Hi all, I am new to this site but have found reading all of the post very helpful. I am a year and a half post banding and have not had alot of weight loss. and for the last 6 months or so I have not had any. My doctor has retired so I need to find a new doctor to look after my band. I feel like I need to be filled but it seems like fills don't keep me restricted for long. Maybe I just have not had enough of a fill yet. I am seeing my doctor on saturday, he has retired but will see his patients every 6 months or so but that makes it hard when you need a fill. so wish me luck, I am hoping for a fill so I can get the weight loss started again. I am so discouraged.

I'll take any weight loss over continuing to gain. And I also felt restiction go quickly at first, but when I got to the right spot it stayed. Good luck. Trish

Heyas, welcome to LBT!

Your Dr that is retiring.. can't he refer you to someone? Every six months doesn't seem available enough to me. Hopefully he gives you a good fill this time. How many have you had, and what size band do you have?

Don't be discouraged. It could be that your fills haven't been there when you needed it. Get a referral from your surgeon. Begin a new relationship, with a new surgeon. The wonderful thing about the band, it allows you to get on track like a newbie!!

Good luck. Shawn

Where are you from? I would highly recommend seeing another doctor and get back on track; if not losing for a long time you have to ask why and also look at what you are eating? I had my first fill on 3/9 and have lost 10 more lbs, total 30 lbs and i got a 4.0 cc fill with the large band; i actually am able to still eat a lot too; i am walking 2 miles a day; get to a new doctor

hey does anyone know how you update these tickers

Formykids,

I can feel your pain. I too have had a stand still with weight loss. I was hoping that the fills would stay with me longer but I'm lucky if I get a week of restriction from it. At least like Tryingtolive said "I'll take any weight loss over continuing to gain" I totally agree but I was hoping for huge results after going through surgery.

I am from Maine and I have looked into other doctors but they all want a large fee to take me on as a new patient. I am still looking into finding a doctor. I just had a barium swallow done so I am anxious to get the results of that, I hope all is good and I just need to be filled. I do not know what size band I have. I am going to ask on saturday when I see Dr Aslam. Thank you for your encouraging words. this site is the best..

I found this post from another section of the boards about fill dr's

the center is http://www.fillcentersusa.com/

Hope this helps some, if not do a google search or askjeeves.com and see if you can find a fill dr in your area

It can be easy to become discouraged along this journey that is the band. I am over 3 1/2 years banded and have lost 100lbs slowly over that time..fits and starts really. I zoomed down 20lbs in the first few months and from there, I may have stayed stagnant for months on end, then quickly drop 10lbs in a month and then stop again for a long time. I was banded in Mexico and though I live in Northern Cali, I still found it hard to get back down to Mexico for regular fills. It took me a good 2 years to finally go to a fill doctor closer and realize I was just not really at a good fill level and my new fill doctor gives me more of a reality check that my Mexican doctor had time for.

BUT...big BUT...I also had to be more honest with myself about my eating habits and drinking habits for that matter. It is very easy to slip back into bad habits or just eat crap with very little nutritional value. Also, it is easy to drink alot of calories. My culprit is juice and milk. I was never really a soda drinker luckily but I like juice. I like Jamba Juice. I like drinking milk. I know I am taking in alot of liquid calories and have to watch that or I just maintain.

I also work in the wine industry and I do drink more wine than the average person, so I have to be careful with calories there.

I know that when all of us were banded, we hoped that our calorie counting days would be over and that the weight would all easily fall off no matter what we ate (well..okay..maybe just I thought this would happen), but reality has been..no matter how good my fill was, I could still work around a tight fill if I wanted to (what better wayto justify my Jamba Juice habit my thinking I need to get SOME calories in if I can't eat solids, right? yeah, right!)

I say, definitely look into a new fill doctor and go more than 6 months if you can, but also do yourself a favor and do an honest reality check on your calories. Read labels and do a food diary for a week or two..count EVERYTHING so you can really see. I know a ton of bandsters who would say "well I only get 800 calories in so why am I not losing" and then when they really look at it, perhaps they were leaving out caloried drinks or nibbles here and there that added up to 1200 calories a day.

