Hi New person here

Hello and welcome

I wanted to come here give you some positive input too.  I lost 175+ lbs.  March will be my 4 year anniversary.  It was the best decision I ever made!!!  I was 354 lbs!!!  Now I am 175lbs!!  I was a size 30 now I am a size 10!!!  I was on all kinds meds now I am on none.  I could barely go up a flight of stairs without being out of breath...now I can run in a 5k!!!  And I exercise 6 days a week!!!  I feel great...I can run, skip, jump, bound up the stairs, sit on the floor and jump back up  again.  I can go on a roller coaster, sit in a booth without feeling I'm stuffed in there, I can cross my legs, I am shopping in the juniors section!!!  A whole world has opened up to me.  And it's all thanks to my decision to get the band...sure I work hard.  I eat healthy and exercise...but it's all worth it.  So don't let anyone make you feel like failure is inevitable.   Good luck with your journey

here are my before and after pics

I have to respectfully disagree about "most complications are due to noncompliance", its just not true.  I have read so many stories here, on LBT, pr*boards, etc and very few complications are caused by noncompliance.  Every surgeon has a different protocol AND they are constantly changing (evolving).  Some of us were banded by "band mills", poorly qualified surgeons and some bands were defective.  Some band docs are heavily $$$$ dependent on aftercare and push fills, causing over tight bands and complications.  There are just too many variables to make the assumption that complications are mostly the fault of the patient.

just wanted to clear that up.

I have every right to respond to her saying "Most of the complications have been them just not being compliant with diet." NOT true and all of you know it. If she is getting her support some where else and its all positive and we are all horrible to post our bad experiences then why did she even bother to post at all? I'm sure you would all like me to go away so know one knows that the bull**** you all say about "be compliant" and everything will be fine.....maybe its not me that needs to change the approach, maybe all of you who walk around bashing everyone else whose bands failed.

I'm not angry, I'm sad and I am dealing with that in counseling BUT YOU DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO TELL ME HOW TO FEEL OR ASSUME YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL BECAUSE YOU FKEN DON'T.

I'm don't need your support so put away your violin, you should of been honest with me in the first place....right? You all love to give support to those newly banded by saying don't worry don't listen to the band bashers they are just angry....and like an Idiot I believed you all I fell for the bull**** (and you know who you are). Then when things go wrong you want to attack the person you hurt with the lies. Really if you want to be helpful maybe you should stop being helpful.

I'm going to share my story even if you like it or not, and I will NOT apologize....deal with it.

Ok Let me start over. I did not mean to cause a crap storm with my original post. When I said about people not being compliant I meant there are two people in my in person (not internet) support group who have been non compliant. One guy ate 4 pork chops, got stuck horrible and Dr had to rush him back to surgery and pick pork chop out of the guys esophagus. That was that patient not being compliant. Another gentleman went to work and lifted a refrigerator before he was supposed to. THey had to do a port revision on him.  I did not mean to state that all band failures everywhere are because of the patient. I am not ignorant. Nor did I get the surgery lightly or without research. I have been researching surgeons and the different types of surgery for over 10 years. I was approved for the RNY at one time and backed out to "try on more time" on my own.  That didn't work. I can try one more time on my own all I want and I do not find success that way.

My husband, Surgeon and myself made the decision for the lapband. I found out about the plication with the lapband and did more research on it on my own. The plication is still in the investigational  stages in the US. It was explained to me that what they are looking for is increased success when the two procedures are married together. It makes food intake slower and they are hoping it will cut down on band slippage. I am in a study of the two together. So I can't really say more than that. However, I know there are risks and complications from everything.

I have a fantastic surgeon. He has spent time with me every month for the past 8 months while I was going through the diet program for insurance. His philosophy is more people will be successful if more surgeons paid better attention to their patients. He does not care much for the surgeries where you only see your surgeon once or twice. I am committed to visits to his office at least once a month for the next two years. He believes the medical team needs to be involved every step of the way and this gives me comfort. At my preop appt he spent over an hour of his time drawing my husband and I diagrams, watching a video with us and pointing out what he does different. He answered every question we had and we were very comfortable with him. 

I am sorry for the people who have had issues with the band or any other WLS. I lost a friend in 2008 due to malnurishment when she had bypass. It took her two years to waste away. This is the reason for my choice of the band. I am fully aware there can be complications. I am willing to be compliant and do everything I can to make it a success. I am aware that at some point down the road my band may have to come out. I am ok with that. If I get 5-10 years of help out of this tool and can relearn how to live and take better care of myself, I will still consider it a success. 

Please forgive me if any of this is rambling. I am still recovering from my surgery on Friday. I have a hard time putting coherent thoughts together when on pain meds. 

Basically I believe everyone's journey in this life is different. I would never come on here and tell someone they were doomed or they made the worst mistake of their life. I thought that was a bit of a disgusting thing to say to anyone.

I do appreciate all of the kind words I have read since then. Right now I am just trying to go slow and deal with the recovery part. I cant say if I will or wont have complications. All I can say is I went into this with my eyes open knowing full well what can happen. I am willing to take that chance. I wish everyone success with whatever journey they are on.