sounddude

on the table. I had pneumonia and ended up in the hospital for 8 days and went home on oxygen. When I finally healed Well it has been 4 years since surgery. I technically have lost 8lbs, but I can go up and down that much daily my whole life. I originally had the inamed band put in and when I woke up in recovery it has been my worste nightmare since. The band was too small and I had to have surgery #2. #2 was the VG band. I woke up this time in ICU after aspirating I thought things would be better. After my first fill the doctor left the practice (good ridence I was done with his arrogance any way), but the doctor that took over for him had virtually no experience in fills. So fill number 2 she had me sit on a table with the needle in my gut and drink Water as she added and subtracted until I could get water down. LOL I felt like a side show act and when I left had no restriction, but have had ravenous hunger every since. I decided I was not going back to that practice even if they paid me to do so. Three years go by with no sucess and every time I would start a meal I would PB, and sometimes flat out vomit. I would always party after the puke and be able to eat as much as I ever have, until my shoulder hurt. Fast forward 3 years and my primary care doctor recommended me to UC bariatric group. I had to pay an up front fee and then they began taking my insurance. I had the flouro upper gi done and they said everything looked fine but I have a small hernia. The diagnosis was lets fill it. I went back multiple months with fills happening each time with little to no restrictions. I have approximately 9.5 cc in a 10 cc band. About 9 mos ago my appointment for a fill was canceled and I have never rescheduled it. I can eat like a horse, (ie... full burrito bowl from Chipotle with a bag of chips) I can guzzle diet coke, water, eat bread, steak, pretty much anything I want. I no longer have the PB every since I started getting it filled again, but no restriction. I am at my wits end. I spent a lifetime of dieting with no sucess, and when I finally go for help it almost kills me and the tool does nothing but make me more hungry than I ever was before. So the only way to lose weight is diet and exercise, and the tool is no help, so why have it? I am depressed all the time now and medicate for that. I am not sure what to do, gastric bypass is probably not an option because I had the band and I am sure insurance will say no. Any Ideas?:tt2::smile2:

Wow! I am not certain of what to say, but I will try. Sorry to anyone who I struck a nerve with. I know as well as anyone on this or any other site that obesity is a continuos struggle only manageable by us the eater. That being said I know I have been doomed with this deck of cards to play for life. I am not new to being fat, I have fought this since I was 5 years old wich makes it a 32 year long battle of loss and gain. I am an expert on losing weight. I can lose 100lbs with no input or band ever and have several times in the past. It is simple to do. NO SUGAR, and only meat, cheese, and green veggies and watch all the pounds go bye bye. I have advised people with sucess my whole life when asked mostly by those who have always been thin and as they get older start packing on pounds and know that I know how to drop weight. I tell them dont you dare diet. All a diet will do is make you fat. I tell them to exercise and dont change there eating because I am convinced it is everyones beginning to a roller coaster ride. Those who listen to me get back to healthy and enjoy life, those who dont join me on my eternal Quest. Now I am not giving up, I am frustrated and stating that I got a band with the hope that I could get some sense of management for life. Other than making me miserable at times and almost killing me, it has done nothing of the sort to help. So I have to go back to what I know. Meat and greens and no sugar. This is not normal, it is not a lifestyle of social acceptance, but it is what works. I am happy for anyone who has had sucess with the band and I applaud and commend you. Now for my statement that obesity is not cureable. You can say all you want to the contrary, but you are wrong! It is not cureable, it is not always a virus, but could be. Fat cells once you have them are always there period. You can manage the disease by deflating them and decreasing the comorbidities that go with them when inflated, but you will struggle with it for life once you have it, and that is not "normal" biology. If you eat you will be fat again, and again. So it is highly treatable and manageable, but it is 100% not cureable. When the scientific community comes up with a way to reduce fat cells, and fat cell memory and boost metabolic rates, they would be on to a cure, but it is big business being fat so we may never get a cure. This is a statement, not a dismissal of responsibility to continue the battle. Sorry if I offended anyone.

I understand your stance, but I promise you there is no cure. The mental issues to obesity are usually brought on by the obesity. You are 100% right that you control what you put in your mouth. My point is you should not have to worry about that with exception to tooth decay, cholesterol and various other allergies and the like. Most people who are thin and lean, have been that way there whole life, and not because they restrict there food choices. They become fit and active because it is enjoyable to do so when you feel good in your body. We have all been brain washed to believe the myth that you are fat because you are lazy and lay around eating all day. Most skinny people eat more and eat junk on a level that I have never known. My skinny friends eat me under the table.

Here is the conclusion I have come to. I have been researching weight loss for my whole life. Obesity is a disease and according to research may even be brought on by a virus and it is contagious!!! It is not a habit, not a mental issue, and not cureable and may never be. With extreme discipline you can manage this disease, but it is currently a terminal condition. It is harder to control than a heroin addiction because you can quit taking heroin and get over it. You can quit drinking and get over it. You can not quit eating and get over it. You must eat to live. No industry would ever want to cure obesity, it is big business from the food we buy to the cures we try to the people it employs as trainers, nutritionists, surgeons, pharmaceutical companies, entertainment venues and the like. This list could go on for days but I digress. Fact* No matter how much weight you lose, no matter how fit you get, the fat cells you have will never go away, and are only waiting to expand. Doctors and researchers have been selling us Patches but never working on the root issues. The cure lies in metabolic rates and gene therapy or alterations. Until they bring this to the table, we will all be at war to varied degrees with obesity.

Thanks for the support and input everyone. This has been the most horrific experience for me ever. I am not certain that I could bring myself to face another surgery ever. Even if it were to remove the band. Having almost died during the second one, I am terrified. As for my mental state, I have issues, you are right. They consume me at points but they have developed as a result of this. December of 2009 I weighed 326, and decided I was going to change my eating habits. I lost 22 lbs by February. I began taking martial arts classes 2 days a week at a very intense work out pace. I did this for 5 months advancing belts and living in total muscle pain. I gained weight the entire time I was in class. (Go figure) And getting punched in the port is not very pleasant. I quit class after 5 months due to financial reasons. I weighed in 2 weeks ago at 335 the wheels had come off the bus and I was out of control. I have been reeling it back in over 2 weeks now and controling my food intake. This morning I am 329. 6lbs loss in 2 weeks. Grilled chicken, salad, grilled veggies, wendys chili, and weight control oatmeal. No Bread, Pasta, junk, or sugar. The good news is, the doctors have made a ton of money placing a "tool" in me so I can have the same rollercoaster life I lived for the first 34 years of my life on my own with no "tools".

The band is holding its fills. They pull all of the fluid out each time I get a fill to check it.

Actually this is not true. I eat that way now after basically giving up. I followed everything to the letter in the beginning. And when I started again last year I did a full recommitt, but I literally feel no restrictions. In my honest opinion, the tool makes me twice as hungry as I ever got before it. It is almost like it was placed on a hunger pain button. It took a long time for me to get fed up. But if I had a screw driver in my tool box that did not make it at least partially easier to tighten a screw than I can with my bare hands then I would throw it in the garbage and get a better tool.