past month you would see that I got so angry regarding the treatment of ACS patients that I proposed a meeting with all concerned a proposal which for various reasons was not take up by more than four of the contributors to this thread. I have repeatedly expressed my concerns regarding aftercare particularly in the case of emergency care of which we have had an unfortunate example of already. Thankfully that case was resolved without permanent medical damage but will the next person be so lucky. In my opinion people are only worried about their fills and not looking at the bigger picture. Going to the media is not in my opinion the first point of call but as people will decide what to do in their own interest I'm sure my opinion doesn't count. I have made my views known on this site in spite of not having any complaint (as yet) regarding my own personal experience with ACS. I have always gotten the treatment and aftercare including emergency care I would have expected from ACS. I am so far happy with all my dealings with ACS, that does not mean that I cannot sympathise, support and help with others who range from disappointed to downright angry of their treatment with ACS. I am increasing worried for my future aftercare with ACS since reading and hearing of other peoples difficulties. I have taken my own steps to clarify my situation with ACS and have suggested to others to do the same. I just feel a sense of deja vu reading the posts and wonder if complaining on this site is all thats ever going to happen.

Hi 3na, What a palava................... thank god you're ok now, and you still have your band. I glad that ACS referred you to the top weight loss surgery surgeon, this is something I've been worried about ever since Jerome left Ireland. To my knowledge Loughinstown only do Gastric Bypass at the moment but there is talk of them doing the banding as well in the future. So it appears you have been very lucky to have the band repositioned and not removed. Well I have to say it, ACS got you the best care possible for your prediciment. I'm delighted it all panned out ok in the end. Wonder how much he charged ACS.:thumbup: Best of luck and wishing you all the success with your band.:tongue: Thanks for keeping us posted.:tt2:

Hi Ailbhe, When I had my band done I was told to get back to eating normal foods as soon as I felt up for it and just to do liquids for the first few days. I started within about a week or 10 days to eat normal foods. As your surgeon has told you only liquids for the first week I would recommend either Slimfast which are on offer BOGOF in Tesco right now. Or a healthier Spirulina which is available in good health shops. This has lots of vitamins and minerals but is also high protein which staves off the hunger.:thumbup: Hi Elsie, Good luck on your trip to Belgium. Let us know how you got on when you return. To anyone interested to know how the meeting last Saturday went, well it was a small meeting, just four of us, so it was decided that we should deal with ACS individually, as there seems to be several areas of concern it is better if everyone writes with their own concerns to ACS.:tongue:

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f73/how-lap-band-actually-works-fills-refills-45563/ Hi girls, Theres a link that Wella123 asked me to give you all, its a very interesting post that gives loads information on the band. Happy reading.

Hi All, Ailbhe, congratulations, welcome to the banded side:biggrin::biggrin: I so glad you had such a positive experience. This will help others facing that road and will be a comfort to them. You are sounding so great and so well I wish you every success with the band.:blushing::welldone::wub::welldone::welldone::smile2::welldone::ohmy::welldone::huh2: Gerri, Don't worry, if you've made other plans. Its always difficult to suit everyone on the same day. Besides, it appears from other posts that ACS are sorting out the fill situation and organising transport from Dublin to Belfast so although not ideal its a start and I for one am glad that nobody is being left in the lurch as regards the fills. Loriha, Thanks for sharing that news with us. It may not suit you but at least something is in place as regards the fills. SkinnyIrishBabe, You should phone ACS again and see if they have room for one more on the 'fill bus to Belfast'. If you want to have a chat and meet up with some of the others the meeting is going ahead in Bewley's in Sandyford at 11.30ish on Saturday 1st March.

Hi Skinny, We wait with bated breath.:biggrin: That would be fantastic, but I guess as its 6.00pm now and we haven't heard any more....................

