mummybandit

I am officially DEBANDED as well and I am so happy about it. It wasn't too bad at all. Unfortunately I was sharing a room with a poor women who had just had a lap band put in and she was in so much pain and felt like she had been hit my a truck. I felt so sorry for her and I just hope this thing works out for her because I can honestly say that I am so glad to be rid of it. I ate breakfast this morning - cereal and grapes and I cried because I was so happy to be able to eat in the morning without pain or something getting stuck. I have missed breakfast so much. For me it's just not a way to live. Lunch today was amazing - I was able to eat at a normal pace and because I think I wasn't sitting there waiting for ages for stuff to pass through - I was full within half a plate - that hasn't happened before - I usually just want to keep eating but I'm in so much pain that I stop. I now feel so positive and happy and I too have no doubt that the whole band experience will fade from memory very soon.

Stella, I am so happy for you. I know the real food world is scary but I think you are like me - it is not a way to live, regurgitating saliva, being in pain with eating etc etc. We can do it without a piece a plastic around our stomach - it's our brain that needs the help and this shocking experience has certainly bought my brain into line - (and if not I am going to go and get someone to hypnotise me and tell my subconscious that chocolate tastes like dog food and broccoli is the new chocolate cake.)- Tell me how bad was the removal surgery - recovery time etc Next Tuesday is me and I CAN"T WAIT!!!! I am so excited. By the way - your photo is great - you don't even look overweight - certainly no extra chins - We can do this a hell of a lot healthier and less painfully without a lap band.

I too am getting the band out - I just can't put up with this any longer. My date is June 17th and I can't wait. I can't wait to be able to eat breakfast again. I am usually so hungry by lunch time that it's ridiculous - drinks and such don't touch the sides- but when I am trying to eat a beautiful chicken salad that is so healthy and good for me and it gets stuck and I sit in pain waiting for it to pass through I know I am making the right decision. This has made me so determined to get the rest of my weight off using a different method - other diets work but I haven't stuck to them - this time will be very different because I feel like I have been on the worst diet of my life for the last 9 months. My jaw is without a doubt the strongest part of my body with all the work it has done chewing chewing and then chewing some more and I can't wait to never have to deal with this bloody shoulder pain again. Let me know how you go with your removal winter- I am hoping to only miss one week of basketball and be back into it again. I do not want this band to rob me of one more minute of happiness. I can't wait to be DEBANDED!!!

For those of you who have had your bands out - I am so jealous of you. I actually posted this reply on a poll about bands but I am one of those who have had port problems rather than erosion or slippage. I am only 6 months in but at my first fill the port had flipped and had to have surgery to repair it. Then had a fill but two months later have had the fill removed because almost everything I ate got stuck - if only I had known then - I never would have had this band. I still have shocking left shoulder pain - and to top it off my surgeon is the biggest arse that ever lived. In most places in Australia - the lap band is done properly - councelling before - help after etc - unfortunately in my state - this guy is one of two surgeons that perform the surgery - I had a 10 minute consult almost a year before getting the surgery done (had to wait to give birth to my second child) and that was it. When discussing my problems with him - he is so dismissive - "fine - we'll take the fill out - you go off and finish your breastfeeding and do your little family thing and then if you decide you want the band to work for you then come back, but you'll put all the weight you've lost (15 kgs only in 6 months - 33 pounds) back on". He has no answers for the shoulder pain as he says he has only had one other patient with it and that my eosophogas (spelling??) must be spasming but doesn't know why - hopefully the unfill will fix it - no reasons why I was in pain with everything I ate (other than junk food - chocolate, ice cream etc all my problem foods) just said obviously there is some issue but doesn't know what. Was so critical of other weight loss options like Jenny Craig and WW and how bad they were for people because you lost protein, muscle etc -- I ate so much better on both of those diets than I have EVER BEEN ABLE TO WITH THIS ###**** thing in my stomach. No they didn't work long term for me because I wasn't able to stick to them but with this band in - my breast milk was affected - my son's weight dropped from the 97 percentile down to under the 50th (according to him - it would be no problem at all - still refuses to accept that the lap band caused this), I have been miserable and in pain when eating good food and the only things I am able to get down are the things that I shouldn't be eating. I agree with whoever said that the band is a disaster for junk food eaters. I have never been an overeater - but I love my sweets etc I was having to sit at the table for up to an hour and a half, waiting for food to pass through so I could take another mouthful because I knew I needed the sustenance for my milk. Since the unfill, things have been better but I still find things get stuck and I spend time over the sink regurgitating saliva etc. As my weight has never affected my health (I am still able to play top level basketball) and has really only been out of control since my children were born, I am so angry at myself that I let this be done to me. I am giving it a few more month with no fill to improve - then I am having it out - and I tell you now - I CAN"T WAIT. I am also now so determined to lose weight before going back to him - because the skinny little weasle thinks that the lap band is the ONLY way that anyone with obesity issues can lose weight. WE WILL SEE!!!!!!! Also found it very interesting that he has performed 1800 lap band surgerys - working out the cost with just the out of pocket expense for the patients without the Medicare and health insurance rebates that he gets - over 5 and half million dollars - a money making experience for him - I THINK SO!!!!!!!! Sorry to rave and rant on but as you can probably understand - I HAVE HAD ENOUGH!!!! For those of you with it out - I will hopefully be joining you soon.

