Two reasons why the Lap Band can't possibly work for everyone.
Love it when someone who doesn't even have the band defends it.
Until you have had the lapband (self paid) and through NO FAULT OF YOUR OWN, had a revision to a sleeve, which was also self pay, you have NO right to talk about it. Of course this is just my opinion.
Fully expect to have someone who has a band or MIGHT be getting the band to explain IT WAS MY FAULT.
Desperate people do desperate things and believe the sales pitch at the seminars. How do I know this? I was one of them.
No matter what WLS you have or are going to have good luck.
Until you have had the lapband (self paid) and through NO FAULT OF YOUR OWN, had a revision to a sleeve, which was also self pay, you have NO right to talk about it. Of course this is just my opinion.
Fully expect to have someone who has a band or MIGHT be getting the band to explain IT WAS MY FAULT.
Desperate people do desperate things and believe the sales pitch at the seminars. How do I know this? I was one of them.
No matter what WLS you have or are going to have good luck.
On August 16, 2011 at 1:18 PM Pacific Time, kdolphin wrote:
Love it when someone who doesn't even have the band defends it.Until you have had the lapband (self paid) and through NO FAULT OF YOUR OWN, had a revision to a sleeve, which was also self pay, you have NO right to talk about it. Of course this is just my opinion.
Fully expect to have someone who has a band or MIGHT be getting the band to explain IT WAS MY FAULT.
Desperate people do desperate things and believe the sales pitch at the seminars. How do I know this? I was one of them.
No matter what WLS you have or are going to have good luck.
~Fully expect to have someone who has a band or MIGHT be getting the band to explain IT WAS MY FAULT.~
Omg I don't know how many times I have heard that one on the Lap-Band forum here! It is extremely insulting to be blamed for the band failure myself when I did everything I could to work WITH the band. I have noticed that some of the band cheerleaders are now having band issues............but in THEIR case I'm sure they'll have some excuse for it!
I do find it strange that it is only the bandsters that have the "blame the victim" mentality. If I tell my story to those that have had RNY, VSG or DS they are always compassionate and they understand all the complications associated with the band. It's kind of sad when bandsters have to go elsewhere for support with their failed band issues because they can't get it on the Lap-Band forum! :-(
My band caused me permanent injury and nearly killed me.
I had insurance and STILL had to pay chronic pain clinics AND went into debt due to medical expenses. If I hadn't had insurance to help defray at least a little of the expense, I would be living in a van down by the river right now.
Just about an hour ago, I had a sharp, stabbing pain in my left shoulder to remind me of my Band Days. And I had the band removed 6 years ago. It's the "gift" that keeps on giving.
I had insurance and STILL had to pay chronic pain clinics AND went into debt due to medical expenses. If I hadn't had insurance to help defray at least a little of the expense, I would be living in a van down by the river right now.
Just about an hour ago, I had a sharp, stabbing pain in my left shoulder to remind me of my Band Days. And I had the band removed 6 years ago. It's the "gift" that keeps on giving.
Avoid kemmerling, Green Bay, WI
Minimally invasive, my ass.
Half my molar fell off a few days ago. Frequent vomiting. Throat burns. Pain in back of my throat when I swallow. Shoulder pain. Food getting stuck, all.the.time. Migraines. I would say I have vomited at least once a day, every day, for the past four years.
Adjustable - yeah, right - can you adjust the damage it has done to my esophagus, stomach, teeth?
Do they tell you in the marketing brochures how if you get the flu and get nauseated you will be heaving over, and over, again, because the fluid from your stomach can't make it up through the band, out your esophagus?
All that marketing can just suck my left ovary.
(Yes, it's been a ****ty week for me.)
Half my molar fell off a few days ago. Frequent vomiting. Throat burns. Pain in back of my throat when I swallow. Shoulder pain. Food getting stuck, all.the.time. Migraines. I would say I have vomited at least once a day, every day, for the past four years.
Adjustable - yeah, right - can you adjust the damage it has done to my esophagus, stomach, teeth?
Do they tell you in the marketing brochures how if you get the flu and get nauseated you will be heaving over, and over, again, because the fluid from your stomach can't make it up through the band, out your esophagus?
All that marketing can just suck my left ovary.
(Yes, it's been a ****ty week for me.)
(deactivated member)
on 8/16/11 10:18 am - Califreakinfornia , CA
on 8/16/11 10:18 am - Califreakinfornia , CA
Don't hold back Robby just let it all out. 
AMEN SISTER 
(deactivated member)
on 8/16/11 10:30 am - Rockville, MD
on 8/16/11 10:30 am - Rockville, MD
Robby T, am so sorry to hear about your "s" week with your band, I see that you are hoping to revise to the gastric bypass, I wish you better luck with that. You may need to read the revision forum and the regrets forum, vomiting will be your least worry of a bad day with the gastric bypass from what I've seen my friend go through, 5 hospitalizations in 5 years, on top of not able to eat but only proteins and minimal carbs without getting violently ill from dumping, sometimes the grass is not always greener.
