**HATERS!! QUIT BAND BASHING!!!!

I'm sick of every time I get on the boards to get a little info... these same few people who are so negative about the band ba**** constantly. Quit it!! We get it you had a bad experience...get over it...move on. Not everyone wants your negativity spewed everytime they make a post. Go find another forum to be nasty on.  Yes, people need the pros and cons, but copy and pasting the same statistics and same band nightmares time after time if really getting old...Go home!

By the way Happy Thanksgiving to the rest of you.

my results:
5' 9"
start 252
now 160
size 8-10

 

Wow you have a lot of freaking nerve! How active are you on the forum? And now you're the band forum police?! Lol. When was the last time you helped someone on here???

~We get it you had a bad experience...get over it...move on.~

Excuse me?! I did get over it. And I am now here to help others that have a bad experience. Most of all though..........I am here to share my experience with my POS band with pre-ops so they can make an INFORMED decision about WLS! So STFU you moron!!!

~Go find another forum to be nasty on.~

Another forum? And what forum do you suggest??? I  have the Lap-Band. *You* don't think this is the appropriate forum for me?!

And that comment about "to be nasty on".............you are too STUPID to even see the irony in your statement!!!!!!!!! *You* came on here starting **** with *Your* nasty thread!!!!!!!!!!!!

~Yes, people need the pros and cons, but copy and pasting the same statistics and same band nightmares time after time if really getting old~

Hmmmmm. Seems to me that some of the band cheerleader post the same stats over and over on here. But that's not getting old??? If *you* are going to dictate forum rules.........you could at least be consistant! Yet I don't hear you telling the band cheerleaders they can't post their stats over and over!

And now to bring a little more realism into this post............You've had your band how long? Lol. You love your band don't you? :-) Wanna take a guess as to how long *your* band is gonna last??? I'm sure you've noticed you rarely see a long term bandster on here..........OR IN THE REAL WORLD! And when you do...........IT'S ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO FINE ONE THAT HASN'T HAD TO HAVE A 2ND SURGERY! So I'll give you another 2 maybe 3 years before *your* band craps out on you! Let's see how much "band bashing" you do after *your band FAILS! LOL. But I know........I won't see you on here "band bashing". You will be one of those that opens a new OH account to post about *your* band failure b/c you don't want people on here to realize how STUPID and inconsiderate and unrealistic you are to tell other BANDSTERS not to post on *their* own forum, after *YOUR* band fails!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

you needed not even respond - this is a free site & everyone has a block button.

 Miss pug, just use your block button. If it is the same people annoying you every time, it is a very simple solution! 

But don't forget the negative posts - in a way we need them more. When things go well, we don't need help; when things go badly, the experiences of others can help.

Kate

I have nerve?????? Looks like I struck a nerve......

You centainly did sweetie! And btw........Happy Thanksgiving! ;-)

Miss Pugg,

 I sincerely apologize for making your experience here on the lap band forum a negative one.That was never my intention. I realize that my recent sparing with a certain poster has been less then respectful, and for that I do apologize.

I have been working hard to help those that are researching the Lap Band and/or Realize Band's, as well as trying to respectfully present the other side to all LAGB to  lurkers and/or pre-op's who may not be aware of the other less known side of all the LAGB. ( LAGB = All Bands )

This is why myself as well as most my friends repeatedly share our personal experiences here on this forum as well as other forums. I want to offer the cons while successful bandsters offer the pros of all LAGB. This is just one way a lurker/pre-op can truly make an informed decision.

If you have any suggestions on how I can present my lap band experience on this forum without it sounding " really old " to you, then I would appreciate and take into consideration any advice you would like to share with me.

On the other hand.....
It is much easier ( at least in my case ) to copy and paste my personal experiences here on this forum, whenever I come across someone who may be experiencing some of the same experiences that I myself have already experienced or I know of others who have .

Recently I have also offered my support, help and experience to lap banders on this forum who still LOVE their bands by copying and pasting information such as the information I am about to paste below.

