Me and my band: a story NOT ending in disaster
Tom C's post asking people to share their band "catastrophe" has prompted me to make a post of my own, based on my response to his post. A lot of my story has been shared on other posts, including "Why *I* Chose the Band."
I had my band done in 2003, which seems like a hundred years ago. Back then, WLS wasn't much heard about and CERTAINLY rarely talked about. Hardly anyone would confess to having had it (Star Jones, celebrity hypocrite.) Thank God that Al Roker had balls big enough to come out of the WLS closet! WLS was just emerging from the shadows and, really, the only two procedures anyone knew anything about were RNY and the Band. I did not then, and still would not, want to have an intensive a procedure as RNY. VSG and DS, had they been options, would not have been something I wanted, and my thoughts really haven't changed. However, if I were to be forced to lose my band, I would have to consider one of the other 3 procedures because, as my tale will show, I cannot do this on my own.
I went in to my first appointment with my surgeon at 376 pounds. After my 2-week preop diet, I went into surgery at 354.
Everyone - and every study - said that I, as a band patient, would lose weight slowly.
WRONG. Except for month 2, when I lost only one pound, I lost weight so fast I was terrified. Everything was fine - I was just one of the lucky ones that got to lose weight faster.
ONE HUNDRED POUNDS IN SIX MONTHS!
Down 150 pounds after a year,
at goal in 18 months, over 200 pounds gone soon after.
In August 2007, my husband and I took a trip to Ireland. While we were there, I started having trouble keeping food down. Not all the time, but enough to concern me. But I felt really good and thought I looked fabulous. Who's gonna complain? It was working, right?
Then I started getting sick most of the time. Then, all the time. And to add to that horror, I was putting weight ON - a lot of it - even though hardly any food was staying in me. (If someone can explain that to me, I would love it. I STILL can't figure out the physics of it.)
When I went to see my surgeon, he recommended I have an upper GI to see what was going on. I refused, and for one simple reason: I was terrified that I was going to lose my band. I agreed t have the band emptied, the hope being that the slip, if there was one, might fix itself, but I kept refusing to have the test, refusing to deal with the issue, and I kept getting sick and kept gaining weight. Add to that, I was dealing with the tremendous fear and depression and wanting to eat MORE because food was and is my coping mechanism. I was sick all the time and putting on weight, and wanted to just crawl under a rock and die.
Finally, when I was unable to keep even simple foods like protein shakes down, I caved and agreed to the upper GI, which revealed a large hiatal hernia. My surgeon told me that it is not uncommon for people with bands, who lose weight very rapidly like I had, to develop one, and it needed to be fixed surgically. He asked me if I was interested in having the "new and improved" band (10 cc instead of 4) installed while he was in there. I had insurance (2, actually) at the time and, since it wasn't going to cost me anything, I agreed.
The surgery was a quick one, just an overnight stay. But a) puking every time I ate, b) overeating when the band was emptied pre-op and c) overeating when the new band was empty, caused me to regain about 40 pounds.
I feel I have to make sure you know: I'm not negating how far I've come, how well I HAVE done, and how much better I feel and healthier, overall, I am. I still think I look pretty damned good.
Me, on my first EMS ride-along.
Me, last month at St. Baldrick's shaving event:
And I would still like to lose 20 more pounds.
I don't know why the band has worked so well for me when it does a so-so job for many and no job at all for quite a few. It is the band, itself? Poor installation? Poor surgeon skills? Genetics? A physiological issue where a person's GI tract doesn't like the band? I have no idea.
Do I believe that all band eventually fail, as we have been told on here soooooo many times? Nope.
Do expect that my band is going to last forever? No.
Am I walking around with a black cloud over my head, waiting for sky to fall, waiting for the day when it night fail **** no! I've got too much to do.
I will tell you - losing weight at 370 pounds was a LOT easier than trying to lose it now. I also knew my "sweet spot" with the 4cc band, but can't quite find it with the 10cc. I have been pretty close, and my band buddy is still doing his or her job. but I have to keep an eye on what I eat, when I eat it and how I eat it. And I am still, almost 8 years post op, dealing with the same food issues that I had prior to my surgery. NOTHING will change that - not the band, RNY, sleeve or DS. NO WLS is going to allow me, you or anyone to eat whatever the hell we want in whatever quantities we want and NOT gain weight.
I had my band done in 2003, which seems like a hundred years ago. Back then, WLS wasn't much heard about and CERTAINLY rarely talked about. Hardly anyone would confess to having had it (Star Jones, celebrity hypocrite.) Thank God that Al Roker had balls big enough to come out of the WLS closet! WLS was just emerging from the shadows and, really, the only two procedures anyone knew anything about were RNY and the Band. I did not then, and still would not, want to have an intensive a procedure as RNY. VSG and DS, had they been options, would not have been something I wanted, and my thoughts really haven't changed. However, if I were to be forced to lose my band, I would have to consider one of the other 3 procedures because, as my tale will show, I cannot do this on my own.
I went in to my first appointment with my surgeon at 376 pounds. After my 2-week preop diet, I went into surgery at 354.
Everyone - and every study - said that I, as a band patient, would lose weight slowly.
WRONG. Except for month 2, when I lost only one pound, I lost weight so fast I was terrified. Everything was fine - I was just one of the lucky ones that got to lose weight faster.
ONE HUNDRED POUNDS IN SIX MONTHS!
Down 150 pounds after a year,
at goal in 18 months, over 200 pounds gone soon after.
In August 2007, my husband and I took a trip to Ireland. While we were there, I started having trouble keeping food down. Not all the time, but enough to concern me. But I felt really good and thought I looked fabulous. Who's gonna complain? It was working, right?
Then I started getting sick most of the time. Then, all the time. And to add to that horror, I was putting weight ON - a lot of it - even though hardly any food was staying in me. (If someone can explain that to me, I would love it. I STILL can't figure out the physics of it.)
When I went to see my surgeon, he recommended I have an upper GI to see what was going on. I refused, and for one simple reason: I was terrified that I was going to lose my band. I agreed t have the band emptied, the hope being that the slip, if there was one, might fix itself, but I kept refusing to have the test, refusing to deal with the issue, and I kept getting sick and kept gaining weight. Add to that, I was dealing with the tremendous fear and depression and wanting to eat MORE because food was and is my coping mechanism. I was sick all the time and putting on weight, and wanted to just crawl under a rock and die.
Finally, when I was unable to keep even simple foods like protein shakes down, I caved and agreed to the upper GI, which revealed a large hiatal hernia. My surgeon told me that it is not uncommon for people with bands, who lose weight very rapidly like I had, to develop one, and it needed to be fixed surgically. He asked me if I was interested in having the "new and improved" band (10 cc instead of 4) installed while he was in there. I had insurance (2, actually) at the time and, since it wasn't going to cost me anything, I agreed.
The surgery was a quick one, just an overnight stay. But a) puking every time I ate, b) overeating when the band was emptied pre-op and c) overeating when the new band was empty, caused me to regain about 40 pounds.
I feel I have to make sure you know: I'm not negating how far I've come, how well I HAVE done, and how much better I feel and healthier, overall, I am. I still think I look pretty damned good.
Me, on my first EMS ride-along.
Me, last month at St. Baldrick's shaving event:
And I would still like to lose 20 more pounds.
I don't know why the band has worked so well for me when it does a so-so job for many and no job at all for quite a few. It is the band, itself? Poor installation? Poor surgeon skills? Genetics? A physiological issue where a person's GI tract doesn't like the band? I have no idea.
Do I believe that all band eventually fail, as we have been told on here soooooo many times? Nope.
Do expect that my band is going to last forever? No.
Am I walking around with a black cloud over my head, waiting for sky to fall, waiting for the day when it night fail **** no! I've got too much to do.
I will tell you - losing weight at 370 pounds was a LOT easier than trying to lose it now. I also knew my "sweet spot" with the 4cc band, but can't quite find it with the 10cc. I have been pretty close, and my band buddy is still doing his or her job. but I have to keep an eye on what I eat, when I eat it and how I eat it. And I am still, almost 8 years post op, dealing with the same food issues that I had prior to my surgery. NOTHING will change that - not the band, RNY, sleeve or DS. NO WLS is going to allow me, you or anyone to eat whatever the hell we want in whatever quantities we want and NOT gain weight.
Banded 10 years & maintaining my weight loss!! Any questions, message me.
YOU ARE AN AMAZING PERSON!!!
Im having some issues with my band right now. But after reading this post, I feel alot better about my issues. I have to get my gallbladder out in a few weeks and I had to have all my fluid taken out. I was really swollen and they don't know why, but Im sensitive to fills. When Im ready I will start over again, hopefully I don't have resort to a revision. But anyhoo, Keep up the good work and you are an inspiration to me, that its not the end of the world...
Thanks for the post!!!
The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time...
THANKS SO MUCH FOR SHARING!!!
MEGA
for not only your success, but your HONESTY!!!
MEGA
for not only your success, but your HONESTY!!!Good Luck on your Journey !!
Tom
“Nothing I will ever eat will give me the feeling I get as when I lose weight” The views expressed are based on my own experiences - and should NOT BE FOLLOWED IN LIEU OF DOCTOR’S ADVICE/INSTRUCTIONS. Only your Doctor knows your condition, and make sure you talk to them before making any changes to your diet
Tom
“Nothing I will ever eat will give me the feeling I get as when I lose weight” The views expressed are based on my own experiences - and should NOT BE FOLLOWED IN LIEU OF DOCTOR’S ADVICE/INSTRUCTIONS. Only your Doctor knows your condition, and make sure you talk to them before making any changes to your diet
Thank you, Bette!
There are a lot of us successful vets out there. Has my own journey been trouble free? No, I had a leak in the tubing two years ago. Apparently, according to my surgeon, I have lost so much fat that the tubing was simply too long and rubbed against the harder muscle. He chopped out the leak, reconnected it and so the tubing is now several inches shorter and he does not expect the problem to re-occur.
Does that mean my band is a failure? No. I have lost all my excess weight, I am slim, fit, healthy, active and HAPPY!
My thanks to my surgical team who explained the options, educated me, supported me.
Kate
Highest 290, Banded - 248 Lowest 139 (too thin!). Comfort zone 155-165.
Happily banded since May 2006. Regain of 28lbs 2013-14. ALL GONE!
But some has returned! Up to 175, argh! Off we go again,
NanaB.
on 5/24/12 7:12 am
on 5/24/12 7:12 am
You look great as usual! keep on inspiring us!
Are you overall Happy with your Band and want a postive environment to stay on track? Join us and become a member of our Happy Lap Band Group Keep it bookmarked! http://www.obesityhelp.com/group/Happy_Successful_Banders/
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