:confused:Banded 6-06. Weight loss about 50lbs. Surgeon moved 3 hrs away,am not able to get fills as needed.Feel very discouraged.Plan to do weight watchers.Would i be better off to have band taken out, does insurance help with this??

Have no support and feel like a complete failure.

First off, can you find another surgeon to do your fills? Second, weight watchers does work. I'm on WW and have lost at least 2 lbs this week. I have to eat no more than 20 points or 1k calories to lose but you can do it. My fill level is perfect though. Make sure you have enough restriction before you start. Is it worth a 3 hour drive?

:confused:Banded 6-06. Weight loss about 50lbs. Surgeon moved 3 hrs away,am not able to get fills as needed.Feel very discouraged.Plan to do weight watchers.Would i be better off to have band taken out, does insurance help with this??

Have no support and feel like a complete failure.

You feel like a failure after loosing 50 pounds ???

You don't need to get a fill as often as you might think. Do you have a car ? Why not drive the 3 hours and get your fill ?

If your fill is not high enough, get another one. Once you hit where you're feeling the best, you'll lose more weight. Just take my word for it that giving up is not an option.

I am driving 4.5 hours just to see my Dr. It really is not that big of a deal if you want to keep your Dr. I am sure that I could find someone here to do it but I trust my Dr. Just try it and if it is that hard find someone else to follow up with.

I am with everyone else, don't give up!!! 50 pounds is nothing to sneeze at.

If it makes you feel better, my dd was born with a cleft and some other issues. We drove to the hospital that was 3 hours away, 3-4 days per week during her first year. It is do-able. You just have to want it bad enough!

Brandy

50 lbs is good loss and 3 hours is nothing.

Would you be better off with a band that requires a 3 hour drive to tighten, or no band at all? You can probably answer that. :tt1:

50lbs is a good loss!

I have to drive 3 hours both ways to see my doc once a month, just gotta suck it up! :tt1:

Why are you wanting the band out?

You can totally do 3 hours. I drive 5 to see my doc because I live out in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming. Once you get some good restriction and don't have any issues, you won't have to go see the doc all the time...just for "tune ups." I know it's hard at first. I had to go every week and then every 2 weeks for a while at first. YOU CAN DO IT and you've had great success!

I drive 3 hours to Mexico to see my doc monthly for issues and follow up. Worth every minute.

You really have to want weight loss bad enough to do what it takes.

Driving really isn't that big a deal....

I am Canadian and drive down to WA state to see my Dr when I need fills. I went last week and left home at 7am for a 1.30pm appt....not only do I have a minimum 5 hour drive but I have to do the USA border crossing as well and that can easily take me an hour !!!

I usually make the trip alone and take the time to contemplate how far I've come in my lapband journey....I think about what I've been doing to help my weightloss, or hinder it. I use it as a day off from my world and see it as some much needed 'Me' time. Sure, sometimes I don't feel like doing it, but in the end *I* am worth every minute !!!!

BTW.... I couldn't have managed a 50lb loss on my own....believe me, I tried it about a million times !!!! And at this point of my banded life, you would have to pry my band out my chest with a crowbar !!!! I aint giving this baby up for nothin' !!!!!

Good luck and keep on working it !!!!

Patricia

11/16/06

306/202/175 I think !!!

I have to drive between 5.5 and 7 hours (depending on if I'm driving from my parents' house or my apartment), one way, to see my surgeon for fills. I would LOVE to only have to drive 3 hours. It's totally doable, you just have to be careful about scheduling stuff.

My surgeon is 3 hours away - it's not a big deal driving that far. It's totally worth it to me. And keep in mind that I'm also driving through about 3 possibly dangerous mountain passes that the weather can change in the blink of the eye on. Welcome to Colorado. It's worth it if you really want it. And I WANT it, so I do it.

:confused:Banded 6-06. Weight loss about 50lbs. Surgeon moved 3 hrs away,am not able to get fills as needed.Feel very discouraged.Plan to do weight watchers.Would i be better off to have band taken out, does insurance help with this??

Have no support and feel like a complete failure.

I'm still perplexed by your question. You actually consider going out of your way for fills to be worthy of having insurance pay to have your band removed?

If your cancer doctor moved away would you consider giving up chemotherapy because you had to drive three hours? There are people who drive that distance three times weekly for dialysis. You are talking every few months.

As I wrote in an earlier post, you have to want weight loss in order to get it and sometimes it's not convenient.

And no, I don't think insurance will pay for band removal because you don't want to get fills if they are not convenient. You can obtain support here, or call your doctor if that is what you need.