Unsatisfied with the Lap Band surgery!!!!

[poopgirl 1]

I don't know if this is a legitimate post or not, but as with plastic surgeons, weight loss surgeons are not

all created equal. Some are a great deal better than others. In my opinion, anyone contemplating

WLS in other than a Center of Excellence is taking a great chance with their future. Of course there are excellent surgeons that are not CoEs, but which ones? Anyone who undergoes WLS without doing

adequate research is just jumping in the pool without checking if there's any Water. How in the world

would anyone allow a surgeon, advertising on a billboard, to operate on them without a thorough

investigation? Is there any wonder why these surgeries fail? No pre or post op care? Come on.

^{What is not legitimate about my post? I attended an orientation to learn about the lap band surgery at the 1-800-GET-THIN center in Beverly Hills, CA. They scheduled me for surgery two weeks later. I was told that the implant would be surgically placed in me. I was explained to in detail that I would have a port in which I would get fills done. After my surgery, two months had passed before I had my first follow up visit. For those two months, I thought I had the band tightened and I had found out during my visit that there was no saline in it yet. Not my fault they gave me wrong information before and after surgery. The medical licenses that were revoked and suspended occurred after my surgery date. And yes there was no post op care period. Extreme FAIL on their part. Two years later I received a letter in the mail from the surgery center which included a list of what foods to eat and to avoid. That same month I went in for a fill and I received a different list of foods to eat and avoid. I only can do what's given to me as far as following instructions. But two years later seems very unorganized on their part.}

[poopgirl 1]

I personally find it interesting that the OP created their account today and has had only two posts...very suspicious.

That being said, this WLS is not for everyone. I've had my share of complications and even with having a surgery to re postion the band, I wouldn't do anything different. It's not without challenges, but it's also completely worth it...for me.

I'm with Corrigan here...you need good pre-op care...they have these psych assessments for a reason...and post op care...slow fills, specific instructions etc. These protocols are all important to the success of each patient.

Wow the people on this forum are really something else! Suspicious? What is suspicious about creating an account then posting two topics? Am I supposed to post none for a week or something? Didn't know there was a rule about how many posts I can put up.

[poopgirl 1]

I've had great success with the lapband. I do attend a practice in melbourne that is run by Prof. Paul O'Brien who is one of the band's pioneers.

Their aftercare plan and their dietary guidelines are simple. Eat 3 meals a day (small Snacks if you really are hungry), come in regularly for checkups, get fills on consultation with your doctor - and the schedule and amount differs for everyone - settle in for slow but steady loss and never accept vomiting, reflux, night coughing as normal. Eat a normal diet - from all food groups, dont eat sliders, no need to cut carbs, obsess over Protein or avoid the occasional treat. Exercise regularly.

Even thought that sounds simple, of course there are people who have the troubles you're experiencing. The band doesnt suit everyone and getting just the right restriction can be tricky - many people go back and forth from too tight to too loose and cant find just the right amount, I've even come close to having that sort of trouble myself since having my band unfilled totally for a big surgery, cant get the restriction I had, but I know I"m getting close to tight. So....... I know I have to work with what I have. The band takes a lot of work, if you let it it will help you eat the right things in the right portions but you are ALWAYS going to have to have self control to not overeat bad foods, which all too often go down very easily. If you expect it to literally stop you eating too much or eating the wrong things you are going to be very disappointed. It also doesnt result in very fast weight loss, its more slow and steady and it does require exercise as well as diet. It sounds to me like you'd be better off workign with the lesser restriction to the best of your ability and stop looking for the band to give you complete control. And if you cant do that, as many cant, this is a complex disease that has emotional and physical elements to it, then perhaps you might be able to look into a differnet surgery that might suit you and your issues better. The band does tend to work very well for lower BMI patients with eating habits not too out of control (which is what I was) and who are able to put in reasonably intense and regular exercise. This is not the situation many morbidly obese people find themselves in and the band is not always the right choice.

How long does it take for your adjustments? From start to finish?

[SageTracey 608]

My fills take less than a minute. The rest of the time is spent getting weighed and discussing my diet, eating habits, exercise and general chit chat with my surgeon. My surgeon has done all of my fills himself, but that just may be an Australian thing (plus he is still practicing, unlike the OP's situation.)

