PLEASE RESPOND !Explain your Lap Band/AGB Experience

Okay, Guys & Dolls  When someone asks about the Band, they should get  the feel of everyone who has been banded.  We can refer them here, to this post.

Are you currently on your Band journey?
Have you reached your "sweet spot"?
How long have you been banded?
How much have you lost?
Can you eat a variety of healthy foods?

Have you gone through fills & unfills never finding a happy medium?
Do you PB?
Keep your Band tight?
Have acid reflux?
Night cough?
Has your Band slipped?
Have you had a dilation - specify stomach or esophagus?
Do you have pain?
Have you had your Band removed? If so any damage to any other organs?
Have you revised - to what surgery?

Any other experience you'd like to tell us about?

Would you recommend the Band?

My Lap Band began working during my 3rd year after a dilated esophagus (symptoms were night cough, choking at night, reflux) then complete unfill, I for the first time received some real restriction.  My Band shockingly worked "as advertised".  I could eat everything, even healthy fruits and veggies  in smaller portions so my Band was never too tight. I did however have the beautiful benefit of the Band dimming my hunger in a way that felt like "magic"

During my 5th year, I had no symptoms (except I was able to eat more, and got hungry more often)  but got diagnosed with  a dilated esophagus again after a routine UGI.  This time, it did not resolve with an "unfill".

During my first year, right out the gate I had a flipped port, shattered port, punctured hosing, complete obstruction for 8days with no medical help available - this was 2005 when no one touched your band except for your surgeon.

My Band has been removed and I have not yet revised to another WLS. 

My removal went smooth.  My surgeon said everything inside of me was good so no nasty tales of the band adhering to other organs.

I absolutely loved the way my Band worked when it worked.

I lost a total of 116lbs at my peak.

Since being unfilled and then unbanded I have gained 30+/- pounds.

I am not dead set against the Band, BUT I do not believe it is a long term solution AND it really does not work for everyone.  No WLS works for everyone. People have to go into Banding knowing the pros & cons - I did! 

I love it when DSers say "think twice, cut once"  I love that and I love DSers!!!  I am Leila though - always different so I may cut thrice.  And absolutely no regrets (I love you Dr. Roslin :)!) about it, that is the way it is supposed to go down.

I WISH YOU ALL BEAUTIFUL THINGS,
Leila

Are you currently on your Band journey?   Yes
Have you reached your "sweet spot"?  Yes
How long have you been banded?  5 years
How much have you lost? 220 lbs.
Can you eat a variety of healthy foods? Yes.  They only foods I cannot tolerate are Mozerella Cheese Sticks (which are not a good choice anyway) and the huge pretzels you see at baseball games, etc.

Have you gone through fills & unfills never finding a happy medium? No
Do you PB? Only 2x in 5 years....both after eating ham
Keep your Band tight? No
Have acid reflux? Never
Night cough? Twice...both after a fill from a Dr. who was too aggressive with the fill..not my band Dr
Has your Band slipped? No
Have you had a dilation - specify stomach or esophagus? Once, after the same aggressive fill, floro showed dialation of the esophogus and a 4 weeks unfill solved the problem.
Do you have pain? Only in the port area occasionally after doing crunches during exercise
Have you had your Band removed? If so any damage to any other organs? No
Have you revised - to what surgery? No

Any other experience you'd like to tell us about?  The band has done its job for me. I have lost 220lbs. and am thrilled with the life that the WLS has offered me.  I am not one to tolerate pills, and the band offered me an option that didn't involve a lifetime of supplements or vitamins.

Would you recommend the Band  ABSOLUTELY!!

Are you currently on your Band journey?  - Nope - I'm off the boat
Have you reached your "sweet spot"? - I did
How long have you been banded? - 3 1/2 years
How much have you lost? 125 at my peak
Can you eat a variety of healthy foods?  Yes - I just couldn't eat heavy starch like french fries or italian bread

Have you gone through fills & unfills never finding a happy medium?  - No, I found good restriction
Do you PB? - I did very often, yes
Keep your Band tight?  - Yes I did
Have acid reflux?  - No I didn't
Night cough? - No
Has your Band slipped? - No it did not
Have you had a dilation - specify stomach or esophagus? - No
Do you have pain?  - No I didn't
Have you had your Band removed? If so any damage to any other organs?  - Yes it was.  No other organs were damaged but my port was disconnected and the lesions were insane; so much so that my surgeon couldn't finish my revision.
Have you revised - to what surgery?  I wanted a DS but ended up with a VSG.  I *will* have my DS this year.

Any other experience you'd like to tell us about?  It's too easy to break the rules with the band.  You can only be "perfect" for so long before the devil takes over your brain.  It's just too easy to cheat.  And don't hand me that "It's a life-style change" bull**** - we're all human and we will all cheat at some point.

Would you recommend the Band?  For people with 75 pounds or less to lose, yes.  More than that, no.

 Are you currently on your Band journey? - been @ goal for a while now
Have you reached your "sweet spot"? - that's a myth
How long have you been banded? - 3+ yrs
How much have you lost? - 76lbs
Can you eat a variety of healthy foods? - yes

Have you gone through fills & unfills never finding a happy medium? - no
Do you PB? - no
Keep your Band tight? - no
Have acid reflux? - no
Night cough? - no
Has your Band slipped? - twice, both times corrected w/unfills
Have you had a dilation - specify stomach or esophagus? - no
Do you have pain? - no
Have you had your Band removed? If so any damage to any other organs? - no
Have you revised - to what surgery? - n/a

Any other experience you'd like to tell us about? 

Would you recommend the Band? - for a restrictive surgery only, i'd recommend the sleeve

Are you currently on your Band journey?  yes
Have you reached your "sweet spot"?  I think that's folk lore!  It's an ever changing place of mind.
How long have you been banded?  just over 2 years
How much have you lost?  86 lbs so far
Can you eat a variety of healthy foods?  oh yes

Have you gone through fills & unfills never finding a happy medium?  no
Do you PB?  rarely and only when I'm pushing the limits.
Keep your Band tight?  yes- just tight enough to keep me satisfied for about 4-5 hours.
Have acid reflux?  once, got a tiny unfill. Easy fix.
Night cough?  never
Has your Band slipped?  never
Have you had a dilation - specify stomach or esophagus?  never
Do you have pain?  nope
Have you had your Band removed? If so any damage to any other organs? no, god I hope never to lose my little band buddy!
Have you revised - to what surgery? no

Any other experience you'd like to tell us about?
I had a port migration due to the stitching coming out after recovery. When they say to take it easy, they mean it!
Would you recommend the Band?  For  the right type of patients, yes, It's a great tool! A person needs a pretty strong support system and must be nutritionally diligent in my opinion. They also must be able to exercise which is a whole another discussion. The band by itself is rarely the sole answer to dealing with a patients obesity problem. But it can sure help a person get in control of their situation. It's helping me.

.

Are you currently on your Band journey?   Yep
Have you reached your "sweet spot"? after 3 yrs I finally think so
How long have you been banded? 3 and a half yrs
How much have you lost?  71 lbs
Can you eat a variety of healthy foods? That varies on a day to day basis

Have you gone through fills & unfills never finding a happy medium? just got home from my latest unfill about 30 minutes ago
Do you PB? yes
Keep your Band tight? not really
Have acid reflux? my original surgery cured my reflux, my latest fill made me too tight and it recently came back
Night cough? yes
Has your Band slipped? no
Have you had a dilation - specify stomach or esophagus? i haven't had an endoscopy, but so far no symptoms of either
Do you have pain? just lately with being too tight there was a painful knot between my shoulder blades constantly
Have you had your Band removed? If so any damage to any other organs?  i wish
Have you revised - to what surgery? i wish

Any other experience you'd like to tell us about?  in less than a year after my original surgery I required a 2nd surgery to replace my flipped port

Would you recommend the Band? if you like to gamble and have about 75 lbs to lose go for it, but if you require more significant weight loss there are othher better options out there.  Also if you have co morbidities please check into other surgery types that might offer you a better cure rate.

I'm guessing my port flipped early on since I never felt it happen.  My 1st clue was that it was always difficult to find my port for fills, and the only thing I noticed was at night I'd feel an odd pulling sensation in my abdomen-It went away completley and the port is only noticeable if I'm running my hand over my abdomen.