parisshel

Nerves are normal, even to ppl who have had multiple surgeries. Our heads like to mess with us.
Thoughts & prayers for a quick recovery!
Keep your eyes (mind) on the prize. You'll do great. Follow all your Drs instructions.

You have lost 128 pounds, that is amazing! Use that and go with it. If the band does have to be removed look at it as it was your ticket to get started to a healthier happier lifestyle. We have all been preached to about how the band is just a tool. It factors in to a change in life choices we have to make to eat healthy and to exercise. You have a head start! Just so you know I am facing a chance at a removal also. I will know for sure February 6th. I was 370 pounds and I am now 247. I still have a long way to go. Yes I am scared to lose my band, but with a positive attitude and all the support on here, we will make it! Much love and blessings!

I was rebanded in 2009 due to a slip and the slip was caused from violent throwing up (had vertigo...never had it before and never want it again). I was unfilled on a Tuesday and in surgery on Wed. My surgeon told me I would gain weight but not to worry because WE would get it back off (I love my surgeon!). I believe I gained 6 or 7 lbs before my first fill but I got it off. I, like you was at goal. You just got to watch it, watch the carbs etc. The only symptoms I had was excessive burping (while band was slipped) so my coordinator and I decided we should look into and I got an upper GI. Anyway, fast forward 3 1/2 years...I don't need as much Fluid in my band now, your body changes and it changes all the time. I'm doing great and have maintained for 3 1/2 years. The one thing my center has done for the last two years is require an upper GI once a year for everyone just to make sure things are as they should be. They feel if problems are caught in the early stage then chances to fix them without surgery is greater. Oh, and I know this wasn't mentioned and probably not your case at all but I am so passionate about this.....Never, Never think it is ok to be tight or on the tight side...people are just asking for trouble thinking being tight is a good thing.

I know that some that have had a slipped band can get their fill removed and the band can go back in place after a couple of weeks. Is this not a possibility? This is the time when we find out how much we have changed our lifestyle! If you have taken these 2 years and learned why you over ate, how and what to eat, Portion Control, and exercise you should be just fine. There is no reason you should gain any substantial weight back until you regain the use of your band. If this isn't something you worked on, this could be the defining moment to your health. You've had the determination to lose over 120 pounds, I am pretty confident that this will be a minor bump in the road for you! You can obviously do anything you set your mind to! Don't be scared or nervous, make it work! Your not losing the band forever. Just think, when you get proper restriction again, those last 24 pounds will probably fly off! Good luck!

Try not to be too discouraged by negative posts. People tend to post more often when they're struggling than when they're doing fine. It's just the nature of a support site like this.
I was banded on 9/19/07 (with the old 4mm Lap-Band) and lost 100% of my excess weight (90 lbs) in one year. I had some ups and downs, many of them due to user error, but I loved my band. I loved the adjustability of it, the early and prolonged satiety it gave me, and also its appetite reduction feature.
I had a band slip at 21 months post-op that was resolved with a complete unfill and 6-week rest period. We don't know why it slipped because I hadn't been having any problems, so it could've been related to poor surgical technique by my original surgeon or plain old dumb luck. Then when I started getting gradual fills again, my port flipped (maybe due to a failed suture) and my new surgeon had so much trouble accessing it that we decided on surgery to reposition it. Unfortunately my work schedule delayed that surgery for several months and I regained about 20 lbs, but as soon as I got enough fill back in there. I was able to lose the 20 lbs.
I lived happily with my band until December 2011, when I started having reflux. It got worse despite taking omeprazole, so I had another complete unfill, an upper GI study that showed esophageal dilation, and an EGD that showed esophageal damage from decades of "silent" reflux (long pre-dating my band). Since my band was probably aggravating it, my surgeon and gastro doc decided that we needed to remove my band. My band was removed in April 2012 and I had VSG surgery in August 2012. Since then I've lost the 30 lbs I had regained because of losing my band, but I'm having more problems adjusting to life with my sleeve than I ever did adjusting to my band.
Weight regain is a possibility for every obese person, no matter what (if any) WLS procedure they have, because obesity is a chronic, incurable disease affected not just by our conscious eating behavior but other factors not within our individual control (like hormonal, neurological, inflammatory and other problems). Weight management is a lifetime project, but I promise you, all that work is soooo worth it!
Jean

I have been at goal for some time. If I stick with the plan I do not gain.

As things are now, I cannot see how I can ever gain again....the band prevents me from overeating.....I know, I have tried and each time the results are not pleasant....
I am aware that medical problems may arise, causing me to have the band un filled, in which case the basic function of the band would change.....
I am aware of my pouch stretching, allowing larger portions...but that is something I can detect and go full liquids from time to time for maintenance.
I have also noticed, that eating such small portions over a period of time, my normal stomach has also shrunk....in that case I get the classic "full" feeling very quickly....or a good old fashioned belly ache!
I can eat around the band by grazing all day...the band limits my portion sizes but it does not dictate how many times I can eat those portions per day.....but the band does take away my hunger cravings and interest in eating so that is something I just have to learn to live with.....
Obesity is a chronic condition, eating disorder for whatever reasons, no self control, no self dicipline, which is why I needed the surgery..as a last resort......to stop me, prohibit me, from overeating.....
And in my casebthatbis exactly the way it works.....hope it never changes....

whichever you decide, please note its not a miracle cure all. you have to change what you eat and how much and def develop a new outlook on exercise. my dr said to me no matter what WLS you get, if you dont adhere to the rules of eating, you wont lose. choose what works for you. dont go by the pounds you see lost on some people. success varies by person.

