I had my 4th fill on 2/15 of .2ccs and have been trying to work with it. It's been tight, and I've gotten a couple of things stuck a lot which has aggravated it. Last week I talked to someone at my doctor's office about it and she said to try to work with it and see how it goes until Tuesday (yesterday), and said if I needed a little unfill I could come in and the nurse could take some out. (My doctor is out of the country right now).

So after being on liquids all day yesterday and no matter what I drank it gave me heartburn. I had some acid reflux last night and my stomach is just ANGRY. I realized I have been able to eat normally 2 days out of the last 10 and that if my band is this touchy then it's probably too tight.

Well I called today and apparently NO ONE can do an unfill on me since I'm insurance, unless the Doctor is present in the office. I can self-pay and get it done, which I don't have the $ for right now. Otherwise I have to wait until Thursday of next week when the Dr. is back in town.

Does this seem stupid to anyone else? I'm all for my doctor taking a vacation, but it seems like you'd want your patients to be able to get the care you need while you're gone. I've been very happy with my doctor up until now, and this has just pissed me off, I want to cry. I guess I will "work with" this stupid fill and stay on liquids. :biggrin:

Don't doctors take a pledge to do no harm. He should have a doctor on call. Ask them if you're supposed to visit the ER. Don't under-describe your PAIN, DISCOMFORT, STRESS and fears about doing irreparable harm to your body. Be gentle, calm, but VERY FIRM. Send them something in WRITING. :biggrin: (And don't curse like this emoti-face.) If they remain uncooperative, tell them you'll have to contact your insurance company. I wouldn't mention the MEDICAL BOARD until someone gets rude to you.

Since you get more bees with honey than vinegar, you might say things like, "I know you've pledged to take of me, and I appreciate your professional ethics. I need to let you know how much pain, discomfort, stress and fear I am experiencing. I'm concerned--VERY concerned--this situation could be creating irreparable harm to my health.

"You're a medical professional--you know more about what's around the corner for me, like black reflux or damaged esophogus, vomiting, band slippage, rebanding, etc.

"You have the power to take care of me, but the time is N O W.

"I am afraid if you don't help me NOW, I'm gooing to suffer needless physical and financial harm."

Best to you!

Thanks for the reply. I am trying to decide what to do next, if anything. I think my band will be ok if I just take it easy and stay on liquids for another day or two. I can drink Water and stuff ok so I don't think I'm in any immediate danger.

It just really frosts my behind that I could get an unfill if I self-pay but not one with my office visit copay. It makes no sense. I even asked if the other WLS doctor could do it and they said they weren't affiliated with him, so no.

I may call my insurance company and ask what the deal is...

If there is another WL doc in town, go to the ER and tell them you are in pain and your doc's out of town. They will call in the other doc to help because they probably know little or nothing about the band. at the ER Best part, you get relief before you cause a slippage. Bonus points, they have to bill your insurance that way!

I have read way too many posts on here about folks who were too tight a waited "just a few days" to get it fixed and ended up with major problems!!!!

Also, remember that the key to quick ER treatment is to say the pain started very recently (max 4 to 8 hrs). If you say days, they figure that you waited this long and you are still breathing, so you an wait until they get around to you. Tell the ER doc the whole truth so they can treat you properly, but NEVER tell the admissions clerk or triage nurse that you have been suffering for more than a few hours (if that).

Good luck and please, go to the ER!

I think Deniecy is right on the money--be nice, but let them know you are hurting, and worried about future damage this could be doing, and that NO is not the answer you will accept!

IF they have the means to unfill you and are balking on a money standpoint alone, I would be major pissed! And would let them know if I had ANY problems, THEY would get the bill.

I am so sorry you are hurting, and worried too, that only makes it worse when the stress hits.

Please let us know how it goes!

Kat

Hate that for you. Insurance companies are in the business to make money....not to pay it out. So it doesn't surprise me they have that rule.

I don't have insurance so I don't know what it's like for a doc to tell me , 'no' to something....but

I thought I needed an unfill last year when I had pneumonia as I couldn't keep anything down and I needed the nutrition...well, that was a Thursday. I called my doc Friday morning and he could see me Tuesday. That's quick enough right? Just 2 working days.