Even though I AM ANTI BAND, I have made friends with several truely experienced, supportive,successful and loving bandsters who accept me and support my right to post my personal experiences on this ,  " The Lap Band Forum." 

For the most part I try my best to keep it informative in a respectful way, but I am only human and there are days when that all goes out the window and they gently guide me with a few helpful words to get me back on track with my message and to leave the brawling out of it.

I gotta go on record here ( again ) that I am a potty mouth and that will never change, I can only promise to try and tone it down.

Even though I am anti-band, I still want to try and help lapbanders here on this forum that may benefit from any information I may come across in my reading and research.


The below information is from a thread originally posted by Melting Mama on the Main Forum, but I added the animated picture in hopes that it might give lap banders a visual aid in understanding the  " whys' behind the rules.

Thanks for reading

Lisa

P.S.
I think every surgeon has different rules, but I like these rules because it explains why the timing is so important between bites in regards to the peristaltic waves passing down the esophagus.

How to eat with a LAP BAND.

• A “half a cup" of food should be placed on a small plate.
• Take a small bite and chew well.
•  Use a small fork or a small spoon to eat.(an oyster fork or baby spoon)
  
• A single bite of food should be chewed carefully for 20 seconds. This provides the opportunity to reduce that bite of food to mush.
  
•  After chewing the food until it is mush, the patient should swallow that bite. 
• Swallow, then wait a minute. The patient must wait for that bite to go completely across the band before swallowing another bite. Normally, it will take between two and six peristaltic waves passing down the esophagus, which can take up to one minute.
• A meal should not go on for more than 20 minutes. At one bite per minute, that is just 20 small bites. The patient probably will not finish the “half a cup" of food in this time. The patient should throw away the rest of the food.
  
• It takes between two and six squeezes to get a single bite of food across the band
  
• The patient should not be hungry after 20 bites or less.
  
• After undergoing LAGB, the patient should never expect to feel full. Feeling full means stasis of food above the band and distension of that important part of the LECS above the band. This destroys the LECS, the mechanism that enables optimal eating behavior and appetite control. A patient should always keep this process in mind.
  
• If the patient finds that after eating the “half a cup" of food he or she is still hungry, he or she should review his or her eating practices, correct the errors, and consider the need for further adjustment of the band. If this is occurring, it is usually an indication that the patient is not in the green zone. 

There are three common eating errors:

1.The patient is not chewing the food adequately. Food must be reduced to mush before swallowing. If it cannot be reduced to mu**** is better for the patient to spit it out (discreetly) than to swallow it.

2. The patient is eating too quickly. Each bite of food should be completely squeezed across the band before the second bite arrives.

3.  The patient is taking bites that are too big to pass through the band.

Each of these errors leads to a build up of food above the band where there is no existing space to accommodate it.  Space is then created by enlargement of the small section of stomach or by enlargement of the distal esophagus, both of which can compromise the elegant structure of the LECS. If the LECS is stretched, it cannot squeeze. Without the squeezing, satiation is not  induced. When satiation is not induced, hunger persists, more eating occurs, and stretching continues. If our patient continues this each day for a year, it is inevitable that chronic enlargement will occur, the physiological basis for satiety and satiation is harmed, and stasis, reflux, heartburn, and vomiting supervene.

Esophagus

After food is chewed into a bolus, it is swallowed and moved through the esophagus. Smooth muscles contract behind the bolus to prevent it from being squeezed back into the mouth. Then rhythmic, unidirectional waves of contractions will work to rapidly force the food into the stomach. This process works in one direction only and its sole purpose is to move food from the mouth into the stomach.^[2]

In the esophagus, two types of peristalsis occur.

