Facing a band decision

hi folks
i opted for the band in 2009 against the advice of my dr b/c i was scared & dh was adamant against that particular procedure.

i didn't lose much weight: only 70lbs--i could NOT eat hardly any meat: it always got stuck and choked me. I  never could find the magical "sweet spot" that bandsters talk about and i am HUNGRY ALL THE DAMN TIME. Dr wanted me to be on a diet of 800 calories a day--well, if could do that,,,i wouldn't have needed the @$#@! surgery--now would i?

so this past nov. something happened to my band: it got so tight i everything got stuck: he unfilled it and it tightened back on its own 4 wks later. Fast forward: endo last month showed NO POUCH at all. ??????

so i figure either way i am facing another surgery. i am so disapointed in myself for being a failure and that i don't think all the information about the Band was given.

Advice anyone????

YOU are not a failure. The BAND failed you, as it has so very many people.

Hon you are no failure! You have no idea how many bandsters are going thru the same thing.Sounds like you have a slip and sometimes all it takes is an unfill for it to fix itself but of course not always. Once you slip tho you are apt to continue to do so and about all you can really do is revise. Myself I'm much like you except for the slip, but I still can hardly eat meat or vegetables, duh so how healthy is that?! I think my doc, and maybe yours, actually believed the info from the manufacturers. They just repeated what they were told. As you and I know that's garbage! If I get tight enough to not want to eat I vomit, I've never had a sweet spot and am always just as hungry as I ever was. I would dearly love to revise to VSG but now I don't have ins. that covers WLS so I'm seriously thinking about getting more saline out of my band so I can eat healthy food like I did BEFORE surgery!

~so i figure either way i am facing another surgery. i am so disapointed in myself for being a failure and that i don't think all the information about the Band was given.~

YOU are not the failure! Your BAND was the failure!

I know exactly how you feel! I have never reached restriction and I am 16 mos. out and have had 16 fills! This band has been a complete waste of time and MONEY!

As far as all the info being given about the band...........NO! At least in my case it was not. In fact they straight out LIED to me about several things!

I read on these forums almost every day and everyday there is someone new posting about a band problem!

I urge you to PLEASE post on the lap-band forum about your band experience because most ppl don't and them those that are pre-op do not see things like this and think that most bandsters have good experiences b/c those are the ones that mostly post on there.

Please pay it forward and help someone that is considering the band to make the right decision!!!

Been there; done that ! ! ! Along with food issues, I had port complications, and chronic pain with my band. I revised to VSG after just 8(long, miserable) months, and it was the best damn decision I ever made. I'm over 21 months my revision, easily maintaining my 130+lb loss for nearly a year now, have zero food issues, no pain, no medication/food restrictions, my labs have been stellar, I take the minimum daily recommended multi vitamin and calcium citrate. I lead a very normal, fun, active life post-vsg. I lost fast and hard, couldn't be happier with my results and life post-op.

Please do not believe that you've failed the band. I was fed that line by many bandsters on the band forum, and it led me to deactivate my first account and not come back to OH for a long time. The band is a product, and it needs to be marketed. Unfortunately, the "bad" isn't advertised as well as the "good". If they advertised the failure rate, the reality of the complications, lapband and realize would go bankrupt as would the band mill doctors that make major moolah from fills, unfills, second and third surgeries to repair, replace, reposition, or remove the band.

Well said Tiff!  It really kills me when people on the band board blame the bandster, not the band...and it's mostly the newbies who don't have the slightest idea what they're in for.  Getting that band out of me was the best thing I did...no more choking on water and throwing up!

Brand new to this site.......a little background first:  had LapBand (4cc) surgery, in Mexico by Dr. Ortiz (love him) in 10/2004.  Have an after-care Dr here in the States.  Did very well for about 4 years, lots of fills and unfills, lost about 85lbs, then started having severe acid reflux and had to totally unfill and from that point on, nothing but problems.  My Dr  said that we needed to remove the Band, and replace it with a Realize Band (larger), that was in 2/2009, now two years later, I still can't tolerate much of a fill and I am hungry all the time!   Have gained back 30lbs and very distraught over this whole thing!  Now am considering a revision from Band to RNY, have a date for surgery on April 26th, but am so afraid....was so against this in the past...now trying to convince myself to go forward.  Would love to have the Sleeve, but Medicare will not pay for it....not sure if they will even pay for this revision, but Dr said we would appeal if needed.
I guess I am just looking for some support that I am making the right decision.....I just don't want to gain all the weight back, when I worked so hard to take it off.....I am probably one of the oldest on here, didn't have surgery till I was 62, now almost 69...
Would love to hear the good, the bad and ugly!
Ciao,
SharByTheSea