squirrelcorn

Yes, to some degree I do regret mine. If I could do it over again I would have a mini gastric bypass instead. I've had my band one year. I lost 55 pounds in the first 3 months and have since gained 25 pounds back. I can only tell you from my experience...I always had trouble sticking with a certain way of eating. I still do. The band has not changed that one bit except that I can't eat certain breads and sometimes healthy Proteins such as chicken. I can't eat Breakfast but have no problem wolfing down a large supper. I also had a sweet tooth. I still have it and have no trouble whatsoever eating sweets. No, I shouldn't eat them. I know that. But if I could have controlled it to start with I wouldn't have needed the band. I'm happy for those who aren't having any problems with their band. Maybe one day I'll get to that "honeymoon phase" again and will be able to start working with mine again.

Fills do not have to hurt. The numbing medication does sting a little but it's really not bad. I have learned the hard way that the excuses the doctors and staff make are just that. Excuses. If you're interested you can read my first post regarding the problems I had with fills. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f13/fill-advice-needed-63679/ I now am going to a different doctor and had my second fill today. The first time was with fluoro and today was "blind". Both times I was numbed extremely well and had no problems. The attitude of the doctor, and his or her staff, is huge in your progress with the band.

Hi from Knoxville! You have picked the best doc in town! I had my surgery at UT but I have begged and Dr. Boyce is going to take me as his patient. My primary doc recommended Dr. Boyce but I didn't listen. Should have though. Anyway, everything I've ever read or heard about him has been nothing but positive. Good luck with your surgery!

I have a question for you all about this. I've had two fills since my surgery. My surgeon has been unable to access my port both times and another surgeon in the office has had to do it. The first visit my doctor stuck me about a dozen or more times with no success. The second doctor was able to do it the first time. This last visit, Friday, my doctor again tried to do the fill and after two tries the other doctor took over. It took him two tries and he was able to do the fill. I had so much restriction that I could hardly drink Water and he decided we needed to take some out. Needless to say I wasn't very happy about it because I was hurting pretty badly by then. Not only do they stick me multiple times they also keep pressing on the area over and over and over. Well, he tried and tried and couldn't locate the port again. He must have stuck me about 8 times or more. So, I finally told him to quit. I couldn't take it anymore. Well, that ticked him off and he left the room and never came back. Okay, so here's the weird part. I now have no restriction. None! I gained two pounds over the weekend because I ate too much. It wasn't intentional. I didn't realize how much I had eaten until I logged it all in. I'm also angry because I'm tired of being treated like a human pincushion. Does anyone else feel this way or am I out of line? Seriously. My port area has never stopped hurting since surgery on March 12. The doctor even told me he felt a bump. I think that if they can't locate the port after 2 or 3 attempts they should stop and do it under fleuro. Am I being unreasonable? Seriously. Should I just lay there and let them stick me again and again and again and not complain? How likely is that to cause an infection? If they aren't getting the needle into the port, exactly where is it going? Could they stick the tube and cause the saline to leak out? I know I'm asking a lot of questions here. Thanks in advance for any and all replies!

I'm going to try and get some money back too but I'm not sure I'll be very successful. I didn't get a break down on how much the surgery and fills cost. So, I just paid a lump sum for the surgery and one year of fills. However, that is not going to prevent me from asking for money back. They are even making me pay $62 for my medical records!:ohmy: I had to pay it because I don't want them holding up anything right now. How did you do it? Did you have to get an attorney?

Yes, I am going to ask for some compensation. I probably won't get any but I'm going to ask anyway. I saw my primary doc last week and told him what happened. He was so upset he put everything I said in my chart. I think he may have called Dr. Boyce on my behalf but I don't know that for sure. By the way, my latest lab results were "text book perfect" as the good doctor said! :biggrin2: This is the first time in years that I've heard that! Have I told you guys yet how much I love my band?! :thumbup:

SanDiegoPhotog...thank you so much. Yes, it has been very difficult to say the least. Thanks Sharon. I will file a complaint after I get my hands on my medical records. They are charging me $62 to get them. I am so angry but I'm going to pay them. That will also be in my complaint. I'm also going to write a complaint to the medical director of the hospital. Hey Sharon, you and I had our surgery on the same day! That is so cool!

