Klisa

I ended up seeing Dr Feiz on 10/18...I was curious to see if I would get to meet with him since I knew he had surgery that day and Larry was in the office. Larry usually does my fills. I was pleasantly surprised. Not only did Dr Feiz attend to me, but he spend about 40 mins or so with me, going over my concerns with the band, what to expect in the future, etc. He did tell me that although I have not reached a point where he thinks there is anything wrong with my band, he would bank the info I provided and keep watch for something wrong. It was simply too soon to tell, I suppose. In any case, I had my 4th fill that day and I am pleased to say that I do finally have SOME restriction. I haven't found my sweet spot yet, but I am having to eat slower and in turn am eating less, so that is by far a step in the right direction. Dr Feiz told me that if ever I have any questions/concerns, I can email him directly at drfeiz@drfeiz.com or post to the bulletin board here since he frequently checks both for feedback from patients. I was impressed by his quick response and his attentiveness once he knew that I had concerns. Looking forward to the future.

Hi Dr Feiz, I just spoke with Susy and she said that she did have me down for today at noon in TO, so there must have just been some confusion when Lupe checked the schedule yesterday. I let Susy know that you indicated you would prefer to see me personally on Monday so we switched my appt to Monday, 10/18, at 12:30 in TO. I can very much appreciate that you monitor this site and address any concerns that patients have. That's good for both you and your patients. I feel better & folks following up on this post will see that you address issues quickly and personally, which I suspect is rather unusual for a surgeon. I will see you on Monday.

Thank you for your reply, Dr Feiz. I'm glad to hear that you normally do notify patients when there is a last minute switch in surgeons. I was very surprised to have seen Misra's name on my wrist band that morning. Thankfully I found her to be warm & compassionate and hard to not adore, but I felt uneasy about selecting one surgeon and ending up with another...I was half way kicking myself for accepting the unexpected switch just because I 'liked' the physician. If one selected a plastic surgeon because they liked the work that they had seen and liked what they had found after researching a doctor, it would alarm them to realize that they were going to be going under the knife of someone who they did not select...that's what stayed in the back of my mind... I do understand that there are last minute emergencies or surgeries that complicate schedules. I don't suspect this has been the case with each of my appts though. The last time around I had been told one time and then when I rec'd the confirmation call I was quoted a different time as though that had been what I was originally scheduled for. It worked out OK, but I had to scramble a bit to make the switch. When I called today (because I had a feeling there would be an issue) it sounded like my TO appt had not been scheduled at all and that they were trying to schedule me in Oxnard. There just seems to be a lot of confusion or miscommunication. When I spoke with Lupe today she did seem a little hesitant, so perhaps the schedule just looked weird and I AM scheduled for something in TO tomorrow...I don't know. I will call Susy tomorrow to discuss and reschedule for Monday if needed. If I am not able to get the Monday appt for some reason then I will contact you to make a more concrete arrangement. I've been doing a little research this evening on the Realize Band vs the Lap Band and what you have said is what I am finding, so either way the end result should be the same...I must just be one of those people who needs a number of fills to feel any real difference.

The more I look, the more I see people in my boat...little or no restriction...and then I see the occasional response that it will happen...that sometimes it just takes 4-5 fills...I've had 3 since my surgery 7/30 and was supposed to have my 4th tomorrow (postponed due to another scheduling problem with the doc's office). I hope the 4th one does a lot more for me...

I'm losing slowly so far too. I've had 3 fills and don't really feel any restriction. I am PRAYING that I'm just one of those folks who starts to 'feel it' on the 4th or 5th...I had my surgery on 7/30 and so far I've lost about 10-12 lbs (depending on the day). If I had NOT had the lap band I would be fairly happy with that progress since loss has always been tough for me (as for most of us otherwise we wouldn't be here!), but I'm disappointed with my progress so far considering I have this cool new tool that is supposed to be helping me. I keep wondering if mine is broken. I wonder how many people feel this way...percentage wise, I mean...

