SlicedBread

Thanks for the answers, but people made A LOT of assumptions regarding what our question is really about. And no, you can't tell from my previous posts. Yes, we liked many things about Dr Feng but not all. In our opinion, what we thought appeared to be Dr Cirangle's arrogant and abusive attitude was beyond unacceptable. All of the responses so far have jumped, with great self-righteous certainty, to A LOT of false conclusions. We find that really unhelpful, mainly because it takes the thread down a road that has NOTHING to do with our question. It's very wasteful. Everyone gets agitated, and our real question goes unanswered. Our question is - We are looking for a surgeon who will patiently and sympathetically discuss facts, the pluses and minuses of our ALL our options, all without judgment, arrogance, or (very important) a blind spot to the emotional component of the lap-band journey. If someone can contribute their experience with such a doctor, thank you, we appreciate it and would love to hear of it.

Hi everyone, I'm writing tonight because we have reached a crisis point in our lap band journey and are in great need of people's advice and experience. We don't want to get into details because we don't want to distract from our main question: given our situation, who would you recommend to help us? We need to find a local Bay Area surgeon who has a very sympathetic and informative bedside manner, and who understands eating disordered behavior in a non-judgmental and supportive way. Both sensitivity and expertise are key. We have been to Crystal Springs in the Peninsula, and to Laparoscopic Associates in SF. Both were unsatisfactory experiences for us, for different reasons. And so, we come here for suggestions. Given the kind of sensitive, patient and knowledgeable surgeon we seek near the Bay Area, who would you guys recommend?

Thanks for the good wishes. You'll only get bashed a little by me. You weren't the bad guy as much as the clueless guy. You didn't read the question. As I clearly stated and implied in my question, we *already* had intimately, deeply painful personal knowledge of every single thing you said. Our question was not about her shrink or about her nutritionist or what a bad person she is or how unready she was. If she had read your message, all it would have done would have been to make her feel... say it with me, everybody ... ashamed. Yes, ashamed because she's not working the band. And she SHOULD be ashamed because, as well ALLLLL know, overeating is simply about will power. Right? Why don't fat people just eat less? And this shame and sense of personal failure leads to ... anyone? anyone?... Thaaaaat's riiiiiight, emotional overeating. Thanks a lot. Really astute reaction you had there with your sage post. If you really think it's about, (quoting your self-satisfied comment), "structure and discipline", you may be far less informed about the emotional component of this condition than you seem superbly proud to think. You say you've coached people with their bands? You've spoken to groups? I shudder to think how many people went home after you "helped" them and felt bad enough about themselves, compared to your gloriously disciplined self, to binge. Our situation may have touched a nerve for you, which may be why you responded as you did. If your issues are so close to the surface that you lash out at somebody else who reminds you of them, you may be more dangerous than helpful to others who are struggling. I ask you to think twice before you speak to other band patients. Maybe thrice. I still hope to get help from the group, so I will redirect attention to our *actual* question. Namely: We admit we're having trouble and that she wasn't really ready. We're trying to make the best of it now. Assume she eats exactly the same after a fill as she does now, i.e. not really working the band. If she gets the fill, will she still feel fuller longer or be prevented from overeating as much, because the tighter restriction does some work? Even when she eats something other than Protein? Even when she's not working the band, at that meal? Will there still be *some* appreciable benefit? Has anyone struggled with our same situation? Sorry about the back-and-forth, everyone. Any helpful comments deeply appreciated.

I know this sounds like a silly question, but please bear with us. My girlfriend, who doesn't like computers, has asked me to post this question on her behalf. She has only had one adjustment, and it seems to be doing a little for her, but only a very little, in terms of keeping her full longer *when she eats per the prescribed procedure*, i.e. Proteins first, no liquids, etc. Here's the problem. She fully and freely acknowledges that she is absolutely not "working the band", i.e. she's not sticking to the diet. She's eating the unadvisable foods, she's eating "too much" of them, she's having liquids with her meals, and so on. Now, we *know* this is not the advised course of action, so please no judgmental or shaming comments. But here's the question. She wonders if she should get an adjustment anyway. The theory being that, even if she eats non-protein items like a salad, it will still help her a good bit, rather than the little bit of help she's getting now. Is it true that you're fuller longer almost regardless of what you eat (excepting ice cream and the like) because there's less room for whatever you take in?

She's in the UK. The doctors there are kind of not motivated to care, like in our motor vehicle department.

Hi everyone, my girlfriend just went through the surgery. She's in a country where the medical providers are uncaring and unhelpful. We've been trying to find out if she needs to go to the ER, or if this is normal and she just needs better pain meds. However, we get the "uninformative answer runaround" where they pretty much just hang up on her. I'm depending on you guys to tell me if this sounds typical or not. A visit to the ER might be prohibitive for us. The most worrisome symptom is great, torturing pain that just isn't getting any better 8 days after the surgery. It's constant and horrible. Her symptoms are: - Pain slevel from 6 to 8 (10 being the worst ever) - Sharp pains from belly to shoulder - No bowel movements for seven days - Taking a bit of laxative but no help - Difficulty breathing because it hurts to breathe - Taking Tramadol (sp?) but it only helps for 5 to 10 minutes - Cold sweat from the pain She takes long walks around the house until she can't go any more, and that helps her to burp but the pain is still there overall. Thanks in advance for any help, advice, tips, and rumors from anybody.