Great Article by Dr. Fielding about the Lap Band.

Dr. George Fielding wrote this article 13 Things to Know About Living with the Lap Band, it is a great read!  Check it out! 

This is the biggest bunch of hogwash I have ever read in my life!!!

Obviously the entire article is not to your liking, but what specifically, do you disagree with?     

He just makes the whole thing sound like an easy walk in the park. It probably works that way for less than half the people who are banded if they are lucky. So many of us did follow all those rules of eating tiny bites and chewing well, eating slowly and staying focused on eating only to end up with food getting stuck anyway or food expanding once it gets to the stomach. He says we should have been able to eat any food including breads and pastas but just had to go slow. Well I've been there tried that and any food like that would turn to glue and make a giant blob in your stomach either making you slime for hours or have to run for the nearest bathroom to hurl.

Then there is the see your surgeon often unless your insurance is changed like many of us and we no longer had bariatric coverage and couldn't afford to self pay several hundred bucks to see our surgeon. Then we'd just have to wing it on our own until something went wrong then we'd have to some how find the money. If there is a slip or other serious issues you have to just live with them because they can't afford surgery.

He is describing a life if perfect with the band sadly that isn't reality for the majority of us. Unless you have lived life with a bad band you can never understand the pain and suffering so many of us went thru. I along with thousands of others have permanent damage from our bands and are reminded daily of the true horrors of this torture tool!

Those are all very well stated facts!   I have several friends who had the band and had no problems and had friends with nothing but problems. Some lost minimal to no weight and were noncompliant from day one and that was their only problem - no weight loss.   Others followed all instructions and had issues, regardless.  

I think the lap band is one  those procedures that works for a few, for a while, but they eventually move to BoB or give up.

Also, isn't the band supposed to come out after 10 years?  I've seen people with theirs longer and wonder if there are risks of leaving it in. 

I'm truly sorry you had issues with your band.   

Doctor Fielding is in the minority when it comes to recommending the band. Many practices are only removing bands at this point. 

It's simply not a good device, long term or short term. It sure makes a lot of money for some people, however, so I can understand why they'd want to keep people in the dark. 

Very good point.   Did you revise your's or do you still have it?

i have seen the same with many surgeons, they do not like doing the band and opt for VSG, unless the patient is adamant on having the band.  It's good that we do have many surgeons keeping the long term success of their patients in mind.  And furthermore educating them. It's rare, but they are out there 

The band caused too much damage for me to safely revise to another surgery. I did speak with a specialist about having the sleeve, but he didn't think it was a good idea due to the diaphragmatic damage and reflux I have. He thought it might be possible to do the DS, but I wasn't willing to take the chance of more referred left shoulder pain since it was so severe when I had the band. (And I still have bouts of it from the damage the band did. And I had the band removed in 2005.) 

 I don't proclaim to be an expert by any means, but I had my band placed in 2003 and have seen so many people go through misery (myself included)... the left shoulder pain is such a widespread complication. The band's close proximity to the diaphragm is just so dangerous. I can't imagine why I ever thought the band was a reasonable option in the first place. I guess I didn't know as much back then. I agree with you that it's a good thing that surgeons keep the long term success of their patients in mind. I would hope that they'd try to dissuade anyone from choosing the band at this point, knowing the statistics. 

I fully admit that I get very upset when I see people still choosing the band. I've tried for more than a decade now to help people avoid the complications that are so prevalent.  I get my undies in a bundle over the band, for real. (obviously.) 

I too had difficulty with the band. I recently had it revised to a gastric. My surgeon said a normal 2 hour surgery took 4 hours because of the damage from the band. I was a long term bander at 6-1/2 years. I don't know many people past the 10 year mark. That's the problem. The band hasn't been tested long term. No one knows what it does to the body long term.