Need advice!! Pros and Cons of Lap Band???

The band can and does work for some and for others it is a nightmare, the problem is you don't know until you get it which path you will have. My first year was fine, didn't lose alot of weight but no problems. Then my band started tightening up on its own and I kept having to have small unfills (for $225 each visit!). Finally this year, 3 yrs. out, I had it emptied because I just can't afford to keep paying for unfills. So I am totally empty now and so far no gain but even if I do I'd rather gain than not be able to eat normal food. If I were you I would push with the insurance co and try for the VSG. It would be better to wait than settle for a second best surgery.

The band can and does work for some and for others it is a nightmare, the problem is you don't know until you get it which path you will have. 



If there was some magical way to see which path you'd end up on, then it might be worth the risk. 

I can't think of a single {PRO} quite honestly. My banding experience was nothing but {CON}.

The biggest con was that I had chronic referred left shoulder pain from damage to the Vagus nerve. Morning, noon and night... nonstop stabbing left shoulder pain. The band tends to irritate this nerve in particular and left shoulder pain is quite common with banded patients.

Another con was the constipation issue. I went a day short of 2 weeks without a bowel movement and almost died. Thankfully, I found a surgeon who wanted to take me as a patient in spite of the first surgeon's mistakes. If he hadn't, I'd be dead right now.

The third most notable con was that I was absolutely completely unable to eat solid foods when I had the band. COULD NOT swallow solid foods, so I subsisted on soup, protein shakes and ice cream. That was how I lost weight. Through starvation.

One more con... I became completely malnourished. Mostly due to the aforementioned inability to eat solid foods. I couldn't swallow even the chewable vitamins. I was anemic, lost hair, was weak and lethargic.

Given the choice of banding or being fat, I would most definitely choose being fat. The damage the band did to me is life altering and most likely quite permanent. The band was removed, but it sure didn't reverse the adverse effects.

edited to add... I'm being 100% honest because you've asked for advice. Please take it as my trying to help you, rather than just as negativity. It's hard to be positive about something that nearly killed me. I do wish you the best, though. I really do.

  I really appreciate ALL of your responses.  That is what I wanted to hear about the good, the bad, and the ugly so that I know the right questions to ask and what I need to research.   

 

There are people around here who may be able to advise you about working with Medicare to get them to cover the sleeve.  I think there's an insurance board around here somewhere.

You might also want to find out what Medicare does cover with respect to follow up care.  How much will you be responsible for fills?  They can get expensive, because the band is adjustable.  Which essentially means it doesn't work straight out of the box.  It takes a lot of tweaking, and for some way more than others.

I have had my band for about 2 years.  It hasn't caused any life threatening complications yet, but I worry that it may someday.  My personal experience is that the negatives outweigh the positive.  Some people have great results with it.  I'm not one of them.

I wrote the following on the poll about do you love your band, but apparently it didn't go over well with the OP because she blocked me.  I didn't think I was bashing the band, but rather being honest about the clinic not being supportive and that it's implied the band is going to do more for you than it really can.  Yeah it's a tool, but why go through the surgery if the tool is only going to do about 10% of the work.  



I got the band because I thought it would serve as an off switch and tell my brain to stop--you're full!

Yeah, it didn't work like that for me.  

The clinic where it was implanted was not very good with band after care.  I did well for the first 6 weeks, but once I got back to normal foods, I was lost and they weren't very helpful.  I was ravenous, but the clinic had a very strict protocol for fills.  Teeny tiny volumes very far apart, because that was what the sales rep from Allergan told them.

I was frustrated and starving (like actual stomach growling--I've been hungrier since surgery than I ever was before) at 9 months out.

When my dietician told me the sales rep said they could be more aggressive with fills--after I had been complaining about that for MONTHS--plus got treated rudely by one of the nurses, I changed hospitals.  Really?  The doctors can't treat the patient based on their experience?  They will only do what the sales people tell them?

My new surgeon is amazing at giving fills, even with an almost completely flipped port.  However, their lap band diet is basically 600 calories a day, no carbs, until you get to goal.  YIKES!  I don't think I could that even if my band WAS working!

He also told me that the band is intended to do only two things:  slow you down and keep you fuller between meals longer.

What?  I thought it was supposed to tell me I felt full on smaller portions.  Yeah, maybe if you're lucky enough to actually get restriction.  But my "sweet spot" is apparently very narrow.  One surgeon told me that most people have about 1 to 1.5 cc to play with in that zone.  Mine is more like 0.1 to 0.2 cc to go from constantly ravenous to can't swallow spit. 

It takes nothing to overshoot it, sending me to the ER for an emergency unfill.  Yeah, if they don't have weekend access to fluoroscopy equipment, nothing spells fun like having two docs dig in you with a big needle, blindly trying to find your flipped port.  You know, like having that done while you're choking on your own slime because you tried to drink water about 5 hours ago.


I was misguided, even though I thought I had done a lot of research. I thought it would make me feel full on small portions and it hasn't.  I also thought I'd get to that sweet spot, but we can't find it.  At this point, I'm tired of even trying. Just sock that money away for my Someday Revision.


The band was definitely the wrong surgery for me, but there is no way to know going in if you're going to get restriction with it, or not.  At best, it's a crapshoot. 

I completely regret not choosing the RNY at the time.  But what's done is done.  

I want to have my band removed and get the sleeve.  Not sure when that will happen, but I am hopeful.

The band works great for some, but not for everyone.  If I had to do it again and my choices were band or NO surgery, I'd choose no surgery.

Why would she block you ? You one of the nice guys.

How bout that...she blocked me too. I guess she doesn't care for me calling her out on her passive aggressive BS.

No big whoop.  It's not like I lost sleep over it.

I just wanted to say hi to Redbabe  and when I went back to reply to her, poof!  Got the note from OH I wasn't allowed on the thread because I was blocked.

So now I have to like do extra steps and like PM her or something.  Oh, my achin' back!   More like oh my lazy butt!  

 I don't think there is a sweet spot from my band experience.  It would be like trying to hit a moving target.  My band at a 2 cc fill could be 2 one day and 2.5 or 3 another.  

My biggest worry was the increase in restriction while completely unfilled.  In the beginning with the band unfilled a chicken breast cut up was okay, towards the end a chicken breast was a dream of mine but not doable.  Even if I added mayo to help move it along, unless it was really REALLY ground up and there was no pickle or onions I couldn't get it to go through. 

My sweet spot never hit, if it did I would have stayed there. Even if I would have, how long would it have stayed, because the game just changed when the band (or my body) decided that it was going to add restriction. 

That the band is adjustable is both a blessing and a curse.

It's a blessing if it works for you and you quickly and easily get to the elusive green zone/sweet spot where the band properly communicates signals to your brain.

It's a curse if you keep adjusting it and you can't find that green zone.  You're either too loose (yellow zone) and can eat whatever, or too tight (red zone) and can't eat solids or even end up in the ER.

My green zone (IF it exisits) is like a faucet that goes straight from ice cold to scalding hot, with no warm at all.

But that's me.  I met a guy who lost nearly 100 pounds WITHOUT EVEN HAVING A FILL!

Obviously there's a broad spectrum of success with the band.  

It depends on your personal physiology (how your body reacts to the band), patient compliance (following the rules), supportive aftercare that makes sure you get to the green zone as quickly yet safely as possible, and the band itself (leaks, slippage, erosion, port flips, etc).

You can opt for an RNY, but you don't know if you'll be one to get a stricture, or a leak or a blind  ulcer.

You could opt for a sleeve and have a leak (I'm not real familiar with sleeve complications yet)

You could opt for a DS and have a leak or vitamin deficiencies because you're not good at taking vitamins.

Every surgery has risk.  I was afraid when I made my decision.  The band seemed like the lesser of the evils, so that's what I chose.  

I thought the risk of death/complications was least with the band and that I'd lose weight.

However, you cannot predict before going into it if you'll ever have a sweet spot.  Since that's kind of the whole freaking point, I see in hindsight that risk vs payoff choice was wrong with the band for me.

I'm thrilled for your revision Bear and will keep my eye on you to see how your life changes.  HUGS!!!!!!