I am one of those who have had port problems rather than erosion or slippage. I am only 6 months in but at my first fill the port had flipped and had to have surgery to repair it. Then had a fill but two months later have had the fill removed because almost everything I ate got stuck - if only I had known then - I never would have had this band. I still have shocking left shoulder pain - and to top it off my surgeon is the biggest arse that ever lived. In most places in Australia - the lap band is done properly - councelling before - help after etc - unfortunately in my state - this guy is one of two surgeons that perform the surgery - I had a 10 minute consult almost a year before getting the surgery done (had to wait to give birth to my second child) and that was it. When discussing my problems with him - he is so dismissive - "fine - we'll take the fill out - you go off and finish your breastfeeding and do your little family thing and then if you decide you want the band to work for you then come back, but you'll put all the weight you've lost (15 kgs only in 6 months - 33 pounds) back on". He has no answers for the shoulder pain as he says he has only had one other patient with it and that my eosophogas (spelling??) must be spasming but doesn't know why - hopefully the unfill will fix it - no reasons why I was in pain with everything I ate (other than junk food - chocolate, ice cream etc all my problem foods) just said obviously there is some issue but doesn't know what. Was so critical of other weight loss options like Jenny Craig and WW and how bad they were for people because you lost protein, muscle etc -- I ate so much better on both of those diets than I have EVER BEEN ABLE TO WITH THIS ###**** thing in my stomach. No they didn't work long term for me because I wasn't able to stick to them but with this band in - my breast milk was affected - my son's weight dropped from the 97 percentile down to under the 50th (according to him - it would be no problem at all - still refuses to accept that the lap band caused this), I have been miserable and in pain when eating good food and the only things I am able to get down are the things that I shouldn't be eating. I agree with whoever said that the band is a disaster for junk food eaters. I have never been an overeater - but I love my sweets etc I was having to sit at the table for up to an hour and a half, waiting for food to pass through so I could take another mouthful because I knew I needed the sustenance for my milk. Since the unfill, things have been better but I still find things get stuck and I spend time over the sink regurgitating saliva etc. As my weight has never affected my health (I am still able to play top level basketball) and has really only been out of control since my children were born, I am so angry at myself that I let this be done to me. I am giving it a few more month with no fill to improve - then I am having it out - and I tell you now - I CAN"T WAIT. I am also now so determined to lose weight before going back to him - because the skinny little weasle thinks that the lap band is the ONLY way that anyone with obesity issues can lose weight. WE WILL SEE!!!!!!! Also found it very interesting that he has performed 1800 lap band surgerys - working out the cost with just the out of pocket expense for the patients without the Medicare and health insurance rebates that he gets - over 5 and half million dollars - a money making experience for him - I THINK SO!!!!!!!! Sorry to rave and rant on but as you can probably understand - I HAVE HAD ENOUGH!!!!

I am so sorry for what you have gone through. I hope the removal goes well and you find something else that works well for you. The thing I am finding the most frustrating are all the extra side effects that my surgeon never told me about - the intense shoulder pain still going 6 months later, PBing, sliming, the intense discomfort as most foods go down - just told that food may get a little caught sometimes so you must chew alot - (let me tell you my jaws ache from bloody chewing sometimes.) I was under the impression that I would feel full - I rarely feel full, just stop eating because eating most things is too much effort and too uncomfortable- unless they are really "wet" dishes - pasta etc.(I've only had one 3ml fill) I also hate that part because when you are still hungry - I automatically want to reach for the things that are easiest to eat - chocolate, icecream etc I am stopping myself but I really feel like I am doing it without the band. Anyway, I am seriously considering getting it taken out. My surgeon is no help - I emailed him last week asking about the shoulder pain and still haven't heard back a week later. Unfortunately he is one of only two surgeons in my state (Tasmania - Australia) so not many options open to me. Has anyone else in Australia had their band removed - I am interested to know what it cost - I am in full private cover but the original surgery was still just over three thousand out of pocket. Anyone Airiaka you are not the only one with problems with your band - as you can probably tell by many of the postings, some of us are not lucky enough to love our bands the way many seem to- but I wish you well and hope the removal goes smoothly. Keep us posted.

