I wrote to the surgeon:

There is no difference in the amount I can eat since before surgery

I am not getting full after meals.

The band has been tightened at least six times, perhaps seven.

I have experienced no gastric reflux.

I have experienced no nausea, vomiting or frothing.

I have had no weight loss.

Has the band slipped

Is there a hole n the saline pouch or any part of the lap band assembly?

I experience some sensation once a few days after a full, but it disappeared within.a day or two

You warned me that the lap band might fail.

At what point will you say that it failed?

What do we do now?

I need some resolution.

I need to know what is going on.

He replied:

I cannot keep answering the same question

We gradually tighten the band

There is no resolution

really tired of this

??????????????????????????????????

Ok, why did you write your surgeon? How much do you have in your band? How much does your band hold? Does he (or whomever does your fills) withdraw all the saline to make sure none of it is leaking out? How long have you been banded?

he does the fills himself, wont answer any of those questions, had surgery 7 months ago, wont do fill by x ray

So you are going to a surgeon who will not tell you what size band you have, how much is in it, how much he puts in each time? You know legally you have a right to that?

I'd get my medical records and go to another surgeon, at the least. Was he this way prebanding?

The band usually doesn't fail, it's user problems (and that includes the doc) but it can have a leak.

I'd seriously just switch docs.

Monkey's asking the right questions! And I have more. What size band do you have? What amounts have your fills been? Let's say you have a 10cc band. Then, let's say you get 6 fills of .5cc each (and there are doctors who are this conservative). That would mean you have 3ccs of fill, which is pretty much no restriction. A start, but only a start. EVen 1cc each time would not necessarily have you at your sweet spot. You could need to go as high as 8 or even 9 to be there. It's different for everybody.

When was your last fill? Have you continued to pursue your fills? Schedule another one! My doctor always withdraws all the Fluid in the band to make sure how much is really in the band (this would immediately indicate if there is a leak). Then, and only then does he put that amount back plus the amount decided on for the current fill.

"I have experienced no gastric reflux. I have experienced no nausea, vomiting or frothing." This is actually good. If you had, that would not be good. Band slipped? Don't know of many who have experienced that, but everyone who has that I've heard about reached a point where they could not eat and had a great difficulty even drinking.

Instead of sitting down to a plate full of food (which is what I take "no difference in the amount I can eat since before surgery" to mean), are you preparing meals that are "plan" meals? By that, I mean 3 ounces of lean Protein and steamed or raw vegetables, and occassionally a single serving of whole grain carbs. Do you take small bites and chew to the consistency of applesauce? Then wait 15 minutes after you finish the meal? Most overweight people don't know "full" from a check for a million dollars. They know "stuffed to the gills". If after that 15 minutes you don't experience gnawing hunger, you're FULL. If that gnawing, screaming hunger comes back in less than 4 hours, then you probably aren't at your sweet spot. Go back to my second paragraph -- make another appointment for a fill. If you get hungry in less than 4 hours, EAT PROTEIN. A boiled egg, a 1/2 cup of low fat cottage cheese, an ounce of low fat cheese. Solid protein takes longer to digest than anything else you could possibly think of eating.

Are you exercising? I mean, you don't have to become a power lifter or a marathoner, but walk 30 minutes every day? Or even almost every day?

The lap band isn't a magic bullet. If you aren't trying to do the things you are supposed to do, but are just forging ahead blindly, then why are you expecting to have magically lost weight?

I do those things, use wii fit and ride a bike, but I am frustrated and really sick of this MD.

He wanted me to have a sleeve and is angry.

I'd be switching doctors if i were you! that's bs! you are his patient and you have concerns it's his job to address those concerns.

TIme to switch! Past time, it sounds like. He sounds more than a bit passive-aggressive and more than bit callous. You didn't do what he wanted you to do, so now you have to suffer? Time to get your medical records moved to another physician. Where are you? Maybe one of us here on the board can make a recommendation? There are sooo many users here, so hopfully somebody can make a recommendation. It's got to be better than what you're getting.

