Debb

Hi folks Roe I'm delighted to hear you're doing so well, onwards and upwards now, at least you have things fixed at last. I'm not doing so well since last we talked, I'm fed up with the lack of restriction. Tomorrow is my one year anniversary since my op and I only have 2.5mls in my band - I've lost a bit of weight but nowhere near where I envisaged I would be this time a year ago - although I am €10k lighter, I suppose!! Good luck to all you new bandsters, at least you will get the all important aftercare needed. I was a bit concerned to hear that some people were getting fills of up to 3ml at a time. I know this sounds fantastic and like it will make the weightloss much quicker but just a word of caution, I've spoken to a few people who were overfilled, and in my experience it can take a couple of days for the restriction to kick in. If you're overfilled and the docs have flown back to Belgium or wherever you've no way of getting a defill and that can be so dangerous. I spoke to someone who could not get a defill here and had to fly to Paris (she had been filled by the Belgiun nurses here in Dublin) and Jerome very kindly defilled her. Hi Lil, I saw a post from you saying you had some info re fills in Dublin? Can you PM me with some details please, that would be great. Take care everyone Debb xx

Thanks for that, do you have any details for these people please? I also read back through a few posts and found the info re wls group (thanks also for that) so I will give them a go too. Really need a fill soon! Have a good weekend everyone.

Hi everyone I am posting on here for the first time since just after I had my op in Oct 07 with the notorius ACS. I have been so depressed and having so many mixed emotions about this whole procedure, that I haven't felt able to even participate. Iniatially Coco responded to my first couple of posts and gave me some great tips (thank you, and all of your posts are inspiring), I have been logging in every now and again over the months and reading how you are all doing but just feeling I had nothing to contribute as I felt so deflated. When I was operated on (Saturday, 13th Ooctober 07), the following Monday the news broke about the incident with Jerome 's patient. I didn't buy into it all as I knew that poor woman did not die as a result of the band procedure. However, ACS proved to be less than satisfactory in my dealings with them. I had two appointments in Fitzwilliam where I saw the nurse Lou, who gave me no fill but two lovely, what can only be described as lectures, on how to eat healthily - I felt like I was at WeightWatchers again for the umpteenth time! (except that costs €10 a week as opposed to €10k!) Then I saw Jan, my surgeon, who gave me 1 ml, and he had difficulty getting the needle into my port. Then came all the too-ing and fro-ing with ACS, the letter to say ACS Europe had taken over as ACS had gone into liquidation but don't worry, they were taking over our aftercare - yaay. I had an appointment in May in the new premises in Pembroke St with Chris de Bruyne's bariatric nurse. He had trouble getting the fill in (another 1 ml - wihoo - €10,000 lighter, 7 months later, and still only 2mls in my band) and said that my port had flipped, he had to manipulate it which involved lots of pressing down to get it to flip back around so he could get the fill in - not pleasant. Then - lo and behold - ACS Europe were no more and The Hospital Group had taken over. Okay, I'd researched them previously, and had considered going to London to Harley St for a consult with them before I decided to go with ACS as I liked the idea of them being on home turf, in case you needed them fast...... ha ha. And then began the humming and haawing about the registration of their surgeons to practice in Ireland. A Belfast appointment was offered -midweek, of course, so I figured I would hold off, surely it couldn't take too long for the registration process, and I don't have much annual leave to play around with spending a day up and down to the north... They said they did not do Saturday appointments, and yet I subsequently found out the last one was on a Saturday. I rang them two weeks ago to find out what the eff was going on - Lydia had left a couple of days before and I was talking to the lovely Kim (not) who informed me that The Hospital Group would do a review and give a fill, if necessary and then subsequently I would pay €150 per fill after that - still no info on when they would be up and running in Dublin. I expressed my concern as I had been informed by both Lydia and Leanne that The Hospital Group would take on the aftercare and that mine would be extended by a few months due to the upheaval just after my surgery... I knew this was not worth anything as they would not/did not put it in writing. Now we are all left high and dry. I have researched a couple of places, Chris De Bruyne is apparantly away on holiday til 1st Sept so will await contact from him, rang the crowd Obesity Solutions who are based in London and have a monthly clinic on Dame St. I thought the Polish surgeon Jan was working with them, but evidently not... they charge €210 for first consultation and €150 per fill after that, but I was less than impressed when I rang their London number. The person who answered the phone... Me: ring, ring - Her: Yes? !!! Not the way I would expect someone in a professional organisation to answer!! I contacted the Beacon and although they don't normally do aftercare if you've had surgery elsewhere they will for ACS patients - aaaaww, bless, a warm fuzzy glow began to envelope me... until finding out that the initial consultation is €400 and the fills after that €300 a pop...!!! I am now looking into the feasability of approaching the liquidators for ACS... even if we got some of our money back it would pay for what we'll have to shell out for continued aftercare... but I won't hold my breath. The bit that gets to me really is that ACS went to the wall in light of all the adverse publicity, people stopped going to them for all the other procedures as well due to the media-frenzy witch-hunt... at the end of the day the results of the post-mortem were that the woman died of natural causes. And where are the media now, when we've all been left high and dry. It really does leave a sour taste.... how I long for pb and slime instead, but as I have no restriction at the moment, not likely :-) I have a €10,000 band thats not working and it will probaly cost another few €k to get it back in action. In the words of the Sex Pistols: "Ever feel like you've been cheated" (I'm an old punk at heart!) Anyway, I just wanted to say a belated thanks to all of you, I've been popping in every few months just to read how yis are doing but just felt too pissed off and negative to contribute. Will keep you all posted if there's any progress, but right now it feels like everything's come to a grinding halt. Have a good weekend y'all xx

<p><p>Hi everyone</p> <p> </p> <p>Well its 3 weeks today since I had my op. Have had a few ups and downs, and it really took a lot more out of me than I expected. For starters I was off work for 2 weeks instead of the one week I'd planned. Mainly due to the fact that when I went back to get the stitches out a week post-op, 2 of the 5 wounds weren't really healing too well. I'm still bandaged on 2 of the wounds but I'm getting there slowly. </p> <p> </p> <p>BettyBoop, I think the probs you had with your wounds are terrible - I can relate. I personally think that they shouldn't have taken the stitches out of the 2 that weren't healing properly, should have left them another few days to see if they healed a bit more. However, I think the main problem at Owenstown is that they seem to use a lot of agency nurses, and maybe that means that a lot of the time they aren't fully tuned into whats what. Luckily, on my third visit to have my wounds dressed (yes, I've been back 5 times so far and back again tomorrow!) I met this Filipino nurse Rudy, and I have just arranged to go back when he's on shift so I don't see lots of different nurses. He's really great and I really feel the healing has progressed a lot since he took over my dressings. 2 of my wounds were gaping - yeeeeuw, was totally freaked out and not able to even look at them, I'm such a scaredy-cat when it comes to anything like that!! </p> <p> </p> <p>Penny2, Best of luck with your plans, you've a few months to really get your head around it. I had my consult in August and didn't get banded til October cos I knew I was going on hols in between, but I'm glad I had all that time to plan, and I found this site so helpful.</p> <p></p> <p> </p> <p>Went back to work last week but could only manage 3 days, am totally wiped out and I think its cos my body is putting all my energy into healing these last 2 wounds. Feeling much improved now. On the plus side, I've lost just over a stone, tho I don't feel all THAT restricted!</p> <p> </p> <p>Re. the whole Jerome thing, I think its disgraceful the way the media have gone on a witch hunt... The issue is that the RCSI are saying that surgeons are flying in for a couple of days and therefore not available to provide adequate aftercare. At least ACS have made the op available in Ireland. Think about all the people who have flown to England or Belgium for their ops and the zero aftercare that would be available to those people? When the item was on the RTE news, they had the bloke from St Colmcilles in Loughlinstown on spouting off about it - Coco, I think you said you waited 3 YEARS just to get an appointment for that place?! Then they had Mary Harney urging people not to undergo 'unecessary surgery'....!!! As long as the HSE fail to recognise that medical interventions like the band are a proactive way to deal with rising rates of obesity in this country we're doomed! It looks like they may try to make an example of ACS. I hope they can continue to provide this surgery. No, its not ideal that it takes place in a plastic surgery clinic, cos its not a cosmetic procedure, its gastric surgery. And when Halina Ashdown-Shiels was bringing the op to Ireland she approached various hospitals to try and get the go-ahead to use their facilities (post-op intensive care etc), to no avail. Its terrible for that poor woman and her family that she died, but had she needed to go under a GA for any other reason whilst not knowing she had cancer, who knows that the outcome would not have been the same? She didn't have the op, as Coco says, she was opened up and then closed again. SHocking that the knives are out for Jerome, he is a leading surgeon in his field. Hope it all works out and that they continue to provide this procedure. Anyway, enough ranting from me, must go to bed.</p> <p> </p> <p>Hope yis are all well and feeling positive and motivated!</p> <p> </p> <p>Take care</p> <p> </p> <p>Debb</p> <p>xx</p></p>

Hi there everyone Today is the first day I've felt a bit more like myself, managed to have a decent sleep last night which has obviously helped! I really am so surprised that this op has taken so much out of me, I didn't expect to feel this wiped out - just as well I'm off work for the week, how can anyone go straight back to work after having this done?! Coco, hope you're well, stop beating yourself up about the eating, like you said, if you'd excellent willpower you wouldn't have been banded - I hear that!! Allure, it was good to read your posts, sounds like you've had a bit of a battle with the band. Still, look at what you've achieved in spite of it. Scrambled egg for me today - yum! I was so fed up just with the lack of texture of the yogurts and soup of the past few days. Can't wait to get these stitches out on Sunday and then back to work on Monday... well, not really too enthused about going back to work on Monday, but will be nice to get back to a normal daily routine, the daytime tv is doing my head in! Keep strong Debb