I'm starting to very much question my selecting Dr Feiz....I've had a few things happen... 1) I selected Dr Feiz as my surgeon based on a recommendation I had from an in-law...When I set up a consult to meet the physician, I ended up meeting his assistant, Larry, instead. I wasn't told that my consult wouldn't be with the surgeon and had thought I made it clear that my intent was to meet him. I thought Larry was very informative and liked him well enough, so I let it go. 2) On the day of the surgery I looked down at my wrist band and saw that it said 'Misra' instead of 'Feiz'. This surprised me since I had selected Feiz as my surgeon and my approval was for him. When I questioned it, the staff disappeared for a bit and then came back to tell me that something was wrong with Dr Feiz' hands that day so Misra was handling the surgeries. I had met Misra when she did my upper GI and liked her a lot, so I again let it go. 3) I've had 3 adjustments now and really still have no restriction. I can eat/drink pretty much anything and don't ever really get 'full'. I'm making a conscious effort to not eat as much, but I'm expecting the lap band to give me certain 'discomfort signals' if I start to overeat. Doesn't seem to be happening. I have read that sometimes it takes 4-5 fills, so maybe that's the case for me...I hope...but I'm starting to seriously wonder if something is wrong and my port is leaking or something. My surgery was 7/30 and as of 10/13 I've only lost about 10 lbs. 4) During 2 of my 3 fills, the persons doing them referenced the REALIZE band...I corrected them and said that I have the lap band...I'm starting to wonder if I actually ended up with the REALIZE band instead...It just seems odd that two different people (Larry & Feiz) would tell me I have the REALIZE band after doing the fill and then correct themselves once I said something. 5) EVERY time I make an appt for the Thousand Oaks office, I receive a call a few days later asking me to change the time, day or location. I had an appt for Monday, 10/11 and rec'd a call from Suzy on Fri, 10/8, asking if I could go to Oxnard or Pasadena. I said that I needed TO, so then she scheduled me for tomorrow (Thu, 10/14) at noon. I had a feeling that something would be amiss, so a bit ago I called to confirm and was told by Lupe that they had tried to schedule me for Oxnard at 10:00...so a different time AND a different location then I was told. I'm really frusterated at this point and wasn't all that friendly when I explained that I need to use the TO office and that every time I tried to make an appt, something gets screwed up. I asked her when someone would be in the TO office and she told me to call back and talk to Suzy. So that's been my experience so far. Mind you, all of the staff is very friendly, but I'm becoming less and less impressed with my decision to go with Feiz as time goes on...I'm HOPING that this is just taking time and that my restriction/loss starts to kick in soon and that I have no more problems with the office, but I'm not super optimistic.

I still have hardly any restriction. My husband thinks I've grown a stomach bypass! Right after my 3rd fill in Sep, I felt like I had some maybe at first, but it's completely gone now...And my doctor's office is starting to make me wonder.... Twice when I have been in for fills, the person doing the fill has referenced the realize band, but then when I say I have the lap band, they do a double take and backpeddle and say, 'Oh, yesh, you do have the lap band'...When I had my actual surgery, I selected Dr Feiz, but when I went in, Dr Misra actually did it. I found out Dr Feiz wasn't doing it when I looked down at my arm band and questioned why it said Misra...The staff disappeared for a bit and then came back and said Feiz had a problem with his hands that day...Now every time I schedule a fill, I end up with a call back asking if I can reschedule for a different day or maybe go to a different location... I'm starting to get ticked. And starting to question my surgery...Did they put the wrong band in me? Did the surgeon I ended up with have as much expertise as the one I chose? Do I have a leak in my band or something? I don't know if a person can switch their doc and have it covered under their insurance...I'll have to call my case worker. I'm just really losing faith in the doc I picked.

I feel so much better knowing that I'm not a freak who the process is not working for...I didn't realize it would take so many fills to hit that sweet spot. I do notice that if I eat a little too fast or don't chew a bite quite enough I get the lump in the belly. It goes away within a couple of minutes...I've been complaining about not feeling restriction, however I'm paying more attn and I am actually eating slower and eating less than before...For example I used to eat a large sub sandwich...Now I eat about 3/4's of a small. I have to have a snack or two during the day too, which is new to me...I was NEVER a snacker (though I know it's good to each a couple of healthy snacks), but I guess now that I eat a little less, my stomach empties quicker and once it's empty I am stomach twisting ravenous...but a small snack does me for a while... So, I am actually modifying my habits here and there without really even doing so on purpose. I haven't felt at all deprived or like I'm on a 'diet', so my mental state is 'content'. :thumbup: