ffpandamer

What a complete and total waste of my time and sanity. I was banded in October two years ago, and in that time, the only thing I lost was my mind. I feel lied to and cheated, and wish I'd never had this horrible band put in me. I lost 30 pounds the month of my surgery, and then every single time I went in to the Dr, they would take my "weight loss", divide it by the number of months that passed, and tell me how wonderful I was doing. These "doctors" ignored me when I told them the band wasn't doing anything for me. Eventually I lost a total of 50 pounds, but let me be perfectly clear on this. The weight loss was from pure strength of will, the band did NOTHING! I went from yellow to red zone, from eating too much to throwing up every single bite that went in me, with no green zone in between. My body went into utter starvation mode while I was in the red zone, and rather than loose weight, i stayed completely the same, and eventually started gaining it. I exercised, I DIETED harder than I have ever dieted in my entire life, and I got to the point where I was having a psychotic episode over the stress and failure I was faced with every single day that passed. They told me I wouldn't need to diet. They told me the band would regulate my appetite, therefore "dieting" wouldn't be unnecessary. They promised me, no more fad diets, no more stress, just nice, easy, appetite control. What a load of bull. I kept going back to that sham of an office, and every person I talked to would give me a totally new hard-core diet to take. Protein shakes, low fat, low carb, low calorie, point systems, counting calories, eat more cheese, don't eat cheese, eat nuts, stay away from nuts, you name it, someone there told me to do it. Every single time I walked in there, I was given different instructions. Not one single bit of continuity between all the dr's and nurses. All smiles, all "you're doing fine! I know you haven't lost any weight in 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, etc months. I know you can't eat. I know you're stressed out and angry. Don't worry, here, try another diet. Go home now, must get more patients." My hair became thin, and eventually started falling out in clumps, and that's where the psychotic episodes came in. Every night sitting up stressing, pulling out wads of hair, crying in fear and anger. And they said, "Don't worry, you're doing fine. Try another diet." And so they took Fluid out and i went from red zone to yellow - no restriction again. And I gained back 20 pounds. On top of the failure of regaining that weight, it didn't go back to the spots where I lost it. Nope! It focused around my chin and my stomach, so I look like a demented weeble wobble toy now. I wish I'd never had this surgery. I wish I'd had more self esteem and been happy with my extra weight. I wish my life wasn't ruined with the knowledge that I've stressed myself and my family with two years of overwhelming obsession with my weight. And where do I go from here? There is no where to go from here. I'm stuck with a piece of equipment in me that failed - IT FAILED NOT ME - my so-called DOCTORS failed, not me! I've never worked so hard before in my life, exercise, diet after diet, and nothing! What a great life I have to look forward to now. Thanks for nothing lapband.

I was suspicious after my fill last month. It felt different, and I had no change in restriction, so I was worried that she missed. So yesterday I went in and, no surprise there, she had missed. The Dr. removed all the Fluid in my band, measured it, put it back and added 1cc more. She warned me doing an unfill and fill like that could make me swell up inside, and keep me on liquids for an extra day or two, and she was right! Has anyone else experienced a much harder time recovering from a fill after the levels were checked?

I have a 14cc band and I'm currently at 10.25ccs. I had my most recent fill on 6/3, and I was banded in 9/09. I lost 30 pounds in the 30 days after surgery, and another 14 pounds since then. Discouraged is putting it mildly. But during this last fill I asked for a complete empty and measure, and found that one fill was missed. I was only at 9cc's when I shoudl have been at 10. they put the 9 back, added 1.25 on top, and I'm sore sore SORE from it. feels like I was punched in the chest. The soreness seems to be from gas, which is finally subsiding. And i have restriction. BIG time. Either that or i'm just swollen from the unfill/fill. Time will tell. I feel your frustration on this - i don't know what i'm going to do if this most recent fill doesn't do it for me. I was told that as we loose weight, more Fluid has to be added to keep up. How is that going to work when i'm almost at max level now? I'm not very happy with this whole procedure at the moment, but i'm stuck with it. I wish I could give you advice or encouragement, but right now all i can do is sympathize, and hope we both start seeing a positive result soon. Good luck to you!

I"m right there with you. I was banded on 9/24 and I still have no restriction :thumbup: I don't think i stretched my pouch because i don't get a full feeling, nor and over full feeling. The food just seems to be passing through no problem at all. I can't wait for my next fill! I have a 14cc band with only 5cc's in it - still a long way to go! GL!

Most medications are available in a suspension (liquid) form. Search the web to see if your drug is available that way. If you're truly worried, I am sure your doctors will work with you to get you the liquid meds and allay your fears :drool: GL!

Subway and I do not get along :thumbup: I had the chicken terraki (i know i spelled that wrong) sub, and it made me so sick i had to get an unfill :thumbup: My doctor said it was the chicken and the bread, and that was with chewing it really really well. Be very careful when branching out into 'new' foods. I wish you luck!!

