Lapband removal

The reason you find this forum so "negative" is b/c so many of us on here have had extremely negative band experiences! It is only just recently that more ppl are coming forward on this forum to speak about it. For quite a while, when bandsters posted about their band problems on here THEY were BASHED!!! And b/c of that many unhappy bandsters left the forum! Of the ones that stayed, many remained too scared to post on here for fear of the same bashing they had seem other bandsters endure.

If you really want to know what the band can be like, I would suggest you go on the DS, VSG and RNY forum and ask about the band. You will find plenty of bandsters on there that had to revise to a more effective WLS. Also read on the revision forum and see what most WLS'ers are revising FROM!

Have fun Over at LBT and say Hi to Snoozin Susan for me


On another note.


People mostly post when they are having issues... People that don't have issues with their tools regardless of the surgery are normally out living it up! They are busy with life and not so stuck on their problems.

I had a slip WITH 0 in my band.... so we can lose the it's to tight theory for me. I also know Redbabe08 IRL and she doesn't have a fill and multiples slips... Thats 2 shot down.

I am having WONDERFUL results and post my accomplishments right now because I am off work for the last 5 weeks... Once I return to work that will all change I am sure because I am not having issues and I have work to do :) 

Good luck to all those rocking your bands as I did for 3.5 years and I wish you a complication free band.

Hi, Hislady. I am, as you know, a bit torn on this.

When I first joined OH, all the worries were more minor - along the lines of food choices, occasional PBs etc..

There were no less than three threads today from people blessing the relief from pain after band removal. Horrible! Poor people!

And I know there are people with problems clearly not of their own making ( I put that in as I am afraid there are some people do contribute their own problems).

What I find hard to understand is why I only ever READ about these. The bandsters I know personally ( as in face to face) are mostly all fine! I know 14, 15 if I include myself, they range from 18 months to over 7 years out. Of these I have lost touch with two but they were fine a year or so ago. We have all lost all or most of our weight, we are all more or less maintaining. Two re-ops to my knowledge, one repositioned band and one repair. Both of these some time ago and no problems since. One had her band removed 3 years ago and replaced. She admits freely that she abused her first band by eating solids too soon and over- eating. She has been fine for 3 years with her second band.

I really do think that there is truth in the cliche that happy vets leave the boards. Of the 15, only 2 are still frequent posters, one other is an occasional one.

That doesn't mean there aren't problems. But It does mean that the perception of numbers may be worse than the actuality. And I think you read my post yesterday in which I said that the major hospital I attended, like the smaller private one in which I had my op has a very low removal rate.

The nationalised health service has no axe to grind as it is non- profit making and does all the major wls, and it still sees the band as a safe and effective option. In Australia, over 90% of wls is still the band, so they must like it over there.

I don't have specific European stats but it was a very anti- band poster who often quotes studies who said on here that UK stats are better than US ones. If that is true, and my limited experience seems to support this, it can't be a simple band failing. It must be affected by something else. Surgeons, aftercare, fill techniques, compliance, education, mindset.

Please no-one misunderstand me. I am NOT blaming bandsters for their problems. Many clearly have done nothing to cause their problems.

Kate

 I disagree with the "band too tight" issue.

Desperate people do desperate things and that is what I did over 4 years ago.  Yes I researched, kept my band loose and lost a lot of weight by heavy dieting.  Then the worst thing happened.  Yes, I got bit by a bug and couldn't even swallow my own spit.  Emptied the band so I could swallow and to this day the Dr. doesn't know why my band reacted like it did.  Needless to say I feel much better without my band and with my sleeve.

Believe me when I say there is a BIG difference between the band and the sleeve.  Nobody needs to tell me this I am living it.

Everyone should do what they feel best doing.  It's each persons on right to make their own decision.  If yours doesn't agree with mine and you want to get a lapbad good for you.  There are a few on here that have their band and got to goal with NO other surgeries.  There are also a few on here that have had ports repaired, bands repositioned and got to goal.

