parisshel

Another quiet and happy bandster here!
I'm almost 13 years out and absolutely love my band! It's hard to see so many people suffering from complications and i worry sometimes that even after 13 great years complication-free, that something could just go wrong! Honestly my biggest worry is that if something went wrong, i would no longer qualify for a revision surgery because i am at goal.
I've had my band since March 2008. I lost the majority of my weight in the first 6-9 months (from 200lbs down to 140lbs, i'm only 5'2") and managed to stay within a maintenance range for the past 12+ years, which included 2 pregnancies and a my fair share of fluctuations along the way. In the past year i have made some more habit changes that led me to drop another 20ish pounds leaving me at about 120-125lbs at 5'2".
It makes me so happy to see some positive bandsters out there sharing their stories as there are definitely still a lot of us on this band journey. Please keep posting and i will try to do the same!

Thank goodness that your visiting nurse caught it!
The fluids drain through the lymph system and eventually out through the urine.
Along with my drain less TT, lymphatic massages are scheduled starting 1 day post op. There is also the use of an abdominal binder then a compression garment. I had it performed in Miami, FL.
The binder massages & compression garments seem to be industry standard there & in Latin America whether the TT is drain less or traditional.
Glad you can enjoy the end product despite the complications

Ok...so this is what my surgeon said about drain-less tummy tucks (or any type of surgery for that matter).
According to him, generally, the thinner/smaller the person is prior to surgery, the better the candidate for a drain-less surgery (not to say that bigger people are NOT good candidates, though, just that there would be less Fluid build up in a smaller person).
He elected to put 2 drains in me because he did a little Lipo in the flank area (why lipo influenced his decision to put in drains, I don’t know, I didn’t ask). He also told me I would likely not need the drains in so very long due to my size. He was right, by Day 1 at home (Day 3 post op) my little fluid collectors were basically empty. He took them out at my next scheduled appt (Day 5 post op).
Of course there are lots of surgeons out there who do drain-less TT’s in everyone, regardless of size, and have fabulous results...this was just my surgeon’s preference.
Sorry you had the sh*tty complications . But im glad that you’ve put it behind you and are now properly rocking your bod ❤️

My surgery was done in Paris, France, where I live. I chose the top plastic surgeon in the city, vetted him carefully. He had done hundreds of TTs, and said that mine was the first time he'd ever had a complication. (Of course I can't check if that is true.)
The initial surgery went well and I only stayed one night in the clinic.
I started developing a fever a couple of days after the initial surgery. I called the surgeon's office and the medical secretary didn't seem alarmed about this. (I should have immediately requested to be seen...but I wasn't mobile enough at that point to get to his office. + I trusted the secretary. Big mistake on my part.)
Luckily I had visiting nurses coming to my home post op to change my dressings. It was a nurse who saw my abdominal skin turning yellowish (indicating infection) and she felt my lower abdomen which was hot. My lymph glands in my upper thighs were also enlarged and very painful; I could not sit or walk. On day six she said she suspected I had an infection. By that time I had an extremely high fever, I alternated being freezing cold and trembling to sweating so much I slipped off the hospital gurney by the time I got to the ER. They scanned me and saw all the fluids collecting in my lower abdomen...fluids that, had I had drains, would have drained out of my body and I would not have developed an infection. They got me back on the operating table immediately (I was very close to dying, with my system shutting down due to the scepsis), reopened the abdomen along the same line as the initial surgeon (so I don't have a double scar) and cleaned everything out.
After that they put in three drains, I had heavy antibiotics (they had to put in a PICC line for these). My red blood cell count was so low they had to give me 2 units of blood. Nurses cleaned my drains and changed the dressings 3 x day for a week until they deemed me healthy enough to go home.
The drainless TT relies on the surgeon's ability to do a "quilting" stitch when reattaching the inner muscles. The quilting stitch, as I understand it, makes so that Fluid can't collect. I'm not exactly sure where the fluid goes, however, as it has to go somewhere! In my case, the quilting stitch did not do the job of keeping the fluid from collecting and it just sat there inside of me with nowhere to exit. Eventually it would have probably seeped out of the wound area, bursting through my stitches.
Additionally, my surgeon did not think a compression garment was necessary. The second surgeon was astounded at both the idea of a drainless TT and lack of a compression garment.
I'm now 15 months out, and all of these complications are behind me. I love my tummy....truly a work of art. It's a firm slate, and I never get tired of looking at it. However, the aftermath was indeed traumatic and something I will never forget.
My takeaway is this: fever is NEVER normal post op. It is the first sign of infection. I should have gotten myself to either the hospital or my surgeon's office at that point.

