If you were building a house and had a hammer in your toolbox, but someone locked it away and wouldn't let you use it...would you passively accept it and continue to try to build that house without the hammer, knowing you were eventually doomed to failure and, worse, blaming yourself because "if you just tried harder" you could've built that house without the hammer? I doubt it.

Then why do so many people here passively accept that their doctors 'lock away' the very tool they obviously needed to lose this weight and keep it off instead of demanding that the doctor 'unlock' that tool?

It is obvious from the numerous postings on this board and others regarding the practices of numerous doctors that you don't need to wait months for your first fill, nor does there have to be months between fills. On almost every single site related to the band, it says that fills are deemed necessary based on the amount of restriction and the degree of hunger.

So, if you are hungry...and you have no restriction meaning you can eat to excess...and most particularly if you are eating to excess...talk to your doctor and demand an explanation for why you have paid so much and gone through so much, taking on the risks of surgery and having a foreign object implanted in your body, if you're still required to lose weight and keep it off in the same manner you did prior to surgery.

Take control...and if you have a doctor who won't work with you...find another one. They are not God and they aren't irreplaceable.

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I think you are both right on certain points. I totally agree with Effiepoo that the patient knows their body best. I went in last week for an adjustment as I was frustrated to have only lost 2 lbs in a month. My doctor and nurse were both reluctant to tighten me since they said I was still losing, albeit slowly. I, however, knew that my restriction had lessened and made my case to be tightened. My doc gave me a 1/2 cc. and it's done the trick very well. I think he was convinced that I was going to need to come in for an unfill but so far so good. I personally like to be tighter because the tool helps me so much more. However, I also agree with SooCal that when the fills start out a little slow it teaches you some very important behavior modifications. This whole band thing is a learning experience. If I had gotten to the restriction I'm at right now very early on, in other words gone from zero to sixty, it would have mentally not been a good thing for me. I would have probably been very confused and concerned by the signals and would have PB'd more. This has taught me to eat slowly, chew, chew, chew, and I've learned more when to stop eating before things get too uncomfortable. This way I've learned to slowly detach from my relationship with food. This is just my opinion, and not necessarily the same as others. In any event, I think we put our trust in our surgeons to have the surgery that we have to put a certain amount of trust in them with our after care. However, if at any time we are not satisified or don't feel like our surgeon is open to what we are telling them, then we need to look elsewhere. I'm lucky that although my surgeon was reluctant last week, he listened to me. There may be times when I go in and I have to listen to him even if I don't agree. Being openminded on both ends is truly the key to having a good patient/doctor experience.

There may be times when I go in and I have to listen to him even if I don't agree. Being openminded on both ends is truly the key to having a good patient/doctor experience.

Agreed. Obviously we need to take in what our doctors are telling us but we need to combine this with what our body is telling us and with all the other information we've sponged up.

My doctors know I see them as a valuable source of information, but that I won't always agree on what my care should be and if they want to convince me that their way is the best way, then they need to address the concerns I have.

One of the concerns I had with the fills was that so many people's fills are on an arbitrary schedule with no rhyme or reason as to why one person can get a fill at 2 weeks and another has to wait 3 months. In the seminar, my surgeon said our first fill would most likely be at 6-8 weeks. I asked if this was set in stone and his response was "no, it really depends on the individual". That's good enough for me. It means I'm not just a gingerbread cookie.

I did say I agreed with you, didn't I? :thumbup:

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Right on!!!!!