If all posted that have had their band for 3+ years and are at goal with NO other surgeries there wouldn't be very many in comparison to how many have actually been banded.   In saying that the longer it goes with the band IMO there will be more removals or revisions.  

It's very hard to hear from a few that have been banded for a year or less how great the band is. Hopefully all who have WlS can stay healthy no matter what surgery you choose.

The one thing I notice most about the band is that most, NOT ALL never get close to goal.  But if you lose 100lbs and not the other 40lbs I also realize how much happier and healthier it is regardless of surgery type.

So to each their own........and here's to just being happy!

I still got tight at times even with band empty.   When I had fluid in my band, I had to many random tightness and random loose days.  Couldn't live like this anymore.

Sometimes our bodies just can't handle foreign objects.

My surgeon said there was nothing wrong with my band and it was positioned well.  It just doesn't work well for most people.

Cheryl and I truly understand that , things like that happen, but my biggest complaint is when people let their bands get to tight on purpose , or when they get tight they just ignore it because they are  kicking the weight off fast and then they complain because they have band problems. Well, of course you are going to have problems because you did the one thing that doctors tell all patients to avoid dont be to tight its not good for you or the band , but they still do it anyways .

It's like them two girls in my support group they knew that they was tight and kept their bands that way because they was dropping massive amounts of weight and then when they had to go and have surgery to remove it they sat in group and *****ed about it .   I had to force myself to be quite because I just wanted to slap them for being stupid .

Like I said I know there is problems with the band and its not the person's fault I truly truly understand that but then again on the flip side some  people do bring the complications on themselves because they wont listen to nobody and they think they know best with the band and in reality they dont know crap and ended up losing the one thing that could have helped them lose weight if  they followed the rules .


Im not pointing figures at anybody on complications but there is always two sides of things the ones that do everything right and it just dont work for them , and the ones that have complcations because it was their own fault for not following the rules.

When my band would randomly tighten, it was miserable. I was vomiting frequently, couldn't eat any regular foods, and sometimes couldn't even drink water. I would get on the phone with my doctor immediately. I couldn't get in for an unfill fast enough.

I hear stories of people knowing other people who kept their bands too tight, but I don't know how anyone could live that way for any significant period of time. I will also say that I did not lose weight during times of extreme tightness because I was limited to slider foods.

Lindsey

Lindsey,

I dont know how people could live like that either.   They did not go into the whole details of what happened to t hem being to tight.

Now the person I know really well she is tight.  What she does is eat four or five bites of food and she is full and she knows if she goes past eating more then five bites of food , she will have problems and throw up . 

She is down to the point that she cant eat hardly any food just certain things.   The last time we went out together she had four small and I mean small bites of lobster and here I was eating away and I felt like a pig next to her to be honest.

I have tried talking to her , telling her its very unhealthy but she dont listen and I am to the point I dont even try anymore there is no point in it.   She said she likes keeping her band that tight where she can only eat five bites of food.

There are some that keep their band too tight. And it's very sad b/c I feel most of them do it out of desperation! I have seen bandsters that can't lose weight. They go for fill after fill and never reach the green zone. It's either too loose or too tight. When they don't lose and get frustrated doing all the fills/unfills and the band still not working as it's advertised......some of them decide to just let it stay too tight so they can lose weight.

Should they do that? No. Of course not. They know it's not healthy. They also know that being obese is not healthy. They put all their hopes and dreams into their band working as advertised..........and when that doesn't happen..........desperation sets in with some of them. I have neen tempted to keep mine tight as well and just be sick.

Then there are others that have bands that tighten up on them for NO reason at all. The band can be so unpredictable.

Hi,
I'm so glad to hear you're doing well after your revison.  The other day you said your doctor said "most" fail with the band and then you corrected that statement and clarified that he said "some fail".  Please be careful when making extreme statements like that.  You corrected yourself last time but today you said "most" again.  I'm just trying to clarify the statement for accuracy.  No biggy, but you know it's a touchy issue.

Thanks, Lisa O.