Nursebarbie

I'm sure its only a matter of time. The vag mesh commericials only had a 20% failure rate. The band is much much higher than that. Add to that all the misinformation these fly by night clinics give you. We will wait and see....

No doubt about the high residual costs in maintaining a band. What most people don't realize is that the band was never designed to be permanent. Yep you heard me right. Were you told this? Me neither. Such a high failure rate. Imagine the backlash if pace makers failed at the same rate???????

Mine was an emergency too. So glad its out. I feel 500% better than I ever did with that crapband.

I was not informed. Infact I was grossly misled to believe that this device stayed in forever. Also they are responsible for device failure just like the tobacco industry and smoking. Add to it the complete deserting by this fly by night surgery center after my operation.

I also just pulled out my consents for the lap band and no where does it describe anything other than the standard post op disclaimers. But anyhow, there is no argument. Just don't participate if there is a lawsuit. Simple. It was just a poll asking opinions. Frankly your two posts sound like someone who works for one of these lap band companies. For me, I hate the band, its coming out, and I'm getting the sleeve. I have no intention of sueing anyone but as a nurse I know there are plenty of medical devices that do cause harm and companies are found at fault. Vaginal mesh has a 15% failure rate. That was enough for a recall and successful class action lawsuits. With the high failure rate and subsequent complications I can only imagine what's going to have next.

I'm considering it now that I have confirmation of the internal damage by my new surgeon.

I was not informed. Infact I was grossly misled to believe that this device stayed in forever. Also they are responsible for device failure just like the tobacco industry and smoking. Add to it the complete deserting by this fly by night surgery center after my operation.

No doubt about the high residual costs in maintaining a band. What most people don't realize is that the band was never designed to be permanent. Yep you heard me right. Were you told this? Me neither. Such a high failure rate. Imagine the backlash if pace makers failed at the same rate???????

If there was to be a Class Action lawsuit against lap band and related companies, would you join it? My surgeon really believes its going to be yanked off for the market because as a medical device its failure rate is extremly high with high rate of complications that are way outside the margin of accepted standards for the FDA. I'm not sure I would though. I'm not the suing type.

That's what I'm talking about!!!!! Love IT!

I also just pulled out my consents for the lap band and no where does it describe anything other than the standard post op disclaimers. But anyhow, there is no argument. Just don't participate if there is a lawsuit. Simple. It was just a poll asking opinions. Frankly your two posts sound like someone who works for one of these lap band companies. For me, I hate the band, its coming out, and I'm getting the sleeve. I have no intention of sueing anyone but as a nurse I know there are plenty of medical devices that do cause harm and companies are found at fault. Vaginal mesh has a 15% failure rate. That was enough for a recall and successful class action lawsuits. With the high failure rate and subsequent complications I can only imagine what's going to have next.

I was not informed. Infact I was grossly misled to believe that this device stayed in forever. Also they are responsible for device failure just like the tobacco industry and smoking. Add to it the complete deserting by this fly by night surgery center after my operation.

If there was to be a Class Action lawsuit against lap band and related companies, would you join it? My surgeon really believes its going to be yanked off for the market because as a medical device its failure rate is extremly high with high rate of complications that are way outside the margin of accepted standards for the FDA. I'm not sure I would though. I'm not the suing type.

If there was to be a Class Action lawsuit against lap band and related companies, would you join it? My surgeon really believes its going to be yanked off for the market because as a medical device its failure rate is extremly high with high rate of complications that are way outside the margin of accepted standards for the FDA. I'm not sure I would though. I'm not the suing type.