Thanks Vicki J - and congrats on your success. I am going to go back to one day at a time and stop putting so much pressure on myself to get this weight off yesterday. It is coming off VERY SLOWLY but I am not gaining so that at least is one positive. I also know I need to try and make more time to concentrate on my eating so that I can get good food down, although this is very difficult with a 3 year old and an 8 month old. I always feel like I am in a rush particularly if we are trying to go somewhere hence it is easier to eat something that I know will go down as opposed to things that I may have trouble with - I also know that I was expecting this band to stop me from wanting to eat "junk" food but the only thing that will do that is between my ears and I am still fighting myself every step of the way. I am very grateful for all the support and comments posted by people because they do help you know you are not the only one and force you to look at what you could be doing better. Thanks!!

Interested to know what the band removal entails - cost etc. Hope all goes well for you. Keep us posted.

I know you guys in America will be amazed but there was no pre operation anything here with my surgeon in Australia. I was referred by my GP (General Practitioner) because I asked to be. I drove 2 1/2 hours to where the surgeon is - spoke to him for 10 minutes and that was it - was booked in for surgery after my son was to be born around 8 months later. No tests, no pre-op diet, no psch counsel - nothing. He didn't even ask me what my specific food problem was. Just knew that I was a former elite athlete (6 foot tall basketballer who already weighed 92 kgs (around 202 pounds which was quite a good weight for me) who had put on a huge amount of weight with pregnancy and not being able to exercise as much and told me this would work wonders - there would be no problem with breastfeeding etc etc) Since the surgery, no dietician, nutritionist, nothing - just sent on my way and told to come back whenever I feel I need another fill. Then of course when I went to have the first fill - my port was flipped - he did admit this was probably because the abdominal walls were so thin because it was done so soon after giving birth. I then had to have another op to have the port restitched which he did into a muscle to try and hold it in place. The fact that there has been no follow up nutritional support I find incredible, particularly as I am still breastfeeding so obviously need nutrition. Despite the incredibly uncomfortable feeling I get with eating some really good foods - I force my way through it because I know I need that extra nutrition - but it makes eating such a chore - everything is cold by the time I get through it because I have to BLOODY chew so much. (meanwhile I have two little boys wanting attention who can't understand why mummy takes 30 -45 minutes to eat her meal when they finished ages ago) But I know that my problem is the type of food I want to eat and the lapband has made that worse for me because most of it is now so much easier to eat than salads etc, which are foods I also really love. As for the vagus nerve - I've done my research into that and apparently it is not cut with lap band sugery but often is with gastric bypass - one surgeon actually said that the lap band often contributes to producing more of the hormone responsible for hunger - you may not be able to eat more but you are certainly still hungry - some people obviously don't find this but others do. However, there are also problems with cutting the vagus nerve though such as vomiting, stomach irritation etc. All in all - I just wish I could get this thing out of me without having to go through another surgery and recovery time - my children deserve to have me functioning at 100 per cent particularly as my husband works away for 3 weeks at a time. I then wish I could just do this myself - limit the amount of junk I eat and do as one of my favourite people on this site says - shut my mouth and move my ass. Oh how I wish!!!!

Just found a thread with heaps of people suffering from the same thing - given me lots of food for thought - have contacted my surgeon to see what he thinks about it.

I am sorry to hear about your cousin. But one word of warning - Just look into it very thoroughly first. The band is not everything it is made out to be to all people. For some people it works extremely well for others it doesn't. Don't overlook possible problems just because you have your mind set on it. Check out all the possible complications listed on this site and make sure that you are prepared for it. I didn't and now I am sorry. I know there are many here who love their band and it has been wonderful for them, I am afraid I am not one of them and the disappointment is extreme.

Barfranco - you probably need to post this as a new thread rather than a reply - that way people who have had experience with this well see it rather than only those who are looking at the thread about the band not working out. Hope this helps and someone can give you some advice.