I have two friends who had lap band surgery, one the insurance paid the other paid $13,000 out of his own pocket. they both lost close to 85 pounds in about a year.....and now 2 years later they BOTH put over a hundred (100) pounds back on! neither one goes for fills anymore and havnt in over a year.I keep telling them and trying to get them to go for fills but to no end. Why would you not go and maintain the band especially if you paid for it out of your own pocket??(he is not rich by no means)...I will keep trying with them...but in the mean time they have showed me how important it is to stay on top of things and keep up with your fills!!! and whenever i feel that im eating more and not getting full I know its time for a fill..so people..... Please stay on top of it and get your fills

To be truthful I think you need to mind your own business. They are adults and know what they should be doing. Unless they are your spouse or child; you really don't have any "status" in how they do or do not handle their health issues. I do involve myself with my mother's medical treatment because she is elderly and sometimes forgets to address issues with her doctor. I need to remind her of things.

Someone who is in full control of their faculties does not need someone else lecturing them. People don't successfully make changes based on external sources; they need to internalize the need for change.

It's not just a matter of fills. The band, even when there's appropriate restriction, can be "eaten around." For your friends, food is more important, at this point, than weight loss.

Maybe that will change for them one day. But there's nothing you can do to effect that change.

Kind of like quitting smoking. It didn't matter how much someone told me it was bad for me (I knew this duh). I had to be the one who decided to quit.

It's a good lesson to remember to stay on top of our loss, but I wouldn't bug them about it.

This scares me so much. I work with a girl who did the same thing, got down to size 6 and is back to 200+ now. She hasn't been back to her surgeon in over a year. I think she feels ashamed. I also met two ladies in my surgeons waiting room. I thought both were there for consults to have surgery done, but when we got to talking I found out they were both lap band patients who had gained their weight back:scared2:. The common denominator seemed to be that they all stopped following up with their surgeons. Gosh, I hope I don't do that, but I completely understand the strugle and I know comments don't help, it just makes them feel more ashamed.

CA7696 - I think you are just trying to be a good friend. Friends should be able to talk to each other about all kinds of things. Maybe you can lead by example and they will see your progress and want the same.

Cheri

Oh dear.... that scares me enough to stay on track. Thanks for posting.

I keep telling them and trying to get them to go for fills but to no end.

I think sometimes people just get tired of dealing with the day to day issues of the band. Weight loss comes secondary to wanting to not have to deal with sliming, pbing, etc.

At this point I would just drop it. I know if I had a 'friend' who was always going on at me about my weight or my band, I'd probably drop them. Your friends need to find their own inner motivation, as everyone of us knows from well meaning parents.

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