I got a call from Dr. Boyce's office on Thursday. He's going to take me as his patient!! Whoo hoo! Now my fills will be done by the best doc in town under fleuro. (Wonder how many ways I can mispell that word?) :drool: Anyway, I see him on August 1 and I am so excited about it! So, anyway I just wanted to share some good news with you guys and thank you all again for the support. I'm still so happy to have my band and I believe with Dr. Boyce as my doc I'll be even more successful.

Thanks everyone! I was thinking I probably should get a copy of my records. I'll do that for sure. Thanks again for the support!

I have been thinking hard about this all weekend. I was so depressed that I was unable to sleep for a couple of nights and didn't get my exercise in. But yesterday afternoon I got really angry so I may very well file a complaint. I refuse to let this get me down. I will find a doctor that will take care of me. Somehow, someway. Until then....CHARGE!!!

I live in Knoxville.

Just an update if anyone is interested. I was really sure things were going to get better but they haven't. I am not going back there again. I went in last week for a scheduled appointment and was met by the nut. We had about a half hour or so meeting in which I was told I wasn't eating enough. I have been following the guidelines they gave me (notebook) but was told I am doing it wrong. I'm drinking too many Protein shakes (I have one for Breakfast everyday) and that I need to eat more at each meal. So, after all that I was told the doctor had been called to the OR and wouldn't be meeting with me. Boy was I upset. I have to take off work and while my employer is really great about it, the time off really starts to add up. So, anyway I made another appointment for this past Thursday. I asked to be called if he wasn't going to be there. Well, he was there. He came in on the attack! First thing out of his mouth was "you've lost 11 pounds since your last fill. HOW DID YOU DO IT! Tell me what you eat everyday. I mean he was hateful! I couldn't get a word in because he wouldn't stop berating me. I wasn't eating enough, I wasn't eating correctly, I am drinking too many Protein drinks. I was absolutely mortified!:thumbup: Then he started on how many fills I've had. I've actually only had 3 fills but he said I've had five (like that really matters anyway). I told him he was wrong and he said no I'm not. I've done two fills on you. :confused2: He's only done one! He said it's right here, I can read my own writing! If I had had any sense at all I would have gotten up and left right then and there. Needless to say, he couldn't access my port. He kept trying to inject the scar tissue around the scar. He kept sticking and poking. It's really lovely when they leave the needle in and then move it around trying to find the port. But let me tell you, it really hurts when they think they've got it and just jab the needle in real hard and it isn't the port!:tt2: I had to make him stop several times. Finally I just told him to stop and forget it. He left the room and the PA had the nerve to say to me that "well if we've learned anything it's not to put the band in people with Fibro." What!?!:cool2: The doctor can't locate the port and now it's my fault because I have fibro? What I can't figure out is how all these egotistical, arrogant, uncaring people found each other in that office. I wish there was a way to know what to expect from a doctor before you have this procedure done. They had me totally fooled. I would never recommend anyone going to these people to have their surgery. The care we receive after the surgery is so critical to the success of the band. Yes, I have to do my part, and I have. But the staff and the doctor play a huge roll in how successful we'll be. I refuse to go back there now. So, I've paid over $20,000 out of my own pocket. I'm hungry and I need a fill. I need it done under fluro and the only doctor in town that does it won't take me. So, here I sit this morning angry and sad and with my belly hurting from the abuse I took on Thursday. I'm going to write a letter to the other doctor in town and plead my case and beg him to take me as a patient. If he doesn't I'm not sure what I'll do. I'm still glad I got the band though. I've lost 50 pounds and I feel so much better. But, if I can't get a fill doctor I don't know what I'll do. Thanks for listening and letting me get this off my chest.