(deactivated member)
on 8/16/11 10:40 am - Califreakinfornia , CA
on 8/16/11 10:40 am - Califreakinfornia , CA
On August 16, 2011 at 5:30 PM Pacific Time, Undecided_2 wrote:
Robby T, am so sorry to hear about your "s" week with your band, I see that you are hoping to revise to the gastric bypass, I wish you better luck with that. You may need to read the revision forum and the regrets forum, vomiting will be your least worry of a bad day with the gastric bypass from what I've seen my friend go through, 5 hospitalizations in 5 years, on top of not able to eat but only proteins and minimal carbs without getting violently ill from dumping, sometimes the grass is not always greener. What is esophageal spasm?
Esophageal spasms are irregular, uncoordinated, and sometimes powerful contractions of the esophagus, the tube that carries food from the mouth to the stomach. Normally, contractions of the esophagus are coordinated, moving the food through the esophagus 
and into the stomach.
There are two main types of esophageal spasm:
- Diffuse esophageal spasm. This type of spasm is an irregular, uncoordinated squeezing of the muscles of the esophagus. This can prevent food from reaching the stomach, leaving it stuck in the esophagus.
- THIS IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND because many banded people think that their food is stuck due to not chewing well or they think they ate too fast.
- Nutcracker esophagus. This type of spasm squeezes the esophagus in a coordinated way, the same way food is moved down the esophagus normally. But the squeezing is very strong. These contractions move food through the esophagus but can cause severe pain.
- Again, this is often explained away by band surgeons and banded patients as eating to fast and/or not chewing well enough.
You can have both types of esophageal spasm.
After many ER visits, doctor visits, specialists, procedures and hospital admissions still being wrongly diagnosed. I was finally diagnosed with dysphagia ( difficulty in swallowing ), and esophageal motility disorder ( difficulty in swallowing,regurgitation of food and esophageal spasms ), and erosion of the esophagus.
Many lap band patients will have a secondary surgery done to fix a flipped port, a slipped band , eroded band and any other number of complications within the first 5 years of their original band surgery. There are lap band vets here who will tell you that they have had secondary surgeries done.
There is nothing " Minimally invasive " about being banded. Between my daughter and myself we have now had 6 minimally invasive surgeries due to the band.
There is a 99% chance that you are going to have a second surgery if you get implanted with the band.
hi guys, I have had a band for just over a year, not at goal yet but working steadily towards it (started 128kg, currently 85.6 kg). At one point I looked seriously into the idea of a revision because I was plateaued for about three months. However I gave things another go and went back to basics with calorie intake and type, while keeping up daily exercise, and am glad to say things are progressing well again.
I am glad that I did not have to go down the revision road. I know that the band has a high revision rate because of dissatisfaction with the rate of weight loss, or such things as the band getting too tight for various reasons like slippage, too much throwing up etc. However the reason I chose the band in the first place still stands for me, which is that it did not remove any my gut, it is potentially reversible if need be (though I know it's not to be taken lightly as surgery), and I can eat normally without restrictions as to what type of food is ok, just smaller amounts. Also, and this is something the other ops don't offer, the band allows fine tuning of appetite and fullness at any time, whereas the other ops are fixed in the stomach size. If the stomach or pouch stretches as they often do long term down the track, it is the size it is, unlike the band which can be altered with only a very small amount of fill to the right adjustment.
I am really glad I don't have to go down the road of constant monitoring against the effects of malnutrition, or avoiding certain foods to avoid horrible dumping (which I liken to blood sugar lows which I experienced when I was diabetic pre-op and on insulin, and can be just the pits). I also am happy to think I did not have to have any more of my insides removed. After a number of female ops that removed my cervix, uterus, ovaries and tubes, as well as breast cancer that saw my right breast removed, my philosophy now is, if it doesn't need to come out leave it alone. It felt like vital bits of me gone for ever, things that made me, me. The idea of removal of my gut and the resulting consequences seemed way too drastic without a very good reason. I have made the band work for me by hard work and chasing information as to how to fix problems, and while I know sometimes that is not possible, I am very glad that for me anyway it was.
I know that despite the disadvantages I saw of other op types people live with the day to day reality just fine on the whole, and it works for them. For someone who needs to lose a lot of weight and doesn't trust themselves not to revert to bad eating once at goal, it may make good sense to go for a bypass or fobi. Likewise I certainly envy the easy and certain weightloss of these types of op, and was one of the reasons I looked at them seriously for a revision. The fact that people seemed to live just fine with their realities afterwards also made me change my view of the disadvantages. It is not a choice I would want to have to make, but if I was in that position I could still see myself making it. Weight regain further down the track is also a factor, but that is a risk with any op and is more about what you learn about living with food addiction and acquiring permanent new good eating habits and regular exercise, than about the specific op. The key thing is that it works for you, gets the weight off, and you are happy with it.