I chose the band because I wanted the least invasive surgery and one that was reversible.......I'm 6 weeks post op and have lost 32 lb's in those 6 weeks...loving my band!

I chose the band because like stated above, I did not want the invasiveness of other WLS. I knew if I had a tool I could be successful and i was right. I love my band, it has given me everything I wanted in my weight loss journey. It took me 2 years and i lost 126 lbs, I reached goal September 9th last year and have maintained at or below since that date.

I chose the band because of all the WLS out there the band didn't rearrange my anatomy or bodily functions and it can be removed should there be problems. It is a long term solution to help you lose but more importantly for me it helps me keep off the weight. No diet has ever done that. It's a permanant reminder of a temporary feeling!!!
I lost 220 lbs in 23 months...

Ear plugs?
I'm not making light of your discomfort. But many/most of us have gone through the pre-op diet discomfort. My LB nurse told me that it would make me appreciate my band more and she was right, I am a little over 2 weeks post op and I couldn't be happier.
You can do this, focus on the prize, prove to yourself that you will be able to make this tool work for you for the rest of your life, working through the discomfort of the pre op diet. The first couple of days are the hardest as your body detoxes from all the poisons you have been feeding it. All you have to do is get through this time and you will have a tool that will help you get what you want most, to be free from being controlled by food.

My sense is that my relationship will fall into the "at risk" category, based on the reasons kateeryn cites. My BF has zero interest in leading a healthy, active life, and this is even more irritating because he had a heart attack at age 38. You'd think he'd want to get himself into the best shape ever...but the further out he gets from that heart attack, the less its impact on him and the more he just lazes about, continues to eat poorly and rely on his medications to "combat" the damage his eating and inactivity have done.
My own burden of fat made me reluctant to encourage him to live a better life--I looked at this as the pot calling the kettle black-- but I predict that my return to an active, healthy lifestyle will see us having some major issues.
Still, it isn't worth staying fat to keep the relationship at status quo, right?

It's true that people who lose a lot of weight end their marriages. But there are so many reasons for that. The common denominator is that the shrinking person is having a life altering experience that is making them grow. If your partner doesn't grow with you or grows in the opposite direction, the shrinking person has less tolerance for misery and pain.
I got divorced from my first husband after I lost my weight with my first band. I stayed in that relationship for 12 years trying to make it work. Being a normal sized woman made me feel less inclined to deal with his BS when there were more people out there and I had new confidence. I tried to hold on to my marriage, we went to counseling. He refused to keep going and said he didn't care that I felt unhappy with our relationship and he had no intention if changing.
I'm now remarried and just had my first baby at 37. I love my life!!!

This is a terrific question and reminds me to make a list of everything I can't do now that I WILL do as my weight goes down. I think first on my list would be more travel...I've ceased to travel as much because my energy level is so low and I can't just sightsee and walk all day long as I used to be able to do. So more trips, and more participating in life in general. My weight has gradually caused me to isolate myself and I'm finding my life just revolved around three poles right now: home, work and food. I'm am SO looking forward to that changing, and being much more social.

This is a terrific question and reminds me to make a list of everything I can't do now that I WILL do as my weight goes down. I think first on my list would be more travel...I've ceased to travel as much because my energy level is so low and I can't just sightsee and walk all day long as I used to be able to do. So more trips, and more participating in life in general. My weight has gradually caused me to isolate myself and I'm finding my life just revolved around three poles right now: home, work and food. I'm am SO looking forward to that changing, and being much more social.

This is a terrific question and reminds me to make a list of everything I can't do now that I WILL do as my weight goes down. I think first on my list would be more travel...I've ceased to travel as much because my energy level is so low and I can't just sightsee and walk all day long as I used to be able to do. So more trips, and more participating in life in general. My weight has gradually caused me to isolate myself and I'm finding my life just revolved around three poles right now: home, work and food. I'm am SO looking forward to that changing, and being much more social.

This is a terrific question and reminds me to make a list of everything I can't do now that I WILL do as my weight goes down. I think first on my list would be more travel...I've ceased to travel as much because my energy level is so low and I can't just sightsee and walk all day long as I used to be able to do. So more trips, and more participating in life in general. My weight has gradually caused me to isolate myself and I'm finding my life just revolved around three poles right now: home, work and food. I'm am SO looking forward to that changing, and being much more social.

Yes, I splurged and bought a Marc Jacobs dress in a 14, currently a 22/24. I'm being banded in February as well. I want to wear it for my 14 wedding anniversary in July.

I told very very few people before hand and was extremely happy about it. Everyone has an opinion, and what I have learned on here, especially people who have had another form of WLS are eager to convert you to validate their own decision. If that person choose GB, which is inherently riskier, then you choosing the band casts doubt on their decision. Do you own research, make up your own mind, be your own person.
Afterward, I don't care who knows. If they have the balls to criticize me to my face for my decision, I will be more than happy to remove those balls and stuff them in their back pocket

Keep us updated! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you for a february date!

Good luck, and keep us updated!