Living with the Lap Band does not have to be in Misery

I was just reading posts from people indicating the Lap Band causes more complications than other surgeries, causes vomiting at every meal and the quality of life is very poor and we lap banders can't enjoy real food, and soon the Sleeve will take over banding.

Now I am a REAL veteran bandster from the old school. (the reason I mentioned REAL, when I posted my before and after pictures on the main board some RNy's mentioned my pictures were not real and I was a troll  as if lap banders can't lose weight )..we use to teach newbies and warn them about following the post op diet plan and also WARN them about band damage and its consequences, many vets got flamed and was told we did not know what we were talking about, I remember MANY when they got their bands placed even Midwestergirl..aka wasabubblebut, she was also warned about fills and not following up with her surgeon in Mexico but she was a know- it -all and did not heed advice and she suffered horrible band damage and of course slippage and revised over the Sleeve and went on a crusade of band bashing...

We used to give support to those who lost or slipped their bands and gave them advice..NOW as you can see VETS NO LONGER DO THAT, we let many dig their own ditch and of course there are many that had REAL complications with their band not caused by being irresponsible or band abuse -- some people had some serious complications caused by their surgeon or their body rejecting the band, usually if a surgeon screw up the patient will know this immediately -- these people have my great sympathy.....,

OK...now getting to the how the Lap Band is MEANT to work and how to live with it successfully and complication free.

1. Make sure you research your surgeon thoroughly and ideally if you can get a surgeon that ONLY DOES BANDS...they seem to be a bit more dedicated to band patients and aftercare, my original surgeon was certified with the center of excellence but sometimes that don't mean nothing because they were manipulating my fills and I end up changing surgeons, but you get the point...make sure your band surgeon has done at least 500 these days ideally 1000 bands.
Also make sure you close by to your surgeon and not 8 hours and god-forbid if you go to Mexico which is NOT recommended make sure you have follow up care already booked BEFORE your surgery, I've seen horror stories with my own eyes..one girl got her band placed in Mexico and my old surgeon in Virgina did her follow up care, her lap band eroded into her stomach (due to a port infection from non-sterilized needles in Mexico) and my surgeon WOULD NOT REMOVE IT, his agreement to her was to only DO FILLS AND not complications....due to legal reasons ..so MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND this clearly before going out of country those are real added risks you take.

2. VERY IMPORTANT- make sure you get pre op testing, make sure your body and esophagus can handle the band some people just are not great candidates for the band.

3. VERY IMPORTANT- once you get your band placed make sure you follow your post op diet and don't deviate from your 4/6 weeks of liquids/mushy food...trust me I've seen and heard it all...one girl went out to eat at Olive Garden and slipped her band before it healed at six weeks post op, so follow your post op diet, never eat solids because you CAN, your stomach needs to heal and the band needs to settle and form scar tissue to hold it in place to prepare you for tight fills and living with your band years out...so think about if you want to keep your band forever.

4. VERY IMPORTANT - please allow your band to heal BEFORE you start getting fills, I've seen many slip their band band and lose it before 6 months post op and suffer horrible pain, burning and band damage because they got fills at 2 weeks before their bands heal, I can't believe surgeons would give a patient a fill at 2 weeks, this happens all the time, if a surgeon offered me a fill at two weeks post op  I would run and find a new one quick -- it's all common sense.

5. VERY IMPORTANT - please allow your body to heal ESPECIALLY YOUR PORT area before heavy exercising, if you need to get some form of exercise in..TAKE LONG WALKS, also ask your surgeon when the best time to do heavy exercise at the gym, this may prevent unnecessary surgeries for port replacements, surgeons stitch the port to a muscle and it needs times to heal firmly..I am going on 6 years and I've never had ongoing port pain, I had some minor discomfort in my first year and that was due to healing and weight loss sometimes when you lose massive weight with the band the port may shift and stick out, but once your weight stabilize, any minor discomfort usually will go away.

