Did I waste $15K?

[100lbsforsale 0]

Hi everyone,

I have been looking for some motivation and maybe a butt kicking to get me back on track with this band. I was banded in Dec 2007 with a starting weight of 247. I lost 50 lbs the first year and half . It was frustratingly slow with more yo-yo ing than I did without the band. I liked my surgeon Dr. Hung but his office staff leaves a great deal to be desired. I found them cold, condescending and just generally not interested whether I lost weight at all. I would get a fill(from his PA not Dr. Hung-never saw him again after the surgery), be too full, throw up for 3 months because it cost 100 -150 bucks for a fill OR a deflate. I felt like they had me on the never ending money making merry go round. Fill/deflate/fill/deflate etc. I know its my own fault about not considering the high cost of maintaining a band. My friend got hers (in CO though-not NE) and only had to get a couple of fills to hit her sweet spot and away she went with no problems, plus her surgeon didn't charge for deflates because he didn't want people to fight their band.

Anyway, here it is 3 years later and I have forgotten the band rules etc, the last time I went in for a band adjustment the fee was $165 which is totally not doable for me in the future, and I weigh 220 or more..Help. I am so depressed and sick that I wasted $15000 to lose 20 lbs.which works out to about $750 per pound. ouch.

[Kalipso2 25]

i was banded in april 2008. i weighed 213 before surgery and i currently weigh 154. it's taken me a long time to lose the weight but slowly but surely i'm still losing.

it IS important to be comfortable with the doctor and his staff. i was surprised that i rarely saw my doctor after the surgery... it was always his PA's... but they are all really supportive because almost everyone on his staff has been banded. there were a few occasions that i actually saw my surgeon but maybe only 3 times during 2 years.

do you have any other band doctors in your area that you can go see since you don't feel comfortable with your current surgeons office? make some calls and tell them your story... they might be happy to help!

are there any support groups in your area? that would be a great place to start getting back on track! do you exercise? if not, start doing some light exercise. start journaling ALL your food/drink intake. once you start making yourself right EVERYTHING down you'll see where you're eating things you shouldn't be.

i've heard of something called the "5 day pouch test" (i think) where you basically go on a liquid pre-op diet and then introduce pureed foods and then mushy foods and then regular foods... almost like you did after your initial surgery. google it, i think you should be able to find it!

i'm self pay too so i know your struggles. my fills were paid for the first 2 years. i was scrambling april 2010 to try to get to my sweet spot before i'd have to start paying for fills and unfills! so far it's worked because i've continued to lose weight since then.

good luck and i have faith in you that you CAN get back on track!