Refused for Lap Band

Megatron3 · November 29, 2010

Hi All,

In Nov of 2009 I attended a lap band seminar and was able to sign up for an appointment in January of 2010. Due to several issues on both the office and my schedule the appointment got pushed back to March of 2010. After a 3 hour wait in the office I was finally seen by the surgeon, he looked at the forms I filled out and seemed to imply I had not tried enough dieting because I only had one listing in the form. The surgeon then proceeded in a very demeaning way to say that I was not a good candidate for lap band and that I would only loose 50 lbs and be stuck unable to get any further weight loss surgery. Now my BMI is over 65, and mostly has been and prior to a couple of years ago I was not unhappy with my weight. But recently I find I cannot move well, getting more and more tired. I have sleep apnea and a varicose issue in my lower legs. I have what I call permanent pregnant woman's back and my lungs are scarred from chronic bronchitis and a bought of pneumonia. I hate the thought of trying fad diets to only have my weight yoyo which even I know is not healthy.

Needless to say I was very upset. Now I have spoke with other Lap Band patients who were as heavy or heavier than me and they have lost well over 150 lbs each. If I were to loose 150 lbs that would alleviate a great many of my issues. I have a couple of new Dr's names but due to the rejection I got the first time I tried I am hesitant about trying again.

Has anyone been through this???

Msbandtastic · November 30, 2010

I do not even know this doctor, but I detest him. I hate his arrogant attitude. I can't believe that he would not think someone with a 65BMI was not a good candidate for the surgery. I wonder if he was not pro-gastric bypass surgery and trying to imply you would have a better chance with that surgery. When I went to my informational meeting, the doctor was very negative toward the lap band and tried to imply that the success rate was very low (this is certainly not true for a huge number of people on this site and I intend to be one of them). He even went so far as to say he won't even perform the lap band procedure. Needless to say, I went and found another surgeon. I refused to be pressured into a surgery I did not want. Please do not take what this doctor told you to heart. Find another surgeon. After reading all the stories on this site and watching all the vlogs on youtube, I believe people can be very successful with the lap band.

terril · November 30, 2010

Hi All,

In Nov of 2009 I attended a lap band seminar and was able to sign up for an appointment in January of 2010. Due to several issues on both the office and my schedule the appointment got pushed back to March of 2010. After a 3 hour wait in the office I was finally seen by the surgeon, he looked at the forms I filled out and seemed to imply I had not tried enough dieting because I only had one listing in the form. The surgeon then proceeded in a very demeaning way to say that I was not a good candidate for lap band and that I would only loose 50 lbs and be stuck unable to get any further weight loss surgery. Now my BMI is over 65, and mostly has been and prior to a couple of years ago I was not unhappy with my weight. But recently I find I cannot move well, getting more and more tired. I have sleep apnea and a varicose issue in my lower legs. I have what I call permanent pregnant woman's back and my lungs are scarred from chronic bronchitis and a bought of pneumonia. I hate the thought of trying fad diets to only have my weight yoyo which even I know is not healthy.

Needless to say I was very upset. Now I have spoke with other Lap Band patients who were as heavy or heavier than me and they have lost well over 150 lbs each. If I were to loose 150 lbs that would alleviate a great many of my issues. I have a couple of new Dr's names but due to the rejection I got the first time I tried I am hesitant about trying again.

Has anyone been through this???

Let me tell you a story . January 2000, I started getting really sick; nausea, headaches,. Fatigue, body aches…you name it I had it. At the same time I was preparing to take the LSE (Law School Entrance Exam), so I was very nervous. (It was a 6 hour test with no breaks), so I drank almost an entire bottle of Pepto Bismol and took quite a few Tylenol. I really feelt like I was gonna die. So I took the test, did failry well…had my top 3 picks for Law School . About 1 month or so later –I’m still feeling pretty crappy and go to the doctor. They told me I had a sinus infection and that the post nasal drip was the cause if my nausea and not to worry. We as it turns out, the nausea was being caused by the little life inside of me. I was pregnant and didn’t know it. WHOO HOOO away from crazy doctor # 1 and onto to crazy DR #2

I was bleeding pretty heavy, so I went to the OB. He came into the room – looked at my chart and without any exam told me I was miscarrying the baby. I started to cry asking him what could I do to stop it. He told me that it wouldn’t matter if I stood on my head leaned up against the wall – I would still lose “it”.. Needless to say the only thin g I lost was him. Got a new OB and they ran some tests and said I better get my sleep while I can because the baby appeared to be a health kicker!!

In Oct 10 years ago I gave birth to my wonderful beautiful and healthy daughter (who coincidentally is an avaid soccer player)

Never take someone at their word, especially if it doesn’t feel right. Get a second opinion and a third if you have to. This surgery is a lifelong commitment - so if you’re not happy with this Doc. Then you should find someone else. Why deal with the same pessimism - especially when they are wrong in what they are saying.