Hello my name is Jorge and I live in Queen Creek, Arizona. I am 32 years old and I weigh 499 lbs, thats if I havent gained all my weight back. I got my lap band surgery on May 12 2008 and I went down from 537 lbs to 499 the week before my surgery. Even after my surgery I was doing good with my preop and postop liquid and soft food diet stages, until about the 3rd or 4th week when I was able to eat regular foods now I am out of control. My food addiction has kicked in. I was supposed to go for my 1st fill on June 25 and I keep postponing because I am so embarrased to go and I feel like I have truly gained some of the weight back. Has this happened to anyone else??? I have alot of weight to loose...my doctor said that my ideal to loose would be 250-275 lbs...so I have a long way to go...and with this setback I am so embarrased to go to my doctors office and get weighed. I have even tried to do crash diets but they don't work!!! I am a carbs addict and I just feel like a total failure!!!...The whole reason for getting this surgery was to loose the weight and feel good physically and emotionally...right now I just feel crappy and emotionally like a total failure...Am I the only one that this happened to??? Is there anyone that has had this happen to as well??? Should I feel like this???

Jorge. I did the same thing. I kept putting off my last appoinment because I had gained 10 lbs. I finally said screw it, I'm going. It's better to go to the surgeon and talk with him. Get a fill if you need it. I have a food addiction also, probably like all bandsters. My surgeon wasn't mad. I just got a fill and a lot of encouragement from him.

Hi Jorge, we all have or have had a problem with food and that is why we have or want the band. You are at the begining of your journey. And that is what it is - its a journey. A marathon not a sprint.

Have you thought about talking to someone?

And where did you get banded at? If Scottsdale Bariatrics they have a very good support group and counselors on staff you could talk to.

I know how you feel and i try to tell myself everyday i am not a failure but it is hard to tell yourself that you aren't when you feel deep inside that you are. In January I left my husband due to him being abusive to my 12 year old son. I went on the road with my dad (he's a trucker) and was doing ok for a while. In Feburary I moved back home to my mothers house. I started out at 179 lbs approximately at that time. My soon to be ex husband and 1st ex husband started stressing me out major time. As if that is not enough then I get a toothache and the only way to relieve the pain was to eat even if I wasn't hungry. Also, I got my surgery done in Dallas and I now live in West Texas which is about 5 hours away from Dallas. I called every lap band doctor in the area and since I got my surgery done in Dallas I have to go back to get my fill there. So I have scheduled a fill for August 15th so maybe I can start to lose weight again. I have gained over 10 lbs. I am ashamed of myself of gaining weight. I wish you luck in your losing and all of us also. The people that say having the lap band surgery is the easy way out then they should come on here and read some of our posts and see what we go through that some of us do gain weight due to life situations and have to work at losing again. Keep your chin up and you will succeed. Don't give up on yourself or the process and I will do the same. In some odd way if I know that someone else can go through something similar and keep their chin up I can too.

Jorge, you are NOT a failure! Go get your fill!!!

The band is designed to work when filled enough to give you restriction. If you haven't even had a fill you are basically struggling with exactly the same issues as you were before you had the band. You can't expect weight loss success if the band isn't even doing it's job!! I promise you, if you get the right level of restriction you will have a much easier time controlling what you put in your mouth. It isn't going to miraculously just happen, you are going to need to cooperate, but it will be waaaaay easier. GET AS MANY FILLS AS YOU NEED TO GET THE RESTRICTION YOU NEED.

Don't be afraid to go to your doctor for your fill. They will work with you. Get on track ASAP - don't waste another day feeling like a failure. Get on the stick and fix this!!! If you ever need to talk you can send me a private message and I will answer. I live in Chandler, so we are kind of neighbors! Feel free to send a message if you need to vent. I am happy to available for a pep talk any time.

Where did you have your surgery??? I used Scottsdale Bariatric with Dr. Robin Blackstone.

Hi Jorge,

I just wanted to drop it to say NEVER think defeat everyday is a new opportunity to start over, if we didn't have a problem with food we wouldn't be on this journey. So hold your head up, call your doc, make that appointment and move forward from there, yesterday is lost, tomorrow is a brand new experience so work from there and go forward. I'm not a great motivator but I know how many times I have fallen and I know you can get back up, it's not always easy but it attainable. Good luck Jorge i'll be rooting for you.