Sales Tactic?

A lot of conscientious doctors are trying to steer people away from bands because of the complications that accompany banding. I have a feeling that your doctor is trying to do this for you without coming right out and telling you that you'll have less success with the lapband. If you trust your doctor enough to do surgery on you, you should trust him to not lead you in the wrong direction, probably.   My gastroenterologist told me just a month ago that a lot of doctors are opting against banding because of the high complication rate. His words were, "Those things are a nightmare to remove and do a lot of damage."

I know the band advertising claims that you'll be able to eat 4 ounces of healthy food... but let me tell you, there's no guarantee at all. A lot of people can't manage fruits, vegetables and certain meats. Bread is a stickler for a lot of people. My experience was that I couldn't eat ANY solid foods at all... I lived on protein shakes, soup and ice cream. I was malnourished and unhealthy... in chronic pain... but thinner. It was a helluva trade off.

I apologize if I sound harsh about this, but I really think you should stop looking at it as your doctor trying to "upsell" anything and consider that he's trying to help you. And if he IS trying to "upsell" you, you might want to consider a different doctor. 

I really do wish you the very best with whatever you decide. I just hate to see someone going into banding without having considered all options and possible outcomes. Those of us who have had hellish experiences with banding aren't all that rare, I'm sorry to say. Please continue researching through the Revision board here, as well as Failed, Complications and Regrets forums. You'll see a common thread: lapband revisions. Please take care of yourself and make the best decision for your health.


Good luck to you.

I just don't think RNY is a better option...I know you've had a lot of problems, but they truly pale compared to my god-daughter's complications of RNY....I do respect your thoughts, just don't think the doc is offering enough options to the OP.

I'm not sure that the RnY is a better option, either. 

I've had life threatening complications from the lapband, actually. I haven't even described them fully. I don't think there IS a way to describe completely the life altering aspects after being damaged so fully by the lapband.   I've spent almost every day of the last 6 years since band removal with some residual complications. I try to put them aside and live life, but it becomes very hard sometimes.

So, when people think that the lapband isn't nearly as dangerous of a surgery, I'm proof that it is. I was about a day from death according to the specialist who operated on me. The band had caused my stomach to twist into a Figure 8 and my intestines to kink. I was unable to have a bowel movement for 2 weeks and was filled with toxins. It was the most incredibly painful and horrible thing I've ever experienced. It truly felt like an assault that went on daily and with no end in sight.

And today, 6 years out from removal of the band, I have a hiatal hernia caused by the damage to my diaphragm. I have ulcers, gastritis, dilated esophagus, diverticulosis and occasional left shoulder pain still.  I had so much damage to my Vagus nerve that I sneezed almost every day for hours and hours until I simply wished for death. It sounds silly, but when you're incapacitated with left shoulder pain, sneezing until you pass out and are virtually gasping for air, the complications from lapbanding become VERY real.

I feel for your god daughter. It's awful to go into something with the hopes and expectation of being healthier and find yourself worse off than before you had surgery. I hope she'll be OK. I'll keep her in my thoughts.

I hope that Science will find a better way to help those of us in need in the near future. There has to be a better way than what we've got now.

I'm sorry...I shouldn't have assumed your complications weren't as serious as they were...you are one of the most repected members of this board and your communications are always calm and factual...I don't know that I would be that calm under the cir****tances.
I agree that there needs to be a better way to accomplish a healthy weight...the last time I lost I was on FenPhen, doing 5 miles a day on the treadmill at 12% incline and caused permanent damage to my IT band and knees.  The problem with being obese is that it is as much a disease of the mind as well as the body and there is always a stigma to that sort of thing...
As for the god-daughter, her stoma is so damaged from ulcers and being stretched so many times, that her RNY cannot be reversed or revised, per her doctor.  She had a condition called psuedotumor cerebri that completely kept her on meds, in the dark and miserable.  She also suffered from PCOS which caused her ovaries to rupture (1st one in her 20s second in her 30s) so was thrown into premature menopause.  She has developed addiction to prescription drugs and alcohol AND in the process of going through rehab, was diagnosed as bi-polar.  She is quite a story and her parents and I hold our breath everytime the phone rings.