I won't even go into the excercise part of this..I have been horrible about this off an on..I have lost weight with no excercise at all and than worked out like crazy and maintained..I won't negate importance of it, but I can't preach that when I suck at it right now. I know it will help me get toned and feel better and it DOES help curb your appetite, but I have my moments with it.

Lastly,

Like someone else said..try to also look at the glass half full and think about what you have lost and how you can easily keep it off with the band. I have about 30-40lbs left to lose (I know some of that will be plastic surgery'd off) but I would be happy where I am if I continued to keep 100lbs off like I have done for the last 3+ years. I have not gained an ounce since banding..that has never happened in my life before and every day I am grateful for that and I don't curse the fact I have not lost it all by now!

Keep your chin up! This is a marathon and not a sprint!

Patty

I've been wondering about all this; i was banded a week ago with 4cc on my first fill; after 5 days of liquids; i have eaten chicken wings, chips, cheeseburger; and i can eat a lot of it and i don't feel the band stopping me; i do walk 2 miles a day and I am truly trying to stay to a lot of protein to lose weight; I think this is slower than what i thought too

i had my band done on 1/16, so i am eight weeks and lost 30 lbs todate

Jamoorse - To update your ticker, go back to tickerfactory.com. If it remembers you, it will bring up your last numbers when you click on "Weight Loss". Then all you have to do is update your numbers, click Next and copy the text inside the bbCode. Delete the current one from your siggy line and paste in the updated one. (Only copy from [ img] through to [ /img]. Leave off the [ url=http:www.etc...] and the [ /url]. Then they won't show up in your siggy line.)

OK when i go back to it, it's not remembering me, it's putting in some weight loss that is not me?

Your doctor should have some colleagues he can refer you to. Perhaps a letter from him saying that he is retiring, along with a copy of your surgical report, and any x-rays (including your barium swallow) might induce one of the other surgeons to take you on for less than their typical fees.

As somebody who was banded in Mexico, I've gone through this a lot. Paying over $600 for my first fill (+airfare and rental care) to as little as a $15 co-pay. Usually, I end up with a $350 fill fee. I accept that as part of the cost of being banded. For a while, I was trying to go at it without getting refilled... and you know what??? I was back in that same old trap of my pre-banding days... buying diet books, magazines with diet articles, watching infomercials like crazy.... forgetting that I had the tool to make my weight loss work, I just needed to invest some money in it.

I had probably about 6 fills my first year of being banded (can't tell you for sure as everything was stored in my diary-x journal (site went down)).... and then about 2 more the second year of surgery. My last fill was "the one"... the perfect fill where I kept losing effortlessly. I was then unfilled for two pregnancies.

Now, I'm back paying for fills again. It feels good to be on track again, even if it's a bit expensive. (I'm a SAHM now, before I was working!)

any info on dr rumbaut you can give me? i hope to schedule

surgery with him for may---any details appreciated--thanks!!

hi babyjane:

I had the best care of my life with Dr. Rumbaut, his staff, and the staff at the hospital. Can't say enough nice things about him. First rate care... first rate experience. I'd recommend him again in a heartbeat.

It was a bit weird for me, as I went alone... and don't speak any Spanish except Dora-the-Explorer Spanish.... but still I was fine. I stayed at the Hampton Inn and the van took me everywhere I wanted to go. Right behind the Hampton Inn is a shopping mall... with a gigantic supermarket that was great for buying Water, juices, etc. (Although Dr. Rumbaut provides you with a care package of juices, broths, and this runny hot Cereal for post-op.) Everybody at the Hampton Inn spoke excellent English and took good care of me. It was also easy to change money at the Hampton... and the rate was comparable to the local banks. You can request a room with a recliner in it for when you're post-op...and that is a big help, as it was tough getting up from the bed myself without a railing for support. Of course, if you have a friend going with you... you won't need that.

Best thing about Rumbaut is that he has a Band... and has had one for years. Totally understands. Of course, also that he's done more Bands than pretty much any doctor in this hemisphere doesn't hurt either

Email me/PM me with any questions.