I told myself that if I could make it thru the weekend...I wouldn't get an unfill.... there was no point.

Well, Monday came and I called to cancel the unfill appt.

During these few days you have to wait you will try to come up with a plan to get rid of the reflux and issues you are having. IF, and that's an IF you can do it...you don't need an unfill.

If you can't go as soon as the doc gets back!

Thanks for your replies. About an hour after I posted I called back the Dr's office and talked to the patient advocate (who I also talked to on Friday, and was told to wait it out til Tuesday).

I guess the NP and the RN who can do fills haven't gotten the clearance (yet) to bill insurance and so they can't perform them unless the Dr. is physically in the office. Or I can self pay. And it's only $125, so I guess that isn't terrible.

I also found out today (after my 4th fill.. huh) that you have a 1-week window after a fill to go back in for a free unfill. Had she told me that on Friday when I talked to her, I would have gone straight there, since that was the end of my week! She said since I didn't know, I could come down and self-pay for a fill and then talk to the doc when he gets back and see if they can not bill me or something or give me some sort of concession for my troubles.

They are being nice, it just seems really stupid to plan to leave the country for 3 weeks before your NP and RN are able to take care of the patients, regardless of how they pay.. maybe they were planning to have the clearance by now and just haven't gotten it.

Regardless, my issues have been caused by me trying to take teeny Vitamins and getting them stuck. Last week it was Iron, this week it was a Vitamin D gel. I am doing liquids and my stomach seems to be doing better. I'm trying to choose things that are low acid and won't irritate me even more (staying away from tomato and chocolate things). I am able to get food down (soup) and Water and everything just fine. The patient advocate said that I would not be at risk for a slip unless I kept getting things stuck and or kept vomiting. If I just take it easy with liquids and give my stomach a rest, my band isn't going to slip.

They are also trying to figure something out for me and are going to call me back tomorrow. So for now I'm just doing liquids, laying low and hoping my stomach calms down. It is definitely better than yesterday. I am thinking if my heartburn and swelling is going down I probably won't have the reflux but we'll see. I can definitely stick it out tomorrow and see what they say, otherwise I may go to the ER and let the on-call lap band doc take care of it. I think I'm afraid they'd take it ALL out or something...I don't want that either. Bleh.

Anyway thanks for your support, like Grace said, if my issues subside maybe I don't need an unfill. But I think I'd be more comfortable with .1 or .2 taken back out. In the mean time I will just stay away from those other vitamins and find chewable replacements, keep drinking liquids and try to enjoy the extra weight lost from being on a liquid diet.

i take liquid vitamins. i cant swallow those big pills. i take one chewable asprin a day. i can swallow that ok. i also drink liquid l-cartanine, oh crap i cant spell anything........ but it works for me. good luck. nothing worse than being too tight and not getting liquids down. i hope i never go through that again......

I totally understand how you feel fustrated. I was overfilled one time and could not even hold liquids down it took 2 days before I was able to get unfilled and I felt like I was dieing.

Hang in there and remember to look at the overall picture and outcome that will come out of it down the road! You can do it

i take liquid Vitamins. i cant swallow those big pills. i take one chewable asprin a day. i can swallow that ok. i also drink liquid l-cartanine, oh crap i cant spell anything........ but it works for me. good luck. nothing worse than being too tight and not getting liquids down. i hope i never go through that again......

I don't take big vitamins either. I take chewables, but I have been taking tiny Iron and tiny, I mean really tiny, like 1/8" by 1/4" oval gel and they had been going down ok until this fill. I'm switching to chewable iron and will try to get my Vitamin D with my Calcium citrate chewables. Hmm chewable aspirin, I'll have to look for that.

As an update, I am feeling better after just being on liquids for a couple of days. My heartburn seems gone as of last night and I didn't get acid reflux either. So it's definitely calmed down. I still think I want maybe .1 taken out.

Thanks though for all your support and messages, it's been nice to have people to talk to when I'm so frustrated, people who understand...

Hope you find relief soon! I've been thinking about getting another fill cause I'm not losing, but I'm a little (ok a lot) afraid of being too tight!

Goodluck! Looks like you're having good weight loss!!