failed band question

Hello,
If your questions were meant for me, I am only two weeks post-op and am following the rules. I am on purees. This was just a question I wondered about. I will be following all the rules and exercising. I noticed that most people revise to another surgery when the band fails them or they fail the band. Yes, I do believe that both happen.  I don't think I would consider another WLS if I lost my band do to infection, slippage, or erosion. I pray that my journey is without complication but my mind is always wondering about what if.

Congrats on your weight loss, you have done a great job!

Well, Steve, I came out of surgery damaged and was unable to eat anything solid for 2 years. I was in constant, chronic agony and almost died twice as a result of a band that was placed incorrectly.

I lost over 100 pounds in the first year and was considered a "success" solely because of that.  I was anemic and malnourished from living on protein shakes and ice cream. It's all I could ever manage to consume. And even those things would sometimes make me gag and puke for hours on end. I never sustained any kind of fill in  my band because it was always too tight on its own.


This was back in 2002 and I've witnessed dozens upon dozens of people lose their bands through absolutely no fault of their own. The band irritates the diaphragm (referred left shoulder pain is SO common with banding), it irritates the stomach and around 2-3 years a whole lot of people find themselves in a world of hurt and need to remove the band or revise to another surgery.

If your band slips once and you get it repaired, it's a LOT more likely to slip again. In fact, it's almost a given that you'll end up with multiple surgeries if you replace a band that is faulty. I'd rather stay fat than ever go through anything even remotely resembling banding again. It was torturous.

We just had one person deactivate who liked to blame the patient rather than the device. I should have figured someone would come along to take her place.

 Getting the band requires a lifestyle change, if you don't keep up with the lifestyle that helped you lose weight, anyone can regain weight, regardless of surgery type.

No the questions were not directed at you.... Sorry if it felt that way,   It was directed to everyone who says the bands fail.... 


Thank you, and Congrats on your band .. its a TOOL make sure you use it.. If I had to do it all over again.. I would still take the band.  


Also, yes it is truely a lifestyle change, but think of it as for the good!


Have fun, keep your chin up and smile!


Steve

Steve,

Since my band failed me, then this question is directed at me. So I'll answer accordingly.

" Did you follow your eating protocol?
  NO breads/Pastas I was never a pasta lover so this was never an issue for me. I didn't eat bread because it was too painful for me to eat. Once in a blue moon I was able to eat a 1/2 a piece of dry toast which would take me around 30 minutes to eat. This was a rare occurrence.
  
Eat slowly I always ate slowly.

  Do not Graze  Yes I did graze, but only because eating dense protein of any kind was horribly painful. I lost 70 lbs with my band and kept all of it off.

Do you exercises like your suppose to? I loved exercising. I worked out with a personal trainer  as often as possible. The only times I was unable to work out was when I was in severe pain which was being caused by my MVA/Lap Band induced Erosion/Lap Band induced Dysphagia/LapBand induced Esophageal Dismotility/ Lap Band induced Nerve Pain

Do you drink your water? Absolutely

Do you still drink soda? NO

Did your TOOL Fail you or did you NOT use your TOOL correctly!  My tool absolutely failed me from the very first day I was banded Steve. I'm being sincere and truthful with you. My situation as far as food goes is very unique, and it's too long of a story to go into here, but long story short. I was on Opiates. for the pain, I only ate absolute crap for three reasons.
1. I couldn't eat dense protein.
2. I was on Fentanyl which is a very STRONG opiate.
3. Opiates make you crave sugar. 
Pain + Opiates = Sugar Hooker Syndrome and Detox, but hey I still lost weight.

Hey, we all fall off the band at one time or another,   I am not saying that the band is perfect nor am I saying that its installed correctly, all I am saying is most of the time it seems that when the person fails they have to have some excuse because they don’t want to face the fact that it really was not the band that failed it was THEM that failed!

Steve I disagree with your statement here 100 %.

Sorry, I don’t post out here but I do read, and every now and again I find a topic that I have to say something on.  

IF my band failed I would redo it!  I am happy with my band, but I use my band as a TOOL, not as a FIX all!

 Steve congratulations on your weight loss.

It's good that you are in a position to " redo " your band, but most people are financially not in a position to redo their bands. or they are dealing with ins co. who continue to deny their requests for service. As far as using the band as a " tool "  It's impossible to use the tool correctly if the tool doesn't allow you to use it correctly. I used my band as a tool and I was able to lose 70 lbs and keep it off, but my " tool " did not allow me to follow the directions.

I really dislike it when people assume that we put ourselves through surgery only to assume that we didn't use our tool correctly. How can you use your tool correctly Steve when your tool doesn't allow you to use it correctly ?


I will go on record here stating that I have NEVER not once posted on any forum here or elsewhere to anyone that their band was going to turn on them. You know why Steve ?

Because I don't assume that the band is going to fail everyone.

I would appreciate it if you and others would not assume that people whose bands failed them:

1. Did not use their " tool " correctly so that's why they must have " failed their band."

2. Assume people who" failed their band " relied on their bands as a " FIX all ! "
Maybe if the product worked the way it was intended to work then there would be less people  " failing their bands "

One more thing Steve before I hit submit. When I am posting  my anti band post's on the Lap Band forum. It's not because I have something to say against you personally. It's because I want to post another POV regarding the Lap Band, Realize Band, O Band and any other kind of band out there.

Once again CONGRATULATIONS on your weight loss Steve.