AA simcplified image showing peristalsis

• First, there is a primary peristaltic wave which occurs when the bolus enters the esophagus during swallowing. The primary peristaltic wave forces the bolus down the esophagus and into the stomach in a wave lasting about 8–9 seconds. The wave travels down to the stomach even if the bolus of food descends at a greater rate than the wave itself, and will continue even if for some reason the bolus gets stuck further up the esophagus.
• In the event that the bolus gets stuck or moves slower than the primary peristaltic wave (as can happen when it is poorly lubricated), stretch receptors in the esophageal lining are stimulated and a local reflex response causes a secondary peristaltic wave around the bolus, forcing it further down the esophagus, and these secondary waves will continue indefinitely until the bolus enters the stomach.

Esophageal peristalsis is typically assessed by performing an esophageal motility study.

Thank you for this informative post. As a nurse, I always appreciate it when I can see the "why" of something. Again, I appreciate this.

Sincerely,
Jen

Miss Pug,

I just posted a very long and respectful response to you and then I came across the following in your limited posting history.

Why was it okay for you to post about your original 13,500.00 dollar self pay lap band surgery and then you posted about how you had to self pay another 5,000.00 for a port & tubing replacement for a GRAND TOTAL of EIGHTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS not counting time off of work if any.

Couldn't that be construed as : BAND HATING AND BAND BASHING ?"

Personally, I don't think it is, but it might be to others, that don't want to hear anything negative about the LAGB.
 
You said, " The tubing that went from the port to the band, It cracked in half and would leak all the sailine out when I would get a fill. So I went in Tuesady and they replaced tubing and port (they won't just replace tubung, they have to replace port and tubing.) My band around my stomach was fine. It $5k to go in and put new port and tubing.

BTW.....4 out of the 5 posters in that thread either had their ports replaced or knew of someone who did, and one of those posters was Jean who is a long term successful bandster. 

Lap Band complications can happen to all lap banders, even the successful Lap Banders, and THAT is why we continue to share our experiences HERE on this forum, because THIS is the forum most pre-ops and SUCCESSFUL LAGB patients will turn to if they are in need of support or are researching their WLS options.

We should all make a concerted effort in understanding that support comes in many different fashions.

Emotionally we will all at some point need hugs and words of encouragement, but other times we will require the experience of those who may have experienced these problems firsthand.

You are the perfect candidate at least IMO for supporting those that may be having issues with a leaking port to visit their band surgeon for further diagnosis and help .

You are also the perfect person to share advice with those who are going the " Self Pay Route " by offering up your personal experience again and again so that those ( and this would apply to all WLS types ) but especially to the " Self Pays " what could possibly happen and to help them better prepare financially for possible future cracked, and or leaky ports.

IMO, one of the reasons why some ( NOT ALL )  but some may choose the lap band surgery over other WLS options is because it is the cheapest initial surgery to have.

Furthermore IMO most people choose it because they are easily misinformed by those that are profiting by giving out misleading and FALSE information when it come to the true definition of,
"Minimally Invasive / Less Invasive."

 Those being but not limited to Allergan, Johnson & Johnson, Band Surgeons, & their PAID surgical consultants
(who can make $ 300.00 per patient she/he signs up for surgery) , and "The WLS seminars" which are only "a surgeons sales tool"
in which to get you the patient in so that you can hear their pre rehearsed sales presentation and see their PowerPoint presentations ( Sales pitches taught to them by Allergan the makers of the lap band ) and tell you what they want you to hear in order for them to sell you the surgery that THEY perform as well as the tangible product that ALLERGAN sells to them in order for them to re-sell it to you.

Tan·gi·ble Adjective: Perceptible by touch.

If they don't perform the DS they won't tell you it because they don't know how to do it, or it will be what ever they can come up with to scare you away from it.
They will also "compliment" you into thinking that you're not fat enough to need such an " extreme surgery ".
The medical definition of MINIMALLY / LESS INVASIVE is as follows.

I found this definition for invasive here www.thefreedictionary.com/invasive

(Medicine / Surgery) (of surgery) involving making a relatively large incision in the body to gain access to the target of the surgery, as opposed to making a small incision or gaining access endoscopically through a natural orifice

THIS is why so many people who say they chose/or are choosing Lap band surgery was because it was " Less Invasive "

This part of the surgery has NOTHING to do with all the things that can go wrong with the band surgeries.


