A truly positive experience!

I understand both sides of the coin. I am happy with my band and I hope to continue to be so.
However...I appreciate the "other side" speaking out. I will use their experiences as a warning and use them to recognize if I should have issues.
I know that when one had a bad experience it is the "lemon syndrom" speaking out ( I just made that up)
Example..when you buy a car that gives you nothing but troubles you don't want your friend to buy the same car.
Not all those cars, even from the same line, are lemons.
Getting upset over other peoples choices makes no sense to me. I tell them and move on. The way I see it, that's what N.M and Pumkin are doing. It seems like they are bashing to "us" but that's only because so many people are asking about the band and are being warned of possible effects.

I like everybody and am an equal opportunity sarcastic.

Kate,

When I first became banded, you were one of the posters I followed because of your success and the way you did it.  I, too, chose not to weigh and measure, but to just make wiser choices and let the band do it's job while I did mine.  It worked for me and let me not focus on dieting, which I was so tired of doing.  I got the band so I wouldn't have to "diet."  I am really happy for your success and for everyone else who has had success with the band.

I welcome those who have had problems to air them on the board.  At first they scared me because I so did not want that to happen to me.  We all go into WLS with some level of desperation - it's the last resort for many of us, having battled and lost with dieting.  I have struggled with weight my entire life.  I chose the band because my insurance only covered two opitons - band and bypass.  Bypass surgery terrified me and the band seemed safer.  I did well with my band the first year and part of the second.  Then, I got a little lazy and a little scared by the weight loss, and my weight stalled at about 80 lbs lost.  I finally reached the point where I reallized losing the rest of the weight I needed to lose - another 50-75 lbs, was up to me.  But I've always been a failure at dieting. 

My experience with the band was good.  While I don't know if I ever hit the sweet spot, I could never eat half a cup of food and not be hungry for hours like I read others can do.  No matter what I ate, I was always hungry in 2-3 hours.  Still, I was happy because I lost 80 lbs.  Never had I lost that much and while stalled the last year, have kept it off.  I used to say while I didn't love my band, I was in like with it.

Recently I've started having problems with my band - a mild esophogial dialation.  I have always been very sensitive to fills, can only have small amouts (.1-.2) put in at a time, and this is the reason my surgeon tells me I've developed this.  I had fluid removed about 4 months ago to heal the problem, and I'm not having any more symptoms, so I think it's better, but I've also gained about 10 lbs., which really depresses me. Also, I've been under a lot of stress at work and I've made Ben and Jerry my best friends again so it's not just the lack of fluid that has caused the weight gain.   Still, I've chosen not to have any more fluid put into my band.  He didn't take out that much, but it was enough to make my band pretty loose - I can eat anything now without problem, even in the am, which in the past was always a problem.  I go back to the surgeon in a few weeks, and still, even with the weight gain, I don't want any fluid because I've now reached a point of being terrified of the problems returning and eventually losing my band.  I've read where some people's problems began with an esophogial dialation, and I want to prevent any more problems with my band.  I know that if I lose my band, I will not have any more surgery.  I've visited the message boards for the other surgeries, and there are failures with every WLS, so I'm just not prepared to go through another WLS at my age (57).

I guess why I'm writing this is because while hearing of the potential problems scared me, it's helped me figure out how to deal with my minor problem.  I still value my band and don't want to lose it, so if I have to move forward and go back to dieting to lose what I've gained, plus the rest of what I need to lose, I guess that's the way it is.  Maybe down the road I will feel comfortable putting some fluid back into my band, but right now I'm not.  But I hate and I'm scared, that I've gained this weight.

I will say, also, that whenever I see my surgeon I have to fill out paperwork and one of the questions is if I would recommend the band to others.  In the past I've always marked yes, but now, I'm not so sure.  But again, every WLS has it's sucess and failures, so none is perfect.  They're all a gamble, one way or another - none is better than the other for everyone.  It just comes down to being a personal and, hopefully, educated choice.  I don't regret my choice and I am still encouraged by the success that you and others have had.  I am also realistic because of the failures of others.  WLS sugery is a crapshoot - there are so many variables that we don't have control over.  For that reason we should not discourage the telling of the good, bad and ugly of the band, but we should discourage attacking anyone for the choice they made.  Once a choice is made, we should support that person no matter the WLS because we all want the same thing - to lose weight and be healthy.

Sorry for being so wordy.  Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

cat

Now you can add 4 unhappy bandsters that support you! I don't know if they do things differently in Europe or not but you folks all seem to have a better experience. For that I'm glad! Anytime anyone can drop so much as a pound that is a blessing for sure. I appreciate that you kindly realize not all are that fortunate. I think I can speak for all us "band bashers" that we don't open our mouths to slam the band as much as to make sure everyone realizes that there can be serious problems associated with the band. No certainly not every band but the possibility is there. The manufacturers and so many docs make it sound like a walk in the park procedure and we just want to make sure that people are aware that this isn't always the case. We are all thrilled for anyone who can succeed with the band, any procedure for that matter! It's just that the band is so much newer than some of the others that people need to be aware of potential problems. Also I want to add an atta girl for Pumpkin because she used to be somewhat abrasive but has really worked at being less so, which is awesome because she has an amazing amount of information to share. We all need all the positive we can get!