Okay, I just need to vent. Surgery date May 28, 2010. Doctor's 1 st adjustment 7 weeks post-op. I have the largest band (i think 14cc) (which he told me I didn't need to know what size it was... I had to drag it out of him)He put in 3 cc's at the first adjustment. I have no idea if he put any in at the time of placement, because he won't tell me. Next adjustmet is set for 6 weeks. I called the office this morning because I can't even tell I've got a band. I swear I could eat a house and still not know I had a band. So I call to see if I could get the adjustment date moved up. NOPE....6 weeks and not a day early... said it is NORMAL, and not to expect to really noitce till my 3 or 4 adjustment. (not to mention I'm going to pay for these adjustments out of my pocket) Thats at least 18 weeks... plus the 8 1/2 I've already waited. She said if he adjusted too fast, I'd HURT MYSELF. This is BULL CRAP. I sure wish he would have told me it would be 6 months before I would be able to use this plastic I paid for... self pay might I add.:bolt::cursing::smile2:..... Anyone else have a doctor this hard headed. Apparently this is his standard procedure. Before you say get another Dr, .... where I'm located there is only one other Dr. that does B. surgery, and he won't adjust another dr's pt. So, I'm stuck with the Dr I have. So if I want to lose any weight before 6 months, I'm going to have to do it all on my own.... Which I would have been okay with, If i hadn't paid out my teeth for the dang thing. :sad: I know it will work, if he'd just adjust the stupid think. It's like giving a hungry fat girl a slice of pizza and say... here Honey, just hold it, smell it, but don't eat it.........URGGGGGGgggggggggg....... Frustrated................. Thanks for letting me vent. I'm going to make this work, i'm just disgusted with him right now.

I too was dissapointed the band didn't work right away. My second fill was 4 weeks from the first. I had been hungry but didn't think to ask to do it sooner. I don't know what my doc. would have done. It took 3 fills for me to feel restriction. Until then, it is doing it on your own. Until you have restriciton I would focus on eating the right things (low carb, low fat, high protien) for now, even if your portions are larger than what they will be with restriction. You can do it! The band will work, even if it doesn't feel like that now.

I’m sorry that you are frustrated and I don’t want to take anything away from your vent because it is ok to feel the way you feel.

There are a lot of things your Dr doesn’t tell you. I feel like I went into this blind even though I thought I had done my research. There was nothing in the surgery pamphlet that told me about PB'ing which I found out after surgery.

It does take a lot of time to get to restriction. I have the smallest band and it took me a year to get there, but he’s right...if you adjust too fast without letting your stomach heal from the last fill it can hurt you.

I do feel like I did this all on my own without help from the band to "put me in check" but it is possible…. I had lost 86lbs at my 1 year check up and that was without having restriction (only had restriction now for two months) I have asked myself why the hell did I have surgery if I could have done this on my own, but the truth is I couldn’t have...the band may have not given me a physical "check" but it did give me a mental "check" I am terrified of messing up my band so I followed the rules.

Hang in there, you will get there eventually...but you can do it without having full restriction too. I know how hard it is, I describe it as putting a rock in front of a crack head and telling them they can’t smoke it...food is an addiction at least for me it is and we have to face our addictions three times a day. We can't just quit food like someone can quit smoking. I wish I could tell you that the brain changes with the band, but it don’t fix that part.

Best wishes,

Jen

Vent away!

My doctor is very conservative on fills. I did not get restriction until around my 3rd fill. He said he has found in his experience that by going slower the patient gets to restriction easier. Rather than filling and unfilling. He feels it actually takes less fills that way.

I don't know if it is true or not. I have a 10cc AP Standard band. I've had 4 fills in 2 1/2 years, and one slight unfill, and have just requested my first fill in a year.

Hope this helps a little.

How much protien are you consuming per day? and how much fluids are you taking in?

FYI one of the people in my presurgery class's second fill was like 3 CC's and they ended up in the emergency room and had to have a complete unfill. This taught me the lesson that I would rather have smaller fills and not be sick. While I think you have a right to your medical information; it's possible the doctor doesn't want you to get caught up in the size of the fills. If you knew you had 5 CC's and heard someone else had restriction at 6 would you demand to be moved to 6 because you knew that was a magic number?

