Candp

Hello Bandsters Was wondering if I could get some advice, just to give you some background; I had my first band fitted with ACS in 2007, it was a cheap band but it worked very well until 2011 and I lost 7 stone. However in 2011, it started to go funny and i started to wake up choking and as if that wasn’t bad enough, I ended up putting on 2 stone also. I was absolutely devastated and it looked like all my hard work was for nothing. Desperate as I didn’t want to go back to the way I was, I started looking at other places that provided bands, Belgium, my previous surgeon who now worked in France , places where the band is much cheaper to get. After going to see different band providers I decided in the first quarter of 2013 to go with one in Dublin, it was much more expensive (double the price) but I figured if there were any problems I would was only a car ride away. This place came across as professional and knowledgeable. They said that they used a much better band and that it was unlikely I would have any problems and one year’s after care would be covered in the total price. Delighted because I was really worried, I paid my money, ready to start another journey with my new band. So I got the new band put in, the first two weeks were grand, after two weeks the swelling went down and there was no appetite suppression (the company don’t like the term restriction) and it’s the hungriest I have been in six years, I put on a half stone but I consoled myself, I would get my fill within a month of the operation and everything would be tickety boo... not so.... They filled the band to 6ml, and nothing, I contacted the Liaison Person and was told I would have to wait a month to get another fill. They only do fills - get this now, once a month! (Of course this was never mentioned previously, I was led to believe it was every Saturday and that all I needed to do was book an appointment). If I was struggling it was too bad, because I had to adhere to their ridiculous guidelines even if the band was not doing its job. Talk about fat shaming!! . So I promised myself, I would not discuss anything with the Liaison Person again, just confirm appointments with them and I would do all my talking to the Doctor and the Nurse who administer the fills. I was struggling because I was constantly hungry, add to that I had really bad shoulder pain and my insomnia was acting up because I was so stressed and my anxiety was through the roof, so I had no energy to go out for my marathon 6KM walks. However once a month up until September, I would visit with either the Doctor or the Nurse to get a fill and I would explain again that there was no suppression, they would make sympathetic noises that I needed to be patient. By this stage I had over 9ml in and nothing, I was worried as this is a lot to have in the band and not have any sort of restriction (damn it! It’s our word, I should be allowed to use it ). I was very upset and depressed and stayed away after that, I felt like I had been made a fool of. The only good thing, that’s if you can call it that is that I haven’t put on any more weight but my weight has stayed the same (except for 2lbs I put on over xmas). Just after Christmas, i started choking again, it was slight at first but I had to go back and get some fill taken out of the band. I told the Doctor on call (different from my Surgeon) again that there is nothing happening with this band, it’s not doing anything. He gave me the usual speel about it being a tool and that I could be drinking 10 milk shakes a day (I’m not!) however I pointed out a tool is no good unless it actually does the job it is supposed to do but he just brushed me off. It’s getting closer to the end of my after care and I can’t help but feel they are and have been “eeking” all this out and not bothering to do anything, so that they will look at my band only after my after care has expired and I will then have to pay more fees on top of what I have already paid. Apologies for the misile but I thought it was better to give full story, as this isn’t my first trip with the band and I just I am really frustrated and upset and feel like I have been conned out of a lot of money for something that is a Trojan Horse. I would appreciate any advice, I will be meeting with the Surgeon soon and I am again going to reiterate that the band is not doing anything, I may as well have nothing there for all the good it does. If I am ignored this time, I would look at other avenues i.e. get legal advice or as my friend (a freelance journalist ) suggested she write an article. As far as I can see these are last resorts, I don’t want to do that, I want my band to work, I just want to be like other women. If anyone has gone through this or something similar I would love to hear what you did or what your opinions are because I just feel like a total idiot. Thank you.

Thanks for your posts, I will take on board what you are saying, but even with my evening meal which has much more bulk there is no restriction at all.

I understand that 9ml is high, but do you feel restriction with that, I assume you do?

Hi 2muchfun On a normal work day i would have the following: Breakfast - 2 coffee lattes with low fat soya milk (85 cals per cup) - 1 banana Break - a small bar of chocolate with Herbal Tea (no milk) lunch - A large bowl of homemade Soup (today it was cauliflower and carrot) 1 Yogurt More herbal tea dinner - Will be a small plate of either rice and stir fry meat veg / salad, dressing and meat / sometimes potato, meat and veg I stay away from most fruits (except bananas) as I find they give me really bad sugar cravings. I drink Water and Herbal teas, during the day, most of the time I am still hungry, if I have something bigger for lunch, I am still hungry at dinner time. Sometimes I will have a small bar of chocolate in the evening but nothing massive. My weight has stayed the same since the first fill and I admit my insomnia is so bad that I haven't been able to go walking every night.

That's no problem, thanks for your insight.

HI B-52, Thanks for your post, I have commented on your quotes below: My band has 14ml capacity, the surgeon put 3 ml in while I was being operated on as he was replacing my previous band. Then a month after 3ml was put in bringing it up to 6ml, still nothing, I went a month later with still no suppression/restriction 2 ml was put in. Again nothing, a month after that, I went and got 1 ml put in, nothing again. Then in September five months after having the band fitting i got 0.5 ml put in, brining it up to 9.5 ml and still no suppression. There are Cosmetic Surgeons in Belgium who come to Dublin twice a month, to carry out fills for it's patients. I choose a Irish company as an extra precaution. I wake up choking on my saliva in the middle of the night, it means there is inflamation around the band, even I don't feel any restriction. Which could also indicate that the band may have been placed in correctly or that the band itself is faulty. As I previously had a band, my body should be used to having restriction, over a five month period the fills did get smaller as I was anxious because the band was being filled and nothing was happening. They were cautious I got 9.5mls over five months, and each time I met with them I told them there was something not right withthe band. You are absolutely correct and I completely "get it" the band is fantastic if it works, and if you are operating at your sweet spot (which does take a while but it's now nine months and there is no sweet spot) the first band I had I lost 7 stone, at present I may not even have a band for all the good it does.

