Confused about the band

Better Odds - did YOU really just say that????  with a surgery that doesn't have documented data no more than 3 years... Oh, that is really bright!

Complications maybe more documented in the lap band because millions of people are getting it done and there is long-term data to go on.

Millions of people have NOT gotten the VSG done, less data to go on, ya get it now?????  I don't have to tell you what that means? do I? That means, no body knows what the LONG-TERM EFFECTS ARE GONG TO BE...

Isn't this the Lap-Band forum? Maybe you should create your own forum for Lap band horror stories or something, your smart you can think of something...

And this is where our conversation ends b/c obviously you are right and I am wrong, even though the VSG has been done for YEARS (much longer then the band). A quick google could turn up all the facts you need on the VSG and it's stats vs. the bands (and they ARE better), but I am not going to "school" you since you are smart and know how to research. 

My grandmothers best friend had the VSG for cancer about 30 years ago, she is 92 and doing pretty awesome. I will take those long term effects LOL 

I know this must feel overwhelming to you right about now, but the good thing is...that this is not a race and you can take all the time you need to research all the different WLS that are out there. I'd like to offer you a few helpful tips in organizing your research if I may.

1. At the top of this page, close to your user name, you will see a link named "Bookmarks" every time you come across information that you want to save for future reference, all you have to do is click on that link and it will bookmark the page you are currently reading. You can also change the title of that page and have it reference the key information contained within the bookmarked page.

2. Spend as much time as humanly possible researching your options and remember that it's okay to change your mind over and over again.

3. This is probably the most important tip I can pass on to you. You are going to come across many posters (such as myself ) who you may perceive to be angry or overly emotional regarding your WLS choices.  The best gift you can give to yourself is to put aside your emotions while researching your choices and to really hear what the message is within all these tangled emotions.

Try to understand that ( I'll use myself as an example here ) when I'm sharing with you my opinion regarding the lap band....please keep in mind that it is not you personally whom I am against, it's the lap band I am against.

4. In my opinion...Your choice of WLS should not be a decision that is decided on between you and your surgeon...and here's why,

I'm going to use the Duodenal Switch WLS as an example..... The DS surgery is IMO the best WLS of all four of the WLS being offered today, but that doesn't mean it's for everyone ( you can ask a DS'er why over on the DS forum ). If you consult with a surgeon who does not perform the DS surgery...that surgeon will most likely steer you away from the DS and toward a surgery he performs because he does not want to lose you and more importantly your money.$$$$$

Surgeons did not go through the time and expense of medical school to not make money...This is their livelihood and they have to provide for their families too.This is purely a business decision on their part and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that...to a degree.

Out of the 4 main WLS being performed today....the lap band surgery is the money making surgery for WLS surgeons...why you ask...well let me tell you why...

1. It is a quick surgery and lap band surgeons can perform many of them in a single day $$$$$

2. Lap Bands seem to have the highest re-operation rate of all the WLS, therefore pretty much guaranteeing your surgeon a second surgery with you and your money $$$$$

3. Lap Band adjustments guarantee your surgeon more of your money $$$$$

We have a special name for lap band surgeons who perform multiple lap band surgeries almost everyday and they are....Conveyor Belt Surgeons. These CBS are not only performing 3 or 4 lap band surgeries in a day, they are performing 6 and 7 of these money making surgeries a day and this is exactly how Allergan the manufacturer of the Lap Band markets their product, The Lap Band to these surgeons at weight loss surgery conventions every year. These surgeons tend to only work in their offices 1 or 2 days a week. One of those days is set aside for new surgical consults $$$$$ and the other day is set aside for lap band adjustments. That means that it can take a very long time to be seen by your surgeon once you've already been banded.

If your band is too tight and you need to quickly get it unfilled, you will need to make an appointment and it can take up to a month before you can be fit into their schedule. My surgeon was so busy that he would have me come into the ER  between his surgeries so he could unfill my band $$$$$.

If your band is too loose and if you have chosen a CBS, then you could be waiting for an entire month or more just to get in and see your surgeon for that fill. My surgeon was a busy busy man, but he was very caring and he was able to squeeze me in whenever I needed an appointment. He even gave me his cell phone number so I could call him directly if I ever needed anything. He was a rare breed of doctor.

I sincerely adored my band surgeon, but it was the band itself that caused me and many others like me to suffer permanent damage. For this reason...please choose your surgery first and then choose a qualified surgeon.

For the above stated reasons... do not allow a surgeon to guide you in your choice of WLS. Surgeons are sales people too, they will tell you whatever they want to in order for them to close the deal and if that means lying and/or scaring the living **** out of regarding other WLS then that is exactly what they will do.

" Free " Weight Loss Seminars ( They're all free ) are another tool surgeons use for selling you the WLS they perform. Lately we are starting to see more CBS advertise that they perform all  the WLS, but once they get you there...they or their staff will talk you out of any surgery that they do not perform by scaring the crap out of you or flattering you and telling you that you don't need the bypass or DS surgeries because they are too extreme and you don't have that much too lose.$$$$$

Good Luck with your research and if there is anything I can help you with please feel free to ask me.

