I was banded in nov 05 lost 100lbs and then had to have a revision in jan 07 due to adhesions around my band. After the revision i have gained almost 60lbs back and have had fills. Now i can barely eat breakfast or lunch and sometimes dinner. I feel totally helpless because my doctor now longer does follow ups because he is too busy, so all i can ever do is go have a barium swallow and they will call him if anything is wrong. And of course my swallows are fine. I dont know what i am doing wrong. I have tried different things for the past year and nothing is working. Please does anyone have any ideas? I am soooo lost!

I don't understand the "too busy to follow up his patient". How can he not see you in the office, besides doing a barium swallow? Is he the only one in his practice? Or is there another doctor in the group that does lapbands? Do you have any fills? Do liquids go down? Are you loosing any weight?

Tess

Which band did you get on your revision? are you too tight to eat properly and healthy? if you are consuming too little calories that can cause just as many problems as eating too many calories... do you work out? are you drinking your calories? please return a response with a normal day .. what you eat and what you do...

When you say you can barely eat is it because the food is coming back up? Are you too tight and need an unfill?

I'd call the doctor everyday 3x a day until I got an appointment. If he denies you - camp out! I'd make myself a nuissance and insist he hel. If he will not service or help you, you need to report him and find someone that is willing to help you. That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!

Thats just the thing. I dont know what size band I have. I never saw my doctore again after surgery. He called the nurses and discharged me without coming and seeing me. He used to do fills in his office but now he now longer does them. He has no other doctors in his practice.

In the morning I have my coffee, which is about the only thing that does not irritate me and make me feel sick. If i try to have anything, including Water, it feels like it is going to come back up. I try then to have a Protein shake, maybe i can get it to go down, maybe not. Depending on how well things "sit" lunch usually consists of small amounts of chili, Soup, yogurt, or anything that doesnt hurt. Basically its the same thing for all my meals. I guess i could say that I have trouble eating all day long. I have had a barium swallow and everthing is ok. Its not too tight, i only have 2.5cc in my band.

I would start to exercise more but i am exhausted.

I would try again to make an appointment with the surgeon. Any doctor that is who he is supposed to be always follows up with their patients. I also would look on your state's Medical License Board and see if he has any actions against his license... this will give you a good idea of who your dealing with.When you call for an appointment, don't mention your band... give them a generic reason for the appointment.... then let him have it!:eek:

Is he the one who did your first lap band? If he no longer does them, where does he send his patients to now. If he won't do a follow up now, he should be the one to recommend another physician. Sounds to me he let his malpractice insurance lap on this particular procedure. ( A surgeon friend of mine told me that it's $20,000 a year just for malpractice to do these... so do the math, they need to be doing a lot of them to make it worth their while!)

If he won't recommend someone, I would see if there is a doctor who will take over on your own. You need to be seen by someone!

Good Luck!!!

Tess

Get another doctor. Advocate for yourself.

I agree with Juli. It is time to cut your losses and find someone new. Your old doc may have screwed something up and you need to be able to drink!!

Good luck!

You say you aren't too tight because you only have 2.5 cc - but I don't think the amount really matters. If can't eat properly, you could be too tight. Hopefully it is not anything else. But please at least start by having some fluid removed to see if that helps ease some suffering so you can get some proper nutrition.