[poopgirl 1]

My fills take less than a minute. The rest of the time is spent getting weighed and discussing my diet, eating habits, exercise and general chit chat with my surgeon. My surgeon has done all of my fills himself, but that just may be an Australian thing (plus he is still practicing, unlike the OP's situation.)

Wow!!! So fast!!!

[Corrigan 75]

Corrigan...you are my hero!

Way to go girl! Give him my best. Let me know how it turns out.

[screeden 21]

I am so sorry that you have had a bad experience with the band. Sounds like you need to get a whole new doctor's practice. wow! no one should have to deal with all that drama. My fills take less than a minute also, the rest of the time we discuss my diet, how I am feeling. my fills are done with my surgeon's nurse practioner, who has been doing this for a long time. my port is deep, but she finds it with no issue and after a fill, has me drink Water to make sure it goes down fine, with no pooling in my throat. they do fills slowly so you not have to make trips for fills/unfills. I with i could give you a doctor to go to,but don't know anyone out your way. I wish you the best and hope things get better for you.

[Cazzy 725]

my fills also take only a minute or two at the most too, my surgeon does the fills .. I have 7cc's in a 14 cc band going in for a further small fill in a week. They did inform me that if you lose a lot of weight the band becomes loser as u lose fat internally from around the stomach. I tend to go for a fill after around each 40 lbs lost more than just relying on appetite/food intake indicators. The surgeon also makes me eat a yoghurt after the fill to make certain that i can eat it without any problems.

[54Shirley 105]

This is my second time around, so I can relate to bad aftercare.

The first time when I started off I weighed 356. My Ins. said pre op diet for 1 year.

Weight at surgery 231.

Going in for fills when I can't even get Water down, it's squirting up like a squirt gun.

Surgeon deflated me, said he blew the band.. Weight at Deflation 201.

I was banded 10/31/2006.

Fast Forward into 01/01/2011.

I was now at 328, and with 2 artificial Knees I couldn't take the weight, I had the band,

and I finally had Ins. again. So I seeked out a New Surgeon, only to find out that NO ONE !

wanted to touch someone else s mistakes !

I was furious ! ! !

I came back on this site, and said I want this piece of Garbage taken out !

That Post is still on here.

Anyway, It was at that point no't long after I posted this, that I received a phone call from a Bariatric Center

that was willing to see me. I was Delighted ! Turned out that the Surgeon was a Student of

my former Dr....... Now I new he was going to be good, but I would have to see for myself.

I went into the Hospital for a Outpatient Procedure. They looked at the band under Fluoroscope

figuring it would be time to replace this 4cc Band, with a bigger Band. So Revision Surgery was

the plan.... They looked at the Band, and I could see it to up on a screen. I was told there is nothing

wrong with the Band that I was just Deflated ? But ? I told the whole story, and was told

"He Jumped The Gun !" You were only over filled at that point. So this was Bad Aftercare! That's it !

They said we will fill you to your fill line. "WHAT ?" Your FILL LINE ! You do have one you know !!!!!

NO! I DIDN'T...... Well yes you do ! and that's where you like to be.

So 2cc's and .5cc's of Acrylic was put in. The Acrylic was put in because, if there was a leak it would

be plugged. That's it! No messing around with how much is in or not. Just straight to the point.

Then when you lose a good amount of weight, maybe a Tweaking. So 2.5cc's in the Band.

So the difference came with the Aftercare. I learned that he did a beautiful job installing it, but as far

as fills,,, He didn't know a DAM thing.

I hope you take some of this into consideration, because what you see on the Ticker is this years

weight Loss with a properly filled Band.

So Yes this can work.....

Shirley.

[poopgirl 1]

This is my second time around, so I can relate to bad aftercare.

The first time when I started off I weighed 356. My Ins. said pre op diet for 1 year.

Weight at surgery 231.

Going in for fills when I can't even get Water down, it's squirting up like a squirt gun.

Surgeon deflated me, said he blew the band.. Weight at Deflation 201.

I was banded 10/31/2006.

Fast Forward into 01/01/2011.

I was now at 328, and with 2 artificial Knees I couldn't take the weight, I had the band,

and I finally had Ins. again. So I seeked out a New Surgeon, only to find out that NO ONE !

wanted to touch someone else s mistakes !

I was furious ! ! !

I came back on this site, and said I want this piece of Garbage taken out !

