AmyC315

Have any banders used Hydroxycut? I'm thinking about giving it a try to enhance weight loss. Looking for pros & cons from those who may have used it.

I'm a little over 3mos post-op and havent had any fill yet. I have decent restriction & consistant weight loss. Do what you feel comfortable doing.

I didnt get any packet or card. Thats all news to me.

Thank you all soooo much for the responses. Now I dont feel like such a whiner. I think I will start looking for a different doctor for my follow-up care. I did pick this surgeon for selfish reasons, his office is less then a mile from my house & being an employee of the hospital where he performs his surgeries meant I didnt have any co-pays. But youre all right, its time to move on. I need to stop taking the easy route and put my health & sanity first. Thanks, you guys/gals ROCK!!

It's funny that you brought this up, I have no idea what kind of band I have. This stand-in doctor never has any answers for me. I asked if my band had any fill in it when it was put in and he said, "Yea, but I dont know how much". He cant tell me how many CC's my band is and when I asked how he would locate the band when it was time for a fill, he just chuckled and said, "Its an art". I wasnt feeling that at all.

I was diagnosied with PCOS almost 20yrs ago. I've always had troublesome skin bcuz of the hormonal roller coaster. But I noticed just before my surgery on 7/28/10 that my skin had gotten alot worse, I would say the worst of my life. At that point I had lost around 30lbs and now I'm down a total of 55lbs and my skin is not improving at all. I even broke down and for the first time purchased some ProActiv - BIG MISTAKE! It made it worse. Right now, my face is so bad, so red, so painful, so swollen with large cystic bumps that I dont want to leave my house and im so depressed. I dont know what else to do or what to do to stop it.

At my initial consult on 5/21/10 my mother & I met with the surgeon. During this visit the surgeon was a royal douche-bag and did everything he could to be-little me and talk me out of getting the Band. He made sure we knew that he had very little confidence in the Bands ability to help me lose & maintain weight loss. He told me I would be better off having gastric bypass (which he also does). He said that it works faster and has less follow-up. He told me to go home and think about it some more and exited his office. I walked outta of his clinic in tears and my mother was ticked off. On the drive home my mother said not to let him discourage me & that if I had to find another surgeon 100's of miles away we would make it happen. But before we even reached the house I had already made up my mind. I ran inside and called the clinic I had just left and told them to go ahead and schedule my surgery. Hell, I didnt have to sleep with the man, I just had to let him perform my surgery. I had to lose about 15lbs pre-operatively for insurance purposes. I went through all the pre-op appts & requirements, never seeing the surgeon. By the time my surgery rolled around I had lost 32lbs. On the day of my surgery I never seen the surgeon 1 single time. Never seen him in recovery, never seen him for the 3 days I was in the hospital post-op. I did however see his nurse practitioner a few times and one of his partner surgeons, but never him. I am almost 3 months post-op now and I still have yet to see my surgeon. All my follow-up appts have been with one of his partners. I am now down 55lbs without any fill yet. Could the surgeon be avoiding me? I hope he feels like the douche-bag that he is. I hope he monitors my progress and eats his words of negativity. I think in a way, his negativity has motivated me to prove him wrong. On a different note, the partner surgeon that seems to have taken over my case is far more pleasant. However, I am concerned that he is a bit inexperienced. He seems to avoid having to give me a fill. I realize I am losing at a good rate but whenever I express concerns to him about my constant feelings of hunger he tells me a fill will not help me. I thought that was the point of the LAP-BAND®®, to help curb the constant hunger. And it's not just head hunger, I am following the program to the letter but within a hour of eating I am hungry again. It feels like torture. He's not allowing me to utilize my "tool". My next appt is 11/12, I've cut way back on my usual excersize routine just to slow my weight loss so that he can't use that as an excuse for not giving me a fill. Am I wrong for that? Any input will be greatly appreciated. -Amy

Well said, completely true and I agree 110%.

I recently went shopping for some new jeans and found that I fit into a womans size 14. I have not fit a size 14 jeans since I was 16-18yrs old & 180lbs. I'm around 220lbs right now and can't understand how this is possible. Have sizes changed over the past 18-20yrs?

Shawna, you have to put it into your signature. Go to User CP then go to Edit Signature.

Nope, not in my case anyway. And it definitely says "laproscopic" on the bills from my surgery. I have heard of them doing the procedure through the belly button to avoid scarring, but I dont actually know of anyone who's had it done that way.

Being fat has kept me from feeling like a woman. I've felt genderless for many years. I'm down 55lbs so far and I already feel more feminine and it shows in the way I carry myself, shop & dress. :thumbup: I AM WOMAN, HEAR ME ROAR!!! LOL

I got banded at the end of july and I have 5 scars on my stomach ranging from 2cm to 2in. I didnt know there was a "scar-free" procedure. They said my banding was laproscopic. There's a pic of my post-op scars in my profile.

I ended up in the hospital for 3 days post-op bcuz my stomach was swollen shut at the band site. I was on IV fluids until the swelling went down enough for me to orally take in fluids. I also had quite a bit of abdominal/muscle pain from the port site and was given pain meds intervenously. But on day 3 I went home feeling great with no pain meds, I think I took extra strength Tylenol once or twice in the very beginning but that was it. :thumbup: