ABC's of Revision III "Banded Blues"

Sue I know you had a lousy experience with the band but not everyone does.  I know a lady who is a revision from VBG like me and she had the DS and was in the hospital from day of surgery last April till January with complications.  Others at my support groups I attend love their DS and I think that is great.  Worse case scenario I get the band removed in the future and go back to dieting.  After my stomach stapling failed I still managed to keep my weight at goal 113 lbs for an additional 5 - 6 years WITH NO SUPPORT.  The majority of my life I have been slim and with all the supports I have now I will deal with whatever the future holds.   I don't care what surgery people have and I never want to be responsible for shoving my choice as the only one.  I remember when I had the VBG 21 years ago and that was considered the superior surgery and the best?  Well I know better now along with almost everyone else and who knows what new and improved surgeries will come along in the future. In Canada I know people who have been banded since 2001, some with problems some without.  Not everyone will wind up in dire straits.  I remember a lot of negative people saying I could never reach goal with a lapband and now that I am below goal people (some) still want to say it won't last.  None of us know how our surgeries will impact us years from now.  I am pretty wise as to all possibilities after having first had wls 21 years ago and not exactly naive.

Donna, I totally get--and wrote about--the fact that some people do well and others do not. What I'm responding to is the LapBand Mantra, in which a HUGE percentage of people are convinced that if someone did not have a marvelous experience, it was because that someone screwed up.  Maybe band was placed incorrectly..,maybe there were not appropriate fills...maybe they didn't chew..maybe, maybe....maybe.  B()LL****!!! People do that because they are trying (fairly successfully, at that) to convince themselves that THEIR band will be just fine because THEY had a good surgeon and THEY got appropriate adjustments and THEY chewed their food well.  They are trying to convince themselves that all they have to do is their part and the band will do its part. Too bad it isn't true. I'm not trying to talk anyone into any surgery.  I'm trying to point out the lies they are being fed.  They include the "as long as I do everything right" story...and the "you can always get another adjustment" crap...and the "safest surgery" (that would be not counting how many banded people lose little or no weight and go on to die from the morbid obesity that was killing them pre-op...technically not counted as surgical mortalities but morally they should be)...the "well those results don't count because they've changed the technique" myth...and my very least favorite...the "x-pounds lost forever" with the band announcements...because "forever" in this case means until an "unfill" or erosion or slippage or other reason to have the band removed and the whole deal goes south.  So much for forever. I understand that many people don't want or need malabsorption.  So I would never suggest the DS to them.  And, I think that some people may be (IMHO) a little too young for malabsorptive surgery of any kind.  I suspect that many people have the "wrong" approach to life for the DS...I think it takes an inquisitive, assertive patient able to advocate for him or herself even if the doctor disagrees.  Too many of our medical professionals have no clue what the DS is and if someone doesn't feel comfortable "reminding" their PCP that he has to view their situation differently and prescribe differently and all that...they should not have the DS. I'm really not trying to "sell" my surgery.  But I am trying to put out the voice of experience with the two wls's I've had and I'm willing to speak the truth in spite of the unpopularity of it.  I hope your success continues. Sue

Sue it's ironic that in Ontario, Canada where I live the only 2 surgeries that are covered are the RNY (which is pushed) and the DS which OHIP will pay for a wee bit more reluctantly and only available out of country.  Those of us who choose Lapband in Ontario have to be self pay as it is still counted as  "experimental". We also have to go against the flow of  doctors pushing malabsorption for those of us that don't desire it.  So we consider us to be strong advocates and assertive and we have to put our money where are mouths are.   I certainly agree that the lapband does not work for everyone though the odds are better if you have excellent surgeon and aftercare but even that's not always going to guarantee the outcome.  Sometimes there are complications or failures regardless and that's the gamble you take.  I also know that in Ontario our aftercare covers fills for minimum 5 years and one clinic for a lifetime.  The two major clinics also cover lifetime complications including at no cost a new band if there is slippage or other reason to replace band or port like leaks.  Scary when I read that a lot of bandsters in the States have no clinic warranty if they have a problem and makes more sense to me why so many don't lose more or get to goal.  Heck some of them can't even access fills so of course that would be useless having a band that is not getting adjusted.  But if I had just gone by the OH Lapband forum before my revision I would of been scared silly to have the band especially as a revision.  Instead I have only thrown up twice in 22 months and enjoy most of the same foods including desserts.  Sure I can't eat nearly as much, but that's the whole point of a purely restrictive surgery.  But because I feel satisfied sooner it doesn't  bother me or torment me and I laugh at the band being described as a chokechain.  If it felt like a chokechain I'd be getting a bit of a defill.   Also the band definitely takes more discipline and I wouldn't get myself if I had been super morbidly obese. Anyways I never try to get into a ******g match on which wls is the best because frankly the best one for me may not be for another and it's bull**** for anyone to say there is one perfect one...in my opinion.

My Band is positioned perfectly... every single doc has said so.  My problem has been an inability to tolerate any significant fill since my first pregnancy, five years ago.  I've tried to refill with numerous surgeons following subsequent pregnancies, no luck.  With a measly 1 cc in a 9.75 cm Band... I cannot tolerate any solids until 6 or 7 p.m.  Blech.  I've actually met a few other Bandsters who've had the same problem post-pregnancy. Oh well... just thought I'd share.

I would get a full blood work-up if I were you, Sami. This shouln' t be. If it were me I would bother every gyn on earth!

Thanks Julie.  I've had tons of bloodwork.  Just seems to be a Band weirdness.  That's why I'll probably revise to a VSG or DS this summer.  I'm OK with that as I think the quality of life will be higher than with the Band.

For those who may not be aware..."SAMI" here is a LapBand Pioneer! She had one of the first "blogs" although it wasn't call that at the time and led a great number of people through her experience with the band.  (She even had cute graphics.)  If ANYONE has had competent medical care, she has. I'm just sayin'. Sue

A lot of patients that had the 9.75cm and the 10cm band have had a lot of problems.  I have the VG band with no problems and I'm more than 2 years out.  I can eat anything I want in moderation and I"m happy with that.  I didn't get weight loss surgery to continue eating like a sloth.  I want to eat like normal weight people do and most of them don't overeat.  I'm glad I'm in Canada where our bands are replaced at no extra cost to us.  I am betting that those that needed revisions had the smaller bands and that's why they are having so much trouble with the right fill level.  They are 10 times more fickle than the VG and the new AP bands.  If I lost my band tomorrow, I'd hopefully be able to get a new one and if that option wasn't available, I'd attempt to keep the 160 lbs off by continuing to eat properly and exercise vigorously.  If I started to gain, I'd have to consider another WLS option and at this point, I have no idea which I would opt for since I wasn't comfortable with anything but the band from Day 1.  I never want to return to being morbidly obese but I am just not comfortable with any other surgery at this point so I'd really have to do my homework.  It's unfortunate that so many people have to pay for their 2nd surgeries and they aren't covered for life like they are here.  I know of many patients from my clinic that have had to have the smaller Inamed band removed due to slippage and just being too darn fickle and tightening and having it replaced with the VG or the newer AP ones and have now reached goal or are very close. All WLS are wonderful for each and every one of us.  I've been at my sweet spot many times in the past 2 years but since it's a moving target, I just keep having to get it adjusted when I know I'm eating properly, moving my body and still not losing.  I love the fact that it's adjustable and I can get my sweet spot with just the few seconds it takes to get a fill.