All these posts I've seen about dr's not filling that much has me wondering what my dr. is going to do. I have an appointment tomorrow for another consult to see how I am getting along with all my pre op stuff, but I am going to ask him about fills. I know he said for the first year I would see him every month, but I don't know how much of that is fills.

OK, here's another perspective. I had surgery April 15th, 2010 and have lost 56 pounds since then. I just had my 3rd fill (I have the larger 14cc band) and I'm just now beginning to have a little restriction. Pretty much all of the weight I've lost up to this point has been my own lifestyle changes. Is it frustrating that the band isn't really working yet? Yeah a little, but it will work eventually. My extensive research before surgery taught me what to expect, and that is that there is a period before the band starts really kicking in that you're on your own. It's good you're venting, because I feel like that's one of the purposes of a board like this. I would also say "Trust the process." Do what your doctor tells you to do and don't look for shortcuts. Shortcuts are what got me into this mess (being obese). Your doctor has your best interest at heart and wants to see you succeed, so relax and enjoy the journey. If you do what you've always done, you're going to get the same result you've always gotten.

I hope it works for you, and it will because you'll make it happen. Best of luck.

The alternative is not pretty. I went in 4 weeks post op and had my first fill of 3.5CC (in a 10cc band). Three days later, I was vomiting up even saliva. I had to have a complete unfill. I returned a few weeks later and was "refilled" to 2.8cc. It was great for a while, until it suddenly got too tight, and I was vomiting with every meal and had sharp chest pains with every bite. They took out .3cc (so I'm currently at 2.5cc). The doctor said if the pain/vomiting continues, I might have a bigger problem (band slippage).

It takes a while for you to heal from the surgery. Just because you're external wounds have healed doesn't mean internal wounds have healed. It also takes (on average) 1-2 weeks after a fill for the initial swelling to go down.

Have you discussed things with your doctor? I know a lot of doctors (including mine) do not charge for an extra fill or unfill if done within 1-2 weeks after the initial fill (if it's too tight or you feel the fill was insufficient).

I understand your frustration, it is something we all go through, this period is called "Bandster Hell", but, please be patient, it will happen. I have been overfilled, and believe me caution on your doctors part is a really good thing. If you get overfilled, you can't even swallow your own saliva and that is awful. I had to suffer through this for 12 hours and it was awful. Then a complete unfill so that all the swelling could subside, which took 10 days then I had to start all over again.

I find it interesting that my Dr is aggresive with fills. 3rd fill since suregery on may 25th was four days ago. I have 8ccs in a 15cc band. I now have restriction. I appreciated the fills and really did not experience bandster hell.

Just a different view point. I am about a month out and have an appt on Friday for my first fill. I plan on going in and telling him please don't give me one. I can eat limited amounts, stay full for long periods and have not had any of the unpleasant side effects that so many seem to have.

All I am saying is maybe he is so conservative because the band really is different for all people and that approach is the best way to judge what is needed for each person individuall without under/over filling anyone.

Sorry it is not going well.

Just a different view point. I am about a month out and have an appt on Friday for my first fill. I plan on going in and telling him please don't give me one. I can eat limited amounts, stay full for long periods and have not had any of the unpleasant side effects that so many seem to have.

All I am saying is maybe he is so conservative because the band really is different for all people and that approach is the best way to judge what is needed for each person individuall without under/over filling anyone.

Sorry it is not going well.

I felt the same way..... about 5 - 6 weeks out is when it all changed. Apparently it takes that long for all of the swelling to go down, and I just didn't realize it. I felt I had good "restriction" up to that point. Boy did it ever change after that. I hope you continue to have great restriction.

Thank you all for your advice. I really appreciate it, and I know you are right. Actually I knew it when I posted, but sometimes it just helps to vent. I'm going to hang in there. I know I can lose the weight on my own, because I've done it twice before. My problem is keeping it off after I have lost it. I was really just hoping for a lot of help from the band with the loosing process this time..... Because lets face it, it's friggin hard to lose weight...... URgggggGG.. Guess I'll just have to suck it up, and put on my big girl panties. Thanks again for the replies. I feel so much better just finding this board. It means a lot to have people going through the same things. Especially since I don't have anyone else to talk to about it. I have chosen not to tell my family, which has been a challenge because I work with my family everyday. (Family owned business) My husband and best friend are the only two that even know I had the surgery. (Didn’t want to be judged because of the self-pay cost issues)... anyway, thanks....