suf1987

I am so depressed. i have been the best patient and never once have complained -- i got banded April 29 2010 -- so i am coming up on a year (keep that in mind). I dont want to say my dr's name yet. But I weighed 224 at the band. and i was 192 last weigh in. Ive been 192 since last summer. i got down to 184 but i had some phentermine for a month and that really helped. but obviously i dont want to continue with those since i had a lap band for $13K which i paid out of pocket. Anyway--in january -- he wouldnt fill. said it's fine. i said i was hungry and the indication on the color chart was yellow, but he said he knew better. he said -- "dont become a fill-aholic." he has said this so many times. then february -- i lost bec of the phentermine. he said i was in the zone and didnt need a fill. i was still 30 lbs from goal. HE DIDNT EVEN LOOK AT THE BAND. he didnt exray or anything. fine i respected his decision. Now i went in last week and i had gained up to 192 -- he says NO FILL. again. i asked him why and he said the liquid i drank on the exray was going thru fine. but i am hungry i said. and can eat more than i should as if i have no band at all. i havent had a fill since December and i havent lost..." he says, "FINE OK, I WILL FILL YOU A LITTLE BIT" i lay down for the fill and as he has the needle in me i say "so how much are you going to put in?" he says, and i quote: "DONT TELL ME HOW TO PRACTICE MEDICINE!" as soon as the needle was out i told him i wont be back -- i dont care if i have two free fills before my year is up. I told him i have every right to know how much he is injecting into my body. that's not telling him how to practice medicine, it's being an informed patient and i wont tolerate this. i told him i have referred patients to him and now i will not. he immediately started groveling like a weirdo -- said he's in physical pain bec of a surgery -- to which i said "i dont care. dont come to work if you cant be civil to your patient who spent $13 thousand dollars" he said he's just had a bad day. said he put 3/10 of a ml. or whatever into my band. which is like nothing. i feel depressed and like i wasted my money. i will have to go to another dr and get fills and pay for it. i have to beg this guy to fill me. i have been a perfect patient. never hassling him. always on time to appts. always follow directions. then he has the nerve to not tell me what he's injecting? NO -- i hate this guy. i know the lap band is just a tool. but it's a tool that is supposed to restrict the amount of food i can fit in my stomach and i am supposed to get satiated with less food bec it takes longer to go thru to my big stomach -- sorry for the juvenile words. but you know what? aside from not being able to eat some foods bec they get stuck - i have no difference. i dont know how much my band is at now - i would guess 5.3 maybe but this guy makes me feel so helpless i can't stand it. i have NO SAY in my treatment. i UNDERSTAND he's the expert and i need to defer to his expertise BUT HE DOESNT EVEN LISTEN TO ME IN ORDER FOR HIM TO MAKE AN INFORMED DECISION. i tell him i am hungry i tell him i can eat more than a cup of food he sees that my pouch is not stretched out or misaligned and yet he refuses to fill me -- why? it's not bec he says i need to learn -- he says its bec the exray indicates the liquid is going thru like it's supposed to ISNT he supposed to take other factors into account? like my physical description? OBVIOUSLY something is wrong -- i havent lost since AUGUST!!!!! i have two fills left til i have to start paying $100 each -- do you think that's the real culprit here? i do i hate him

Hi -- are you still active in this group? I am thinking of switching to Dr. Balette bec my current doctor is so horrible. I have been 10 months post op and havent lost in 8 months and he has refused to fill me for 3! i dont know what to do i am at my whit's end. I had a year of free fills and am coming up on that year April 29 and then will switch. Do you happen to know what Dr. Balette would charge for a fill?

Yeah unfortunately - i thought i would be near goal by now. almost a year later. make me sad. I know there is a Dr. Wilkenfeld nearby. This current dr i see bad mouthed him -- maybe that should have been my first sign!