Lisa

Just think that right now surgeons in London are performing new weight loss surgeries. Including, non incision surgeries. There is a surgeon now in NYC who is performing weight loss surgery through the belly button (no outside scarring). Technology will only get better, but for now we can't wait till that happens. When I had my hip done I got the latest hardware (porcelain), now they have encrusted diamonds, can you imagine. That will be my other hip when the time comes. However, joking aside I would stick to what I already have knowing my body has not rejected it. I only hope that the future for weight loss surgeries improve and only get better. We have an ongoing weight issue here in America and it has become an epidemic. I worry our children/grand children's children will suffer from the same disease. Now, we must count on our surgeons to perform their best and the rest is work, hope, and pray that we don't suffer anymore, beacuse nothing is 100%

Have a great day :)

One thing Nana failed to mention is that in her years living with the band, she saw her doctor about 60 times for fills and unfills.  I live 75 miles away from my surgeon,  If I saw him an average of ten times a year, I'd would have lost 10 days of work either unpaid or used up my PTO time.  We have to use 3 days PTO before we can get into our sick leave account.  If I'm going to be away from work that many days,   I'd rather go on a real vacation.  I think she is doing you a disservice by not disclosing how many times she saw her doctor to be successful.  Yea, it worked for her, but 60 visits?!  Yikes.

Informed consent is a sacred tenet of medical care for a reason.  Sadly, you cannot always depend on a surgeon to know or tell you all that you need to know.  I am not so militant against the band that I think it should not be performed, but I do think one has to be very, very careful because it seems that it is marketed in less than fair and ethical terms by some.  Please read all the good, bad, and ugly about all surgeries before settling on any one.

Dear Mutts,

I don't want to burst your bubble...BUT I only lived about 20 minutes from my surgeon when I got my band, this was part of why I got my band, and worked only 10 minutes away, so it was very convenient for me to get a fill which takes about 1 minute, so I did whatever it took for me to lose my weight and stay complication free with my band. Those 60 fills were not what you THINK they were, some of those fills were because I had my band emptied twice since I've been banded and each time you get the band unfilled you must slowly get it refilled each month, so some of those fills were starting over, and it did not matter if I got 100 fills my insurance paid for them and if they were needed I got them.

And as far as taking leave...you got to be kidding...it only takes 1 minute for a fill...that only takes a lunch break, also I am going on 7 years post and I have not needed a fill now for 2 years and my life is carefree, I actually no longer take vitamins like I should, but I have no vitamin deficiencies....how much does it cost you for bi yearly or yearly labs? Cost for vitamins? and I hear that if a DSer miss one regimen of VERY COSTLY vitamins that they must take several times daily FOREVER...this could cause some serious issues...and Iron infusions cost? and other costs due to malabsorption?

My total cost for my band for that last 2 years have been ZERO...small price to pay to get where I needed to be complication free and healthy.

 Right YOUR cost is ZERO, but this person is SELF PAY, which means they will have to pay each and every time they go into the doctors office. How compliant do you think a person can be when they have to choose to buy groceries for their family or get a fill? 

Your right choice, is not the right choice for everyone. 

Damn, your fills only took 1 minute???

At my clinic, you had to wait about 15 minutes to get checked in, got your vitals checked, were stashed in another waiting room for as long as 30-45 minutes (depending on how far behind they were running) and then you'd finally get back to the fluoroscopy suite.  They wouldn't do fills without x-ray.  

My port has flipped and even with high tech equipment, it took them on average a good 10 minutes to get into my port.  Lots of digging with the needles.  The sensation of the needle skidding off the plastic top of the port, where they missed hitting the membrane, is so gross!

Once the needle was in, I had to stand up and drink barium while they added, removed, added, removed until they decided on the correct volume.  Then back on the table to remove the needle.  For whatever reason, it's really hard to get the needle out of my port, too.  Fun times.

So for me, factoring in drive time and the entire fill appointment process, it's at least a 2 hour endeavor.  And I work at the same medical center where I got my fills!

K9ophile wasn't talking about YOU getting YOUR 1 minute fills.  She was trying to enlighten the OP that factoring in the cost of band maintenance includes things like travel time, convenience of your clinic's location, out of pocket expenses for fills and/or ER visits.  These are all things that should be considered when looking at band surgery.

It's fantastic that you have had to pay nothing for your band and its maintenance, but you're not the norm.

Yes...most of my fills only took about 1 minute and I was out....I've incurred costs with my fills over the years, but my insurance footed most of the cost.

I know fills can get expensive depending on where you live, I've heard of fills costing as much as $1500 dollars in New York and California which should be criminal...

My fills at most have only cost about $10- 120 dollars, but again I've had many.

My band adjustments only cost me three dollars.