Quick poll:: Happy or Regret @ surgery

Definitely has changed my life! So HAPPY!!! 

Regret.

If the long term stats on sleeves would have been out when I was banded I would have done that instead.  Sleeves have better and faster weight loss but more important, long term they are safer.  I'm self pay, this was very expensive having surgery and then a revision surgery.

I'm so glad you responded. I want people to see the wide variety of responses.

I just noticed that you are a year post op (didn't notice before).  What is your opinion of the band?

I expect I am happy with my band for the most part...I helps keep my intake in check...  I dislike the flex in what i can and can not eat on a daily basis.  Chicken ok today...not so much tomorrow...  My weight loss is way to slow for my liking but that is mostly due to being misinformed from Dr and others.  I have been left on my own to figure out how to work the band and quite honestly don't feel super successful at times but .. I am mid stream to fixing that for myself.  I would have liked the education about the band to be more complete and consistent.  So many different answers to the same questions and then left to decide which one is the correct answer (yes I understand that for many of us and for many questions there are more then one answer) I like consistency and well...  I feel like I have been dealing with an insurance salesman for the length of this trip, some information was vital some was sugarcoated, and some was just telling me what i wanted to hear. 

Would I do it again....  umm ya... size 28-18 in 10 months  but there has been so much throwing up and slimming... (in the beginning much of that was due to eating to fast or to big of bites, I take total blame).  But see now I sit and wonder...have I hurt my band?  I mean its still working I expect (most days)  and other days...i eat more....I am still not entirely sure how much is the correct answer to what I should eat...I will continue to work on that :) 

I have really swung full circle. Right out of surgery I was loving it. I dropped 30 instantly. But then It slowed down and the hard work begun. That wasn't fun. I was watching and counting every morsel.

Then I had some port issues that needed repairing (that I couldn't pay for) and was HATING my band. I was one of the poor unfortunate having complications and didn't think they would ever happen to me.  But I raised some money and got my repair. YEAH

Then I got some restriction and started having troubles again...too tight, getting stuck, TOM is such a pain in the ass.

But here I sit 66 lbs down from where I started. Even with the inconveniences of the band, I love it. Because life at 300 was even more of an inconvenience. I couldn't have done this on my own.

I'm so happy I had surgery. Only regret is not doing it sooner!

Not happy....ECSTATIC!!!!!

YES! I am very happy! Although it is not as easy as I thought it would be ... I was told it is a tool but I didn't really understand that until I actually had my tool! Why am I happy ... because I take 1/4 of the pain medication I use to take for my Osteo Arthritis, I can walk a mile and not keel over, I can go down a slide with my 4 year old grand daughter. I actually like myself ... and so much more! I love my band!

Carol :-)

I could not be happier. I have quality of life back . I can do things I haven't done in 25 years