libra8302

Hi all, In a nutshell, I'm so discouraged by my band... Let's begin by saying that I was banded on 5/4/12 initially. My preop diet went great...I lost 14 pounds in those 2 weeks doing the Optifast diet per my surgeon. Postop was also fine...no initial complications except that I've never felt the "restriction" like my doc says I should. My doctor wants all his patients to only be able to eat 3-4 ounces per meal. Understandable, assuming my band would actually work. I've lost count of the fills I've had...I think I'm up to about 5 since my surgery. With each fill, I only feel restriction for the first 72 hours at best...after that, nothing. Needless to say, I am so frustrated. An the real kicker is that on 10/12/12, I had to have a revision done because my port flipped, but according to my doc, my band was fine. The most weight I've lost was 51 pounds...now I'm at 43 pounds. I've got 108 pounds to goal weight and I feel like I'll never get there because I'm just yo-yoing right now. Has anyone else felt this way? If so, what did you do? I want to get my records and go elsewhere for a second opinion. In my case, I selected a doctor that is 50 miles from my house because I thought he was the best one for me...but his idea of coming in every 3 weeks for more "fills" that cost me a $25 copay and $20 in gas each time is not fesible. In addition, I just started working nights as a Nurse Tech...since doing so, I seem to be holding on to more weight even though I'm being run ragged. Since I've already had one issue with my band and feel like it's leaking, I want to revise to the sleeve, but I am so hesitant that it would even work. Any feedback on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks all!

Thanks so much everyone for such the positive encouragement! It was such a breath of fresh air to wake up to all your posts this morning. I plan on going back the week of Thanksgiving for another fill, so I will be talking to my doc then. I'll keep everyone posted to what he says.