My surgery was done in Paris, France, where I live. I chose the top plastic surgeon in the city, vetted him carefully. He had done hundreds of TTs, and said that mine was the first time he'd ever had a complication. (Of course I can't check if that is true.)
The initial surgery went well and I only stayed one night in the clinic.
I started developing a fever a couple of days after the initial surgery. I called the surgeon's office and the medical secretary didn't seem alarmed about this. (I should have immediately requested to be seen...but I wasn't mobile enough at that point to get to his office. + I trusted the secretary. Big mistake on my part.)
Luckily I had visiting nurses coming to my home post op to change my dressings. It was a nurse who saw my abdominal skin turning yellowish (indicating infection) and she felt my lower abdomen which was hot. My lymph glands in my upper thighs were also enlarged and very painful; I could not sit or walk. On day six she said she suspected I had an infection. By that time I had an extremely high fever, I alternated being freezing cold and trembling to sweating so much I slipped off the hospital gurney by the time I got to the ER. They scanned me and saw all the fluids collecting in my lower abdomen...fluids that, had I had drains, would have drained out of my body and I would not have developed an infection. They got me back on the operating table immediately (I was very close to dying, with my system shutting down due to the scepsis), reopened the abdomen along the same line as the initial surgeon (so I don't have a double scar) and cleaned everything out.
After that they put in three drains, I had heavy antibiotics (they had to put in a PICC line for these). My red blood cell count was so low they had to give me 2 units of blood. Nurses cleaned my drains and changed the dressings 3 x day for a week until they deemed me healthy enough to go home.
The drainless TT relies on the surgeon's ability to do a "quilting" stitch when reattaching the inner muscles. The quilting stitch, as I understand it, makes so that Fluid can't collect. I'm not exactly sure where the fluid goes, however, as it has to go somewhere! In my case, the quilting stitch did not do the job of keeping the fluid from collecting and it just sat there inside of me with nowhere to exit. Eventually it would have probably seeped out of the wound area, bursting through my stitches.
Additionally, my surgeon did not think a compression garment was necessary. The second surgeon was astounded at both the idea of a drainless TT and lack of a compression garment.
I'm now 15 months out, and all of these complications are behind me. I love my tummy....truly a work of art. It's a firm slate, and I never get tired of looking at it. However, the aftermath was indeed traumatic and something I will never forget.
My takeaway is this: fever is NEVER normal post op. It is the first sign of infection. I should have gotten myself to either the hospital or my surgeon's office at that point.

Hi! I had a drainless TT that went very wrong. The fluids collected in the site, I got an infection that turned sceptic and I almost died. Emergency surgery to reopen the site one week after the initial TT, necrotic skin removed, drains put it, blood transfusion and one week in the hospital. And I had one of the "best" plastic surgeons in the city.
I would not recommend it, for obvious reasons, but "your mileage will vary."

Do what makes you feel fierce, strong and happy.
I had my lapband placed when I was 54.
Next Tuesday I'm getting a Tummy Tuck. I just turned 60.
Is that too late? Who cares? I want to live the rest of my life in a body that makes me feel good and healthy. I cannot wait to have a flat, toned tummy.

Do what makes you feel fierce, strong and happy.
I had my lapband placed when I was 54.
Next Tuesday I'm getting a Tummy Tuck. I just turned 60.
Is that too late? Who cares? I want to live the rest of my life in a body that makes me feel good and healthy. I cannot wait to have a flat, toned tummy.

Do what makes you feel fierce, strong and happy.
I had my lapband placed when I was 54.
Next Tuesday I'm getting a Tummy Tuck. I just turned 60.
Is that too late? Who cares? I want to live the rest of my life in a body that makes me feel good and healthy. I cannot wait to have a flat, toned tummy.

Do what makes you feel fierce, strong and happy.
I had my lapband placed when I was 54.
Next Tuesday I'm getting a Tummy Tuck. I just turned 60.
Is that too late? Who cares? I want to live the rest of my life in a body that makes me feel good and healthy. I cannot wait to have a flat, toned tummy.

Do what makes you feel fierce, strong and happy.
I had my lapband placed when I was 54.
Next Tuesday I'm getting a Tummy Tuck. I just turned 60.
Is that too late? Who cares? I want to live the rest of my life in a body that makes me feel good and healthy. I cannot wait to have a flat, toned tummy.

My surgeon + staff are thin, but that is unsurprising as I live in a city where there are few overweight people. (I think they hide them or something.) I have to add that I know some cardiac surgeons who are smokers, and that really blows my mind.
That said, I would be uncomfortable consulting someone in the field of obesity and obesity research who is obese. I recall a time when I was in my twenties and I wanted to consult a therapist to see if I could find out WHY I had this weight problem. So I go to this woman who was highly recommended, but when I had my first appointment and saw she was 300 pounds, I knew I would not take anything she said seriously. Physician, help thyself!

Beautiful! You’re an inspiration.

Hi all you veterans! I haven't posted for ages but just wanted to let everyone know that I've still got my band (unfilled but not removed) and still maintaining a good 67 pound weight loss. I hope all of you are well!

Hi all you veterans! I haven't posted for ages but just wanted to let everyone know that I've still got my band (unfilled but not removed) and still maintaining a good 67 pound weight loss. I hope all of you are well!

Hi all you veterans! I haven't posted for ages but just wanted to let everyone know that I've still got my band (unfilled but not removed) and still maintaining a good 67 pound weight loss. I hope all of you are well!

You can certainly enjoy being thin and not have to be in any fetishist's club. One does not imply the other, so don't worry about that.
I find what you are describing to be as offensive as homophobia or racism. You wouldn't give a guy a second date if he said on the first date how much he hated blacks or asians, or how much he despised gay people, right?
So just use these very disrespectful, but informative,l comments as a way to sort out men you would never be compatible with, and keep sifting through the crap until you find your gold.
I remember years ago having a first date with a man who, over coffee, began to diss on his employers. "They are Jewish, so of course they are stingy and my salary isn't what it should be."
"Oh really?" I said. "I know a lot of Jewish people who aren't like that."
"Who?" he asked.
"Well," I began, "my parents, for instance."
There was never a second date, of course, but what a great insight into who this man was.

What a great idea! I wish my partner had the mindset of a WLS person. It sure would be nice to be with someone whose eating and exercise habits were more in line with my own.

Following this topic. I have kept an empty band for a couple of years now and now have to either get it out or revised. (My band was emptied due to its interference with the vagus nerve which was provoking atrial fibrillation.) I just saw my surgeon yesterday who has given me three choices: accept my weight where it is, diet the rest of the weigh off, or mini gastric bypass. She is not pro-sleeve for my situation, as she views the sleeve as the next "lapband" in that she has more and more sleeve patients gaining back their weight and doesn't think the longterm weight maintenance is proving to be the case with restrictive methods such as lapbands and sleeves.
She has floated the idea of a mini-gastric bypass as her best recommendation for my situation.
I'm researching this but I doubt I will do it. The potential complications from the malabsorptive WLS are rather scary to me. Enough that I will probably just go back to Weight Watchers and grit my teeth to get the rest of my weight off.

Following this topic. I have kept an empty band for a couple of years now and now have to either get it out or revised. (My band was emptied due to its interference with the vagus nerve which was provoking atrial fibrillation.) I just saw my surgeon yesterday who has given me three choices: accept my weight where it is, diet the rest of the weigh off, or mini gastric bypass. She is not pro-sleeve for my situation, as she views the sleeve as the next "lapband" in that she has more and more sleeve patients gaining back their weight and doesn't think the longterm weight maintenance is proving to be the case with restrictive methods such as lapbands and sleeves.
She has floated the idea of a mini-gastric bypass as her best recommendation for my situation.
I'm researching this but I doubt I will do it. The potential complications from the malabsorptive WLS are rather scary to me. Enough that I will probably just go back to Weight Watchers and grit my teeth to get the rest of my weight off.

I love how wise you are. I love how honest and self-aware you are. I can't wait until your fill, too, and to read that you are back down the scale to your former weight. I have no doubts this will be the case.

Was banded 3 days before my 53rd birthday. I wish WLS had been this perfected when I was younger; I'd have done this in my 20s and my entire life would have been different (I imagine).

If only I had a dime for everytime I have to deal with ignorant statements...
Huh? So there is a failure of the material and it's the patient's fault and "ate his way through first surgery"? Yeah, right...
I think that statement is quite ignorant because it ignores the fact that there is revision out of very different reasons, even though weight regain or losing not enough weight might be the more common one.
Many revisions are taking place because of severe GERD after GB or sleeve or because of bands eroding into the stomach.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/09/26/bariatric-surgery-the-solution-to-obesity?mbid=social_facebook
Anyone else read this article? I thought it presented a balanced and readable overview on the history of surgical procedures to combat obesity, as well current research findings.
It's also cool that a magazine as respected as the New Yorker is writing about this.

I seeing nothing wrong with adding additional tools to your weight loss toolbox as you continue your post-op life. I remember when there were more bandsters on this forum and I remember several of the veterans posting about using appetite suppressants when after a certain amount of time with the band. I remember reacting like you, thinking "Hey! I got the band so I'd never have to deal with my appetite again!". But many veterans of WLS find that appetite does rear its head after a certain amount of time, and it's not just head hunger. It is your body overriding those wonderful initial effects of the WLS.
The good thing is that when you use the 1-2 punch of your WLS + medication, you'll have a super tool. You've already got the WLS in place, and the medication will be like "topping" off your surgery, hopefully. Kind of like re-igniting it.
Don't feel bad. Use everything you can to keep your weight loss going (or get back on track).