Hi! I am a forty-five year old wife, mother, and high school teacher. I had lost a little more than 50 lbs. of my 85 lbs. goal. At that point I began having TERRIBLE reflux problems, two complete unfills, and trouble finding the correct fill level. It is still not over. I now have .75, had 1.5 for eight months that worked great until the reflux. Now I have a chronic cough even with very little saline and have gained back apprx. 20 lbs. So...my plan is to stop eating by 5:30 each night, no matter what; stop eating soft foods out of ease; measure my food each meal; and exercise. My life right now is especially stressful, i.e. two kids in college, a month to finish my doctoral dissertation; $$ issues, etc. I really need someone to share all of this with until I can get my focus, health, and success back.

I live in the Atlanta area, was self-pay, have had my band for 1 and half years, and see my surgeon regularly. I am looking for someone who can assure me that people make it through difficult times.

Thanks so much!!

Wow sounds like you been through alot here. I am very sorry to hear this. I do hope everything gets better for you. I have had my band since Sept, 2008 and I struggled alot not cause of the band but cause of my insurance and out of pocket cost. When I had my band done I was living in Texas and everything was covered but then I left and moved briefly to ALabama and nothing was covered. My first fill was a 100 bucks, the second one cost me almost 400. I no longer could get the fills I needed and had to wing it basically, talk about feeling like I was never going to get on track was terrible. I then moved here to New York 7 weeks ago and finally 2 weeks ago I found a dr to perform a fill for me. I was very impressed with him as he gave me alot of encouragement. He said as far as fills I was way behind schedule based on how far out I was but as for weightloss I was ahead of the curve. I was so thankful for this and finally feel like I am back on track. The down side to this is....I drive and hr and a half one way to see this dr and also attend support group meeting there....Is it worth it?......YES. I am also a mother of 4 ages 19-4 so the gap is huge and everyday stresses makes things alot worse. I am sorry if nothing I said here helps you, but trust me when I say I may not know the pit falls of it all but I do know how frustration can creep in and make you second guess everything. Prayer and constant support is the key to any success. Please hang in there and if you ever need to just vent or laugh then please feel free to email me at majestic_one38@yahoo.com. Hang in there my friend we are all in this together no matter what our struggles are. I looked for a hug but couldn't find one so I will just send you a cyber one myself.

Thanks so much for the reply. It would be great to support each other. I haven't had to find new fill doctors as you have, but I can certainly feel your pain about the self-pay. Insurance will pay for the meds and doctor visits associated with obesity, but won't save themselves money by allowing treatment for it. Hmmmm...makes poor business sense to me! Today, I have really been staying aware of my commitment to getting back on track. I am doing only liquids and soft foods today and tomorrow as I had a small fill. After that, no foods after 5:30, measured small meals, small, slow bites, no red meat. Okay, and exercise. I'll let you know how it goes; I have your email address.

Keep doing what you are doing!! I really do feel that being self-pay as we are is a true investment in ourselves and our health. That is always worth the money!!

Just as you said, prayer and a sense of humor can overcome anything!!