Gosh, glad to see somebosy else is wondering the same thing as me. I despise my BAND! Its been a nightmare! Mine has nothing to do with not loosing weight- it has everything to do with being UNABLE to swallow food, eat majority(varieties) of any foods, going between 3-4 days to eat, and when I do eat, its crap food--only foods that I can easily swallow like gravy, Ice cream, yogurt, teas get STUCK......veggies or fruits-I dont even attempt any longer to eat those foods.....I am so DESPERATE, I too wonder how much it would be to get band removed being a self payee!