mis42

My band has never held all of the fills put in. Today I went for a fill & only 1/2cc was left in the band. I was suppose to have 4cc's. To say the least I am verrry frustrated. They used omnipaque to fill my band today but only put in 2.5cc. I felt some restriction afterwards, but it seems to be gone already. We did not see any leaks from the port or the band with fluro. Anybody have to have their band replaced for such a reason? Did you have to pay again? How bad is lap band replacement surgery? I would think the band is embedded into the stomach & the risk of stomach perforation would be higher.

Has anyone used this |M.D., I have a leak somewhere & considering changing to a gastric sleeve. Does anyone know anything about him?

Nan, I didn't realize in the beginnning that all the poking could harm my port or tubing. I should have stopped it too. The DR. who placed my band gave the impression he was experienced & didn't even know how to do the fills.

I am having my port changed on the 25th. Yes, it will cost me $2500, but my band is wothless without the fluid in it. I am praying this will work & I will be on my way to goal.

I go tomorrow to schedule surgery for change of the port, tubing or both. I have had this band for 1 year & have had problems from the beginning with it not holding fluid.

I was banded almost 1 year ago. I have never held my fills. Finally, I changed doctors and will have my port changed next month. Anyone have their port changed and now are doing well?

Anthony, How did you find a surgeon that was experienced in removing lap-bands & converting to the gastric sleeve?

How did you research to find a doctor to do the sleeve? Since it is a newer procedure how did you find someone with experience? I see this Dr. Guillermo Alverez advertisement on the forum. Do you know anything about him?

I have thought about this a lot lately.I am coming to realize that I was an unwanted child from the beginning. Probably an accidental pregnancy; my sister is 11 years older & my brother is 14 years older. My early childhood was very lonely. I always perceived myself as being in the way. Then at age 11 or 12, my mother abandon the family. I was really alone then. My father had no idea how to raise a young girl. Sometimes he was gone for days. I was scare & sometimes hungry. I remember eating concentrated orange juice out of a can. My siblings were grown & gone. Other family members either didn't know what was going on or didn't care. To cope with all of this pain, I think I turned to food for comfort when I had some.

I have never been a member of OA or heard of this FAA diet. I have come to realize that I am addicted to food. I have strong cravings & binge eat. At this point my band has cut down on the amount that I can eat. I have not been very successful because of my diet. When it comes to food, i am out of control. Can someone explain this program & diet, please

I began doing BodyPump which is aerobics with weights 2 days per week & cardio 2 days per week in October. My starting body fat % was 41. Yesterday, when I went in for a fill it was 26.7%. The gym that I belong to is starting a Biggest Loser contest this week. In the past, I would have never done this. Now, I say bring it on!!!:pray2:

I had been having problems with my band not holding fluid from the beginning. It had gotten to the point where I was going to have to make a decision on what to do with it. My surgeon has stopped doing bands because he could not keep up with the fills. Whenever I would go in for a fill he always had a lot of difficulty. Well surprise surprise, I went to a different doctor who does a lot more bands & they have no trouble getting into my port. Yesterday, I went for my second fill & the fluid from the first fill was still there. My conclusion for now is the fluid wasn't getting to my band. It was injected into my abdominal tissue. So much for going with the surgeon that your insurance pays for. I was so happy yesterday to see the fluid that had been injected come out I could have kissed the doctor. It has been 8 months since my band was placed & I am just beginning my journey. No wonder all I could manage to lose was 15lbs.:pray2:

Ok. I am in the dark; What is a bodybugg? How does it work? where did you buy it?

I too have had the same problem with my band not holding fluid. I had 2 fills under fluro without seeing the leak. My band was placed in April 07. Like you, I have no restriction. Last month I changed doctors , had a fill done, & have a another appt. on the 16th. I really think that there will be nothing or a very small amount in my band. This has been going on from the very beginning. At this point I am considering a gastric sleeve if this does not work out. Tell us how things turn out for you

I would like some feedback on having my lap-band removed & going to a gastric sleeve.

Judy, I did speak to Dan Payne. What it all boils down to is having the band removed & finding out if it is defective or if the band was punctured during surgery or a fill. Right now, I don't know what I will do. i will have to pay for the surgery & than hope to be reimbursed.

I e-mailed Don today. Thank you for all the help. I will have to think long & hard about which surgeon I would have take this band out & replace it.Maybe I could go to DR. Garth Davis in Houston which is about 4 hrs. away. The only drawback is that I would probably have to drive back there for fills. Congrats on a new functional band.

I don't think that I will sue anyone. That is too much BS; all I want is a functional band. When I go in for my next visit, I will explore my options with the surgeon. I have 2 trips planned in November. If I get a new band, it will probably be at the beginning of the new year. If I have to self-pay, I don't think that I will go with the same surgeon. There is another surgeon about 30 miles away who has a more comprehensive program & has more experience. Do you think Allergan will reimburse you for the band?

I have a new insurance company that does not cover any type of obesity surgery. Did you have to hire an attorney to file a suit against Allergan? I have called them & guess what they do not return my call. Go figure. I do not think that I would use the same surgeon. Now that all this is happening, I'm realizing he does not have as much experience as he led me to believe. Did it cost you more to get the old one taken out & the new one put in? I'm even suspecting that my band was leaking from the beginning. The only real restriction that I had was probably from post-op swelling. I need to lose at least 40 more pounds, so I don't know at this point if it is worth it to have it changed out. Although, i have fought my weight all my life & would benefit from having a functional band. How much was self-pay to repeat the procedure? To top it off, I'm a legal nurse consultant. All I do all day long is review medical charts collecting information used in lawsuits.

I was lucky to get the insurance to pay 15,000 of my first bill. My husband has changed jobs & our current insurance does not cover for any type of weight loss surgery. How was your leak detected? Did you lose restriction very rapidly after a fill? Was the 2nd surgery worst than the first? I have lots of questions.

He only put in 2.5cc's of Omnipaque. I'm wondering if he would have filled the band to 10cc's if the leak would have showed up. Of course now is a fine time to find out that my surgeon has less experience with this than he led me to believe. My band is an Inmed& i'm wondering if they would assist to have it replaced. Anyone know the answer to that?

I went for a fill today & again I had only a fraction of what was suppose to be in there. I was suppose to have 4cc's & had only 1/2cc. This is my second fill under fluro & no leaks were detected. My band has never held the fills. At this point I am ready to scream. They put omnipaque in it this time. I think that this band has had a leak from the beginning. Anyone had there band replaced because of a similiar problem?

I am going to get a fill on the 23rd. In the past, everytime I go for a fill I have lost about 1/2 to 3/4th of the last fill. No leaks showed up with dye injection. I am going to ask my surgeon to inject omnipaque & use a stopcock as recommended by some of you. My fingers & toes are crossed hoping this will work.

I am also going on a cruise in November. We have the same idea about getting a fill before getting on the ship. My fill is scheduled for the 23rd. I'm even tempted to have them serve me a diabetic diet in the dining room. We are going to the Western Caribbean out of New Orleans. What cruise line are you going on?

Do some of you follow weight loss programs such as Weight Watchers etc.? Which programs seems to work best for bandsters?