Hi from Ireland!

[Coco 0]

Hi Everyone,

I'm sorry to hear so many of you are having such a difficult time right now trying to get fill's and aftercare at ACS. I don't know if Lu is still working there or not she was when I saw her two weeks ago and there was no mention of any changes to me anyway. Look if I were in any of your shoes I would just turn up to Fitzwilliam on a Saturday as that seems to be the day that fills are done and demand to see someone who can do them. Seeking out alternative places to have our fills done should not be a priority right now. ACS are responsible for us, they have a legal duty of care to us and we have paid them 10 thousand Euro for the privilege. Its not good enough just to move to somewhere else and let ACS off the hook. If they want me to move to an alternative provider because they can't offer the aftercare they were paid for I want compensation for that.

To Elsie and Ailbhe

Try not to worry too much, if its any help all of us had the same worries about going under the operation. You have both chosen a very experienced surgeon and a wonderful hospital by all accounts. So the best of luck I'll be thinking of you and looking forward to your posts when you get back. Chin up and don't forget the DVD's. :thumbup::smile:

[Coco 0]

Good Morning All,

Hope a good weekend was had by all. I just wanted to share some good news with you all. As and from this morning I am now exactly 5stone (70lbs) lighter than I was the day of the op (11mths & 3weeks ago).:eek: That's in spite of the complications with reflux and having the band emptied and refilled slowly. I know the 1/4 ml I had put in two weeks ago has kick started the weight loss again but I'm so pleased. :thumbdown:

[lil 0]

Hi Coco well done you thats fantastic:thumbup: I need a good kick up the arse:unsure: You must be delighted with yourself. I hear your a totally different woman now since I saw you last. Keep up the good work, there will be nothing left of you soon Love Lil xxx

[kermit 0]

hi Coco - well done on the weightloss - that's a really impressive amount and I can only imagine the impact it must have on your life and self esteem etc.

For those in the West - I got a text from ACS a couple of weeks ago (galway office) with available dates for fills in February - I think 27th is available.

[Loriha 0]

Fantastic newss coco well done - sorry didnt get a chance to reply was dealing with bereavment this weekend a young neighbour all very devastating everthing fades into insignificance when face with such tragedy.

Don't knbow what to do with ACS afraid to push it incase - because my op is over a year they can walk away

Im having difficulty finding any of the paperwork involved - dont want to ask for replacement in case they come adjusted............

Im a bit paranoid .

[roe 0]

:thumbup:well done Coco,thats great news:tt2:

[Shamrockgirl60 1]

From Pati here in Boston, congratulations Coco. I still have a long way to go here. More meetings and the whole hospital oking it. Just got off the phone with my insurance company. So that's going well. Hubby was given the boot last week on the job, take retirement package now or it's bye bye in June with no package. He took it. LOL They are paying most of the insurance costs for the next 3 months, they we have something called COBRA that bills us after that. Not as expensive as paying private insurance, and it goes for 18 months. So that's a help. He's too young at 62 for retirement so we hope that we can survive for the next year or so.

Now don't take this the wrong way, when I was in Ireland this past Sept. I didn't notice an obesity problem, most of the really heavy people (like me) seemed to be the tourists. Is this something new the past 10 or 20 years since the economy has boomed there? Or too many McConalds there? I found the native food very good and healthy. I just stayed away from the fish and chips, since I hate most fish. I did see lots of salmon to eat. My roomie ate it every night.

I stuck with chicken or veggie meals. It could be those big Irish breakfasts they served. I adored them. LOL

Just wondering

Pati

[Gerri 0]

Hi Coco, many congratulations on hitting the 5stone mark. I hope you have given yourself a large pat on the back. There is still an awful lot of hard work involved in losing weight even with the band fitted, so take a bow and be very proud.

[PrincessLK 0]

Hi All

Firstly, Coco, congrats on the 5 stone mark, a real achievement! Can see it happening for me in the near future, really need a fill right now, have little restriction. I saw Lou last time and she told me to come back last week but I havent' been able to get an appointment. Then I got one for next Sat 1st March with Lou. Wanted Jan but they said they don't know if he's coming back. I rang ACS today to see if I could get a date with him instead of Lou and I was told by Lynne that they meant to call me but that my appointment for this Saturday is cancelled and there are no more dates available for the moment. As you can understand I hit the roof, she said they were having a meeting about it tonight and should have more info on it soon...but that's it for the moment, no fills available in ACS for the forseeable future. I will call again tomorrow for an update and let you all know how I get on. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news on this miserable day!

xxx

[IrishAnna 0]

Hi All

I have lost 8 stone and had my band done in france by Dr Jerome Dargent who was brilliant. My problem now is I have nowhere to get fills done. There was a fill provider who came over from London to Belfast to do the fills on a saturday but she no longer comes. Can someone please help me. Where can I get my fills done. Went to ACS once for a fill and they charged through the roof......300 euros!!!!! Extortion! I looked at Dr Chris website and those numbers for Ireland are not valid.

