Band users--would you do it again?

Hell no!!!  I never thought I would have so many surgeries in my lifetime.

The Lap Band is a good surgery if you like having surgery  and other medical procedures.  I personally am mad as hell right now that I have to go under the knife again - I have to risk my life again.  If you like to get under, go inside big machines to get your band checked and filled.  If you like needles and never knowing if it is going to work or not.  If you have a lot of time and money to burn, the Band is just right for you. OMG, the list goes on.  Please think twice, and cut once.

This morning I was talking to my mom about my adventure with the band.  Damn I've been through so much that I chose not to remember. 

Good Luck with whatever you choose.

I am going on 6 years post op and YES...I would do it again...there is no other weight loss surgery ANY BETTER OR SAFER AT THIS TIME for ME than the lap band...so when surgeons invent a weight loss surgery that has NO complications and great quality of life and weight just drops off without exercising or having to watching what I eat..............THEN I will revise..until then it's me and my band...

But I paid my dues with my band...I follow my post op diet, I got fills/unfills when needed, I exercised (walked daily during my losing phase) and followed band rules especially the first 2 years...NOW at 6 years I barely exercise...I may take a walk once or twice a week with my husband and we eat out weekly and I eat what I want, my band is NOW keeping my weight down with little to no effort.

I eat what I want and still fit in my size 12 jeans .......last night I ate half a sloppy joe on toasted wheat with melted cheese 1/2 cup of my home made coleslaw (yum) and a big weigh****chers ice cream sandwich and I was stuffed this is how life is with me and my band going on 6 years......I enjoy eating more than ever with my band and it's been the best thing that I've done for myself...........Good luck

Nana, I just hope I can get to where you are in about a year, or so.  Sounds ideal!

My  band has worked for me and YES I would do it again.

I chose the surgery that I thought best suited MY lifestyle...  so far so good.

You have to make your own decision based on research.  Talk to your physician as well. 

Be honest with yourself about what your food issues are, and hopefully that'll help steer you in the right direction.

Best of luck to you!

Here's a fairly comprehensive article about lapbanding. There's a lot of good information in it.

http://obesitysurgery-info.com/band-complications.htm

Wow, now I'm just thinking everything. I really had my mind set on the lap band, but it seems to have a lot more problems than I had expected to hear about.  

I had my surgery back in 2002. Since then, I've watched people have band removal and revisions over and over. The people who love their bands usually are the ones who have had them less than 5 years. You'll notice a lot of people around 2 years out start experiencing some not so nice side effects. Not everyone, but enough to make you think twice.

I was the same way... I had my surgery scheduled and everything, came thisclose to getting a band, but divine intervention had other plans.

I would recommend continuing to read the posts here on the LapBand forum and then compare them to what you see on the VSG forum.  The VSG does what the LapBand promises to do (and does for some, but not all), only without the fill/unfill maintenance, risk of needing more surgeries to correct problems later on and without getting stuck or puking.

Good luck with whatever you choose!

In a heartbeat I would do it again. I'm down 116 lbs and I know I couldn't have done it without my band. Everyone is saying it gave them their life back, and if I were older I'd say it too, but I'm going to say that it gave me a life. I was 21 when I had my surgery and had been overweight since I was little (I'm 23 now). Is it easy? Oh goodness, no! But is it worth it? Every day I thank God for this little device in me.

And everyones experience is different. All of the failed stories have different reasonings behind them. I just think it's so personal and everyone is different that you just need to figure out if it's right for you.

NO, I would not. 

I can tell you from being both a Lap-Band patient and a VSG patient I would go with the VSG hands down. Eating is a much better experience for me with the VSG.  With the Lap-Band, at least for the last year or so, it was always changing and quite nightmarish to eat in public.  Some days I was super tight and some days I was fine.  Then towards the end it kept getting progressively tighter and tighter over the months to the point where I was waking up choking on acid every 20 minutes.  My experience with the VSG is that your restriction level is consistent and you go into a meal knowing what the outcome is going to be.  I now eat and get full off of a tiny amount of food, not stuck but full. I can eat a dense dry protein and not have any issues.

I haven't had a procedure like a D/S or RNY so I can't comment on those other than to say that my doctor and I agreed that those were not an option for me because of other medical conditions.