nevrhome

On 2/7/2018 at 4:56 PM, iluvbears42@yahoo.com said:

I just came here today to say my piece about band life. I had my lap band placed in 2009. The first five years were heaven. I never got a fill until a year out and got down to 160lbs. I only had 3cc's total in my band. For months at the five year mark I started vomiting. I could not eat solids they were coming right back up. I thought well maybe I will just try liquids for a few days and it went on for months. (Because I am Irishly stubborn) I started having abdominal pain one night and could not stop vomiting. Went the ER they did a cat scan my band was in place but every lymph node in my abdomen was inflamed. There was also an unknown etiology inside my band and referred me to see my gastro. Lucky enough I had an appointment with him the following Monday because I had, had enough of this crap. The constant vomiting. Then came the labs. My tumor markers were high which he assumed I had lymphoma. He scheduled and endoscopy for that same week and inside my band was a blueberry that had petrified and as he placed air it would move from my stoma and when he stopped it would fall back into the stoma. The impression of my lap band was seen easily so he told me to go get it unfilled immediately it was too tight. I thought how could it be too tight with only 3cc's in it. He removed the blueberry and he said he would repeat the cat scan in three months and by a month and a half later I called him and I just couldn't wait. So fast forward I did not have lymphoma and everything turned out fine. Since I have had my band unfilled I have gained most of my weight back which will happen. My surgeon told me they don't recommend lap bands because they have a ten year 80% failure rate. This is only what my surgeon told me and it doesn't mean it will happen to you. Honestly even with the Fluid out I still have restriction. Eating is miserable. I just want this thing out. I doubt that I will have another surgery because being skinny didn't fix me. Being fat doesn't fix me. I was not happy being skinny. I am not happy being fat but its not a weight issue its a me issue and I could weigh 90lbs and still would be depressed. I would still have anxiety. I never had any medical issues that caused me to need the lap band. Being skinny didn't take away my fibromyalgia pain. I am just saying all this because people are not always fixable by weight loss. Do I feel guilty or feel like a failure hell no. It just wasn't right for me.

I have to say mine has been quite successful. Yes, I need to lose more. 5 years now. Your body was telling you something very early on and your choice should have been to go to your Banding surgeon. They would have found the problem and dealt with it. I could be wrong but that sounds like the logical thing to do. I still go every 6 months and they do xrays to make sure all is still good.

I hear where you're both coming from. Exercise is not a problem. I do quite a bit of that. I understand it is not a quick fix but was expecting more control. After reading a lot of discussions on "fills" I am pretty sure that I am not where I should be. I've only had 2 fills and they were small amounts. I have my appointment tomorrow and am going to keep it. I'm going to discuss all my problems and weight gain and hopefully the Dr. will agree that I need another fill. Thanks for your replies. I know I am still going to need a Mentor to keep me going on this. You would think after almost 3 years I would have this all figured out. Was doing quite well until

personal life issues kicked me in the butt too. We'll see how it goes tomorrow.

Hi my name is Linn. Although I am new here, I had banding in May 2008. I have been struggling for the past year. I'm glad I found this website. I am hoping to find some good support here.

Hi my name is Linn. I had my LapBand in May 2008. I lost 28 pounds before the surgery to ready myself and for insurance qualification. I lost 28 pounds after the surgery. I have now gained about 15 back. I am very frustrated with the banding. The reason I got it was because I have failed so many times on diets. I eat fairly decent food for the most part. I do make wrong choices. I also am very bad at Portion Control. That is one of the main reasons I had the banding. I thought that would be the key to only eating very smaill amounts. I have found that I can still eat quite a bit of food. I wonder if I am at the right fill. I have an appointment with my doctor tomorrow and am thinking of cancelling because I am up about 8 lbs from my last visit. I have a bad attitude right now over the whole thing. I'm thinking it did not do what it was intended to do so why bother having it? I've been kicking around the idea of having it removed. I so desperately need some help with dealing with all of this. HELP!!

Hi my name is Linn. Although I had LapBand almost 3 years ago, I am new to this group. I joined so I could read what others have gone through and how they are doing. I also need some support so am hoping this will help.