Thanks Jenni30 I will demand the barium swallow. Unfortunately there are not that many places in Ireland that do gastric bands and the ones that do will not touch another's company's band, I would have to get the band taken out again. Really don't think I could go through that again...

Hi Parisshel Thanks for the above, the Doctor on Call said he was going to take the Fluid out and check for leaks but then when he was doing the de-fill, he said the needle pushed back (showed resistance) when he was taking out the fill so there was no need to check for leaks as the band wouldn't have done that if there was leaks. I will ask them to do a barium swallow and see what they say. Thanks again.

Hi I had my band fitted with ACS in 2007 and we all know how that turned out!! Anyway I have been getting after care from ECFS who come here twice a month however it now looks like my band is not working, its at maximum restriction but I can eat three times the amount I used to eat a year ago and I have put a stone back on. Feel sick at the thought of all that work I put in going to waste and I will end up putting it all back on. ECFS think my band needs to be replaced and have offered my a good price, my previous surgeon (with ACS) offered to replace the band for €5,000 but I am worried about going abroad, Auralia in Dublin have quoted a price of €7,500 with a band that has been medically approved with a year's after care. I was just wondering what bandsters think, my family don't understand how important it is to me, that I don't put this weight back on also I had hoped to loose another 3 stone before this happened. Any help greatly appreciated. Thanks

Thanks so much for your reply, even knowing that there is another option is a relief. Kind regards Candp

Urgent De-fill Required in Dublin Hi I was wondering if anyone could help, I am urgently in need of a defill, can barely eat at the moment. I had my band fitted by ACS four years ago and we all know how that turned out. Anyway I have been getting my fills abroad since all that fiasco (the last one was in mid May). However over the last couple of weeks my band has become too tight and I can barely eat anything. I have an appointment with WLS for a defill who are over in Dublin in the middle of July but I don't think I can wait that long. Just realised that my passport is out of date since the end of May 2011, Does anyone know if the Blackrock Clinic or the place in Loughlinstown would do defills? I would rather starve than go near the Hospital Group after the way they treated myself and all the other ACS Bandsters but if there is anywhere else that could do it in the next day or two, I would really appreciate any information. Thanking you all in advance. Regards Candp

Thanks for that Dini, much appreciated.

Hey again, I was told that I would have an appointment up in Belfast on 30th August, nobody has come back to me to confirm, I was also told that the Surgeons for the Hospital Group were waiting to get their licenses also. Regards Candy

Hi Again Thanks Lil for letting me know about ACS, there must be alot of us who have dealt with ACS for this op and are unhappy with our treatment. Personally I don't want to let them get away with this, if enough of us got together and sought legal advice maybe we would be able to negotiate for better treatment. I would love to hear from anyone who would like to take this further, €10,000 is a lot of money for me as I am sure it is for the rest of you, I don't believe this is something we just let them get away with, like all of you I am sure you opted to have the operation in Dublin because you would receive aftercare, which wouldn't have been the case if we had gone to Belgium. Apologies for the impassioned plea but even before ACS was liquidated I found them unhelpful and rude and I don't like being swizzed!!! Thanks Candy

Hi I was wondering if anyone knows what is going on with ACS, I understand that ACS is being liquidated and that the Hospital Group has taken it over but when I ask how that effects my after care which I paid in good faith and getting more fills I can't get a straight answer. The receptionist was going to put me on to Kim but I have always found her unhelpful. I have been reading your posts and everyone seems to be going to Chirs De Bruin, he did my last fill with ACS, is he will ACS still or has he moved. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Regards Candy

Thanks Terry and SkinnyIrishBabe for your responses. I don't know if I could ever be addicted to the gym but I am willing to give it a go. When I used to loose weight before the band I used to be really happy when I lost weight, but that was when I had no problem eating vegetables etc so maybe that's something else I need to look into. Thanks Candp

Hi Was wondering if there is anyone on this forum who after being banded started to feel in bad humour all the time. At times it feels there is no rationalising with me. Feel like I am going slightly mad. Don't get me wrong I used to be in bad form before being banded as well but I was usually able to kick myself out of it. It seems at the moment nothing can make me happy or in good humour. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Candp :party:

Hi I am new to the forum, i too had problems getting through to them yesterday and today, I rang their Belfast office, seemingly the Advance in the Republic were having problems with their phone lines, someone just rang me back now. More worrying is that Lou the Nurse who used to do the fills appears to have left. They now have a gastric band surgeon and two bariatric nurses on the staff, however before you breath a sigh of relief, they are refusing to give Saturday appointments. I don't know about you but I work full-time and am of the opinon that after spending €10,000 on aftercare, that ACS should try and be more accommodating to their clients. They refused to give me any time but next Thursday, which means I have to take time off work. If anyone is having the same problems with them, could you let me know as I have generally been unhappy with their service and the fact that I constantly have to chase them up and fight for every little thing. If we banded (excuse the pun!) together, and there are enough of us we can force them to change how they operate. I don't know about you but I had Kim ringing me every month before I finally decided to get my band and then as soon as I handed over the money, they didn't give a damn. Just like to hear what you all think. Regards Candp