New here! Researching and Learning!

You are very wise to research your procedure carefully and consider the good, the bad, and the ugly before jumping into anything! I wish I had more carefully researched the band before making my decision to go with it.

I started with the band in early 2008. The first year was fine and I lost about 65 lbs. When I was almost exactly 1 year out, I began to have complications with my band. To read my full experience, please check out my post on the Failed WLS board. I struggled with my band for the next year which meant frequent unfills and refills and vomiting. I was often unable to eat solid foods when my band was "acting up."

During this time, I began to regain my weight. Finally, I had to have the band completely emptied for several months and I gained steadily in those months. By the time I revised to the sleeve nearly 3 years later, I had gained almost all of my weight back.

I revised to the VSG and wish I had gone with this from the get-go. I wouldn't have wasted those 3 years trying to get my band to work. I can tolerate any food with the VSG, but the smaller stomach has really taught me better eating habits as I work to hit my protein goals each day. I have never vomited with my sleeve.

At 5'4" and 300 lbs, your BMI tips into the Super Morbidly Obese range. Unfortunately, the band has the poorest stats on excessive weight loss. Most people in that situation would not meet goal with the band. Most, not all.

The band also has poor stats on post-op complications and frequenty requires follow-up surgeries to remove, repair, or replace the band. Even the most successful bandsters have required a secondary procedure here or there. Considering you are so young, if you plan to live with the band the rest of your life, I would also plan on more surgeries down the road.

Some surgeons have stopped placing bands due to the poor outcomes. I have also heard some surgeons now are saying that they are removing more bands than they are putting in now. Both of those things I've just heard around OH, though, so look into it for yourself.

Do yourself a favor and post on the VSG board to hear from several band to sleeve revisions who also did not want to deal with the malabsorptive qualities of RNY or DS.

One OH member who may be particularly helpful to you is USAFWife. She is frequently on the VSG board and I believe at one time she had a list of helpful articles about the band and its outcomes. She also has a good blog on her profile, but you have to send a friend request.

Keep up the research and make the decision that is right for you! Keep us updated!

Best of luck,
Lindsey

Do yourself the hugest favor EVER and skip the lapband. It's not a good long term option. And if you get unlucky like a lot of us, you'll end up with multiple surgeries, permanent damage and chronic pain issues.

I had the referred left shoulder pain that is quite common with banding the whole time I had a band. It was chronic and severe. I was unable to eat solid foods for 2 years, became malnourished, anemic and very unhealthy.

The best day was when I finally woke up and realized how much damage the band was doing to my body. I felt so much better after band removal, it's indescribable.

Consider the Vertical Gastric Sleeve, if you only need restriction.
Good luck to you. I think you're very smart to research AND ask for the bad and ugly as well as the good. It's absolutely imperative to know the bad stuff because if you don't, you're not truly making an informed decision. Read the Revisions forum to get a clearer picture of just how many people are "unlucky" with the band.  There are more posting every day.

I am almost 7 months out with my band and I love it .  I have lost almost 60 pounds and 30 inches from my band.

The band has taught me to eat all my favorite foods and I have not given up any foods I can eat anything . It has taught me portion control, how much to eat of my favorite foods,and how often to eat them favorite foods.

That is what I wanted from the band and that is exactly what I am getting from the band.

Everybody is different with fills.  You might be one of the ones that need one fill, maybe zero fills like me , or you might need several fills .  I use my band without the fills to remind me not to overeat  and to slow down .

Yes there is bad things that can happen with the band BUT bad things can happen with any WLS surgery . There is NO 100% risk free WLS out there .   Everybody can react different from any surgery.  I could have gotten the VSG or the RNY and have nothing but problems with that surgery, or I could have problems with the band later on down my life , but I dont know that and neither does anybody else

I will never have another WLS this is it for me but so far so good and the first time in my life I'm actually learning how to eat healthy, portions and still enjoy them bad foods without some kind of side effect from eating them .

I started out at 348 pounds and today I'm down to 292 in six and half months .  

At your size, your should SERIOUSLY be looking at the DS over any other surgery.  You are swimming upstream against overwhelming statistical evidence that the other surgeries - but ESPECIALLY the lapband - are inappropriate for you and unlikely to give you sustained remission of your morbid obesity, to say nothing of giving you other quality of life issues long term.

DO NOT BELIEVE THE LAPBAND SALESMEN, especially the ones on TV and on billboards.

I had the lapband 4 years ago and have never been happy with it. I suffer from severe left arm pain, can't eat solid foods, am anemic, have esophageal dysmotility, have terrible heartburn and I am seriously depressed due to all this crap.

I gave the band a try time and time again. Went in for fills, unfills, port revision, nutritionist counseling. but the band just never worked for me.

My band is coming out on July 6th and I can't wait!!!!

Think about it please!!

Depression is something that severely plagued me with the band and all it's chronic pain issues.

Me too.  I even consulted with an RN at one point about assisted suicide, the pain was so severe. And all the doctors were telling me that I had too much damage, there was really nothing that could be done... I sat down with my husband and said, "I don't want to die, but I don't think there's any other choice." He said, "Get that goddamned band removed! It will help, I know it will." And you know what I said? I said, "But, I'll get fat again... and the damage is already done. There's no way out." 

I finally got the band removed when I couldn't even lift my head off the bed. And a week later, I felt like a human being again. But I was out of a job and still had lingering effects. I even do TODAY... 6 years after removal. This past weekend, my left shoulder hurt so bad, I was on my knees, crying.

Sooo, yeah. The lapband is NOT less invasive in my opinion. It's depressing even thinking about the **** I put up with.

I too wanted to die and thought of all the ways I could accompli**** I had enough narcotics to do it too, but somewhere deep down I knew that I would only cause more pain for my loved ones. Sometimes  I think about the really dark and painful days & it still brings tears to my eyes.

The chronic pain makes you so removed from yourself. That's the only way I can put it. I didn't have enough of myself left... it was just pain at the top and everything else was on "hold." 

I know what you mean. I think about my kid sitting in my room, holding my hand, bawling his head off, asking me if I was going to die. THAT is what hurts my heart SO badly. That he had to witness my pain and felt totally helpless. I think that's the main reason I'm so afraid of revision surgery... I don't want to put my family through it again.

xoxo

Nicci,
 One of the absolute worse things I experienced.....even with all this pain.....was seeing my own pain reflected in my children's eyes. My children lost their mother for so many years.
I can never get that time back with them and I lost control of my son who ended up in some serious trouble. Thankfully and with a lot of tears and hard work. I have my son back.

I am so lucky to have a husband who loved me so much and stuck by my side through all of this. If there is one positive thing to come from all this suffering , it is how much I was to discover just how much my husband loved me.