Kristina J.

Here's my "band vet" take on LapBands! lol Bands can work well if you find your "sweet spot" with fills. I did with my first band and lost 80 of the 100 I wanted to lose. But like a lot of people, despite my success, I ended up with complications in time (2.5 years out for me). I had a removal because my erosions from my slip were so bad. Over the year I was without the band, I gained back all 80 I had lost, plus another 20. I never put in the real effort to change my eating habits or deal with my head, so once restriction was gone, so was all of my success! When I was rebanded in 2006 (unfortunately for me, still a pre-sleeve popularity time), I had a different size and brand of LapBand. It was supposed to be "better" or "more effective" and "safer." I didn't have complications with that one for almost 5 years, but never came close to finding my "sweet spot" either. I would either throw up everything regularly, or have what felt like zero restriction, no matter how many adjustments I got. It was insanely frustrating. Eventually my over eating/tight band, led to chronic prolapse and dilation. I emptied healed (3 months) and slowly refilled 3 times. But after all of that, almost a year later and at my highest weight (probably ever), I decided that I wanted my band out! I didn't even realize I could revise at the time, but through researching a self pay doctor to remove my band, I learned about the sleeve. I know you and I have talked about this before nursebarbie, but I do believe that part of the failure of my 2nd band was my fault, as well as the regain in between. Yes, it is absolutely a flawed system that fails more people than it helps. And yes, my band likely would have failed to some degree no matter what I did. BUT, I was 18 when my band was placed. I wasn't educated about WLS the way I should have been, and didn't understand the many aspects that need to come together for its success. I expected it to be the magic solution that a lot of people (wrongly) assume all WLS is. I didn't make the changes I should have. I didn't change my lifestyle. I did the same things and even ate the same things, just less of them. I didn't add exercise or learn about nutrition or the way our body processes different foods. I never tracked food (or even thought of it). I kept the junk food in my life which meant that when I needed/wanted that fix, I loaded up on slider foods. And when I couldn't get that sweet spot, and all I could eat were sliders, I didn't go back to my doctor and try and really address my issues the way I should have. I was naive and scared that I would be adjusted down even more, and that less restriction would make things even worse. Even though the reality is that with a lapband, sometimes people actually need less restriction to avoid major complications and even just to be more successful. I always wonder how my path would have been different if I hadn't been so fearful of losing some of that (too tight) restriction. I believe it still wouldn't have been what I needed, but looking back, I'm still curious what might have been different had I not had that fear and just fully trusted in what my surgeon suggested. Instead, I stayed too tight. I found myself borderline bulimic. I was eating awful foods and justifying eating more, because I was getting stuck and throwing up half of my meal so often. And even worse, it WORKED! I would go with this awful mentality for a few months and drop weight eating crap foods as I wished and "lucking out" because I got stuck and puked so often. Eventually the slider foods would lead me to gain it all back of course, but I followed a yo-yo weight pattern the entire time I had that second band. Again, I share plenty of blame with the band itself. That evil little thing made truly healthy eating, darn near impossible!! Lean dense Protein? F that. I might as well have just throw it in the toilet and saved myself from playing middle man. Fruits and veggies?! Nope!! No way. Maybe if I cooked the hell out of the veggies and put enough butter on them that they'd slide down, sure. But raw veggies? Fruits in anything other than cooked form like jams, cobblers and pies?! All instantly stuck. But when it came down to it, I relied purely on that flawed system to be some magic cure. I wasn't proactive and didn't make life changes along with it. So I really do believe that it's a shared failure!! While I would NEVER recommend the band to anyone, I also don't regret my time with it. It showed me my own flaws and helped me to know what I was really going to need to do to make my sleeve work for me. It kept me from jumping into another WLS uneducated, with rose colored glasses on. This sleeve can be easy sometimes and other times, its hard as hell. I pushed myself to implement those life changes BEFORE my revision. After my band was emptied, I lost half of my total (63lbs), before I even had my revision surgery. I changed my diet to the foods I had avoided for fear or being "stuck" for the last 10 years. I felt like a new person just without Fluid in my band. I know that long term, I would still have faced problems with volume eating (my real base problem), but I was able to stay motivated, knowing "help was on the way." The sleeve has helped me take that new lifestyle and be successful in reaching over halfway to my goal. And there are still days, post revision, when I want to load up on carbs and crap, and I very easily could, justifying that its ok, because I'll eat so much less of it. But I don't. And part of why I don't, is because of my experience with my band, and learning the hard way that restriction really is just part of a successful equation!!!

Just gonna bite my tongue like a good little sleever!!!! HAHAHAHA

What a class act! Wow.

Right?! Just couldn't help myself!! Lol But seriously, the LapBand is the devil. I know tons of people with Lapbands through my 10 years with it. There are two kinds of banded patients, those who've had complications and those who WILL have complications!! Lol Talk about thinking something is a flawed system! Haha Lapband is an evil little B!!! Lol

My LapBand slipped and it's all Obama's fault!!!!

Yeah, hate to tell you, but I'm almost 3 months out and I still get it sometimes. Never thrown up, but get insane nausea still sometimes. Mostly when I try and drink a protein shake or eat a protein bar. Ugh. That's probably my biggest issue, getting in enough protein, because I haven't really been able to supplement at all post-op! But as long as I avoid those, and eat slowly, with small well chewed bites, I'm good!

