received approval for gastric banding today

 Think that is a big piece of it, I've only ever had two surgeries, one to remove wisdom teeth and one to have my child.  So something that is elective really changes the scope.  I love your advice to keep busy =]

The band is not a good long term option. It's just not. Call it "bashing," if it makes you feel better, but it's the truth. I'd rather know the truth before surgery, when I still have time to change my mind than after I've already made a mistake. 

A lot of doctors are refusing to do this surgery any longer because they know the damage it can do. The whole, "reversible" selling point is misleading. The band can be removed, but as for reversing any damage... well, that's a whole different story. Most of us who had bands and needed them removed can tell you that the band DOES cause damage... a lot of it in some of us.

I woke up yesterday with referred left shoulder pain caused by the damage the band did to my Vagus nerves and diaphragm. I had my band removed over 7 years ago. I get the left shoulder pain at least once a week, sometimes more. And that's been pretty constant for the past 9 years. And by no means is this a rare thing... most of the people I know with bands experienced referred left shoulder pain.

So, you're at least forewarned, no matter what direction you proceed. I wish you the best of luck and I hope you'll research on the Revisions forum before making a final decision.

 I forget who said this on a post here or on FB, but their doctor implanted 3 bands this year and removed 14 and no longer does banding due to the ever increasing numbers of bands needing removed.

One of the Drs. at the OH conference last weekend said that in 2007 he did 200-300 bands and that last yr. he only did 5! He said it will be fewer this yr. I think that says a lot right there!

I felt the same way as you right before surgery! I was excited and nervous. I kept reading because I wanted to learn from everyone. I still read all the posts, because if something ever happens I will at least now be familiar with the types of problems people have. I am very happy with my decision to be banded. I have only had one fill, I am never hungry and it is working for me.

Don't get me wrong, I worried for years before I did this just having something foreign in my body, but I decided it was the way I wanted to go as far as WLS and am glad I did as I am down 122 ponds so far and feel so much better. If I hadn't done it I can't imagine how worse off I would be still being 330 pounds and growing.

Keep us posted on your surgery and don't forget that you do have a lot of support out here! Learn from everyone.

Thank you for your post,.  I will defintely keep you updated and thanks for the support. 

You don't know this YET, but those of us who are sharing with you our less than glowing experiences ARE supporting you. More than you'll know, actually. .

 

But I find it dismissive that you only respond to the people who have spoken about the band in glowing terms and ignored the information the rest of us provided (Those of us who HAVE gone through banding, by the way. I had mine done over 9 years ago and have been active in WLS communities ever since, so I've seen enough to make a few judgments about it.) 

 

Be prepared for referred left shoulder pain because it's much more common than is divulged. And there's really no way to describe it until you've experienced it... it can range from mild to chronic and severe. I had debilitating left shoulder pain from the band pressing up against the Vagus nerves that run through the diaphragm. And if you look at an anatomy chart, you'll see that there's little chance that a band WON'T affect the diaphragm. Just by its being there, the diaphragm and those nerves will be affected. Google Vagus nerves and see how many bodily functions they affect. I can't see how anyone (myself included!) ever thought putting an implanted object so close to those nerves could be a good idea. And now, doctors are also seeing this, and refusing to continue doing banding. They're seeing nerve damage and esophageal issues and they're saying, "enough of it." 

 

So, those of you who ignore the facts about complications are setting yourself up for having a device implanted in you that will be causing damage to your internal organs... and a doctor who might no longer be working with banding patients. At around the 2 year mark, you might start to experience difficulty eating (scar tissue builds up, causing the band to "tighten" with no real warning.)  Then you'll notice that even liquids cause a lot of pain and you'll ask to have all the saline taken out of the band.(Which still won't help, since an unfilled band can still cause restriction and then add scar tissue to the mix.)  It might get to the point where, even after the saline is removed, you still are unable to eat without difficulty and pain. The, "What do I do?!" questions start up... and some people will advise revision and others will tell you that YOU must have caused your own problems... maybe you weren't "chewing well enough" or you were choosing the wrong foods. Meanwhile, you KNOW you've followed all the band "rules" and you're baffled because the advertising SAID it was "less invasive." It's "safer!"   You'll hear about how "all WLS have complications!" and that, of course, does nothing to actually help YOUR situation. The complications you're experiencing are from the band... and they're just as bad as from any other WLS.

 

After you haven't been able to eat anything for awhile, you start to get really scared because you are feeling malnourished and anemic. You lose energy, you feel tired all the time, you're hungry and in pain. That's the point where you start begging someone to help... but you're still so reluctant to have the band removed because you went through so much, you don't want to regain, etc.  When it finally comes down to the point where you HAVE to have it removed, you might have such "lovely" reminders of your time banded such as: esophageal problems, gastritis, hiatal hernia, nerve damage, stomach problems, adhesions... and that's just a few. (I have ALL of these from banding. I went into surgery fat and healthy... no pain issues until AFTER banding.) Now I am fat again, I am in pain from the damage the band caused... and it could have been avoided. There were virtually no statistics to research back when I had my band done. Seriously, I got a VHS tape with Ann Wilson from the band Heart telling me that it would "change my life." I guess I should have asked if it would change my life for the better or the worse.

 

If you still feel confident in your decision after researching EVERYTHING, I truly wish you the best.

http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/lapband/4581363/FYI/

 

Seriously, save yourself a LOT of pain and heartache. We are trying to HELP you.