Why I welcome "failed bands" and the "Failed Bands Board"

 Why? Because everyone needs to tell their experience, both good and bad.

People looking into the band - or any procedure for that matter - owe it to themselves to get both the positives and negatives of that procedure.

Not everyone is going to lose a ton of weight.

Not everyone will lose an "average" amount of weight.

It IS possible to lose NO weight after WLS and it's possible to GAIN BACK everything you might lose.

Barring negative experiences from the forum serves no function. It does not make the negative experiences disappear, nor will it cause them to cease to occur in the future.

Additionally, IMHO, people who have had unsatisfactory band experiences have, possibly, MORE right to post. They put as much of their hearts into their surgery and want their success as badly as those of us who do well, yet they are deprived of it, for whatever reason. They are justifiably disappointed and angry. For them to feel that they need to be corralled into their own forum simply because their lotto balls came up with a losing combination is unfair.

Oh, I welcome everyone but YOU. YOU are just a boil on my butt.

Serena von Mammarie-Schtup
Attorney at Law

But I'm so fricking adorable!



Gertrude Marmalade Smithingheimerstein, Green Grocer and boil reliever

 You're like a bad ass rash.

Signed,
Me. That's all. Just "me."

As compared to one of those "GOOD" ass rashes you enjoy.


Mistress Spanky

 Yes, Mistress Spanky. May I have another?

 Actually, I probably should have said "band failures" instead of "failed bands", in keeping with the new regime's regulations . . .

Yes, I know that *I* went into surgery fairly healthy and came out all forked up. I must have fidgeted while on the table or something, causing all my problems.

I researched my surgery for 2 years before I signed up.  My sister and I were banded on the same day.  She had problems from day one.  I didn't have any problems til I was a year out.  By that time, my sister had already had a port infection and had to have it removed.  My surgery for the same thing wasn't far behind.  Then she had surgery for a slipped band.  My sister and I were #101 and 102 as banding patients with our surgeon and this was his first band slip.   I had the TUBING COME OUT THRU MY BODY RIGHT ABOVE MY BELLY BUTTON.  Yeah, I know, weird.  I had 6" of tubing hanging out and had to have surgery again, of course.  Now I have no port.  I had lost 92 pounds in the first year and kept it off until I had no more port. In that year, I've found 60 of those pounds.  My sister is steadily gaining weight and she still have her band but the surgeon says its at the right fill but she shouldn't be able to eat bread and rice and pasta if the band had the right fill.  Granted, she shouldn't eat them anyway but she's hungry and you can only eat just so much chicken and fish.

So, with all my research and all my success, I'm absolutely positive I won't be going back to get another port.  I still have the band, wide open, and I still have the tubing.  The surgeon cleaned the tubing and put it back and removed the port because of the CHANCE of infection.  He had told me he was going to take the tubing out and MAYBE the port as well.

By the way, one surgeon did my original surgery and took out the first port and replaced it after my body healed.  A second surgeon cleaned the tubing and took out the second port and said the exposed tubing was because the first surgeon did something wrong and put the tubing too close to the surface. 

Well, there's my story.  I agree.....we have a right to vent.  I was a support group leader for a while and two of the biggest rules of the meetings were that you couldn't talk down about a surgeon you DIDN'T choose and you couldn't talk down about the type of surgery you didn't choose.  Your surgeon and your surgery type.....you could run it in the ground with complaints.  But never talk about another surgery or another surgical procedure.

I've posted on OH about my problems and concerns and thoughts of revision and have ALWAYS had sand kicked in my face when I did .
So, I do more reading than typing so thank you for this post.  It made me feel like I had a right to express my freedom of speech.

LaWanda