Again -- thank you so much for taking the time to post this. i am either 5.9 or 6 ccs and havent lost since june or july -- since the initial band placement really. I am looking in The Woodlands TX for an alternative to this guy. He seems to me to be scamming me until i have to pay out of pocket -- i had one year of "free" fills under the original $13K i paid him. Funny -- April 29 he said i have to start paying...and he hasn't filled me the last 3 times. I think i should get 12 free fills -- regardless of when they are. Just bec he doesnt think it's right to adjust me doesnt mean i am not due ...

thank you so much. I am so grateful for your reply. I have hope again. I saw a post i sent last july where i was 198 - 6 lbs since JULY!??? OMG i feel like i have been ripped off. 8 months and nothing has changed but a trickle of 6 lbs and i just dont get it. i am so bummed I have an iPhone app and i have been keeping track -- i am only 6 cc filled out of a 10 cc band. i have never been as hi as this i dont think. i would have to check my chart. I dont get accurate info from him. he tries to be very evasive. i dont like him smiling at me saying "dont worry about that" when i ask him how much i have in me -- well it's important bec i track it on my iPhone app and i need to know what is most effective. Anyway -- if anyone has any referrals to a good fill dr in the north houston conroe The Woodlands area i would appreciate it. thanks

I dont know if this is normal but after my lapband april 28 i lost 26 lbs within 3 weeks. THEN NOTHING. I had my second fill and told the dr i want that restriction feeling i had post op. He filled to a total of 5 or 6 i think. I was still getting hungry and really did not feel the restriction unless I ate something gooey (crab cakes) and it clogged my tube. Then a few days ago it started. All of a sudden i realized i was full. I would eat a few bites and get that feeling not like i was clogged and couldn't breath but like i was full up and then a little sound would emanate from tummy almost like a funnel was filled with pudding and a little is seeping thru and an air hole opens up? so i stopped eating and now its like that every time. i hope this is to be expected. i was really worrying that the lap band wasnt going to work on me. I didnt feel any different really between the 1st and 2nd fill. my dr is very conservative and wants me to let the band be a tool and i change behavior. i still want my money's worth! i paid 13K out of pocket. PLEASE if anyone knows if this sounds normal or familiar let me know. thanks

Thank you LeighaMason! How do you get the ticker on your sig line? i am going to go to the website you suggested. Thanks again!

i am very upset too!!!! and i feel like it's all my fault bec i am not exercising enough.

Kristina -- thank you so much for your reply. And everyone else. Seems like we are on the same schedule. I was april 28. ugh i am abt to go weigh but i am afraid it will not have moved again! i need to run but i am so tired. i had my bloodwork done thursday and they said i was anemic, low blood sugar, low Calcium and my thyroid had plummeted again. So they upped my thyroid med and i am sure that will help with my metabolism and exhaustion. When i did push the dr to fill tighter he said he goes by the recommendations of the lapband company. I am sure he's correct as i really feel it now. It's great. but i am afraid it will subside again. anyways, Kristina you have done great. I am only at 26 lbs since april 28. my husband is not supportive. he wont talk to me about it or comment on weight loss bec he did not agree that i should have this done but i knew this was the right move for me. i was always hungry and if there is a drug free way of turning me into having the appetite of a thin person, then i think it's a good thing. i just dreaded the thought of the rest of my life being on a diet or pills or wanting to get skinny...

HI i hope you check this still -- I am a patient of Dr Collier too. I would really like to compare notes with you. I am 2 months out -- April 28. and had two fills. he seems really good and very conservative. I stopped losing tho since May 14. 26 lbs. but nothing since. my 2nd fill was abt 2 weeks ago and all of a sudden i feel restriction. it feels good. i just worry so much i have wasted my money and its not going to work on me. any advice would be appreciated. you look so good and have done so well! i am abt the same as you proportionally -- 5'10" pre-op 224. july 2=198. goal is 160. should be 150 but i dont want to push it.

Hi -- did you ever get a reply? I am only 2 months out now - April 28 was my surgery. I stalled out after 26 lbs and havent lost in a month! Then after my second fill a few weeks ago all of a sudden this week i started feeling restriction. Like all of a sudden! As if it melded into my stomach or something. I was really getting scared that it just wasnt working on me -- i asked him at the last fill to really tighten and he said no he's doing 3.5 and had done 2 before or something. anyway i am at around 5 So how much weight have you lost? I am in The Woodlands but I dont want to go to the Wilkenfeld Conroe Support Group. Do you like the Cy Fair one?