Cleo's Mom

DownInSocal: I called Allergan to get one of those wallet cards that lists your band type, cc fill level and doctor. They told me I would need to know the letters for the band - AP, V . So I called my doctor's nurse and she called back and said the doctor says I had an AP Standard 10, when what I really have is a #10 which means 10CM (4cc) NOT 10cc. I had the operative report and it said #10 but I thought that meant 10 cc, too, so when she told me I had an AP Standard 10 it made sense, until the second doctor opinion. Then I called Allergan again and was given the catalog reference number for the #10 band and for the AP Standard band and then I called medical records at the hospital and requested the catalogue reference number and serial number for my band. When I got the results, I again called Allergan with the information - just to be sure - and it is the 4cc band. Not used much anymore and I will probably never know why he used it on me. My new doctor is unlikely to second guess my former doctor - you know how that is. I did have a $15 co-pay for each office visit but my insurance covered the rest.

Update: I did see the second doctor for another opinion on April 7th. Big surprise! I found out I don't have the AP standard lapband that holds 10cc, as I was told by my former doctor. I have an older version that isn't used much anymore. It's a 10CM that holds 4cc. He gave me 2cc's in my first fill and 1cc in my second fill - when all the problems started. I learned this from this new doctor - to whom I switched after the visit. His second opinion report was that I was filled too tight the second time and that it appears I might have a small slip. I am going Monday, May 4th for a follow up Upper GI to see if things have gotten better. I feel better. No more reflux, heartburn or pain. I am not losing weight very fast - maybe a pound a month - but I have already lost 70 lbs (only 10 from the band) so I am okay with that. My former doctor lied about what kind of band I had and maybe he actually thought I had a 10cc - which is why he gave me 3cc's after only 2 fills. All the more reason to leave his practice. BIG LESSON - do not go to a practice where they are general surgeons and just do bariatric surgery "on the side" so to speak. His general surgery patients took priority and he was unavailable outside of office hours - didn't even have an answering service. Just go to the ER I was told. How costly and ineffective is that? Anyway, I will now be treated at a hospital of excellence and hope that the band is okay. I will find out what the new doctor thinks about the hiatal hernia and if it should be repaired or leave it alone. I will post updates. Thanks everyone.

TSB - How many bandings has your surgeon done? Perhaps he is not as experienced at doing them as he is with GB. He could also be a surgeon who relies on the number on the scale to somehow prove his worth or success and is used to the fast and big losses with GB. He equates weight loss with his success. I recently changed doctors because (1) My surgeon lied about what band I had (2) he is a general surgeon who does bariatric surgery, too. (3) He had only done 22 bands before me and (4) His inexperience became apparent when I developed problems. I then sought a second opinion with an experienced doctor and have now switched. Please make sure you are comfortable with this doctor BEFORE you have the surgery. You don't want to end up in arguments at every post-op with him telling you you should have had the GB if you develop problems. Good luck.

For those who have the older lapband model that only holds 4cc - what was your fill schedule like and where did you reach your sweet spot? Did you have any problems with reflux, heartburn or pain when eating? Thanks.

Thanks, it was resolved the next day.

I cannot get my replies to private messages to go through. I tried three times. They still show up as new messages - not replied to. What is going on?

sil - did your doctor tell you why he chose that size band for you? And not one of the newer ones?

Sara - despite what you say about not being too tight it might not be true. If you are only eating slider foods it doesn't matter that you can eat a lot of them. You still can be too tight. Not losing or gaining weight is often a symtpom of being too tight. You need to discuss this with your doctor and get an upper GI to see what is going on. How many cc's you have in your band does not necessarily correlate to tightness. Find out what is going on. Now, for foods with sauces. Try buying a rotissiere chicken and remove the skin. Add it to some fat free gravy (heinz makes it) and put this over some mashed potatoes. I eat this and have had no problem with chicken. Try steaming veggies and eat no sugar added fruit in cups. You can buy those steamer bags. Add "I can't believe it's not butter spray" (0 calories) to help flavor the veggies. You might have better luck with these. Make a salad and put in the food processor (use the slicing device - not shredding) and add a little olive oil and vinegar and spices. These are just some suggestions. Finally, you could truely have band intolerance but you will need additional testing, I think, before you come to that conclusion. And 55 pounds in two years is 1/2 pound a week - that is not bad. You said you didn't have as much weight to lose to begin with. I wish you the best of luck.

For all of you that have the 10CM band (4cc) - when & where (US or Mexico, etc.) did you have your surgery and did your doctor tell you why he chose that size band that isn't used much anymore (replaced by the AP standard 10CC)? Also - what was your fill schedule like (amount each fill)? Thanks.

The FDA has given Reglan a black box warning. Use only if there is no other choice but I don't blame you for not taking it now. Do more research about it and ask if there is an alternative medicine. There was a similar drug called Propulsid that they took off the market years ago. You have lost a lot of weight in a short amount of time. I think a complete unfill is in order. See what your doctor says, but your whole system will need time to heal. Good luck.

Alwaysinpain: Pain is always a sign that something is wrong. Please get an upper GI. Also, check for pancreatitis or some other pancreatic problem. And then go for a second opinion. I did that and ended up changing doctors. My former one was too inexperienced. Good luck. BTW - left shoulder pain is very common after banding. You will find many posts about that here. No one (read: doctor) seems to know how to get rid of it.

What is complicated about knowing how many cc's are in your band? Or trying to find your sweet spot? Sounds like you need to be assertive with this doctor. Never accept rude behavior. Doctors are too often used to being treated like gods. It's our job to bring them back to earth.

As to crappy doctors - can't help there - and changing usually isn't an opionon as most doc's won't take another docs patient - you can find them but it can be hard Well, I can help there because I did it. It wasn't hard. I just did my research and my new doctor's website says he takes patients who have had WLS previously. If her doctor is inexperienced or just isn't very good, then she owes it to herself to find a new one.

Anytime you feel horrible pain something is wrong. You need to get to the doctor for an evaluation. Probably an upper GI. Pain is not normal and only being able to drink. You are not just getting stuck if after the food went down it hurt to drink. It could be a slip or band erosion. You need to call your doctor and get evaluated ASAP. Good luck.

Elizabeth: Other than the barium swallow test showing that there was no slip - what else did it show? Was the barium going down without a problem? Was the pouch or esophagus dilated? If they don't know what the problem is - what are they going to fix during surgery? Here is my suggestion. Get a copy of your upper GI on disc and take it to another doctor for a second opinion. I don't know how experienced your surgeon is in bariatric surgery but having another set of eyes look at the test might help. I got a second opinion and am now changing doctors. Mine former doctor was just not experienced enought to deal with my problems. You owe it to yourself to find out what the problems is. Good luck.

Okay, people, here is my band philosophy: The band is promoted as tool to help you to be satisfied with eating less (healthy) food. Some foods and drinks you won't be able to tolerate. Other than that, I don't think anyone signed on to develop reflux, heartburn, pain when eating, liquid coming out of their nose during the night or the whole host of complications people seem willing to put up with. I know I didn't. Having the doctor tell you to stop eating or drinking after a certain time, or taking a decongestant, etc.. is not the answer. Why shouldn't you be able to take a drink of water before bedtime? Or during the night? That's normal. If you can't - in my opinion - something is wrong. No amount of weight loss is worth putting up with being unhealthy or miserable. I don't care if I lose another ounce. I was overfilled and developed reflux, heartburn and pain and when I got a slight unfill they resolved. My husband had GERD all his adult life, a hiatal hernia, aspirated food during the night and died of esophageal cancer 3 years ago. This is nothing to mess around with.

I buy a whole rotissiere chicken and remove the skin as I use it. Then I slice chicken off this and add it to fat free gravy (over mashed potatoes) or add some BBQ sauce to it. But it seems moist enough that I don't think it would get stuck by itself. Chicken is almost the only meat I eat. I got stuck on an onion ring and too big a bite of turkey and stuffing.

I got the report from medical records today and I have a 10 CM band (the length of the band) that holds 0-4cc and I do not have the AP Standard #10 (which holds 10 cc) that I was told I have by my doctor's nurse. This is one of many reasons I changed doctors the other day and now will be going to someone more experienced and who hopefully knows what kind of band he puts in his patients. BTW, this band is not used much anymore I am told, and there was an expiration date of June 30, 2009 listed with all the band info. I was banded 8/22/08. I am going to find out what that means, too. Does anyone else have this band? If so, what has been your experience? Thanks.

Barb - the 4cc band has a smooth inside tube whereas the 10cc VG band has individual chambers - something like scalloped - that hold the fluid. There are those who say that design is better because less of the inner tubing touches the stomach reducing the chances of erosion. I don't know. My new doctor only uses the Realize band and his hospital has been named #1 two years in a row for bariatric surgery in my state - based in part by the very low complication rate. I don't anticipate having to have my band changed, but it would have been nice for my former doctor to give me the correct information about what band I have.

Jachut - I got that information from CORE - Center for Obesity Research & Education in Australia. When I found out the information about my band it had an expiration date of June 30, 2009. My (former) doctor took over a practice of a retiring bariatric surgeon and it is my belief that the practice came with bands on hand and he wanted to use them up before they expired (expiration date, I think, meaning the guaranteed sterility date) - otherwise it doesn't make sense using a band that is not used much anymore having been replaced by the AP Standard bands - which have a different interior tubing. I would love to have the experience with my band that you have had with yours and hope to achieve that with my new doctor. My appt. with him is on May 4th for an upper GI to see if the problems have resolved. Thanks for your input.

Update on the 4cc band: I just did some research and found out that this band should be filled in small increments usually less than 0.5cc and as little as 0.2cc can make a difference in effect. The average volume to achieve the sweet spot is 2.3cc. My (former) doctor put in 2cc with the first fill and 1cc with the second fill (total 3cc) and then blamed me when I had all those problems of reflux, heartburn and pain. Could he possibly have convinced himself that I had the 10 cc band? All the more reason to leave him for a doctor who knows what he is doing.

From my own personal experience, and those who have been following my lapband drama on these boards know, I will tell you what I expect from a surgeon. First, he should be a bariatric surgeon exclusively. Not a general surgeon who does bandings & fills and bypasses almost on the side. Second, he should be experienced. Third, he should be knowledgable about the complexities of obesity. One size does not fit all. Fourth, he should be willing to listen to your questions and if he doesn't know the answers, say so and then find out. Fifth, he should stay current by attending bariatric conferences and symposiums and bring that knowledge back to his practice. Sixth, he (or designate) should be accessible after hours for those problems and concerns that can't wait until normal business hours. For many of these reasons, I just changed doctors this week. So, sometimes, it isn't the patient, it is the surgeon. Now, as to how the band is promoted. It is promoted as allowing you to only eat a small amount of food that will satisfy you for several hours. Healthy foods, of course. Nowhere does it say the band should cause pain, heartburn, reflux, hiatal hernias. I know that's not what I signed up for. For those who reach their sweet spot without suffering any of these problems - great. They are among the lucky ones. But read these boards, for many, many bandsters - it is not working this way, despite their best efforts.

Lisa, I hear your frustration and while I agree that most doctors wait until 6-8 weeks to do a fill - most don't do a good job of telling patients what to expect during that time. And it is not up to the patient to be knowledgable enough at this point to ask the right questions. Is your surgeon a general surgeon who does bariatric surgery also? That's what mine is/was. I just switched surgeons this week to one in a top ranked hospital of excellence. My new surgeon only does bariatric surgery. My former surgeon only met with bariatric patients on Tuesday afternoons and I had two appts. canceled due to emergencies (that I presume where his general surgeon patients). When I met with him 3 weeks post op (no fill) he wanted me to lose 10-15 pound within the next 3 weeks (by the next appt). How about that for "not getting it?" He was all about the number on the scale. What I have found is that with me, I still have to rely heavily on willpower to avoid overeating. I had many problems with my last fill (had to have that amount unfilled) and that, along with other factors, caused me to get a second opinion and eventually change doctors. If your doctor is not a full time bariatric surgeon, that might be a problem for you. You can private message me if you want more information about my lapband journey (I was banded 9/08) because much of my experience sounds like what you are going through with your doctor. Good luck.

Just banded - good luck on your "trying to get pregnant" journey. I just hope you don't get morning sickness and have to add your Linda Blair exorcist picture again. LOL. I still laugh about that and your evil carrots. I'll bet you never ate them again. Anyway, I think getting a total unfill is the right thing to do. And you might be surprised at how little you can eat. Plus you know the right foods to eat now, anyway. Even if you do eat a little more, you will be eating healthy because you know how and healthy eating is good for the baby. Again, good luck.

prurep: I assume you are totally unfilled. If that is the case and you are still having all the problems then your band will probably have to come out or at the very least replaced later if you still want to go that way. Maybe they could go in laprascopically to see what is going on. Good luck in any case. I just changed doctors because mine was/is inexperienced and I developed some problems that he did not address to my satisfaction, among other things. Maybe you need a new set of eyes to look at all your tests. Just a thought.