Miss Pug, The following are your post's in which I was referencing. I hope you won't look upon this as another band bashing post. My only intention is to try and get you to see it from another prospective.

Lisa

Post Date 11/19/11 6:15 am
Topic: **HATERS!! QUIT BAND BASHING!!!!

I'm sick of every time I get on the boards to get a little info... these same few people who are so negative about the band ba**** constantly. Quit it!! We get it you had a bad experience...get over it...move on. Not everyone wants your negativity spewed every time they make a post. Go find another forum to be nasty on.  Yes, people need the pros and cons, but copy and pasting the same statistics and same band nightmares time after time if really getting old...Go home!

By the way Happy Thanksgiving to the rest of you.

my results:
5' 9"
start 252
now 160
size 8-10

 

Post Date 11/13/11 6:42 pm
Topic: This board makes me nervous!!!

I don't know if it just me...but I get stressed out reading everyone's posts. All the problems everyone has had with their band. I think I'm paranoid everytime I have a wierd burp....have I slipped? am I too tight? am I damaging my band? is my port leaking?

I know some will say ...quit reading them!!! But I am here to get info, and I do appreciate the info that I can take from these posts. I don't know...it just makes my palms sweat. Post Date 11/13/11 6:35 pm
Topic: RE: how much was yours?

I was self- pay in 2006 $13,500. One night stay. Had to have port replaced 5 years later $5,000. Post Date 10/13/11 7:31 pm
Topic: RE: Port removal?

Actually it was the tubing that went from the port to the band, It cracked in half and would leak all the sailine out when I would get a fill. So I went in Tuesady and they replaced tubing and port (they won't just replace tubung, they have to replace port and tubing.) My band around my stomach was fine. It $5k to go in and put new port and tubing. Post Date 10/13/11 2:46 pm
Topic: RE: Port removal?

I had my port removed yesterday because it was leaking. I was very nervous about it because the pain was so bad after first surgery. This time was a breeze. I was out of recovery and a home within 2 hours of the surgery.  He put a smaller port in there but it is hard for me to tell because i am still so swollen. By the way I was a self-pay it ran about $5,000. Hopefully it will be worth it. Post Date 8/12/11 7:36 pm
Topic: ***PORT/TUBING REPLACEMENT

I am getting my port and tubing replaced. X-ray showed break right in middle of tube. What should I exprct this time around. It is being done lapro. How many incisionsthis time? Pain less than first surgery? Down time? Tell me about your experience. Thanks a little nervous. Post Date 1/24/11 7:58 am
Topic: RE: WORS BAND NEWS EVER

lap-band 4cc Post Date 1/23/11 5:09 pm
Topic: RE: WORS BAND NEWS EVER

They said it was no harm leaving the band as is, to have it removed would be the same cost as having port/tube replaced. Post Date 1/23/11 4:16 pm
Topic: RE: WORS BAND NEWS EVER

No bubble...actually split or something....saline all gone :(

Post Date 1/23/11 4:07 pm
Topic: WORS BAND NEWS EVER

Well it's official....after 5 years of being banded, my band tube kinked and split open. I am a self-pay and cannot have the surgery re-done. So, I am now my own and scared to death, and putting on weight. I don't know what to do. It's like I don't even have a band after all of this. Lost 90lbs. with band, and got very close to goal weight of 155.

Post Date 8/18/09 8:10 pm
Topic: Is this heartburn???or what?? Hurts like heck!!

Ok, I had a fill last wed. and have been experience some kind of burning sensation in my chest. I have been banded form 3 years and lost 97lbs and have had 4 or 5 fills but for some reason this one is about to kill me. Anyone experience this? Is it heartburn? Acid? It goes on all day long. Is it an overfill? WILL IT GO AWAY?.......HELP

so glad i never needed a tubung replaced....talk about "invasive"