Chickie

If a parent is giving the child garbage to eat, and not encouraging exercise, yes, they are a bad parent. It is a huge part of a parents job to foster good eating and exercise habits.

Perhaps an endoscope would give you some answers? At the very least I would be talking to my surgeon.

Awww! Thanks Kel! You haven't exactly done badly yourself!

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I highly doubt it. But anything is possible. When I had my TT last year my son brought home a nasty cold / flu thing and I ended up sneezing and coughing, and no harm was done to my stitches at all.

Hi people, just posting to say hello, and that I hope all is well with my fellow Aussies!

Thank you ladies! I love my "new" tummy, and as sad as it is, I sang Happy Birthday to it! I have trouble believing that a whole year has passed already, and that it has been 30 months since I was first banded. Where the heck does time go? Thanks again!

If MY child got to 200 plus pounds, it would have been MY fault. As the parent of an 11 year old, I know that *I* am the one who feeds him, gives him money and watches what he does and eats. It would be MY fault. There is no way in hell I would have him have lipo, a tummy tuck, then a lap band because I am a pathetic parent and cannot help my child make healthy choices, and provide him with the types of food and activities that a growing child needs. The mother in the the article is just like my mother. Given the chance my mother would have had me have lipo, a tummy tuck and a lap band, and still would have fed me crap, and expected this quick fix to work. Parents are responsible for what their children do. As children they don't have the reasoning power to understand long term effects. That's why they have parents to guide them. And cancer is cancer. Obesity is obesity. The two are in no way comparable. In no way at all.

I can't comment on the fill thing. Every doctor is different. I had several fills and unfills during my first year, and a small unfill after I got to goal, and yet another unfill this year. What I can comment on, is if you work, there is nothing stopping you from getting to your goal.

Having cancer, and being the overweight daughter of a very shallow mother are two very different things (cancer = possible death vs over weight = a tough time at school, and maybe not being able to get a boyfriend, maybe some health issues, but I honestly doubt she was that overweight that she was suffering from such problems at this stage, otherwise she would have mentioned it in the interview) This child, who has already undergone lipo, and a tummy tuck (both in a quick fix type effort to lose weight) has just made a huge life change that most adults have to dig deep to find the strength to deal with. With her "mother" by her side, I only wish the little girl luck. Because she sure is going to need it. And yes, obesity is a problem in the western world. But more people die from cancer every single day than of obesity. Its not even in the same league.

Oh! Don't get me wrong, I love my band, but if for some reason, I was unable to have another band fitted, and was regaining weight, I would look at other WLS. Given the choice, I would re band in a nano second. It is my first choice, but not my only choice. I don't have the fear of being "re routed", I guess. I am going to do what it takes to keep this weight off for life. And if I lose my band, regain, and cannot be rebanded, I would look at other options.

In my experience, a well placed "regular" port sticks out no more than a low profile port.

Thanks Alex! You are such a trooper, coming from you, it means a lot.

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I couldn't feel mine unless I really looked for it when I was first banded. My port is in my belly, next to my belly button. Now I am at (and under) goal weight, I can feel it when I lay down, and feel myself up. I cannot see it at all. Perhaps you can feel it because of where it is placed? And there will be some swelling around the port site for a while post op. That is pretty normal.

Fantastic news! I am so glad that everything went as planned. Congratulations Alexandra.

I am glad I was banded. It gave me what I needed. But, if I was to lose my band, regain and not be able to be re-banded for some reason, I would look at the RNY and VSG.

I might be mistaken, but the size is the difference. The low profile port is smaller and flatter than the regular port. (as I understand it, I may be wrong)

Congratulations Nile!! Way to go!

Hello! A BIG welcome to LBT form a fellow Aussie (Brisbane, QLD) It is totally normal to second guess yourself closer to the big day. Its a massive life change, and I think, to be expected. Best of luck!

I picked 63kg / 138lbs as my goal. It put me at the higher end of a healthy BMI, but I ended up far, far below that at 49kg / 107lbs.

I am at gola weight. I have been for over a year now, and I don't, and never did have that feeling. I mean, I was happy that I was losing, thrilled when I got to goal, but for my money, while losing weight was a big thing in my life, there are other more exciting things to feel thrilled about. I think I have just put weight loss into perspective. It's great, but its not my whole life.

I would imagine that to replace the port, another surgery would be required. Perhaps they could do it with a local? I don't know... I do know that a lot of people who have tummy tucks have their ports replaced while the surgeon has them open. I didn't have my port replaced during my tummy tuck last year, and I had the larger "regular" port to start with, and at 107lbs, I cannot see the port. I can feel it, but it is well placed, and it cannot be seen, naked or clothed.

At over 2 and a half years post op, my hair is still as thick as ever. No loss at all.

Hi Short c! I think you would be hard pressed to find an American bandster who has been banded 10+ because the band was only approved for use in the US in 2001. In Europe and Australia the band has been in use since the early 90's, and while there have been reports of people having their bands removed, I personally know a few long term bandsters who are still very happy with their bands 7, 9 and almost 11 years later. Best of luck!