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I too am a successful VGB'er.......6-26-01.........478 start and now I am under 180lbs...........I am 5'4" and now 56years young.....lost 300+ pounds diabetes, oxygen-cpap,high blood pressure, edema, all gone and in their place .....well I snow ski, ride a cruiser bike(my pink Betty), have now been to Hawaii 5 times in the last three years.......love to snorkel, have ridden a bike down the volcano, went on a zipline through the beautiful eucalyptus trees.......in short my life is so changed and so wonderful....but I am having some job issues..I teach school and it seems I have made people uncomfortable with my openness and sharing and my excitement over my new life .....I have had
4 summer surgeries to remove skin and I talk about them and show my scars and am excited to have come so far.......I may even lose my job so I am very stressed and am planning on going to the seminar in Concord Ca...to find more people like me that have been on this journey.........sometimes I feel like Frankenstein with all these parts sewn back together and I am having a hard time learning to live in this new skin without offending others.......my personality has always been open sharing and I think everyone is my friend........hard life lessons to learn that people don't want to know me THAT well....my brother is 5 years younger and now pushing 400lbs and is still struggling with whether he should go wls route or just lose and gain all over again...my pet peeve is when someone says, "How could you let yourself get that way?"....like it was some choice I made so I could lose it all and now talk about it. KVilla in Medford, Oregon
on 10/26/07 8:11 am - CA
Hi Cathy,
My surgeon has done several revisions from VBG to Lapband with no problems. Mind you I seem to be one of the strange ones who can't vomit afterwards (but I am not complaining.) Keep in mind too that sometimes it takes awhile to find your sweet spot which is the right amount of restriction. It took me 5 fills over 4 months to first get to my sweet spot. Everyone is different but basically I had to diet until then. Also remember that the band is slower weight loss but I am sooo thrilled with it and feel it was well worth the $16,000 I had to pay. Keep in touch and let me know how you are doing!
Donna, Thank you for posting your story. I was recently banded and haven't had my first fill yet, so it's inspiring to know that you went through the same ordeal and have been so succussful.
I had the same eating patterns of eating until I was stuck...making myself throw up, and going back to food. This will definitely be a lifestyle change, as I've been doing it for so long. Thank you for the encouragement that we 'past VBGr's' have some hope with a band. Cathy
Donna,
Did you lose weight with the VBG? If so, what made you decide to get the band? If not, do you know why the VBG didn't work? My band doc told me that because I had the VBG (and failed with it), I would be 50% more likely to fail with the band, thereby making it much more difficult for me. Have you found it harder to lose weight because of your previous VBG?
Thanks for any insight you can offer. I really appreciate you replying.
Cathy
Most of the time you find me over in the Photo Department working away on the before and after photos.
Maybe the VBG has been refined in later years or I just had a fantastic surgeon. Either way I have lost nearly 135 pounds since 2001 and am still slowly losing. I had no complications and as of last month when I had an EGD my staple line and band are in perfect condition. My gastroenterologist was amazed and said if he had not seen my surgery date he would have said mine was very recent 
Truth is, you can have a bad surgery and your band and staples will not last. If you feel this is happening then go back and have it checked. If your surgeon will not do anything and you KNOW you are not eating around your tool then find another surgeon. Don't wait.
Truth is, you can learn to eat around your surgery. Our surgeries are just a tool. You can take care of it and it will be there and work successfully for you. If you begin to have a problem with it just go for a checkup. Again, don't wait. If you abuse your tool then it will not last.
There is another post on a different thread made by a new member ,Lisa that says it all so well. She, like myself, is 6+ years post-op.
Gwen E
Photo Team Leader 