Five years Post Surgery Looking for Answers

pineview01
on 10/18/12 7:08 am - Davison, MI
Next time I'm into the center I will ask if this has changed in the last year. But, according to them, there is a little. No way to tell how much.

BAND REMOVED 9-4-12-fought insurance to get sleeve and won! Sleeved 1/22/13! Five years out and trying to get that last 15 pounds back off.

Jean M.
on 10/17/12 9:56 pm
Revision on 08/16/12
Aside from the things mentioned by other posters, there's also the fact that your body is living, breathing, changing thing, so restriction is affected by factors like hydration, medication, illness, allergies, hormones, stress, etc. I have heard many bandsters (including me) say that their experience of restriction after an unfill is quite different than it was before, even when they get to the exact same fill level that was tolerable before the unfill.

Jean McMillan c.2009-2013 - Always a bandster at heart
author of Bandwagon (TM), Strategies for Success  with the Adjustable Gastric Band & Bandwagon Cookery. Bandwagon for Kindle now available on Amazon.  Read my blog at: jean-onthebandwagon.blogspot.com 

   

 

 

 

Lori F.
on 10/17/12 10:07 pm - Chula Vista, CA
 And when I said this to my doc, he suggested I needed COUNSELING. I KNOW my band is tighter before I get my period...I throw up even more often... and I'm crazy. He said, "Not possible!" Grrrr.
Pre-band highest weight: 244
Pre-band surgery weight: 233
Lowest: 199 ( for, like, a day)
CW:
260 (yes, with the band!) 
Current Fill: 5cc in 10cc band
BMI: 49
Jean M.
on 10/18/12 1:03 am
Revision on 08/16/12
Oh, for crying out loud. Maybe you do need counseling, to help you learn how to deal with that doctor! And does HE have a gastric band? Probably not. And has HE ever menstruated? Unless he's had a sex-change operation, probably not.

I've had 2 bariatric surgeons myself and have talked to many more, and none of them were surprised to hear about the kind of experience you've described. So either your doctor is not well-informed, or the rest of his patients aren't telling him when they have that kind of problem...possibly because they sense that they won't get any support from him and may be sharing their struggle with a GYN who at least can understand the hormone factor.

Just my opinion, of course.

Jean McMillan c.2009-2013 - Always a bandster at heart
author of Bandwagon (TM), Strategies for Success  with the Adjustable Gastric Band & Bandwagon Cookery. Bandwagon for Kindle now available on Amazon.  Read my blog at: jean-onthebandwagon.blogspot.com 

   

 

 

 

(deactivated member)
on 10/17/12 10:40 pm - Califreakinfornia , CA
www.aboutlawsuits.com/lap-band-side-effects-additional-surge ry-17088/

Lap Band Side Effects Led To Additional Surgery in 60% of Patients: Study

Add Comments 38  11  2  3     feature photo

By: Staff Writers | Published: April 1st, 2011

About six out of every 10 people who undergo gastric Lap-Band surgery may experience complications that require additional surgery and nearly half may have to have the banding removed, according to a recent study by Belgian researchers. 

The researchers looked at patients who had received the Allergan Inc. Lap-Band over a period of 12 years and reported their findings last week in the Archives of Surgery. They found that nearly a third of patients who undergo the procedure, known as laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB), discovered that their bands had eroded the wall of their stomach over time.

The study used data from 82 patients who underwent LAGB surgery between January 1, 1994 and December 31, 1997. Researchers found that 61% suffered some kind of complications, usually major. Overall, 28% were found to have suffered Lap-Band erosion, and just under 50% had the band removed within 12 years. Overall, the Lap-Band recipients lost about 43% of the excess weight they carried before undergoing to procedure.

The researchers said that the lap band erosion, complications, and an overall lukewarm satisfaction rating by the patients in the study led them to determine that Lap-Band side effects lead to relatively poor long-term outcomes for LAGB.

Allergan has criticized the findings, saying that a 2010 Lap-Band study in Surgical Endoscopy found only a 12% complication rate among nearly 3,000 patients who had the bands implanted in 2001, which was the year the FDA approved the Lap-Band for use in the U.S. The company said that the study focused on the beginning of LAGB surgery, before doctors became experienced with the procedure.

According to Allergan, more than 500,000 people worldwide have received the Lap-Band and said both the band itself and LAGB surgery have changed since the subjects of the Belgian study received their bands.

The new study comes less than a week after the FDA announced that it was expanding the approved use of the Lap-Band to include people who were less obese.

 

Related Articles

Tags: , ,

 

There Are 38 Comments So Far • (Add Your Comments)


NanaB .
on 10/18/12 7:53 am
Any time you've had an unfill, you will NEVER get back to the SAME amount you've had prior. This is well known. When I had my very first unfill in my 4cc band (when I was dangerously too tight and my band almost slipped), at one point I was as high as 2.8cc in my band, once I started refilling my band I could only get as high as 2.6cc without having issues.

Over the years 2.3ccs was perfect. It's best to never have to get saline removed from the band if you can help it, unless you have to travel overseas for a long time. Who knows over time the band slowly starts to slip, once you get to where you can't tolerate any fill, there will be no where else to go.

Words of advice, don't over eat, chew your food well and avoid any vomiting if you can, and try your best to stay in the green zone.

Original Lap Band * 9/30/2005 * 4cc 10cm band*,  lost 130 pounds. 7 Great years! 

Revision surgery to AP small lap band *11/13/2012*, due to large hiatal hernia. I am hopeful about continuing my band journey uneventful and successful. I loved what my old band did for me and I am looking forward for my new band to Keep my weight downsmiley

Most Active
×