I am so sorry you have gone through this too. I hope the doctor is going to do your repair for free? He should. I met with the director of the weight loss center and things worked out really well. He agreed that sticking me that many times is unacceptable. He asked if he could try to find the port and I said yes. But, that after two attempts I want them to quit. He gave it a whirl and what he found out is that my port is really "stiff". Some ports are really soft and it's very easy to know that they are on top of it. With mine, it is hard and so they weren't pushing the needle in hard enough because they think they are sticking the hard outer ring. Anyway, he's going to do my fills from here on out. I trust him and feel comfortable that he's going to put me first. He did say that when the other doctor walked out, he wasn't angry with me for telling him to stop. He was angry at himself for not being able to access the port. I told him they really need to think about the patient and what we're thinking in those situations. Anyway, we had a really good meeting and I feel certain that things are going to be better from here on.

Yes, I'll be honest with them. I hate confrontation though. I'm glad my husband is going with me. I live in TN. I'm sure it will be okay. I'm just nervous about the whole situation. You know?

Well, the docs office has scheduled a meeting with me in two weeks. I asked again about fluoro and this time was told that fluoro isn't used for fills. :wink2: I have printed a volume of info off the web that says it is. I also called the other doc in town and they use fluoro for every fill. My husband is going to go with me to this meeting. To tell you the truth, I'm kinda worried they might decide not to continue with me as their patient. I don't know what I'll do then. The other doctor won't take me. Prayers for this situation would be most appreciated!:biggrin: Thanks!

I did ask the PA why they couldn't just do it under Fluoro and she said something about the difficulty in scheduling the machine. I sent her an email this morning about this situation. I'm not going to go through this anymore. I am so over it. The area hurts just to have them pushing on it. One of the doctors said he could feel a lump in there (which is what hurts so bad!) but didn't say another thing about it.

Kathy, thank you for your reply. Mindy, I'm a very easy going person and it takes a lot to make me angry. Even in the office I was very apologetic like it was my fault or something. As I thought about it over the weekend I realized how stupid I was for apologizing. Good grief. It wasn't my fault they couldn't locate the port. So then I got mad and I've gotten angrier the more I've thought about it. However, since this is so new to me I started thinking I was being unreasonable. :confused_smile: I'm going to send an email to the PA and let her know what's going on. I was supposed to call her on Saturday but I was too angry to talk to anyone. I also wanted to see if anyone would call me but of course that didn't happen. :thumbs_up: Teena

Hey all! I'm a newbie here but I wanted to share with you something. I had my lap band placed on March 12, 2008. I never had any gas pain from the surgery. However, about a week after surgery I started to have terrible shoulder pain. Sometimes it was almost unbearable. On one of my visits to the doctor, the nut was reviewing my food journal. I mentioned to her about the shoulder pain and she was concerned. She kept reviewing my diary and asked me about my Protein drink which is the EAS 17 grams of protein. She went to the refrigerator and got one and asked me if it was the same kind I drink. I verified it was. Well, come to find out one of the ingredients in it is sorbitol! It is so far down on the ingredient list that I missed it! I can't tolerate sorbitol or any other "tol"! :cursing: So, now sorbitol causes my gas pain to be in my shoulder and not my tummy. Anyway, I just thought I'd share that in case others are having problems and can't figure out why. I'm not saying this is the cause just that it might be. :thumbs_down:

Lockportguy, Sorry I didn't check back sooner. I couldn't believe it when she pinpointed the sorbitol. I also have the same problem with malitose. At least now we both know what is causing the pain. I'm now using chocolate unjury mixed in 8 ounces of Carb Countdown chocolate milk and it's not too bad. I find it hard to mix it so I used one of those stick blenders. I don't have any pain with it at all!!:thumbup:

I had my surgery on March 12, 2008. Would I do it again? Yeh baby!!:thumbup:

Just wanted to say hello and to introduce myself. I have been lurking here for a couple of years now and finally decided to join. I was banded on March 12, 2008 at UT Hospital in Knoxville. Dr. Matthew Mancini is my doctor and he did a wonderful job!:thumbs_down: I have lost 32 pounds and two dress sizes since my surgery!:cursing: I have had a weight problem for most of my life and finally couldn't take it any longer. I was so miserable. I researched this surgery for years and my only regret is that I didn't do it sooner. I was a self pay and don't regret one red cent! So, anyway...howdy! :biggrin2:

Thanks everyone! :crying: