Lap Band Warning!!

 Hello,

I am sorry to hear that you endured so many unpleasant experiences with your lap band, you are not alone, in fact this is nothing new, I have been hearing the exact SAME stories since I was banded over 5 years ago, in fact I've heard a lot worse than what you described with your band.

I have been a frequent poster here for over 5 years and I have never seen you post about your problems, MANY have gotten help with those things you mentioned about being stuck and not able to eat in restaurants, I laugh about this because I am at ideal restriction and if I did not drink something warm prior to eating, I would probably have embarrassing episodes just like you do at restaurants, it is not very hard for me to order a warm tea before starting my meal while enjoying my favorite food at restaurants with my husband or friends, I don't have to go to the bathroom and vomit. I KNEW getting the lap band that my eating WOULD BE DIFFERENT FOREVER, IF I WANTED RESTRICTION. That is the small price I pay to keep my weight down is to drink warm liquids prior to a regular meal to loosen up my esophagus to enjoy my meals without being stuck, I don't have to do this at home since I have band friendly foods at home at all times.

BUT the one thing I LOVE ABOUT MY BAND IS THAT, if I wanted to eat regularly without the fear of getting food stuck, then I would simply go back to my surgeon and ask for a little bit of saline out, I did JUST THAT FOR THE LAST 2 years, and I was able to maintain my weight loss until I had hormonal issues and I GAINED back 30 pounds, so I went back to my surgeon and had saline added back, this is what I LOVE about MY band is that if I want to EAT NORMALLY just like PRE OP, I CAN, I can get saline removed, and if I want to get HELP from my band and let it do 50 percent of the work, then I keep my band a bit TIGHT like I am now.

I wonder if people like you that have/had problems eating with the band just could not adapt to the new eating? I wonder if there are people that had their bands placed wrong, this HAS happened a lot where the surgeon place the band too high and people had a very hard time eating with it regardless of how loose they were, my heart goes out to you, I am sorry that you had to experience a hardship with your banded life. I've also heard of many cases where the patient band was too tight for their anatomy and they could not get any fills because the band was too tight being empty, some of these things are the surgeons fault, but again, the surgeon can argue that placing the band can have unforeseen problems based on the patients medical history, how their body adapts to the band or how their esophagus adapts to the band, ALL people are not good candidates for the band this is why it's so important to get pre op screening.

I am happy you found a surgery that gives you peace and you are able to eat all healthy foods with your Sleeve, I am fortunate enough to experience those same things with my band I always could eat all foods with my band, the only thing I have to be very careful with is thick bread when I am tightly restricted, I usually toast my bread to enjoy it.

But again, all surgeries are not a ONE FIT ALL, some people complain about the Sleeve too, some complain about not enough weight loss and some even complain about NO weight loss and constant heartburn and burning and a few long term Sleevers complain about vitamin deficiencies and feeling tired and weak all the time, so NO surgery is completely perfect, it's just want you want to deal with.  Remember the Sleeve is STILL NEW and the verdict is still not out on the safety of the Sleeve long term or its effectiveness of long lasting restriction, in fact someone posted a picture of what they can eat on the Sleeve board at 8 months out last week and I laughed because there is NO WAY I could eat that much on a loose day with my band at 6 years post op, I would actually GAIN weight back if I ate that much every day, I am not good at keeping weight off and I am thankful my band is helping me do just that at 6 years.

People have shared their complications and dislikes with the band for many years, it's never going to be a perfect fit for all people, it works great for some and can be a disaster for others, I don't mind people like you to share their bad experiences, it's those who come here constantly with an ax to grind and lie about the band and constantly ba**** and say it does not work and say it has more complications that other surgeries which is NOT true, ALL  surgeries carries risk, some greater that others, and TO DATE the Lap band IS the safest surgery there is, until the medical community change that, I will continued to believe it. 

Thanks again for sharing your story.

That was very well said, Naomi, and that was a very accurate depiction of life as a post-op bandster, as well.

We are all in this weight loss struggle together, so the exchange of conversation and experiences is healthy, as it gives everyone an opportunity to share their experiences with both the surgeries and the aftermath, if you will.  We learn from each other in these forums, and I personally thank God for the forums.

No one needs to bash anyone else, rather we should continually encourage each other because at the end of the day, we are all after one desired goal PERMANENT WEIGHT LOSS.

Have a wonderful day, All.  And where ever you are in your weight loss efforts, best wishes to you along the way towards goal weight!

Thank you Nana for your posted reply. You made some very good points. Some I had thought about when I had the band and some that I had not. I did know that I would have to make lifetime adjustments in my eating before I got the band, as the VSG also requires many of the same life changes. I was prepared for that, but I was not prepared for having problems with very soft food, even soups, when out in public. I never tried the idea of drinking something warm shortly before eating, because my surgeon and staff were adamant about no drinking 30 minutes before, during or after a meal. I also wondered about whether placing the band in the exact same place on everybody was correct. As we say with the various surgeries, not everyone is the same, and I often wondered if the same applied to the band, and whether it should be higher or lower on different people? But my surgeon and staff were not open to discussing things like this (which was one of the reasons I found a new surgeon when I had my revision surgery).

You are correct when you state that you had not seen me post here before. I had generally just stayed on the VSG boards, but was encouraged by a lap band person who was having problems, to come here and post my experience, so that those thinking about the lap band would get both sides of the story and not just the good side.

But thank you for posting your reply, it was very helpful for many people and it was very friendly. I wish you continued good luck with your band!

will insurance pay for a third revision

 
Many ins co's are going to a one surgery per lifetime policy.  If your ins covers WLS and if the once in a lifetime rule isn't something your ins is doing, and if you meet all the basic WLS criteria, yes.