fatchihuahua

Sorry to hear about the fee increase. Just wanted to make sure you know that there is a difference between Dr. Robert Pinnar's practice and Dr. Eric Pinnar's practice. Dr. Robert Pinnar participates in most major insurance plans which can offer substantial savings if he participates in your plan. Dr. Eric Pinnar (to my knowlege) does not participate in insurance plans. Therefore, if your insurance will cover the operation, I would go with Robert Pinnar. I don't know how much things have changed in the past few years, but when I looked for Lap-Band providers, most of the providers had initial program fees. Good luck in your search! :thumbdown:

I have been having many problems with my band lately. I was banded over three years ago and lost over 50 of the 100 lbs that I wanted to lose in the first 15 months. Then I hit a plateau that lasted for several months. I wasn't losing, but I wasn't gaining. I had cut back on the exercise, so I tried to step that up again. I lost about 10 more pounds and began feeling dizzy all the time and extremely tired. I also had very bad acid reflux, but I didn't pay much attention, since I have had acid reflux for years. I cut back on my BP medicine and that seemed to help with the dizziness, so I went to my PCP and told her my BP medicine was too strong. She disagreed and gave me sleep medicine instead to help with tiredness. Of course, this did not help one bit, so I switched PCPs and she switched me to another BP medicine, and now the extreme tiredness and dizziness are gone. Anyway back to the reflux. I went in for another fill to get me back on track and help me begin losing weight again, since now I was not too dizzy to exercise anymore. I mentioned the reflux and the Physician assistant (PA) said my band was probably too tight and wanted me to have a fluroscopy to see the pouch under X-ray. When this was done, we saw the band had moved into a vertical position, instead of the horizontal position it should have been in, and the pouch had enlarged. The liquid would hardly go down and the steak I had eaten the night before was visible in the pouch (It hadn't gone down yet). He loosened the pouch and told me to drink only liquids for several days to two weeks then SMALL meals for two weeks before another fluroscopy, where he saw the band had repositioned itself and the pouch had shrunk, so he filled it up a little more. He said if the band had not moved back into position he would have to do surgery and replace it. He said you must ALWAYS get the band loosened when you begin to have severe reflux or are not able to eat regular food, in order to prevent irreversible damage and require surgery. So I would warn the people earlier in this thread that it is very dangerous to keep your band too tight. Since that time I have had the band filled a few more times to where I felt it had good restriction, only to find out through fluroscopy, that the pouch was too big again and the band had moved out of position again (e.g. - band was too tight). I can no longer sense when the fill is adequate and have gained 25 lbs back over the last year with all these unfill-refills. I no longer know how to make the band work for me and can't seem to turn the wieght gain around. I want another fill, but am worried that the band will become too tight again. I am always hungry. Has anyone else experienced this problem and found a way to get back into weight loss? :wink2::confused::redface:

I had surgery with Robert Pinnar over three years ago. He is an excellent doctor who I would highly recommend :redface:. I also LOVE his PA, Paul :cursing:, and nurse, Sue:thumbup:, who do the fills. And don't forget Sharra :thumbup: at the front desk. Great staff. Aside from the $450 program fee, my insurance, United Healtcare, paid for everything! I pay a portion for office visits and fills, but it is a small price to pay. :wink2: