Thinking About the Band, brand new to this

Hello everyone. I'm Marissa and I am almost 25 years old and have struggled my entire life with being over weight. I was born as a 10lb baby. I developed very early. I have tried multiple times to diet with WW, and have even been to a nutiritionist at one point when I was in middle school. Nothing helped. My mom mentioned the other day, during my physical appt this Friday, to mention the lap band, I never have thought about it, I was upset at first, but talking to my best firend who has had the gastric bypass, she talked me into going to a seminar to see what it is all about, and is 100% supportive of it. I have been reading posts for a few days now and decided to post myself to see what people think of it.

I know people will say that I am young, but I have struggled my entire life and nothing is working.  I even lost 25lbs on WW, but gained back about 10lbs in a little over a month and a half, just becase I wasnt FULLY doing it, but I would  still go to weigh in.

I am strongly considering the band, I want to hear the GOOD the BAD and the UGLY about it. I need to see what I am in for. I know it is a huge lifetime change. But, I need to make a change that I KNOW will help me.

I've had the band for over 4 years and I would stronly suggest you look at one of the other surgeries. One because bands are causing many more problems than the manufacturers ever told us about and two this is the main reason because the band is only supposed to be kept in for 5-10 years, it is not a lifetime thing. So if you have had  weight issues your whole life then you will get them back when the band has to come out. To be very honest there are only a handful of people who have been able to keep theirs over 4 or 5 years because problems develope sooner than that, usually. You can't squeeze and put presssure on an organ like the stomach for years and not expect problems. Please for your own safety and information go to the main 4 surgeries that are done and read about all of them, read the forums for each and see which ones are happiest with their surgeries. The main four are the band of course, the vertical sleeve gastrectomy, the RNY (or bypass) and the duodenal switch or DS. Many, many bandsters end up having to have revisions to one of these other surgeries because of problems with the band including scar tissue, erosion into the stomach or other organs and just plain failure of the band in the form of not being able to tolerate it. My own surgeon told me last year when I had to be emptied (and still am because of reflux) that 1/4 of their patients have had to revise because of the problems I mentioned before. If you are considering surgery, get one that will last your whole life not just a few years. I wish I had known all this 4 years ago!

 
I wouldn't do it.  I'd get a surgery that is more effective and lasts for life and not just a few years.

 Try something else...VSG might be the best option for you and if you find that you need a malabsorptive procedure down the road, you can revise to DS, since VSG is the first component in DS.  My band was emptied almost 4 months ago, I'm still having random tightening, inability to eat dense protein, veggies, fruit....
One Bandster said the other day that in the last year her doctor put in 3 bands and REMOVED 14!  Need I say more?

I had to have my band removed in an emergency surgery over 7 years ago. I STILL have lingering left shoulder pain from the damage done to my diaphragm and the Vagus nerves. It's VERY common with banding to incur damage to these nerves. I also developed gastritis, hiatal hernia, diverticulitis and a number of ulcers while banded. Nto to mention, reflux and esophageal problems.

The band is damaging. It's removable, not reversible. There will most likely be damage done from it.

This Tuesday, the 2nd, I had my band removed in an emergency surgery. 3.5 years of relative success, very few issues and easy to make lifestyle changes all of the sudden and very much out of the blue became a life-threatening situation for me when my body suddenly began to reject the foreign body. Now I know my situation is truly unusual, but I strongly caution you to check all of your options before you make your decision. The thing about the lap band in particular is that you must be VERY diligent in adapting to and following the dietary changes that you must make. It is entirely possible to eat your way around the band and not be successful with weight loss. Have you discussed with your friend how the bypass is working for her? Is this an option for you too? Have you researched the sleeve?

 
Your body rejecting the band is not rare at all.

Nope you body rejecting the band is not rare at all.  I tried everything to keep mine, but my body won and I had mine out after 3.5 years also.

Please go on the Revison boards and the VGS boards.  There are many ex-banders on the sleeve boards.  Also check out the failed band group.  Great info there.