Eileen,

 

First, I am so sad to see you had complications with the band. It’s so unfortunate it happen. But I am glad to see you posted this. It goes to show that issues can, and does, happen with the band, as well as with all bariatric surgeries.

 

Glad to see you’re planning on another surgery. And you’re in the best hands with your choice of Doctor’s (ok, I am biased).

 

While you’re going to have the sleeve, know you don’t need to leave this forum. Truthfully, no matter what operation you have, we’re all bariatric siblings. So know we’re here for you no matter what procedure you have.

 

Good luck, we’re rooting for you!!

I've thought a bit about whether or not to post this here.  On the one hand, people should know what the potential problems are.  On the other hand, I LOVED my band.  So, I'll leave it to you to do with this what you will.  It's not meant to discourage anyone from getting a band.

In December 2007, I finally got approval and got my band put in.  The first several weeks were tough.   I was not one of the fortunate people who feel full right away.  I was HUNGRY.  But, I hung in there.  I stuck to my portion size, and followed all the rules.  Eventually, I got to a sweet spot on I believe it was my 3rd fill.  I could eat whatever I wanted as long as I chew chew chew chewed it.  But I felt full after about a cup of food.  I joined curves and worked out at least 3 times a week.  

I lost 90 lbs over the next year and a half.  It was about 10 lbs more than I thought I was going to get to, but I was HAPPY!  About 6 months of maintaining that weight, I had a body lift and breast lift.  Holy cow, that HURT!  But they removed 5 lbs of skin, and I felt good after the recovery period.  That was last April.  

Things continue to go well.  I am fitting in size 8 pants, which is something I *never* thought I'd do.  Then in October-ish, I notice things have changed.  I'm gaining a bit of weight.  I can eat more.  By November it's clear something's up -- I've got reflux, which I never had before.  At its worst, I would wake up coughing because my dinner (eaten 5 hours prior) was refluxing.  Sure enough, I had a slipped band. 

They removed the fluid, and 6 weeks (and many pounds) later I went back.  It looked not slipped anymore, so they half-filled my band.  Within a week I could tell it had slipped again.  We decided it needed to be repositioned, replaced, or come out and do something else.  After a lot of thought, I decided that I did not want to go through this again in 3 years, so I'm getting a sleeve.  Clearly the restrictive only type bariatric surgery works for me.  I am willing to do something permanent like a sleeve now.  I would not have been at the beginning of my journey.

So, it's with sadness that I leave the band forums.  Choosing the revision was tough - but knowing I had to do something made it easier.  Since November, I've put back on 35 of the 90 lbs I lost.  I need to have about 1000/cal a day to maintain my goal weight.  That's not something I can do long term without a tool like a band or sleeve.

I wish you all the best of luck on your journeys!  Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.  No - I don't know why it slipped.  My only thought was that I vomited pretty hard after my body lift in April -- perhaps over the next 6 months it just progressively slipped.

Again - best of luck to you all.
Eileen

Oh, by the way, I have not seen my son and his family since I spent a week with them last August, so NO ONE there has seen me at the lower weight I am now...can not wait til they come up in May!

Thanks, Kim! My kids crack me up everyday!! 

Welcome back!!!! I love the honesty of kids!! Great job!!! Proud of you! Keep up the great work! You DO inspire us!