Your poor god daughter, I feel terrible for her. It's horrible going through such things. I'm sure that my hysterectomy caused me to regain a lot of the weight I lost. It's poopy.

No need to apologize, I didn''t mean to make it a "my complications are worse" type of thing. I just get scared for people going into surgery thinking that there will be fewer complications guaranteed with lapbanding. It's a very serious operation.

I admit that it's taking me some time to get over this whole thing, possibly because the adverse effects are still lingering today. I go to counseling, I diet and exercise... and dang it, the dieting part is the worst. I get SO irritable because I WANT to eat. And I know that if I do, I'll be shooting myself in the foot.

It really is hard, being overweight. I feel for ALL of us struggling with this, no matter how we go about trying to "fix" it. 

I really hope for the best for your god daughter.

I was in the same boat.. bottom line I needed help to get the weight off I had to choose between Band and Bypass.. (sleeve was not an option) my insurance covered very little $5K to be exact so for the most part I was self pay ...

Here's the thing because of your size your dr is recommending bypass most likey because you will lose weight quickly.. you will quickly drop a good chunk of weight. A lady in the work field I am in had Bypass shortly after I had lapband and we were approx 40 pounds apart.. so 60 pounds compared to 100 big difference...

I think you need to ask yourself what do you want out of surgery besides weight loss.. I was very realistic with myself I wanted to lose 100 pounds anything else was gravy. I wanted to adpot a healthy lifestyle.. train myself to make good choices.. make concious decisions... if I could eat 5 bites of food would I choose an enchillada or broiled chicken... well I would most likely choose an enchillada.. it's only five bites right... I have 2 friends with this same attitude and they have re-gain with their bypass 2-3 years down the road.. instead I have to struggle with myself for every pound I lose but it's my effort.. it's my free will of choosing broiled chicken instead of chicken wings.. so there is more to it than a number on a scale.

Lastly I know there are people who have complications.. there is complications with ANY surgery you choose.. WLS surgery or NOT there is a risk anytime your on a surgical table.. and ANY time a doctor tells you the risks are X successful and X where there has been complications.. someone lands in the X of complications.. if there weren't complications or side effects when they announce a drug on tv there wouldn't be a lenghty commentary of it might cause, etc etc etc etc.. Some people bodies reactly badly to the band some people have complications with RNY some people have problems with the sleeve .. omg shocking but they do.. one lady had eaten coconut that didn't dissolve and now it was stuck .. Surgery is a personal choice 

 So read read read.. and make a decision for yourself.... just be realstic with your expectations of WLS surgery

Please don't go into this thinking that your band will only allow you to eat 4 ounces of healthy food.

Yes -- my band cannot take more than 4 ounces of chicken at 1 time -- but it can take a whole lot more than that of just about anything else.

I can eat anything (I think -- there are lots of foods that I don't even try to eat).

I have to control the food that I feed myself --- the band helps to control the quantity of some foods, if I adhere to my eating schedule --- but if I try to eat all day long, I can do that.

Band living is much more complex than many people think.

I don't know what your BMI is --- yes, there are people who have started with a BMI over 50 and been successful -- but the odds are against them.

Also -- make sure you research VSG and DS in addition to Band and RNY --- you have more options than you know.

All I can say is the surgery group that did my band (which has been totally unsuccessful) are steering their new patients to the VSG (vertical sleeve gastrectomy) rather than the band. They are finding that about 20% of their band patients have problems, mainly that they can't get a decent restriction level they are either too tight or too loose no matter how many fills and unfills they get. So I guess it's up to you if you want to gamble on being in the 80% that are successful or the 20% that aren't, the problem is you can't tell ahead of time.