Hi Lil, No problem, as I said before this is not a compulsory meeting, its being proposed by me as a possible solution to the concerns expressed on this thread. In my opinion, we can't pussy foot around for too long that's why the meeting is being held this week as it seems to suit a lot of people who are concerned enough to at least talk it through with like minded people. There will be no more than an agreed letter, outlining all our concerns, and signed by those willing to put their name to it. Once again, I am not proposing taking legal action against ACS, I have agreed with others that finding out where we stand legally, as regards our rights, and what legal commitments are owed to us by ACS may be beneficial to us. I'm glad to see you are getting some comfort from this thread Lil, as they say, it's good to talk. Enjoy you're night out on Friday.

Hi Wella123, Right with you on a meet up,:biggrin: as good as it is to post our views on this site, it would be much better to get all our concerns out on the table with as many of us as can manage/want to be there. Getting legal advice is a good point, its good to know how we stand legally. Although, approaching ACS as a group (in a letter, I'm not suggesting an ambush:laugh:) to clarify our situation both for now and the future, I feel is the way forward. The very fact that so many of us want to keep our lap band secret from all and sundry, makes us reluctant to do any more than place a few phone calls ( to little or no avail by all accounts), what I'm proposing can be done in a discreet manner and anyone who really doesn't want to put their name on a letter can still be a part of the process, (if they want to). We'll work it out. This is the time to stand together, I'm in agreement with Wella there. So if anyone is interested this Saturday 1st March in Bewelys Sandyford?:smile2:

Hi Paulina, Really sorry to hear the news about your sister. I do hope everything goes well for her. You're right about the importance of smears.

Hi Princess, Thanks for your post, that is more positive than we have had lately. Not a great solution for aftercare but I suppose its better than nothing. Again I have to say, its not just aftercare from a fill prospective, its more important to have aftercare from an emergency point of view. Anyone who has needed a defill in a hurry on this site will tell you how uncomfortable it is to have to wait any length of time for it. Just a small point on your last post, I am not suggesting we take any action against ACS. I'm suggesting we write a letter collectively asking ACS to address our concerns as a group rather than how it is at the moment with everyone talking to someone different in ACS and getting different information depending on who you speak to. (Just thought I should clear that one up.:biggrin:).

Hi All, It doesn't look like Saturday March 8th is a good time for many of you. I thought this Saturday(1st March) might be too soon but if its better for you guys then its fine by me. I don't want to force anyone to come to a meeting but if any of you are interested in discussing this and approaching ACS as a united group to get more information regarding our aftercare in a calm and calculated way. There is no point in posting your grievance's here and then doing nothing about it. I feel that if we write to ACS collectively, we have a better chance of hearing first hand whats going on and where we stand. If we meet up we can make sure everyones concerns are accounted for and it might even be easier for ACS to treat us as a group. I just want our aftercare up and running again. What concerns me more than the lack of fills is, what if one of us has a problem and needs a defill, I've had a slip, I know how uncomfortable it is until the band is defilled, I wouldn't wish it on anyone. If there is no one to do fills at ACS there is no one to do defills. Believe me this is a bigger problem. I'll be on the site later this evening and anyone who's interested in joining in on the meeting let me know. Either by PM or openly on this thread.

Hi All, PrincessLK, this is awful for you, I'm so sorry this is happening. It is very difficult to stay positive while this is going on. You have the band, that's the major part of the journey over and I know you have to have it filled to your sweet spot to really start losing the excess weight, but I hope that ACS can sort this out for you. If ACS are doing fills in Belfast would you not be as well going up there to have one done? It might be worth asking. As for going to the papers about this, I don't know, in my heart (rightly or wrongly), I feel that its the papers that got us into this mess in the first place. Before they started poking their nose in we had Jerome happy to do the ops with a very good success rate, Lu to do the fills along side him. Happy days. I feel, and I must stress that I have no proof of this, but it looks to me as if other medics/clinics/hospitals in this country are trying to squeeze ACS out of the picture to take on this most lucrative of Operations. This band is going to get more and more widespread, and from what that Journalist said, Helena is not very well liked in the industry. Look how suddenly the Beacon are doing the op and all of these private hospitals are associated with each other. ACS were openly looking for a hospital to do the op's in Ireland and none were made available to them. I don't know, I'm trying to make sense of all this, but I do think we need to meet up and discuss this issue among ourselves and decide the next course of action calmly. What we need now are some facts from ACS and only then can we decide what course of action to take. DOES SATURDAY 8TH MARCH AT 11.30AM SUIT MANY OF US IN THE BEWELYS HOTEL IN SANDYFORD? Please PM me if you are interested in meeting up to discuss this.