I do get very tired on these forums of hearing people diss other ops, especially the band which seems to be a pet straw dog. Why others feel the need to run down so strongly the surgery choices of others is hard to understand. ALL the op types have problems and good points. If I wanted to I could focus exclusively on the negative sides of the sleeve and bypass etc, but that would not be a fair appraisal of them, and in any case, in the end the ONLY thing that matters is if they work in achieving weight loss.
A group like the failed lap band forum is naturally going to focus on the negative aspects of the lapband, for those for whom it had problems and did not work. It serves a good purpose as a mutual support group. As a statistical and balanced appraisal of the lapband I doubt it would be useful.
What a lot of people do forget with these types of discussions, is that this is a 'weight loss surgery' website, that is, what we have in common is that we all decided to do something about our excess weight by choosing surgery. Which method is best is a secondary detail and specific to each person, there is no one op that is best for everyone. The type of op chosen is not as important as the decision to do something and to achieve that weight loss goal. That positive decision is what needs support, not the common scenario of divisiveness and separatism we often meet among wls people, as to which op is the 'right' one for everyone.
My two cents' worth, enjoy!
Robyn
I am glad that I did not have to go down the revision road. I know that the band has a high revision rate because of dissatisfaction with the rate of weight loss, or such things as the band getting too tight for various reasons like slippage, too much throwing up etc. However the reason I chose the band in the first place still stands for me, which is that it did not remove any my gut, it is potentially reversible if need be (though I know it's not to be taken lightly as surgery), and I can eat normally without restrictions as to what type of food is ok, just smaller amounts. Also, and this is something the other ops don't offer, the band allows fine tuning of appetite and fullness at any time, whereas the other ops are fixed in the stomach size. If the stomach or pouch stretches as they often do long term down the track, it is the size it is, unlike the band which can be altered with only a very small amount of fill to the right adjustment.
I am really glad I don't have to go down the road of constant monitoring against the effects of malnutrition, or avoiding certain foods to avoid horrible dumping (which I liken to blood sugar lows which I experienced when I was diabetic pre-op and on insulin, and can be just the pits). I also am happy to think I did not have to have any more of my insides removed. After a number of female ops that removed my cervix, uterus, ovaries and tubes, as well as breast cancer that saw my right breast removed, my philosophy now is, if it doesn't need to come out leave it alone. It felt like vital bits of me gone for ever, things that made me, me. The idea of removal of my gut and the resulting consequences seemed way too drastic without a very good reason. I have made the band work for me by hard work and chasing information as to how to fix problems, and while I know sometimes that is not possible, I am very glad that for me anyway it was.
I know that despite the disadvantages I saw of other op types people live with the day to day reality just fine on the whole, and it works for them. For someone who needs to lose a lot of weight and doesn't trust themselves not to revert to bad eating once at goal, it may make good sense to go for a bypass or fobi. Likewise I certainly envy the easy and certain weightloss of these types of op, and was one of the reasons I looked at them seriously for a revision. The fact that people seemed to live just fine with their realities afterwards also made me change my view of the disadvantages. It is not a choice I would want to have to make, but if I was in that position I could still see myself making it. Weight regain further down the track is also a factor, but that is a risk with any op and is more about what you learn about living with food addiction and acquiring permanent new good eating habits and regular exercise, than about the specific op. The key thing is that it works for you, gets the weight off, and you are happy with it.
I do get very tired on these forums of hearing people diss other ops, especially the band which seems to be a pet straw dog. Why others feel the need to run down so strongly the surgery choices of others is hard to understand. ALL the op types have problems and good points. If I wanted to I could focus exclusively on the negative sides of the sleeve and bypass etc, but that would not be a fair appraisal of them, and in any case, in the end the ONLY thing that matters is if they work in achieving weight loss.
A group like the failed lap band forum is naturally going to focus on the negative aspects of the lapband, for those for whom it had problems and did not work. It serves a good purpose as a mutual support group. As a statistical and balanced appraisal of the lapband I doubt it would be useful.
What a lot of people do forget with these types of discussions, is that this is a 'weight loss surgery' website, that is, what we have in common is that we all decided to do something about our excess weight by choosing surgery. Which method is best is a secondary detail and specific to each person, there is no one op that is best for everyone. The type of op chosen is not as important as the decision to do something and to achieve that weight loss goal. That positive decision is what needs support, not the common scenario of divisiveness and separatism we often meet among wls people, as to which op is the 'right' one for everyone.
My two cents' worth, enjoy!
Robyn
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