That Post is still on here.

Anyway, It was at that point no't long after I posted this, that I received a phone call from a Bariatric Center

that was willing to see me. I was Delighted ! Turned out that the Surgeon was a Student of

my former Dr....... Now I new he was going to be good, but I would have to see for myself.

I went into the Hospital for a Outpatient Procedure. They looked at the band under Fluoroscope

figuring it would be time to replace this 4cc Band, with a bigger Band. So Revision Surgery was

the plan.... They looked at the Band, and I could see it to up on a screen. I was told there is nothing

wrong with the Band that I was just Deflated ? But ? I told the whole story, and was told

"He Jumped The Gun !" You were only over filled at that point. So this was Bad Aftercare! That's it !

They said we will fill you to your fill line. "WHAT ?" Your FILL LINE ! You do have one you know !!!!!

NO! I DIDN'T...... Well yes you do ! and that's where you like to be.

So 2cc's and .5cc's of Acrylic was put in. The Acrylic was put in because, if there was a leak it would

be plugged. That's it! No messing around with how much is in or not. Just straight to the point.

Then when you lose a good amount of weight, maybe a Tweaking. So 2.5cc's in the Band.

So the difference came with the Aftercare. I learned that he did a beautiful job installing it, but as far

as fills,,, He didn't know a DAM thing.

I hope you take some of this into consideration, because what you see on the Ticker is this years

weight Loss with a properly filled Band.

So Yes this can work.....

Shirley.

Wow! To go through that must have been a nightmare!!! I want to see another center and doctor so badly but when I did my surgery it was completely out of pocket because I did not qualify for the surgery through my *** medical plan. They said I was NOT obese, just overweight, and to be covered for surgery, I needed to be "obese". Well anyways, I will continue searching for another place to go to that won't cost an arm and a leg. Especially now that I weigh 215lbs, no medical insurance will consider me obese and cover my fills.

[Jack 855]

Reminder to Forum Members to please review the LBT Rules and conduct on line activities with care and attention.

Disputes between members should be taken off-forum threads.

Moderation is a last step for resolving disagreements.

If there is a complaint, please do such clearly and concisely in the "report" section.

Not everyone has the same experience with the Band. At times there may be considerable frustration and confusion regarding expectation and actual daily experience.

We are all attempting to overcome previous struggles with Morbid Obesity. Mutual respect and support will augment our efforts.

[Kara Renee 7]

In my opinion, just saying, it seems like most of your issues are because you did not have a good surgeon. Just because you had a bad experience I wouldnt say that no one should get the lapband. Although there are a few people who it does not work for and a few people who have problems, there are also plenty more people who have great sucess i mean just look at the thousands of people on this website who are doing awesome. Im just saying just because you had a bad experience, mostly because of your doctors, i wouldnt tell everyone that the lapband sucks and no one should get it.

[mgmagnolia 1]

I'm the same as SageTracey. My fills are less than a minute also and my port is a little difficult to hit. My port is not sitting flat anymore but tilted downward a bit, but still accessible. My bariatric surgeon has a floroscope machine (fancy x-ray) and they looked at my port on it to check its position and the band's position as well. The port shows up on it. I can tell where the center of it is though I had a little trouble seeing that it was tilted the way it is until the dr. showed me.

[54Shirley 105]

Wow! To go through that must have been a nightmare!!! I want to see another center and doctor so badly but when I did my surgery it was completely out of pocket because I did not qualify for the surgery through my *** medical plan. They said I was NOT obese, just overweight, and to be covered for surgery, I needed to be "obese". Well anyways, I will continue searching for another place to go to that won't cost an arm and a leg. Especially now that I weigh 215lbs, no medical insurance will consider me obese and cover my fills.

You can always sign a request for your records, and have them when looking for another surgeon. If you submit your surgical notes, make sure those are copy's, because they don't have to give you those back.

Also for now You can go to Fill Center USA and see if there is one in your area or somewhere near you. They can start you out, but it helps if you know the size band.

Good Luck, Shirley.

[Drewsky 0]

I just had my surgery 2 days ago and reading post like this make me a bit nervous and put second thoughts in my head. But I guess its too late for all that and all I can do is make sure Im doing my part to be sucessful with my decision. Im sorry to hear about your ordeal, thats really awful.