Anna

[Coco 0]

Hi All,

Thanks for all the good wishes. It wasn't easy, we all have our ups and downs (no pun intended) on this journey, but with help and support we will all make it. . This is probably a good time to thank all of you who have supported me over the past 13+ months, and I hope I have been of some support to some of you in return. There are a few of us who are worried about whats happening our aftercare with ACS at the moment, and its good to hear from PrincessLK that maybe we will know more tomorrow. On Saturday I posted on this thread suggesting that anyone having a problem with fills should just turn up on ACS's doorstep and demand the fill/aftercare we are entitled and have paid for. On mature reflection, I think that turning up without an appointment would be pretty futile, particularly if there is no one to see to us. I hope no one took my advice:redface:. I stand by what I said about seeking out alternative aftercare, I'm all for having options, but ACS are responsible for our aftercare, and switching/using other providers now may well invalidate our contract of care with ACS. I hope we hear something more positive from ACS tomorrow.

Once again thank you for your kind words and I wish you all well and shed loads of weight loss.

[ellen 0]

Coco

Fantastic work. You must be so happy with your new figure.

My sympathy to those of you worried about the shenanagins at ACS. I hope things work out for you. I recken ye shouild descend en masse upon them and demand to see the slim and trim Helena .... can I be a fly on the wall, pretty please????

Ellen

[skinnyirishbabe 0]

i wrote an email of complaint to aisling@advancedcosmeticsurgery.ie yesterday but i have heard nothing yet. I would say Lou has probaly left. I was told by Dr Bernard that i could have my port moved lower as it sticks out really bad. Going to New York in March 24th and was hoping to do a bit of shopping but not going to if i haven't lost a stone. Starting a diet today and thinking of going to weight watchers. Diet has gotten really good lately, i don't buy frozen food any more and cook a proper (no processed meats) dinner every night. Have weetabix for breakie and Soup and high fibre brown bread for lunch.

Congratulations coco on your weightloss, and princesslk i feel your pain! please keep me informed to what's going on. Really can't afford to start paying for fills

[skinnyirishbabe 0]

From Pati here in Boston, congratulations Coco. I still have a long way to go here. More meetings and the whole hospital oking it. Just got off the phone with my insurance company. So that's going well. Hubby was given the boot last week on the job, take retirement package now or it's bye bye in June with no package. He took it. LOL They are paying most of the insurance costs for the next 3 months, they we have something called COBRA that bills us after that. Not as expensive as paying private insurance, and it goes for 18 months. So that's a help. He's too young at 62 for retirement so we hope that we can survive for the next year or so.

Now don't take this the wrong way, when I was in Ireland this past Sept. I didn't notice an obesity problem, most of the really heavy people (like me) seemed to be the tourists. Is this something new the past 10 or 20 years since the economy has boomed there? Or too many McConalds there? I found the native food very good and healthy. I just stayed away from the fish and chips, since I hate most fish. I did see lots of salmon to eat. My roomie ate it every night.

I stuck with chicken or veggie meals. It could be those big Irish breakfasts they served. I adored them. LOL

Just wondering

Pati

I love the big brekies too, think that and the bread and the chocolate contributed to my weight gain!

[PrincessLK 0]

Hi All

I just called ACS and it's not good news. Apparently Lydia has a list of people to call today so you will all know sooner or later. There are no fills available there for at least the next 3 weeks. There's no guarantee that they will have a surgeon to do fills in the future, I was just given the same line 'please bear with us', when I explained that I need a fill, am so upset and am down 10K for nothing in return I was just asked to re-submit my letter of complaint with an update as to how upset I am. Lydia mentioned the possibility of Lou doing fills in Belfast with Jerome supervising and she's seeing what the interest in that is but for insurance reasons she can't do them here as a nurse unsupervised by a surgeon, something I had pointed out to them previously when they would not let me see Jan. She said that they had hoped Jan would return this week but have been informed that it will be at least 3 weeks before he's back. I have an awful feeling he's not coming back, and that they are just delaying the inevitable. I personally am devastated, I am going to Thailand on holidays in 2 weeks, with no fill before that and no guarantee of one when I get back. I really thought that I would be a lot lighter going on this holiday of a lifetime, instead I'm going at a weight that's very near to the weight I was when I had the op (most of my weight loss was pre-op once I had it booked I decided to lose some to lessen risk of surgery). I have lost just 11 pounds now since 4th October, and 10,000 euro and almost my reason dealing with ACS, I have had 7 fills, just 2 of which have gotten into my port, had x-rays because my port has moved - that ACS then lost from my file...the list goes on. Sorry to sound so down, just feeling helpless now as my restriction from the last fill with Lou has disappeared and not feeling that motivated. My husband says to forget about the money and jsut stay positive but how can I when we're still paying off thsi loan with interest for nothing? No results, no aftercare - only stress. I asked Lydia would ACS cover the costs of me getting a fill elsewhere (was thinking of the Beacon?) but she said that as far as they are aware there is no-one else doing fills in Ireland. I asked then would ACS be refundign me the money I had paid as they are not providing the service that they said they would be and she said that I'd need to speak to Halina about that, but I've never received a call from management whenever I've complained...so doubt I will now. So there you go, there's the update....don't know what else we can do to be honest, they have us over a barrel as we paid up front in good faith for a service that they now refuse to provide.

Thanks

LK