Heya folks Well, I was banded on Saturday and I lived to tell the tale! Thanks for everyone's support, and it was good to read everyone's experiences. I actually feel like I've been kicked by a horse (tho I don't know what that actually feels like, I'm guessing a bit like this!). Didn't suffer too badly with gas after the op. But I'm finding it hard to sleep cos I usually sleep on my side. Anyway, its highly amusing to find that I have absolutely no appetite and am feeling full so that I can't finish a whole Actimel and half a cup of soup does me! I know this is due to post-op swelling and that my capacity for food will increase as the swelling goes down, but its a weird feeling not to be craving food! Coco, sounds like a bit of a shock that you got a complete defill. Did Jan do it? Funny, I was probably knocked out following my 7.30am op while you were there at Owenstown House having that done! Hope it all goes ok for you. I met someone on the ward who was there having her band removed after 10 months as she had suffered from acid reflux constantly since being banded and had only managed to lose 2 and a half stone. She felt she couldn't continue on in so much constant discomfort with the band. A bit gutting after shelling out all that cash, but she was very positive about it and felt glad that she'd given it a go. Fair play to her, don't know if I'd have been so fine about it. Anyway, I'm feeling pretty wrecked so will sign off now, talk soon. Deb xx

Thanks for the words of encouragement folks! Just off to me leaba in a bit at 11pm as I've to be up at 5.30am.... though I probably won't sleep a wink. And I'm suddenly parched - just cos I know I can't drink anything!! Will talk to yis all soon xx

Heya Coco Thanks for the advice re the yogurts, custard etc. I'm kinda having a bit of a meltdown at the moment as its 'only two more sleeps' til the op!!! And I've been reading lots of the problems people have been having with not feeling restricted enough so I s'pose I'm a bit nervous - what if I pay out all that money and still end up having to almost follow WW points in order to maintain a weight loss??!! Anyway, I rang ACS so am waiting for Debbie to get back to me tomorrow cos I just want to put all my concerns out there... the whole point of the op is so that you can't eat unlimited amounts of food and that you feel full on less so if that isn't happening on a regular basis for a lot of people I'm a bit concerned. Hope you're feeling better and that your heartburn has eased up? That sounds awful for you. Talk soon xx

Hi there, I haven't checked in with the site for a while so I didn't realise people were meeting up, pity, that would have been interesting. I am gutted that Jerome is gone. I didn't find the new doctor at all friendly, in fact I thought he was in a bit of a rush, as I was having a second consultation, having seen Jerome before I went on holiday back in August. I guess its no big deal - after all, he's not gonna be my mate, just my surgeon! But I just felt that Jerome was much more personable... ah well, hope he's okay. I am due to be banded next week, Saturday 13th October. Gulp! Apprehensive but also looking forward to the changes it will bring... Anyone else getting banded on that day? Hopefully I will make it along when next you all meet up!

<p><p>Well I had the consultation yesterday and thought Dr Manuceau was really sound, and didn't try and sell it to me as a miracle solution, which I thought was good. Hi to Penny2 - I did the research about 2 years ago and then decided against it, at the time you couldn't have it done here and I thought the whole thing would be traumatic enough without having to travel back and forth to London or Belgium. However, I've been in constant pain with my lower back for the past six months, finding it difficult to even walk for any long period of time. So I've decided now is the time to go for it! You asked about the fills - they're done as part of the one year aftercare. When the band is fitted it is unfilled until you heal, usually about 4-5 weeks, and that provides enough restriction. Then it is filled with saline solution which tightens the band and reduces the entrace to the stomach so only smaller amounts of food can pass through. These adjustments need to be done a few times as you lose the weight and the fat content of the stomach wall decreases so that you retain that restriction on the amount you can eat. Hope that helps! Didn't think they did it anywhere else in the country apart from ACS in Dublin? I've checked out Dr Manuceau, and he has a good reputation. My sister-in-law works in James' hospital in Dublin and he regularly performs other gastric surgeries there. He is not a plastic surgeon, he is a gastric surgeon, so I think thats more reassuring than someone who does other 'cosmetic' type surgeries as well! Am gonna go for it, though not until October. I'm off on my hols for two weeks on the 30th August to Boston and New York so that will be my last hurrah, when I come back I'll do 3 weeks pre-op diet modification to help reduce liver prior to the op and hopefully get the band done mid-October. I'm really looking forward to it. Good luck with making your decision about it!</p></p>

<p><p>Hi folks</p> <p>Just figuring out how to use the site so bear with me! Am having a consultation at ACS on Saturday with Dr Manuceau. Bit concerned to hear some people's experiences of not feeling as restricted as they'd thought. Its a whole lot of cash for it not to feel like its working isn't it? Anyway, I think this is it for me, have done all the diets in the world and can't exercise easily anymore cos of the pain in my back. Hope this works! Am scared but also determined. Not telling too many people cos some of the reactions I've got are unsupportive to say the least!</p></p>

Hi Loriha and Nikki, was just reading your posts. I have an appointment for a consultation with ACS with Dr Manuceau next Saturday 11th August. I've done a lot of research and was originally thinking about travelling to London or Belguim to have it done, didn't realise they did the banding in Dublin. Am scared but also looking forward to getting some control back. How are you both doing now? Was it very painful/uncomfortable?