Surgery in ten days - any good stories?!?

Im having my surgery in ten days and all that I am seeing on this is horror stories from the lap band.  Does anyone have anything good to say about it?  Starting to get me a little worried about it

Sorry, wish I did have something positive to say about the band.  The truth is, it provides the slowest weight loss, the least weight loss, the highest regain, and the most complications (in number) than any of the other WLS types.  It is rare to keep a band for 10 years.  It causes a lot of esophageal damage, and if anyone tries to tell you that you'll be fine if you just follow the band rules, they are full of themselves.  I can only think of one person that has had it for any amount of time that hasn't had at least one surgery (if not more) to fix a slip, an erosion, leaky tubing, flipped port.

There are safer and far more effective surgery types out there.

Keep in mind, most ins co's are going to a once in a lifetime WLS.  So if your band fails (50% are removed in 2-6 years according to the US govt, the stats skyrocket for 10 years post op) you are most likely to be self pay for a revision.  Think long and hard about this.

I have absolutely nothing good to say about the band. It was THE WORST decision I ever made. And I'm still paying for it today. I am up right now, in spite of being dead tired. The reason I'm up is because I have so much burning pain in my gut and esophagus that I know if I lie down, it will get even worse. I had been taking Dexilant to treat the ulcers I developed while banded, as well as the gastritis, GERD, and hiatal hernia. But our insurance no longer covers it. And I can't afford the hundreds of dollars it costs. So, I'm still suffering from the damage the band did... even though I got it removed about 8 years ago.  I went through the same thing last night. I had hoped that tonight would be better, but so far, no dice. 

Off and on all day today I've had referred left shoulder pain from the damage that the band did to the Vagus nerves that run through the diaphragm. I had been trying to paint my new art studio that I'm SO excited about... but every few minutes, I'd get a burning, stabbing pain and it would knock the wind out of me almost. 

Did I mention that I got my band about 10 years ago, it was removed about 8 years ago? Yep. The whole "reversible" thing didn't pan out so well. Turns out, it's just a catch phrase to make people think they're just going for a walk in the park instead of having major, life altering surgery. It means nothing. Damage is not reversible. 

I'm so tired of seeing people hurt by the band. It truly pains me more than I can tell you. I hope you'll reconsider and save yourself a lot of disappointment and damage. 

Did you know that the Mayo Clinic is no longer offering gastric banding because of the high rate of complications and the low success rate? That's saying a lot. They know that people are being damaged and suffering from the band and are choosing to not perpetuate that cycle, thankfully. 

Take care. Good luck to you. 

I almost changed surgeries a couple weeks before the band.  I wish I had waited until I could have gotten the sleeve as my PCP suggested.  I just was sure I could be one of the ones to beat the odds.  I wasn't

It is never to late to change your mind.  Give it some hard thought.  If you do decide to get the band, I wish you all the best.

August 2003 and August 2013. Maintaining a 170+ pound loss.  If you want details of my journey, please feel free to message me.

As Bette, says, PM me if you have questions.

7 years out, lost all excess weight in 15 months. Had leak repair four years ago. No other problems.

Good luck

NOPE

I was a lap band success but lost my band due to my own negligence.  After 4 years of successfully managing my 116 lbs weight loss (within 10 lbs), I developed complications from a dilation of the pouch/esophagus and chronic reflux came along as a side effect.

Here's the deal though, the band worked for me.  I didn't have any real complaints and take full responsibility for what happened because I started ignoring the "band rules" that helped me lose weight.  My portions grew over time, I didn't eat slowly or chew well and I regurgitated food too often which is a sign that something is wrong. 

If you are dead set on having the band please remember me when you are tempted to eat more than 1/3-1/2 a cup of food at a time.  Please remember me if you are tempted to add foods back in to your eating plan that aren't good for you like junk food, sweets, ice cream, chips that will go right through the band. Remember me and then don't do it!  It's not worth it!  I've gained a lot of weight back and am hoping to revise to RNY in October.

None of the surgeries are perfect.  All of them can be cheated by abusing the tool.  And yes, some times things go wrong that are not your fault at all.  There is surgical error, band failure, i.e., leaks, etc. and slips that are sometimes caused by band abuse and sometimes due to anatomy or staples not holding and sometimes it's just bad luck.  All we can do is make the decision that's best for us and pray that it's the right one.

Bottom line, follow the rules.  They are there for a reason.

Best of luck!

Lisa O.

I'm 4.5 years out lost 180 lbs....have yet to have any problems.

Before

After