6. Fills can be very mysterious, I've had MANY and NONE have been the exact same, in the beginning your surgeon will fill you based on your current weight and hunger level and how much weight you have lost, FILLS are NEVER automatic, sometimes you may see your surgeon and you may not need a fill depending on how well you are doing. Surgeons only fill you when you NEED a fill not because you want one. How do you know you need a fill? Many already know this, but of course once you heal and back to normal most people will need a few fills until they reach their sweet spot, restriction will NEVER ever be the same each day, something you need to understand, even when you reach your sweet spot there will be days where you can eat a little bit more than others, so you will have to work with this, also your band is filled with saline and it will tighten during stress, mentrstal cycles, high elevations..even cold water will suddenly tighten the band and so on so you need to keep your band adjusted to allow a little wiggle room for sudden tightness. How do you know if you are too tight? If you are too tight you WILL KNOW...it will hurt to eat, you will have automatic vomiting at night in your sleep and you will have to sleep in a recliner...if this ever happens it's time to remove saline, this type of fill will cause band damage if kept too long..

7. Everyone is different what has worked for me and kept me complication free going on 6 years is I adjusted my saline for "losing mode" and "maintenance mode" what I mean by "losing mode" is when I am trying to lose weight I will adjust my band a bit tighter but being "tighter" comes with greater risk and stricter eating rules, meaning, the tighter I restrict my band I will suffer more side effects if I don't follow rules to the T.  When my band is tighter, I tend to stick to band friendly mushy foods and protein shakes this will minimize vomiting and complications, also when my band is very tight, I will not eat a variety of solid foods that I know would cause me problems, I tend to stick to my plan until I am satisfied with weight loss, also let me clarify tightness, I never kept my band so tight to where I could not eat any solids, I was always able to eat solids even if were a few bites.  Once I am satisfied with weight loss, I back off a little saline and got a small unfill because I don't want to "live" with a tight band forever I fear complications so I "live" with a moderately restricted band for maintenance this is what have prevented me from having band damage.

8. Exercise and water is VERY IMPORTANT with the band, water helps flush out fat and keep weight loss moving and exercise helps you lose weight quicker and steady and helps stabilized your weight while in maintenance mode, this is why you see so many gain every pound back if they lost weight the WRONG WAY...and depended heavily on the band and not exercised and trust me at some point you will get unfilled and when the surgeon unfills the band you can EASILY gain back 40 pounds in 1 month trust me on that one even eating healthy...the band will screw up your metabolism... it puts your body in starvation mode and if you dare get saline removed and start eating "normal meals" you can easily gain weight back but if you have been exercising and walking you will not gain much back.

9. Maintenance mode - I am currently in maintenance mode with my band and  regarding those rumors of lap banders living in pain and not able to eat a variety of foods is a myth! Since I've taken care of my band and avoided band damage, I can now enjoy all the foods that I ate prior to banding, I eat every thing from ribs, burgers, chicken, steak, salads, bread (even now I need my bread toasted; thick bread will give me problems even with moderate restriction) so I just ask to to have my bread toasted when eating out, also I can eat all fruits, apples, cherry's, bananas, melons, green veggies, and of course sweets, I am living the life with my band now that I envisioned, sometimes if I eat too late in the evening, I will chew a few papaya tablets before bed and this will help ease digestion quickly so I don;t get reflux...I can eat anything I want now in peace and I enjoy food now more before banding because I get full on half the food I ate before banding .....because I used my band with common sense...Enjoy your Saturday....I am off now to a picnic.....


Edited to add: I forgot another very important thing to dispel a myth,  we lap banders have the most NORMAL life after surgery than any other surgery, if we forget our multivitamin it won't kill us or put our life at risks...we can pretty much eat what we want with no health consequences, some surgeries if they god-forbid miss a vitamin it puts their life at risk....this is not bashing any other type of surgery but I just want to put out there living with the band at least for me is carefree, I don't know what I would do now at 6 years post op if I had to rely heavily on a vitamin regimen of about 30 pills 5 times a day. FOREVER to stay alive ....even when the excitement is gone about weight loss......I really don't need anymore fills at this point, so my surgery is maintenance and carefree at this point ...thank god.

Good post Naomi.  I still love my band and work with it.  Don't do those bashing games.  Don't understand them.  Take care.
Z

Thank you for this post Naomi. I'm 7 months out and just had my FIRST fill a week ago today! I'm down 54# to date with about 25 to go. I love love love my band at this point!
It was good for me to read and re-read your post. A reminder of things we need to remember!
Have yourself a fantabulous weekend.