I'm on adderall and have been since the year before surgery. I was told to stay on the same dose and then address concerns after recovery if I needed. I have no appetite post op, with or without adderall, so that doesn't really effect my dosing or med choice at this point. However, one of the side effects is increased dehydration risk and that's been the only issue for me. Struggling to stay hydrated has been a little bit more of a struggle on my medication, but after trying to reduce the dose I found that I definitely still need the same dose post op. Best of luck!!

Paul, I love your posts, both here and in the Facebook group. As a 10 year lapband vet (and recent revision), I've been down that road and see people headed there themselves and I cringe. I know exactly where that train leads and I refuse to enable. I refuse to act like those mind sets and habits aren't detrimental to any WLS. I HAD those mindsets and I kept those habits through 10 years with my band. I wasn't part of an online community then, and I didn't have the "A*holes" telling me to knock it off and do MY part to make surgery work for me. I had "supportive friends" who told me to "listen to my body" and encouraged me that I was eating "so much less" of those bad foods, so it wasn't a big deal. I am part of a community this time around, and I am so thankful for the A*holes. The ones who refused to let me do this without hearing all the darkest parts and who would smack bad foods out of my hand if I fell back to those habits now. It's a*holes like you who made me understand where I went wrong and what I had to do this time, to be successful. At only 2.5 months out, I'm nowhere near a sleeve vet, but I suppose I am a "WLS vet" and now I'm an a*hole myself, when needed. I wish someone had been for me the first time around. Who knows how things could be different for me now. Took me a while to get here, but I couldn't be more thankful to the a*holes like you!!!

Quinoa is still fairly high in carbs, but at least if you're going to get the carbs, with Quinoa you can get a good and varied amount of nutrients and a little extra protein!! Here's a link to an awesome info-graphic comparing brown rice and quinoa. http://www.prevention.com/whats-healthier-quinoa-or-brown-rice

It's probably most comparable to something like brown rice, just a lighter, fluffier version. I use it as a substitute in a lot of rice recipes, like chicken and rice casserole and fried rice!

That's how our was too. They told us it would be 8 per day for the extra passwords, but then we were never actually charged for it.

Wifi at Florence was spotty at best, but free. Wifi at the hotel was great, but connecting extra devices was $8 a day. The first device was free though. My husband and I had my iPad, my iPhone and his phone so we wanted 3, but didn't want to pay $16 extra a day for it, so we just got one extra. Though they never attached it to our bill despite telling us the cost and me signing an agreement for the $8 a day! So that worked out! Lol

I'm from San Diego too! I was banded in San Diego! Lived there until I was 22 and then moved to Phoenix when I got married. But I am back in San Diego at least once a month to visit family!! Actually leaving on Monday to go out there to visit my family for a week.

It's a whole new world this time around. That's for sure!!

This may be the best post I've read here! I really appreciate your honesty and insight!! Thank you so much for sharing!!!

Reglan is made of sugar. I'm convinced!! lol Hope you feel better soon. I know the nausea is awful and so frustrating, but give it time. I promise it does eventually go away!!!

I know what you're saying, and I do agree. But when I was banded, I didn't exercise and I didn't make the healthiest choices (even when I could). That's why I say that the band failed me, but I also failed. It helps me to acknowledge what I did wrong (like eating all the same foods, just smaller portions), so that I don't make the same mistakes this time!!! But I do get what you're saying and it's definitely a flawed system that failed us!!

I know what NurseBarbie is saying about not blaming yourself, but I do feel the same way you do. Yes, the band failed me, but I also failed the band!! Understanding where I went wrong was a huge part of preparing for my sleeve, and is still a big part of how I use my sleeve everyday. It's important to understand where we could have done better, while still acknowledging that the band is a flawed system!! I am thankful for my time with that evil little thing, because it really showed me my weaknesses and prepared me to conquer those weaknesses with the help of a system that is actually effective!! I love my sleeve and don't take any part of my journey for granted!! It all got me here!!

After TEN years of puking with my band (sometimes daily), I am ecstatic to say that I haven't had any vomiting at all with my sleeve. I'm 2 months out today and am so happy with my sleeve. I'm eating all the dense lean Proteins and fresh fruits and vegetables I couldn't eat for the last 10 years without ending up face first in a toilet or trash can!! I do eat very slowly and chew carefully out of habit from so many years with the band, so maybe that helps. I still mentally feel like some foods will get stuck, but haven't had a problem yet!!

I feel your pain I struggled with nausea off and on for the first 4-6 weeks after my revision. It did get better though. I just had to ride it out. I don't know what you have for nausea meds, but I had zofran which was like a sugar pill. It never helped my nausea. Phenergan was much better for me, but after my prescription ran out, I switched to Dramamine over the counter and it worked just as well. Still use it from time to time if I get queasy for no reason! Hope you feel better soon!!

I know, right?!? I started at 24 and I'm down to 16 now. Hope this first year is as successful for me!! I'm a sucker for before & after/during pics! Always keeps me motivated when I'm feeling overwhelmed. Thanks OP for sharing!!!

Such an exciting time!! You'll be just fine and this knot in your stomach will be just a distant memory before you know it!!!

Outrigger42, that's too funny!!! My kids would crack up too. And I was pretty lucky in that department too. Mostly all just reabsorbed, but I did have some silent, scent free gas a few days out. But on Clear liquids, there wasn't much in there to smell anyway!! You should be fine!