Dallas area. First Off, it took me over a year to get approved. :wub: I was 270 lb. Meanwhile, my husband died from cancer. I lost 30 lb on the widows diet......you dont feel like eating, or doing anything--so you loose weight. Finally, I got approved for the lap band in March, and the group I was working with (AIGB Richardson) finally got me scheduled for surgery in June. I was about 250 lb. pre-surgery. I lost 12 lb the first week, and it was very painful. Then came the 1 x month adjustments. It is now November. The first several adjustments literally made no difference. After the soreness left and I recoverd a little bit -- TWO POUNDS in a month, I lost. The next month, THREE POUNDS. Boy I was getting disgusted. Plus I was having to pay $150 per fill because AIGB Richardson couldnt even give me appointments for fills, which were covered by my insurance because they were wretched incompetent and understaffed -- so I had to go elsewhere. After 3 months post surgery, AIGB Richardson FINALLY pulled it together and got me in for a fill. Since I wasn't experiencing any results, they gave me a pretty significant fill. Thats when the puking began, although I was still having HUNGER issues. Inever felt full at a half cup, or even a cup. :mad: That month, I lost a whopping FOUR Pounds. Then I got a very small fill. 1 cc I think it was. I couldnt eat at all, not even thin soup, and I was spitting up water when I drank it, so 3 days later, I had to get the fluid they added removed. AIGB Richardson agreed to see me, since I couldnt' drink water --- they waived their gastapo one visit per month rule. I guess they didn't want my family to sue them If I got dehydrated and died. :w00t:Then came the month from hell. Everything I ate, unless it was soup, I puked up, no matter how much I chewed. I was chewing bites 60 X apiece (so spare me any chewing lectures, please). Couldnt eat chicken at all. And beef was really hard also. Everything except soup, I puked up the first 20 bites, at least. But hey --- I COULD eat fattening cheese --- and sugar laden protien drinks. And spare me please, low fat cheese taste like crap and if I have a choice of only 2 or 3 foods I can eat, I will not go with low fat cheese -- and it that makes me an undisciplined fatso, well, so be it. After puke puke puke puke puke puke, I'd finally be able to hold a little down. Usually, it was evening time before I was able to hold anything down. But once it started to STAY down, and stopped coming up, I could eat a LOT, way more than 1/2 cup!! I could scarf down a HUGE plate of pasta, no problem, once the first 20 bites puking stopped. And, by then, in the evening, I'd be so ANGRY, and so HUNGRY, and so WEAK, I'd eat the whole thing. I have been totally unable to eat in public. Eating with friends or family became a thing of the past. :mad2: For one, I didn't want all my (thin) (somewhat judgemental) friends knowing I'd done a lap band. So, unless I ate thin soup, I couldn't eat ANYTHING in public -- because when I did, I'd have to flee the table after almost every bite --- to puke. And they started to look at me real weird after leaving the table for my 5th trip to the bathroom. :huh2: It was miserable. And as far as my family, who knew I'd had it done--well- No one wanted to eat in my presence, because I had to keep a "Puke cup" alongside my plate -- cuz fleeing the table 20 times a meal just wasn't an option. It was easier to just eat alone, with my PUKE CUP. After a month of this wretched hell, I'd lost a whopping 4 lbs. My AIGB aftercare won't see me any oftener than 1 x a month, unless it's a dire emergency. So, last time I went, they removed .5 cc -- cuz they said something obviously wasnt working right. WELL DUH. That's almost 2 weeks past. They told me that this was not how it was supposed to work, but they had me do barium swallow and said that it LOOKED fine, and they wanted me to see my dr. Well. Great. My dr. couldnt see me for nearly 3 wk, I see him on the 11th Nov. THANK GOD I AM NOT DYING, OR I'D BE DEAD BEFORE I SAW HIM. So -- since they removed that last bit, I can eat without puking most of the time.....but hungrier than he3ll. :thumbup: I can eat a HUGE plate of whatever. Of course, if there is much texture, I still puke, but there seems to be no limitation on the volume I can eat, and my hunger pains gnaw all the time. I still cannot eat EGGS -- a great source of protien, without puking, but hey......a chocolate brownie goes down just GREAT. Never, ever, ever, at any point, has this WRETCHED MISERABLE USELESS CRAPPING lap band worked like it should, just limiting my food intake to 1/2 cup and allowing me to eat semi normal food like a semi normal person. I wouldn't recommend this useless surgery to my very worst enemy. :wub: It's a hoax and a sham, at least for me. I had such high hopes for it!! And I felt just furious, every time I went in for a fill, and this woman, or that woman "Oh, I was banded t 4 months ago, and I have lost FORTY POUNDS, woo hoo!" OR what about the fella who lost 70 lb in 5 months. Not me, no, no. I mean, when you have to suck down protien drinks, which are packed with sugar, and the only things you can even get down are fattening crap, when meats choke you down, even deli meats, well, that's sure not going to work for anybody. I LOVE steamed brocolli. Under no circumstances can I even have a NIBBLE of steamed broccoli--I puke it out immediately. My food choices are so so so limited.....and I have never found a protien drink that was bearable to drink that wasn't saturated with sugar. I got these little protien shots from my dr., they were expensive as gold, but they tasted so awful, it was all I could do not to throw up in disgust when I drank them. boy, you get to be REAL CRANKY if all you can eat all day is something that resemble snail snot with sacharine. As a result of this surgery -- (eliminating the week of painful hell it took me to recover) I have lost less than 15 lb from this miserable surgery in 5 and a half months. And I have been more miserable than I have EVER been in my life. I don't know what my dr. will say, but this is NOT WORKING. I had a friend whose insurance wouldnt pay, she was ready to shell out 15 grand ---- I told her DONT DO IT. Get diet pills, do atkins, do ANYTHING, cuz ANYTHING is better and EASIER than THIS! If I went on weight watchers at least I could EAT normal food!!!! I used to think WW was hard, but it's nothing like this -- live on cheese sticks, yogurt, BROWNIES. and sickly sweet protien drinks. i CANNOT eat vegetables anymore. :crying: I loved vegetables, and they are healthy for you. I was never successful with diets, thats why I thought this stupid as_ surgery would help me.....but if you can't eat protiens or anything healthy cuz they hang up on the lap band --- and if it does not affect the VOLUME you can eat, what the hec good is it????? If I do not see a major difference by the end of the year with this miserably useless procedure, I am having the wretched thing ripped out, and having a magnetized sign made to go on the side of the car that says LAP BAND IS RIP OFF, DONT DO IT. I am 235 lb. I need to get down to 140 lb. That is 95 pounds. At that rate, it will take me about FOUR YEARS to loose this miserable weight. I need to find a job, I lost my job of 7 yr, due to my husband's terminal illness, and face it, we all know employers discriminate against what they call "FAT UNDISCIPLINED STUPID HOGS". Thats how they view you. I'd like to start dating sometime in the future. But we know how middle aged men view women who are overweight, no matter how intelligent or attractive the woman, and no matter how ugly and bald and fat the man....... "Hey, I don't date FAT CHICKS!"---and anything over a size 12 is a FAT CHICK in their eyes. So, unless I can get some of this weight off somehow, and obviously IT WONT BE THRU THE LAP BAND, I guess I am destined to PUKE forever, live on disgusting yogurt forever, and be FAT and have no dates and no job FOREVER. Do I sound bitter, angry and pissed off! Of course I do. I am not normally an angry person. But, when you puke all the time, and when you are hungry all the time, and you can't even eat anything that you LIKE, and you can't share social meals or social occasions with friends or family, and you are still trapped in a fat body in spite of all this misery, WELL HEY. NEWS FLASH. IT JUST MIGHT MAKE YOU CRANKY AND ANGRY. YES. LAP BAND HAS RUINED MY LIFE. I HATE IT. I WOULDNT EVEN RECOMMEND IT FOR MY WORST ENEMY. :wub: :wub: :eek: :smile:

I am sorry this is happening to you, your life seems so stressful at the moment. I hope things get better for you and you return to good health soon.

First of all, it sounds like you've gotten reprehensible care from your surgeon. In the practice I went to there is a specific program -- meaning that from the start you're screened. Step 1. Attend an info session where everything (pros and cons) are thoroughly explained. Step 2. Visit a nutritionist and psychologist to talk about what to expect. Step 3. Online overview of the procedure. Step 4. 2nd visit with the surgeon. Step 5 Surgery and overview in the hospital day after surgery. Step 6. Monthly visits to the surgeon (first several post-op are covered by insurance) to have fills. Thereafter, the doctor does my fills and there is a co-pay. Step 7 a monthly support group at the hospital led by the surgical practice -- different groups for different stages. That said....

I have had my 4th fill and it's hard. I can't eat fruits and vegetetables (except for a slim few) and this was my favorite thing to eat. Lots of proteins are tough for me except fish and shellfish. I can eat very little in the morning or afternoon and best at dinner. I got a lot stuck these past 4 weeks and it's been miserable -- so I understand your pain. I'm in restaurants a lot for work. My hunger is coming back but I do believe it's because I'm not getting enough "real" protein in the way of real food -- not shakes. However, I know it's a work in progress and I'm hoping it will get better. I'm banded 6 1/2 months and I've lost 30lbs -- not a lot compared to others on this forum. I have a friend that took a year to lose 85. I'm hopeful.