Why is it necessary to call people out *personally* in your post and pepper your useful information with snide comments?  Do you HAVE to name names? You could opt to say "someone on this board previously," or something of that nature. Have some tact!!!

No kidding!  You lost me at targeting an OH member!  This is a support site, not a bash other members site- shame on you! 

While your post contains some useful information, I disagree with you on several points.

The first is as the other posters have pointed out...definitely not cool to call out a fellow OHer...especially one as successful as WasABubbleButt....especially when she has not been around lately to respond to/correct this comment.

I also feel the need to point out for other bandsters who may have complications that sometimes complications occur despite being a completely compliant patient. I followed my eating plan and had numerous follow-ups. When my band got too tight, I called my surgeon right away and got in as soon as possible for an unfill. My surgeon was also very thorough, often completing my adjustments with fluoroscopy; however, random changes in tightness after my unfills continued. There are many complications possible with the band that are in no way related to the patient's level of compliance.

The other thing I would like to say is that I actually feel like my life is far more normal with the sleeve than it ever was with my band. My restriction is consistent and I do not have episodes of being stuck, no shoulder pain, no vomiting, and the satisfied (or full) feeling after eating is much more natural with the sleeve.

Lindsey

 Linsey,

Congrats on your success with your Sleeve! Do you know many lap banders support those who's band slipped and had complications? In fact we wish you well in what ever surgery you choose and wish you well with it. Band slippage and complications IS NOT NEW, it has been occurring since I got my band over 5 years ago and I am sure it will continue... this is why we vets used to give newbies warning, I LISTENED TO WARNINGS GIVEN TO ME and followed rules especially in the beginning.

Those who suffer complications get support, it's a difference in coming here to share your complications MOST PEOPLE WANT TO HEAR about complications.. I DO, it lets us know that things can go bad with the band, I don't like hearing about all flowers and roses either with the band, but to come here and disrupt the forum hassass newbies and say we are doomed and the band is a piece of crap is a blanket statement it may have been a piece of crap TO YOU and those who suffered band slippage but MANY OF US GET THE SAME FEELING THAT YOU ARE GETTING WITH YOUR SLEEVE, FULL AND SATISFIED AND NO VOMITING....you see the Sleeve IS NOT PERFECT EITHER so for you to PAINT A PERFECT PICTURE OF TRANQUILITY IS ALSO A DISSERVICE...IN FACT MANY SLEEVERS DUMP, HAVE LONG TERM VITAMIN DEFICIENCIES, MANY REGAIN WEIGHT OR HAVE LACK OF WEIGHT LOSS AND MANY ALSO VOMIT...SO YOU SEE NO WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY IS THE SAME WITH EVERYONE.


Regarding your comment about it not being cool calling a fellow OH out...OH YES IT IS COOL, in fact I used her as example because she has harassed and terrorized MANY on this forum for a few years after she had her band removed and revised over to the Sleeve and told people how stupid and crazy they are for getting the band and if they got the band they would be getting a second surgery and would not lose any weight....IS THAT COOL BEHAVIOR?. 

I remember MANY over 2-5 years ago when THEY WERE NEWBIES on this board I SEEN them abuse their own bands with vomiting and being too tight and being irresponsible with their bands you see this is why it makes me so angry every time I come here and see all this band bashing and the bashers MAKE it appear like being banded is horrible and you can't eat solid food and everyone is doomed to get their bands removed not only IS THIS NOT COOL it's down right criminal, sure the band can be finicky, it can be VERY DANGEROUS TOO, IF YOU DON'T FOLLOW POST OP RULES or KEEP IT DANGEROUSLY TOO TIGHT...that is WHY we GOOD VETS used to WARN NEWBIES...MANY VETS WHO POST HERE NOW...I AM NOT CALLING NAMES and they are JUST AS IRRESPONSIBLE AS SOME OF THE BASHERS...THEY ARE SNEAKY because they HONESTLY DON'T CARE if NEWBIES SLIP THEIR BANDS BECAUSE A FEW OF THEM HAVE SLIPPED THEIR OWN BANDS AND ARE WALKING ON SHAKY GROUND WITH THEIR OWN BANDS AND MISERY LOVES COMPANY...I TELL THE TRUTH AND TELL IT LIKE IT IS ...MANY CAN'T STAND ME FOR THAT REASON AND I DON'T CARE....I think it's my responsibility to warn those WHO DO CARE AND WANT TO KEEP THEIR BANDS A LONG TIME LIKE I DO.