I am new here but I really felt the need to respond to you. I got a lap band back in 2011, since then I have had 4 hospitalizations, persistent nausea, fainting after I eat, and many more problems than that. I was led to believe that lap band was not only safer but easier to recover from and that is was completely reversible. As a RN, I thought wow, that sounds great. What I didn't know what that most people end of having the band removed either because it didn't really work or it slipped/eroded/etc. The aftercare for the band requires accessing your port for fills, unfillings if it too tight, and avoidance of certain textures of food because things get stuck even if your band has no saline in it. Many people get "stuck" and there is this odd thing of this slime that starts to come up, eventually you starts kind of burping without noise and out comes your food. I throw up 4 or more times a day because of this. So what ends up happening is you begin to eat foods that go down easy- mashed potatoes, Pasta, creamy Soups, etc which aren't great for weight loss. Even if you are diligent in your diet, your band can still slip. After all your organs do move around a bit when you move and it basically kind hula hoops or slides out of place. For me, it would slide over my Vagal nerve and I would faint. Finally, my band slipped which I found out last week. My lap band surgeon was one of those 1 800 Lap Band kind of places and as soon as I had my surgery they deserted me.
I am now in Kaiser and my new surgeon is fantastic. I had never considered the gastric sleeve. Honestly I have never heard of it and I am a RN. When he explained that the gastric sleeve did away with "95% of the complications of bypass" I was sold. You basically still have a small stomach with all the normal plumbing and thus more normal function and absorption. So less likely to dump or have malnutrition issues. Not that surgery is without its complications but it seems much less so. I am having my band removed June 28th with a revision to the gastric sleeve. I cannot wait.
Another thing about the band, you are a slave to it. If you eat something you shouldn't- you will get stuck. Also, if you overeat- it sits in your esophagus for a long time which also causes heart burn and back flow of the acid. Sometimes my port shocks me- little electric shocks. When I woke up from Lap Band surgery I was screaming in agony- I was in tremendous pain and I have a very high tolerance to pain in general. Many stories I heard on hear people say the revision to the sleeve seemed to go better or was easier than lap band. I also saw alot of research that by removing the larger portion of the stomach, the ghrelin (hunger hormone) is almost completely gone. Lap band patients have experienced up to 50% increase in this hunger hormone over the first 8 months. Something to consider.
If you want a bottom line, if you want a permanent solution and are going to do surgery anyways- consider doing the sleeve. I was on the lap band talk website for 2 years and many of them are now doing the revision to the sleeve or even to a bypass. Most seem to regret getting the band in general and most did not lose the kind of weight they wanted to. I wish someone had said its not going to be easy, you will have to think and remember you have a band every day, and explained to me my other options- I may not have went the lap band route.
Just something to consider.

Hang in there. Remember its better to be a fabulous single mom than be in a dysfunctional relationship with a sperm donor. I got divorced 7 years ago and thought my life was over. I am now remarried almost 1 year to an amazing man who loves my daughter like his own. You and your precious baby deserve better! It will happen!

Hello everyone,
I went to visit my new surgeon (I'm Kaiser now) to discuss my lap band slipping. I was thinking we could just take out a little saline and see what happens. Never heard of the sleeve before today but when he discussed this option while taking out my band at the same time- I immediately knew it was the right decision. My band has been a total nightmare. The group who performed my band surgery pretty much deserted me after my operation. Kaiser has been a dream come true for me. There were things about the band I was never told- like most people get it out about 2-5 years later and almost nobody has it in after 10 years. I was led to believe this band stayed in forever. I also thought it was going to be a simple surgery. Wrong. I have been hospitalized so many times for problems. I faint after I eat sometimes because its pushing up again my Vagal nerve. And its been too tight for months- finally after months of vomiting/getting food stuck constantly/and slime issues- it slipped. Thank God, because it slipped I pay for nothing- my insurance will cover this as well as my revision to the sleeve. I am so excited to have my surgery June 28th. It is so helpful to read all your comments and stories. Today my surgeon removed almost all of the saline explaining it helps to reduce any swelling to make surgery and revision easier. And I am so happy to NEVER have to get a fill or have this port accessed again. Yippee!

64 ounces of Water will not give you Water intoxication. It takes at least 2 gallons to do that and even then, it may not happen. 8 glasses of water about 8 ounces each? Its this kind of information on here that is dangerous. There is absolutely no truth or merit to this whatsoever. That being said, you may be getting in almost that much through other liquids and foods that contain liquids like fruit or vegetables.
Think of it this way, when you get an IV at the hospital, we give you a hanging bag of one liter of Fluid, right? That is 1,000 ml. Most patients get 2 of these bags while in the ER or each 24 hours they remain in the hospital. That is way more than 64 ounces and none of these patients develop "water intoxication."
The only patients who get Fluid overload are mainly Congestive Heart Failure patients or kidney failure patients.
Please don't be afraid to drink 64 ounces of water a day.