Before you give up -- try to find a good practice and some real support. You've come this far -- not to be Pollyanna-ish -- but you owe it to yourself.

I'm sorry you have had this experience with the lap band. I do have a suggestion though. It sounds to me that you are very stressed out at the moment and have been since the passing of your husband. I am sorry to hear about your husbands death that must have been a monumental loss for you and also a huge stressor along with unemployment, the stress of having to go out in the unappealing dating scene, and undergoing major WLS with no signs of a loss. I do know that our bodies do react to this stress and alot of the times the stress shows up in our stomaches. The point I am trying to make is that maybe you are having trouble with your band due to stress. I mean you said it yourself when your husband died you lost weight because stress caused you not to feel hungry. My thoughts are that with all this stress on you and then adding in the lap band you are very restricted even with out a fill and your stomach is taking out lifes stresses on your band and also causing your body to hold on to the weight.

I do believe you want to try and loss weight with the lap band and it isn't your fault that you are having trouble. I also do belive that the lap band does work! And it will work for you!

My opionion is that you do not have the band taken out, but you do put weight loss on hold for the moment and work on your life to eradicate these stressors. Seek spirtual guidance, exersise, talk to friends and family about your husbands death. I do not know how far you are in the bearvement process but doing these things will help with it. As for the unemployment I do not believe that they will not hire you for the reasons you have stated. There maybe some companies out there but The economy is tough right now and many people are having trouble finding jobs whether they are fat or thin. You will find a job but maybe since you are unemployed you should take up a hobby or an activity that you have always wanted to learn and enjoy it and let it relief stress for you.

As for getting back in the dating scene you have plenty of time for that. There are men out there that are only in it for looks but alot of men could care less if you are fat. I mean you are a pretty woman. What a man won't want is a woman in an unstable place who is bitter and stressed....I don't mean your are bitter but it's hard not to be when life takes us through hell.

When you have worked on all of these things and gotten life to a more normal stable place than I suggest going back to losing weight and I can almost guarentee that your lap band will work for you instead of agianst you.

I hope I helped. If you would like to talk more just shot me a message.

OMG, I'm so sorry for your troubles. It must seem like everyone and everything is against you... It is my opinion that your body is reacting badly because it is in a terrible state from stress and possibly depression. This makes our bodies behave in very strange ways. I agree with the person who said maybe you should put weight loss on a back burner for awhile and get yourself back in a good place emotionally.. and you also must remember that you haven't failed... you have been losing and you haven't put weight back on.... That is a positive thing.. There are so many cliche`s out there that seem appropriate for you.... but mostly, "time will heal" and one day you will wake up and feel better and find the strenghth you need to move forward. I'm sure it seems as though the LB is your enemy, but with the right medical staff it could turn out to be a friend. I wish you good luck and hope things will turn around for you soon... God Bless... Julie

Dear tywladawnYou story is amazing and I am sorry that you feel so miserable. What you describe was my greatest fear when I was making this decision and the only thing I kept telling myself was that at least I could take it out if it was that bad. Have you considered that? Best of luck to you and I hope that you feel better soon. I will be looking for your future posts.

bonytoni

I too, am so sorry about all your troubles. I'm only a week post -op, but I don't seem to be having huge issues of keeping things down yet. However, I agree with others that you need to find some more support and better MD. My MD encourages to call, and will get me in at anytime when I feel I need it. Plus, they have support groups, and the staff is great. try to hang in there. As you can see we on this site will support you.

My heart felt support. You have been through so much! My doctor also encourages calls any time even after hours and on week-ends. The calls go right to his cell phone or home phone. Find someone that can help support you and stop this horrible HORRIBLE cycle you are on!

You are not alone, I have read so many stories like yours. Just a thought, maybe check with your doctor and see if there are other alternatives? Will your insurance pay for a revision, perhaps to RNY? Not sure if you are against RNY but I know several have switched to that when they had problems and are very successful.

I'm sorry for your loss of your husband as well. Best wishes to you.

So what you are trying to say is...you do not like the band, right? lol

But seriously...lap band is not for everyone. I hope you find something that can make you happy. Best of luck to you.

I just found this. I thought you might like it. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f197/warning-i-lapband-orphan-71660/

It takes time. How long did it take the weight to come on? 4 years to leave may not be so. I know the puking does not sound like fun, trust me I've been. I just look for things I can eat and try not to turn to the fatty cheese and brownies. that's how we all get to where we are. Hopefully there is another doctor in your area that can you help you through this. they should have nutrionist on staff offering you help.