I had my surgery on 9/24/09 and i've been working so hard at loosing weight. I have no restriction yet, so my weight loss has been mostly willpower, and will continue to be so for a few more weeks. So my partner brough in four candybars yesterday, and a family sized pack of oreos today. And I confronted her and she got so angry at me! She said she didn't understand why she should be forced to change her lifestyle to match my diet. She said she hated the foods I have to eat now, and wants to eat her own food. I said that was fine, that I just wanted her to bring in enough for her to eat in one sitting. That pack of oreos sitting in the kitchen is a killer for me. I sit up late at night on the pc, and I have trouble with late night snacking. Now there are oreos to entice me - wonderful! She doesn't get it. She just kept yelling, saying she wasn't sabotaging me, getting so defensive. So now i feel horrible, like I've done something wrong. How can I live here if I can't get the support from the one other person that lives here too? Why is she doing this to me? I've been struggling for years and years and years, and now I not only have to fight my hunger and diet, but I have to fight her too? This is absolutely tearing me up, and she just keeps saying she's not trying to sabotage me - I just do not believe her. I don't know what to do.

It's all post - op for me i'm plateau'd because i have no restriction, and it's willpower alone keeping me here. Can't wait for my next fill!!! Gratz!!!

Well we talked a lot calmer, and I think the whole "special cabinet" idea is going to work. At least I do hope it will. I know she doesn't want me to get skinnier than her - and I can handle that. If that pushes her to work harder to loose weight, cool! As for me, I have my own goals which aren't based in competition. But now I know to watch for warning signs, and try to head them off before they become a problem. Thank you everyone for your advice I will take this slow and try not to get too angry - it's a new situation for both of us, and I don't want to isolate her during it.

She's mildly overweight, and watching her own eating. But she's going at her diet from a totally different direction than me, which is fine. I never thought of making a space in the kitchen just for her stuff. that could work - out of sight out of mind right? I'm going to give that a try. Thank you

If doing something as "simple" (said tongue in cheek) as the South Beech diet helped you loose weight - why would you need the lapband? My dr explained that the reason for these "Supervised" diets required by the insurance company was to rule out the possibility of you loosing weight through other means. You know what your body is capable of. You know what you need to loose this weight (the lapband). You are now prooving that to your insurance company. TDo not let your BMI fluctuate too much. try to stay steady. If you drop too low, or go too high, you will run the risk of being denied. My first paragraph here, it's the most important. Keep this in mind when trying to diet, and do not drive yourself too crazy about this. The pre-op diet is only a few weeks, and is to shrink the liver. That one is important. At that point, you need to buckle down and get focused and determined. But that is yet to come :thumbup: Good luck!!

Just who does this x-ray tech think she is? Her questions, advice and whatever else she threw at you was unwarranted, unwelcome and unprofessional. You do not need to explain your life to someone who comes in and had a single job to do. She's not operating on you, she's not treating you, she has nothing to do with your life other than to take an xray! I can't tell you how much your experience galled me. Her lack of tact was unacceptable. Please take the advice above and write that letter, and do not let ANYONE dictate to you how you shoudl live your life. We support you here, because we understand you. She needs to learn how to act like a professional and keep her personal opinions out of her workplace. Good luck!

My doctor said that when you have a cold, the mucus in your body forms a plug in the stoma (stomach where the lapband is), which can make eating very difficult. He said start the day with hot liquids. Sip them to melt the plug. Afterwards, you should be fine. Give this a try - good luck!!

The pre-op diet is not about losing weight, it's about shrinking the fat around your liver. And once you have the surgery, you simply will not want anything but liquids for a week or so - the desire to eat solid food will not be there. But if you really feel that after investing 12 months of your life and money, this isn't the thing for you, then you do have a hard choice to make. Letting 2 weeks out of the past 52 weeks dictate your future seems quite harsh. Good luck with whatever choice you make.

I had no problem with Aetna at all. My Doctor knew exactly what my insurance would need, and was insanely thorough. Get your requirements ahead of time. As long as you meet them all, you can't be denied. And if you are, you'll already have the tools you need to fight them :thumbup:

My doctor said that when you get a cold when you have the band, your mucus tends to form a plug at the bottom of your band that can block access to your stomach. This can be melted away using hot liquids. He said to start days with very hot tea or coffee or something of that nature, and sip it slowly. Be sure to drink hot liquids all day and keep your pouch open and clear. Other than that, you should be fine, but if you find that your lapband is too tight, ask your doctor to unfill you. Good luck!!!

I used a car service there and back, 45minutes each way. And my insurance covered it!!!! Yours may too No hospital will release you to your car. They simply will not allow it - you must be picked up by someone, even if it's a cab. If something happened to you on the way, the hospital woudl be responsible for letting you drive after an operation. And there is no way they would ever allow that to happen. Look for Medical Transportation on Google in your area. Call the local car services. Call a well reviewed cab service. Trust me, you will not have as hard a time getting there and back as you think. And the insurance - call them! You might luck out like me - they might cover the expense.