Hi All,

My name is Rick and I am 46yrs old.

Here is my nightmare situation. Suggestions or help welcomed!

After hearing the 1 800 Get-Slim commercials, I signed up in late 2010 and eventually had my surgery in April of 2011 with "Dr. T" in Beverly Hills. For the first 2yrs I was the model patient....Dr. T even asked me to take part in their advertisements (I declined). I started at almost 300lbs and made it down to 218lbs with my highest fill being 10cc (14cc band). Like many, I slowly put on 15lbs and then stayed pretty flat. I was totally happy, active, and doing pretty well with the lifestyle. The only odd bit was that fills were getting harder and harder to do as they suddenly could not find the fact of my port (where the needle penetrates). I eventually had to do them under x-ray while drinking barium....yum. Fast forward...

In February 2014 I woke up one night and was physically sick....blood coming out both ends and I was not able to function...my wife rushed me to ER when I started fainting. It turns out that I had 5 ulcers, including one 2cm bleeder on the base of my stomach. The doc who did my endoscopy said my band looked fine and was not the culprit, but I should have it emptied so I can recover 100% (eat foods that will give my tummy a break....however may be tough with the band). He was also nervous about erosion. Anyway, that was a 6 day hospital stay! As directed I retuned to my doctors. Dr. T had actually left the practice so was now being seen by Dr. Sedrak. Doctor Sedrak agreed to drain it to 2cm and we would re-visit fills in a month or two. After two broken needles and a few others bent, plus another go with the x-ray, he finally found his way in and drained it accordingly. I was bruised and felt like a pin cushion, but on my way to recovery. Fast forward...

I eventually returned (a few months later) for a fill as the weight was coming back on! This time it was yet another doc as Sedrak was off busy that day. After reading up on my history, we went straight to the x-ray....no need to break more needles. Even with the x-ray, the new doc could not get into my port and even called Dr. Sedrak on the phone and explained the my port appeared to be unattached from my rib muscle! We watched it dance around on the screen every time the needle pushed against it! Both agreed that given my medical history and the fact the port was unserviceable, I would be a great candidate for the sleeve. Fast forward......

It get's better.....as of today, the same above mentioned office (in Pomona CA) no longer has a surgeon on staff and has been in trouble countless times! Dr. Sedrak has left the company and I cannot find him. My insurance carrier changed so I'm having to jump through the same loops again, just like I'd never had surgery. In my opinion, I should be considered a "warranty repair" and not a new client! They already charged my insurance over 120k!!! To compound issues, I moved from CA to Austin TX and I have not had any luck finding a doc to look at me "because they did not perform the surgery". Really? This is silly.

I am super depressed here. I've gain all of my weight...even with a decent exercise regime etc. My metabolism doesn't know which was is up! I'm stuck with a useless band and not getting anywhere. The Pomona office offered a port revision, but it appears that nobody else will service the fills (here in TX) since they did not do the work. Just a sad deal all around!

Thoughts or suggestions?!?!

Sincerely,

big and pissed (Rick)

You'll need to find a surgeon to advise you from this point but that could be difficult considering your health record. I'd start calling every bariatric doctor you can find. Here's a link to find surgeons near or not so near you. This could get expensive If your current insurance carrier doesn't offer Bariatrics coverage and that's quite common.

http://www.bariatricpal.com/surgeons/ You may have to travel a distance if you can't find one in Austin?

I appreciate the reply and will check the list. My current insurance is a PPO however they want me to go through another 6 months of counselling as if I am new. My (even) bigger frustration is that after 120k spent, my original Doc is not fixing it when it was clearly not installed correctly. I'll keep y'all posted!

You'll need to find a surgeon to advise you from this point but that could be difficult considering your health record. I'd start calling every bariatric doctor you can find. Here's a link to find surgeons near or not so near you. This could get expensive If your current insurance carrier doesn't offer Bariatrics coverage and that's quite common.

http://www.bariatricpal.com/surgeons/ You may have to travel a distance if you can't find one in Austin?

I would start the 6 months now!! Just get it on record to get the date moving. The upside of having a new insurance is that a lot of them will only cover 1 Bariatric surgery in a lifetime. I just recently had the band to sleeve revision and have a different insurance now than when I had the band - I still had to go through their 3 month requirement - psyc & nutritionist all over again. Good luck to you

Edited March 22, 201511 yr by LSF

I could be mistaken but isn't your group the one that got into legal trouble for false advertising? It could be some other group, but at any rate here is what I would do: Try to get copies of all your tests, especially the operative report, etc..(maybe you already have them) and do some research about attorneys who are taking on band patients with complications like yours. And show the attorney your medical records along with a detailed timeline of when and how things happened to you. You could have a good malpractice case but only an attorney can tell you that. Good luck - you've been through enough.