Thanks for the encouragement. I'm very excited to finally do something permanent. One of the selling points for me about getting the band in the first place was that it was reversible. What a fallacy that was. And not only that, who wants to reverse back to being fat? Was I going to wake up one day and say I'm tired of being thin, I miss being fat? Of course not. Now that I have this band I am miserable. Lost 2 jobs due to being out sick too long. All this for 35 pounds lost? Anyhow I am so grateful that I can have a revision to the sleeve when my band is taken out. Hopefully. I look forward to a permanent solution rather than the roller coaster ride called Lap Band.

In the limited time I have been hanging around this forum, I have noticed something very disturbing. Yes, there is a lot of support and well wishes, light hearted jokes, and wonderful advice.
But, there is something more. Something dark, oppressive, in a word....judgemental. Perhaps more judgemental than I have ever experienced. Surprising, coming from a group of people who have historically been harshly judged, ridiculed, discriminated against, our spirits crushed because of our weight. Now it seems, some victims have become perpetrators of harsh judgement. Do they know? Do they realize it? Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe they don't care. Maybe they believe in their perceived self appointed cause. Maybe its because they think they are an "expert".
What makes an expert? Nobody can agree. Are you an expert because you were or are fat? Because you had wls? Is it because your surgery was 10 yrs ago or are you an expert after 10 hours? Do you really know more at 5 years vs 3 years? Do you know more than a medical professional trained in wls or obesity? Does that not count if they were never fat or had wls?
Some of us are strong and do not care about your harsh opinions. Maybe some of us even think you are stupid for saying something so harsh or judgmental. But there are plenty who are soft on the inside, who make be more affected by being judged like that. Even though this is just a forum, people can be very hurt or confused by a nasty post. And the information some self appointed experts advise so strongly may be in error or cause injury.
If anyone should know how it feels to be judged it should be all of us here. So why are some doing it to others? There are better ways to get your "opinion" across than coming across as a self appointed expert.

Down 25 pounds. Band to sleeve June 28th. Slow and steady wins the race. Just ask the turtle.....

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I have 6o plus pounds to go, 24 pounds down. 4 weeks out.

64 ounces of Water will not give you Water intoxication. It takes at least 2 gallons to do that and even then, it may not happen. 8 glasses of water about 8 ounces each? Its this kind of information on here that is dangerous. There is absolutely no truth or merit to this whatsoever. That being said, you may be getting in almost that much through other liquids and foods that contain liquids like fruit or vegetables.
Think of it this way, when you get an IV at the hospital, we give you a hanging bag of one liter of Fluid, right? That is 1,000 ml. Most patients get 2 of these bags while in the ER or each 24 hours they remain in the hospital. That is way more than 64 ounces and none of these patients develop "water intoxication."
The only patients who get Fluid overload are mainly Congestive Heart Failure patients or kidney failure patients.
Please don't be afraid to drink 64 ounces of water a day.

64 ounces of Water will not give you Water intoxication. It takes at least 2 gallons to do that and even then, it may not happen. 8 glasses of water about 8 ounces each? Its this kind of information on here that is dangerous. There is absolutely no truth or merit to this whatsoever. That being said, you may be getting in almost that much through other liquids and foods that contain liquids like fruit or vegetables.
Think of it this way, when you get an IV at the hospital, we give you a hanging bag of one liter of Fluid, right? That is 1,000 ml. Most patients get 2 of these bags while in the ER or each 24 hours they remain in the hospital. That is way more than 64 ounces and none of these patients develop "water intoxication."
The only patients who get Fluid overload are mainly Congestive Heart Failure patients or kidney failure patients.
Please don't be afraid to drink 64 ounces of water a day.