Hi. I had surgery on 11/21 and my surgeon will not do any fills closer than 8 weeks apart. I am changing drs for my fills. The dr. I see tomorrow will do them 6 weeks apart. I know that doesn't seem like much difference, but at least he will see me to check my band. He will take out what is in there and put it and hopefully more back. Anyone else change drs. after surgery?

Hi, I have been lurking for awhile but this is my first post. I changed doctors effective yesterday. I will try to make this as short as possible. I was banded in July 2007 and weighed 232 pounds. I went in for my first fill and was told I had 3 cc's in my band that he put in there during surgery so he added 2. That didn't do anything, so I went back 3 weeks later and got 1.5 more. That didn't do anything so I went back 3 weeks after that and got 1 more. At that point, I had decent restriction which lasted about 2 months. I was down to 190. I haven't had restriction since I went in for another fill in December of 07. It has been downhill since, even though I had fills in January, February, May, and October. Each time being told I was getting 1/2 a cc. At my last appt in October of 08, I weighed 192, I expressed my frustration to my doctor at being able to eat way too much. Nothing bothered me, breads, pastas, nothing. He just lectured me about the importance of proteins and diet and exercise. That's all well and good if you aren't hungry all the time. Even since that fill in October, I have been able to eat whatever I wanted and was hungry a lot. I should add that I had a tummy tuck in 2005 so I don't have a lot of fat in my upper abdomen. Anyway, I got on the scale last week and was heartbroken...I was 207. I called fill centers USA. They set me up an appt that I went to yesterday. It's a 3 and a half hour drive one way, but I don't care if I can get proper treatment. The lady doing my fills was expecting my band to be very full, she and I were both stunned to find 6.6 cc's in there. Which leads me to believe one thing, I was totally neglected in the fill area by my doctor, who I won't knock because believe it or not outside of the fill issue, I still like him. He always made me lay back, pulled out whatever cc's were in my band told me what he put back then made me drink water and sent me on my way. Yesterday, she located my port withdrew the fluid and added it back. With the needle still in my port, she made me sit up and drink sips of water while she added fluid a little at a time to see how I was tolerating the water. I ended up getting an entire cc yesterday and I watched her do it. For the first time in a year and a half...I have not woke up starving. In fact, I haven't felt hungry whatsoever since I got up 3 hours ago. I feel so inspired, I wanna go walk on my treadmill. I always read people saying "Oh...the band is a tool, not a solution" to which I agree, but we cannot use our tool if it is not working properly. If I wanted to just diet and exercise I wouldn't have paid over $11,000 out of pocket to get this procedure done. I have a feeling I am now on the right track and wish I would have been going to Fill Centers all along.

I am so happy for you. I wish I had a similar experience to report. I went to another dr. today and was told that the front desk person made a mistake and he would not give me a fill. He does not take care of Dr. so-and-so's problems. If I am unhappy with my surgeon, I should have done more research before surgery. In other words, he didn't get paid for the surgery. He would check me for a leak by placing a needle in my port and drawing out the fluid, but would not give me a fill. Why would I want to do that. He said I should be happy with my weightloss. But I'm not! I thought the band was a tool to HELP. If I could stay on a diet of willpower and exercise on my own, I wouldn't have had surgery and a foreign object placed around my stomach. Is this all just a money making scheme? I truly wish I had never had the surgery. I am 81 days out and wish I could back and make a different decision. After all, I am doing this on my own anyway. At least people wouldn't expect me to lose weight and I wouldn't feel like such a failure, AGAIN. Sorry, I just need to vent. I am so unhappy, hungry, tired.

Hi again. Don't give up. I completely understand the level of frustration you are feeling. When I seen my surgeon in October I said "THe other day, I ate an entire 6 inch sub from subway and chips with no problem" he said "Did you eat it because you wanted to or because you could?" I thought what the heck kind of question is that???? I agree....the band is a tool, but shouldn't it stop me from doing that? I know with good restriction, I have no desire to eat that stuff because it scares me. Once, while I had good restriction, I tried eating a little bit of a roll from bob evans, and paid dearly with a stuck episode that hurt so bad, I haven't touched one since. I keep hearing one of the important things about the band is the aftercare, but what if our doctors are failing US in the aftercare. Feel free to vent anytime, I think that's what this forum is for. Have you tried to find other doctors maybe not necessarily in your area but a bit further away? I live in central Ohio, had my surgery in Detroit and am now going to Troy, Mich. for my fills. The way I am feeling today may only be temporary but I feel confident now that if I call my new doctor back and tell her that this just didn't work I need another one, she's going to help me.

Bigmomma,

As a michigander, I am SO SORRY your doc didn't do what you needed him to do to make YOU successful.I am so glad you got the fill you needed. My motto this whole experience has been "Work the Band" and it is TRUE. Till you get to that sweet spot, and feel that satisfied feeling you have, it is very hard to control your eating, cause YOU ARE HUNGRY. Here's to hoping you have found your sweet spot! Big hugs!

my doctor fills every two weeks- weight loss or not-

I think it is too much --- I get too hungry on the days I have to have liquids

I'm thinking on looking into a different doc. I can never get into my doc for a fill if I have to cancel my fist appointment. She triple books & has no one to help!!!

I had my surgery in Detroit also, and have been very happy with my doctors and fills and such. I just wish I could find someone closer to home. It's a three hour drive for me to get there. I tried calling the bariatric doctors who are in Alma, and they would not take me for fills because they didn't do the surgery. They asked why I went to Detroit in the first place, and when I told them I was self pay and they charge double what the doctor in Detroit did, she had no comment. There really are no doctors who will do fills in the central part of the state. I know there are some up in Traverse City, but that's just as far for me as Detroit. The center in Flint would take me, but the fill would cost $500 out of pocket, since my insurance has a no weight loss clause. So, I'm stuck where I'm at. Hopefully now that I am so close to good restriction, the number of times I'll have to drive down there from here on out will drop considerably. Good luck to all Michiganders!!!

Hi everyone

My problem I have with my Dr is that when I went in for a fill which was my second one, He fused me cause I wasn't looseing the weight that I should have been. So he looked at me and pretty much blamed me for not looseing. Well I was doing everything right, I have been gaining fluid cause of my OB problems, well you know what he said to me " oh you can't blame that only on fluid". Well I wasn't. I was blaming it for not enough fill in my band. I need to go back and get another one, but I don't want a lecture again cause I havn't lose the weight he wanted. I started a gym at curves 1 month ago, so I am loosing it slowly. Which I was once told, "with the band you loose it slow, with Gastric you lose it fast" Well why should he give me a lecture for losing it slowly?

When a Dr sits there and fusses you or give you the blame it makes you not want to go back and trust them. That's where I am at right now, I need a fill but don't want the lecture.

A dr is there to help, so why are so many not helping when you are in need?