Hi All, Thanks for all the good wishes. It wasn't easy, we all have our ups and downs (no pun intended) on this journey, but with help and support we will all make it. . This is probably a good time to thank all of you who have supported me over the past 13+ months, and I hope I have been of some support to some of you in return. There are a few of us who are worried about whats happening our aftercare with ACS at the moment, and its good to hear from PrincessLK that maybe we will know more tomorrow. On Saturday I posted on this thread suggesting that anyone having a problem with fills should just turn up on ACS's doorstep and demand the fill/aftercare we are entitled and have paid for. On mature reflection, I think that turning up without an appointment would be pretty futile, particularly if there is no one to see to us. I hope no one took my advice:redface:. I stand by what I said about seeking out alternative aftercare, I'm all for having options, but ACS are responsible for our aftercare, and switching/using other providers now may well invalidate our contract of care with ACS. I hope we hear something more positive from ACS tomorrow. Once again thank you for your kind words and I wish you all well and shed loads of weight loss.

Good Morning All, Hope a good weekend was had by all. I just wanted to share some good news with you all. As and from this morning I am now exactly 5stone (70lbs) lighter than I was the day of the op (11mths & 3weeks ago).:eek: That's in spite of the complications with reflux and having the band emptied and refilled slowly. I know the 1/4 ml I had put in two weeks ago has kick started the weight loss again but I'm so pleased. :thumbdown:

Hi Everyone, I'm sorry to hear so many of you are having such a difficult time right now trying to get fill's and aftercare at ACS. I don't know if Lu is still working there or not she was when I saw her two weeks ago and there was no mention of any changes to me anyway. Look if I were in any of your shoes I would just turn up to Fitzwilliam on a Saturday as that seems to be the day that fills are done and demand to see someone who can do them. Seeking out alternative places to have our fills done should not be a priority right now. ACS are responsible for us, they have a legal duty of care to us and we have paid them 10 thousand Euro for the privilege. Its not good enough just to move to somewhere else and let ACS off the hook. If they want me to move to an alternative provider because they can't offer the aftercare they were paid for I want compensation for that. To Elsie and Ailbhe Try not to worry too much, if its any help all of us had the same worries about going under the operation. You have both chosen a very experienced surgeon and a wonderful hospital by all accounts. So the best of luck I'll be thinking of you and looking forward to your posts when you get back. Chin up and don't forget the DVD's. :thumbup::smile:

Hi Bree, There was no reason for the band slippage, it just happens to about 2% of people. The symptoms are not being able to keep anything down including fluids. There was no pain as such, after a slight defill I felt better and was able to drink fluids again, then I had an xray and my surgeon decided to repair the slip within two weeks of it happining. Everything is going v well now thank you:smile: I wouldn't wish a slip on anyone, but if it happens its usually just a blip on the road and doesn't always require further surgery.

Hi All, I'm sorry I didn't check my PM's for two days, have answered those pending and I sent a few myself. :tt2:

Hey Lil, Great to see you posting, sorry I can't help you, I can't get any tax back as I don't pay any tax in Ireland. Although if I remember correctly I heard that they will put gastric surgery on the receipt and not mention the band. Terrific weight loss. Well done you. :tt2:

Hey Ellen, thanks for that, as soon as I've paid off the loan for the Band I want to get my arms done, not sure about the stomach yet as I'm still in love with Spanx. But please keep me informed as to how you get on. I'm with you there on the pain, it'll be so worth it.