These are the kind of stories that are freaking me out (not banded yet until 6-18-09) . How can anyone possible eat the same about of food pre surgery after getting banded. Even without a fill there is no way a Quarter pounder and fries is going to fit in that small pouch. And if it can, why the heck do the surgery...

Someone please explain to me how this is humanly possible.

NOT JUDGING ANYONE!!!! I just want to know how to not have this problem. I read people saying they are still hungry but not eating the same amount of food.

I have to lose 200lbs so you know I can put away some food!

Thanks

danbar,

no restriction or slider foods are when the food you are eating goes right through the band into your stomach. and your stomach is as big as before. thats why you can eat as much or almost as much as before banding, when you have no restriction.

when you get restriction or eat foods that are not slider foods thats when your pouch fills and slowly empties into your stomach. your pouch when you have restriction will fill with about a cup of food, give or take.

I do those things, use wii fit and ride a bike, but I am frustrated and really sick of this MD.

He wanted me to have a sleeve and is angry.

The guy sounds like a total jerk. It wasn't HIS decision, though he probably made less money on the Lap-Band.

I agree -- RUN, don't walk, to another doctor. Any doctor who wouldn't ask my questions like that wouldn't make it out of the room.

Also, if he is mad as you say and acting like this, I wouldn't put it past him to be sabotaging your fills -- either not truly filling you, or filling you just the teensiest bit, OR you have a leak and he couldn't care less. Jerk.

These are the kind of stories that are freaking me out (not banded yet until 6-18-09) . How can anyone possible eat the same about of food pre surgery after getting banded. Even without a fill there is no way a Quarter pounder and fries is going to fit in that small pouch. And if it can, why the heck do the surgery...

Someone please explain to me how this is humanly possible.

NOT JUDGING ANYONE!!!! I just want to know how to not have this problem. I read people saying they are still hungry but not eating the same amount of food.

I have to lose 200lbs so you know I can put away some food!

Thanks

You CAN eat that way because the opening to your stomach is generally not any smaller, or if it is, the amount isn't enough to restrict you. Can you not hold a belt around your waist and it not be restrictive? Until you cinch it up, it's just "there". Same is true of the band; especially with the new AP small and large choices, most of us wouldn't even know we HAD a band if not for the scars and the bills...until we get restriction.

So yes, you'll be able to eat like you always did, most likely, until you get enough restriction.

Agreed, Dan.

For me, the first few months were all willpower. Restriction still comes and goes depending on where I am on my fill schedule. Usually right after a fill I'm fine for a couple weeks, and then the next couple weeks I feel hunger sneaking up because I'm losing weight internally and loosening my restriction.

However, with each month/fill, it gets better and better. But I have also read some bandsters on here who had restriction almost immediately and a year out are only getting their second or third fill (I just had my sixth).

We're all different, our doctors all fill differently, and some just simply lose easier/faster than others. Men seem to do especially well (as usual). I read a guy on here just the other day who lost 100 pounds since late JANUARY!

Try not to let the stories freak you. This poor woman has obviously gotten a shit for a doctor. You have to feel really comfortable with whoever you choose as you'll have a relationship with him/her for some time. If you feel they don't listen to you now, they sure as hell won't later.

YIKES - you need a different doctor, any doctor but that one! He obviously does not care about you, just about lining his pocket. Check with your hosptal to see if they have a referral for you to another Weight Loss surgeon. Normally there are more than one in your area and you have been way more paitient than I would have been. Once you get another doctor lined up, go by this jerks office and pick up your file, then take that to your new doctor and have an honest discussion with him, it is just my guess but I bet anything you have a leak in your tubing so that you are not getting any restriction cause it all leaks out. Good luck.

My reccomendation - find a fill center where they'll do a fill under fluoro. That way they'll be able to see a slip, and they'll fill you until you're restricted instead of having to jab you so many times over the course of several months. I know fluoro is not always necessary, but in your case I would demand it. With a DIFFERENT doctor. JMHO.