lapband34

Yeah, it is the weirdest thing. He did it under x-ray and I saw the whole thing. In his opinion and based on what I know about the band, it seemed to be working in all material respects. You could see the dyed liquid stopped for a about 15 seconds and then it passed through the tiny path created by the band. However, yesterday, when I went into his office, 5cc of the fill was missing. Therefore, it is now more probably than not that the band has some leak somewhere that did not show on that day (word to the wise, for all those that think the x-ray tells all). I am not looking forward to having to have this replaced, but it will probably be necessary. Thanks for the info regarding your experience.

...Doolittle...sorry, how rude of me....thank you for your research.

I definitely have the 10cc band, but it does indeed hold at least 14 (close to 15cc). I don't know why the discrepancy between what the manufacturer publishes and what it actually holds. However, I watched him put the saline all the way in and pull it out. He did this to make sure that it indeed was holding the saline. He did my last fill under fluoro (which I assume means the x-ray with the dye) and determined that the band was working in all respects and was not leaking. Nevertheless when I went in just yesterday it was missing 5cc (i.e., it was only at 10), which suggested it was in fact leaking. So I will probably have to have it replaced - arghhh. But this does not negate that at one point it did somehow hold 15 or so cc. I personally watched that go in and out.

I don't really know, but I watched the saline go in (kinda of fun to see). Even after he put the 14cc (actually it was closer to 15) in he took it back out, which suggests that the band can indeed hold this amount. Having said that, 5cc was missing when I went in yesterday, which suggests it may be leaking. With respect to your point about overcharging, I am very doubtful that he would do this. Not only do I watch the saline go in, I don't think his time would be worth the fee. And although I have had some reservations about him from time to time, I do not question his honesty. Thanks for the warning nonetheless.

Thanks for your replies. There have been a few developments since I lasted posted. I went in to Dr. Leung for a follow-up and it seemed that 5cc of the 15cc had disappeared, which suggests that the band is leaking. We decided to swap it for a new one, which means going through it all again - arghhh. What complicates matters further is that he replaced the missing 5cc bringing it back up to 15cc and now, for the first time, I am experiencing some restriction. It remains to be seen if this will continue and whether a replacing it therefore still makes sense. I guess this moves me over to the lap band "complications" forum string. Oh well, life is good otherwise and stuff happens. Just have to deal with it I guess.

This is my first time posting to this forum (actually, this is only my third forum post ever). I was banded Oct. 01/07 by Dr. Leung in Vancouver, BC, Canada. I am already up to 14cc in a 10cc band (no exaggeration), yet I feel little to no restriction or satiety. Dr. Leung attributes this to a "strong stomach" - whatever that means. Having said that, I was wondering if anyone had information regarding how long food is suppose to stay in the upper pouch before passing through the banded area. I realize that there is probably a great deal of variance depending on what you eat, how much, etc. But I imagine there must be some "normal" range. Thanks for taking the time to read this and passing on any information you may have. Given how overfilled my band is already, I am becoming quite concerned about my inability to achieve any real restriction.