everyone is not a lapaband success story!!!!

The band cant do the work for you....it is not an effortless life style after banding...the responsibility to make it work is yours....your posting is filled with excuses of why you cant do this or that....counseling may help...but you have to get in the right frame of mind.... good luck Mary Kay

Actually, i'm not making excuses for anything!!! I simply want everyone to know that there is another side to all of the great success stories that you read about. also there is an emotional aspect that comes up after the surgery that people may not have known was there(I know I didn't realize the extent of my reliance on food). I am explaining MYYY individual metabolism and body type, you have NO CLUE!!!I explained everything that I am doing to keep trying on this journey and hopefully others who are srtuggling for success with the band will know that they are not alone Thanks to everyone else who actually gave useful advice and comments.....

Thanks for the post. I had the same experience with both my pregnancies. I had really bad nausea throughout and lost 30 lbs by one month after delievery -- but gained it all back within like 2 mos. even though I was walking and nursing. I worry alot about the metabolism issue. But what I have found is that the one thing even my stubborn metabolism reacts to is EXERCISE. Not at first mind you - its really stubborn - but after a couple of weeks of consistent exercise and eating more healthy I can see a loss, even without changing my eating habits much. I also second what the others said about your fills. Sounds to me like you don't have enough saline in the band. RUN don't walk to a dr that's going to work with you to find the right fill level for you and keep at it every two weeks until you have good restriction.... Good luck !

I'm so sorry Brandy ab0ut everything you've gone through, my suggestions is to get another fill, I had my surgery the same day as you and I've had two fills, but I'm at 2.4 now and I have some restriction, but when I was at 1.00 like you are now, I had NO restriction, so I think you may need another fill, actually I'm going this months for my third. Good luck, Helen

Brandy, Sometimes,as you are well aware, the mental part of obesity is so strong you just can not seem to bear it. I purposely put myself into therapy to deal with that aspect of the WLS and dealing with emotional eating. If not I could not do this. The band is a mechanical thing. The mind, excuse the pun, has a mind of its own. If you are able, see about some therapy to deal with your emotional parts and you just may be able to see how to keep away from the constant eating. It has helped me tremendously. I still stumble but now I have the ability to pick myself up and learn the lessons. Good luck to you and success no matter what. Sandra

I'm sorry your surgeon is acting like the band should be helping you much (if at all) prior to getting to proper restriction. Any educated surgeon for banding should know (and tell patients) tha*****pically takes 3-5 fills to get it right. Some folks are lucky and it takes fewer, some it even takes more. It's extremely common for regain to happen when new banding patients start transitioning back onto real foods from the liquid phases. If your surgeon isn't aware of this, I'm really sorry...but YOU need to be aware that this is one of the totally normal scenarios. It's also very difficult to stick to a rigid diet before the band is adjusted properly to help with the portion control and hunger issues. I don't personally understand surgeons who place that expectation. Surgeons who are well-informed about the band should understand it's a process of gradually reducing intake, not "stick to a strict diet and adjust the band over time to make it less torturous" and make their patients suffer severe hunger in the meantime. That all being said, as much of an advocate I am for the band, there is no one universally right WLS procedure for everyone. And my observation starting from 5 years ago when I first started researching is that restrictive-only procedures (so that would include, lap-band, VBG and VG might not be optimal for people with actual serious metabolic issues and malabsorption might be the only possible tool, although I've seen serious metabolic problems where even the extreme low-cal (due to very low cal diet + malabsorption making them absorb only a portion of the calories they eat) hasn't helped. But for someone like that, it would make sense that procedures designed to keep people in a standard healthy reduced calorie range will probably not have the best results. It's so important going in to any of these procedures for pre-ops to have their expectations properly set so they know what to expect in each phase. It's crucial in banding that patients understand that weight loss might take a while to get going and they have to ignore those who have a big/fast initial drop (most of which is fluid as the body can only process out so much fat in any given time...the rest will be fluid and lean tissue). It's hard not to compare, but we are all different, coming from different places in our lives, different bodies, ages, metabolisms, etc. I'm sorry if anyone flamed you for perceiving you not to be the "perfect bandster"...guess they're not human because I've never met a human capable of perfection...doesn't exist in this time/space continuum. I do think you're your own worst judge though (many of us battle that...society still hasn't come to terms with the fact that obesity isn't a character flaw so we carry a lot of that baggage with us). Put that stuff out of your head so you're not using it as an excuse to gorge...that's old diet mentality rearing its ugly head...and see if in the next month before your next appointment (why so long between fill appointments??) and see if you can continue working on single behaviors as you mention you've been doing...they say it takes 28 days to make something a habit...and be prepared to stand up for yourself if your surgeon ignorantly judges you for not being able to lose weight before the band is actually doing anything. Something really clear like "I'm sorry you're disappointed but we've been on a very sluggish fill schedule here and I still feel like I've not had surgery...my tool isn't working yet and I'd appreciate your help to rectify that problem in a more timely manner. It's hard enough struggling in this early period without you making me feel like a failure because YOU haven't filled me enough." Nancy