IS THAT COOL BEHAVIOR for band bashers to constantly come here and attack Innocent newbies while they are about to have a life changing surgery? Or if they are newly post ops and scare them to think they made a stupid decision and they will have horrible complications and no weight loss?

MOST people come here for REAL support and NOT BS, those who hang around typically are trouble makers and not happy with their own lives, but you got some good vets who pop in from time to time since they HAVE A LIFE  and try to honestly help newbies like I do, I am blunt sometimes but I am a very honest and a helpful person, many SEE THAT.  Have a great day.

We are never going to agree on the WasABubbleButt factor, I still think your comment was pretty rude and the defense of, "but...but...she was rude first!" doesn't really resound with me.

I am all about everyone getting the type of support they need.

No one, newbie or vet, deserves to be attacked on OH. But, with the high rate of post-op complications with the band, newbies also deserve to hear from the many people *****gret their decision to get the band and why. While some surgeons are starting to attempt to sway patients away from the band, most patients only see/hear what is presented in the seminars and billboards and TV commercials. Possible complications are presented, but glossed over and many excited pre-ops feel, "surely that won't happen to me. I'll be the success."

I know, because that is how I felt. I wanted my band to work so badly that I carefully followed the rules, spent money on a personal trainer 3 hours a week, joined a gym, always attended my f/u appointments. Even when my surgeon told me a revision was going to be my best bet, I continued to believe the sweet spot was there somewhere and worked with the band for several more months. Then I thought I would just do it on my own before I would revise, so I tried that too, having the band completely unfilled.

That is why it is insulting to hear someone say that most complications are due to patient non-compliance. Non-compliance may result in complications, sure, but that is not the case for the majority of the complications. You can be non-compliant with any procedure, yet many revisions are wildly successful.

My sleeve has been a picture of tranquility, so for me to praise the sleeve is just my version of telling the truth. We have lots of sleeve vets on the VSG forum despite their being out living their busy lives. No WLS is perfect, that is true, but I don't hear much about the problems you mentioned with the sleeve in the VSG community.

Anyway, newbies deserve to hear the good, the bad, and the ugly and then make up their own minds. If someone really takes the time to learn the stats and compare the number of success stories to the number of failure stories and they still choose the band, well, then they made an informed decision and best of luck to them.

I am happy for people who succeed in whatever WLS they choose. I don't want people's bands to fail, but it is heartbreaking to read stories, especially self-pay stories, where they are having complications but now can't afford to have the band repaired or removed. Even the most successful bandster may require a repair at some point. I think all of the supportive people on this board want to avoid anyone finding themselves in that situation and we just have different ideas on what the best way to do that is.

Lindsey

Hi Nana, 

 As a very new Newbie (my surgery date is for June 17, 2011)  I want to thank you so much for your post!  You have made me feel so much more at ease and what you posted was just good common sense.  I look forward to reading more  posts by you in the future.

Thank you so much,
MomoJule

Naomi just doesn't want to understand that those who may not have followed " The rules " did not do because of non compliance. They did so because their bands would not allow them to eat
" The Bandster Way "

I lost 70 lbs with my band and have kept it off, but the price I paid was not worth it at all. I have been 38 lbs away from being a " normal " BMI for almost 5 years now and I cannot give the band credit for being able to maintain my weight loss. It was ME and only me who had the determination despite the SEVERE pain I was in to not gain any of my pre op weight back.

I am finally free of the band and I will to the day I die try to stop pre ops from getting banded. I have NEVER in all my days here on OH told any bandster pre or post ops that they were going to fail or that they were doomed to failure.

Nablowme is an ass who IMO helps me in my quest to spread the word about the band. I mean who the hell has 70 fills/unfills calls that normal SMDH.

She has me blocked because she can't stand how stupid some of us make her look.