Realize band failure? Bypass in my future?

I had the Realize band placed on August 26, 2008 in Birmingham by Dr. Miles at St. Vincents East. I am 18 months out and to date have only lost 8 pounds with the band. Date of surgery I weighed in at 300 lbs, as of right now I weigh 292 lbs. I don't know what the problem is as I am adhering to the food guidelines. Walking is the only exercise that I can do due to joint pain but I do walk as much as I can. I am consulting with a new doctor/surgeon, Dr. Groves in Boaz/Albertville, on March 25, 2010 to see about getting the bypass. I really wanted to go to Dr. Miles and talk to him about him performing the bypass on me, however I found out that the hospital is no longer accepting UHC insurance!! Dr. Miles will accept it but if he did the surgery I would owe the hospital something like $8000 since they won't accept UHC. I feel like a failure.
Anyone have any suggestions? Advice? Words of wisdom?

How many fills have u had? How many cc's? No restriction at all???

I have had 6 or 7 fills....I have 7.5 cc in a 10cc band. I do have some restriction-my thoughts are that something is wrong because it has been 18 months and I have only lost 8 lbs. Everytime I bring this up at the dr office the nurse practioner that does the fills tells me she thinks it is what I am eating. I am always 100% honest when I tell her what I am eating and when I am having baked or grilled chicken, pork chops, veggies and lean cuisine meals for lunch and dinner I just don't see how it can be what I am eating! It was brought up that maybe I wasn't eating enough because normally I don't eat breakfast because I am not hungry. So I have tried to make sure I eat something for breakfast to make sure I am eating enough. I dont usually snack but if I do it is fruit or rice cakes or nutri grain bars.

YOU ARE NOT A FAILURE!!!!

Okay so that procedure didn't work for you!  These are not one size fit's all procedures.  Don't beat yourself up!  You did lose weight.  No it wasn't the amount you hoped for or expected but in 18 months you did not gain.  It's okay to be disappointed....but don't for a second consider yourself a failure.  Listen until you decide what your next step is I encourage you to go back and read all the literature you read before surgery.  You could have slipped back into a bad habit like drinking with your meal!  That makes your meal a slider food and it slips right through leaving room to eat more and you hungry!  I don't have an easy answer but I again encourage you to read the information that convinced you the realize band was right for you!

Lisa

I'd like to second that you are not a failure.

I agree with the previous poster that you should go back all your original literature and re-educate yourself about the band. Remember that this was likely an agonizing and difficult decision for you to make, so you ought to exhaust every possiblility before moving on to another fix.

I've known LAP-BAND Patients who have fallen off the wagon and gotten back on by getting back to the basics. They realized that they were drinking empty calories, snacking, or eating slider foods. The comment about drinking with or after meals is a good point, too. Really go back and re-educate yourself about the band, as if you were a new patient, and look for LAP-BAND Tip resources that can help you, like our Five Tips to Reenergize your Gastric Band.

You may also ask your provider to do a barium swallow under fluoroscopy during your LAP-BAND Fill to check for an undiagnosed complication and to help you provide a visual of what is happening inside your body to match up to the sensations you're feeling. That can be very helpful, too.

Why would you want to have a bypass if you are not at restriction yet??? The band can be adjusted till you reach restriction. That is kind of like buying a new set of tires but only filling them 3/4 full with air.............then going out and buying new tires b/c they don't drive right.

OMG! i had the realize band also and I've not lost any weight either. i exercise daily and just can't seem to get it off. i keep thinking my fills just need to be better adjusted cause actually i have no problem eating or swallowing anything. you many try to contact Dr Douglas Olsen in Nashville tn he is really good but he don't give no slack. he has really been just straight up with me and about me eating the correct foods sometimes i think he doesn't know how it feels to be in this position. if your an alcoholic or smokers you can do away with liquor beer and cigs and live without them but if your addiction is food you can;t live without that. it's rough!