Hi Brandy, The only thing I would suggest to you before getting additional surgery is to try some of the techniques for speeding up a slow metabolism, especially if you are not having any complications from your band. I too have a very slow metabolism. I ride my stationary bike at a high speed for 90 minutes, 3 times per week yet I still lose weight very slowly compared to other RNY patients. My doctor has told me to put something in my mouth within 1/2 hour of waking and I need to put some food in my mouth, every 2-3 hours (piece of cheese, a few nuts, etc). Also my support group leader told me that resistance training is the only way to permanently improve a sluggish metabolism. I have started doing light weights. By eating more often, I lost 10 pounds in 2 weeks when I normally average 1/2 pound a week (that's since WLS). I also follow the low GI diet which is great for people that are insulin resistant. You should also have your metabolic rate checked. Some people on OH said they had to be put on glucophage because they discovered they were insulin resistant and it helped. I really don't want to take medication so I am trying to speed my metabolism up naturally. Good luck.

Brandy - sorry you feel like this but IMO you dont have a failed band you have a failed doctor. First and foremost your doctor should never make you feel bad for being normal - 1 cc is "in most cases" not enough fill for proper restriction. This tool only works when it is adjusted correctly - if you are feeling hunger (not head hunger) within 3 hours of a good meal (protein, veg, small starch) then you are not adjusted correctly yet and your doctor should know that - he cant expect you to lose with out a properly functioning band which takes some time to get. Be your own best advocate - dont let him make you feel bad - go and tell him "this isn't right yet - I need another fill". As far as exercise goes - it is a must but I dropped my first 50 lbs with very little exercise - the lower my weight gets the more important exercise becomes. On a very general issue - not every surgery is right for every person. The psych eval that they give to make sure this one is right for you in my case was a joke. Luckily I knew from extensive research what I was getting myself into. It seems like this isn't so for a large number of people. They like the less invasive, safer aspect of banding but dont understand the self control and consistant follow up that are involved. There are people that the band is just not going to work for - period. You may want to sit down and do an honest (very honest) evaluation of what you want and what your behavoir patterns as far as eating goes. This may not have been the right surgery for you and to beat yourself up now won't help your weight or emotional well being. Maybe a therapist that specializes in WLS would help - someone that is aware of all of the pros and cons and can help you decide if you need to change you or your surgery. (I would insist though that your doctor gets your band working properly - you never know, once it is adjusted you may find that it was just what you needed) Good luck - I hope it works out for you what ever you choose to do! (Don't let anyone make you feel bad - you are trying- that is the hardest part!) Lynn Banded 9/12/05 300/275/230/140

I think we are losing posts again. I just wanted to say that the reason most ins will not pay for the band is b/c they are CHEAP and it is their strategy to pay only for the RNY to scare of potential patients who would be too scared of this procedure.

I know how you feel! I was banded on Oct 17 05. I got the hunger back and fell back into the wrong eating behaviors and gained some of the pre op diet weight back. I was ready to chalk it up to failure and give up but then 2 weeks ago I got a proper fill. If I read right you have had 2 fills with a total of 1 cc? I have 3 cc's in now and I have gained until I got filled properly. I told my surgon that I felt like I never had surgery too! I was at the point where I envy those who had PB and vomit problem. I just wanted to feel SOMETHING! I had 2cc's and felt no restriction at all and was very discouraged so he then pushed in another 2cc's and that closed my stoma shut and couldn't even keep down my saliva! So then he took out 1 cc so I am just now getting the proper restriction. Now it is working. Try and get a real aggressive fill to see how that works for you. Don't give up just yet.... YOU are not failing your surgery -IT just isn't working for YOU yet. By the way I am not excersizing all that much either. If I was good at that maybe I wouldn't have needed the band. We are not perfect and shouldn't kill ourselves trying to be. BTW -YOU are not bringing your doc's sucess rate down HE is by not getting you restricted properly. If he is making you feel embarassed don't be afraid to stick up for yourself and let him know if he was doing HIS part it wouldn't be nearly so hard for you. Tell him exactly what you want. You want to be properly filled so you can go on that vacation and feel awsome. You are not just padding his wallet to have HIM dissapointed it YOU. He works for you sister! I hope you get some restriction soon. Then you can determine whether or not band is working for you. Like I said I just got restriction 2 weeks ago and am loosing weight post op for the first time. (15lbs by the way!) It gets better ~HUGS~ -Angie