Travelher

Why is your weight or body anyone else’s business?

Next time someone suggests you took the easy way about, just ask them what kind of idiot chooses the hard way. That is like in the movies when the heroine backs into a dark room when they hear a scary noise....who the f&#’k does that?!!! So the path on the left will be long and arduous and result in 95 percentile of failure (a statistical fact). or the path on the right may be shorter and have some obstacles but a 75% rate of long term success. Chosing the path to failure does not result in a martyrdom award in real life or really any kind of rewards...so why exactly does that make sense?

I applaud this subject. I was worried about surviving weight loss surgery at 260. At that weight I felt like a heart attack about to happen. It was inconceivable allowing myself to get bigger. Losing 100 lbs gets harder, the smaller you are...not easier.

Omg I wish people would stop putting the word “only” in front of extraordinarily large weight loss numbers. Would you ever say I “only” gained 23 lbs in a month? No. You wouldn’t. Stop diminishing success. If you went out on the street and complained to random people on the street that you only lost 23lbs you would not have a sympathetic response. Your monthly weightloss outpaces most people by a significant margin. That is a monthly weight loss number more typical of someone with a much larger BMI. Think in terms of my 600lb life. They are in the first few months losing typically around 5% of their body weight a month...it then drops and slows from here. Do the math on 5% of your starting weight and then celebrate losing double that! There is no such thing as gaining 3lbs of fat overnight, nor is there such a thing as losing 3lbs of fat over night. Everyone has normal weight fluctuations for many reasons. And weight loss is not linear for anyone. It looks a bit like a mountain range. Fits and starts, and yes very short term gains...but over the long term it looks like a slope.

This is probably a question best suited to ask your doctor. Mine was smooth sailing. If there were no adhesions with your removal, you are probably ok. Adhesions may form from the band to other organs. When I was in the hospital my roommate had 4hrs with 2 surgeons to remove the adhesions from his band to his liver and intestines. It was so bad he got a sleeve instead of an rny because of the scar tissue and time under anesthetic. Mine was smooth sailing, 90 minutes start to finish. Easy peasy. My doctor gave me the option prior prior to my revision/removal. If scar tissue is bad...1...we clean it up and close you up and you come back in 3 months for Rny once things have healed. Or 2 we clean it up and sleeve because we can cut around the scar tissue to form the sleeve. I was lucky and didn’t have anything to prevent Rny. You've already had a band removal, if there were major issues, they likely would have seen them then.

actually you wont. with skin removal they'll remove all the skin from probably just above your belly button down, so you'll only have the one or two above and they'll end up below your new belly button.

This is what it looks like now.

what I remember about pregnancy is being winded all the time. there is little room for your lungs so breathing is hard. I had to stop to take frequent breaks to catch my breath and had to go to the chiropractor non stop to have a rib popped back into place and have my hips adjusted to ease the back pain. I had to sleep on the couch because it was softer than the bed. and yes. bladder control, thing of the past, and HANGRY...like "get me x food now, or I swear to god, I'll eat you!" kinda hunger, usually followed by "ugh, that didn't taste like it was supposed to! why does that taste like perfume? ugh, I can't eat that".

well 12 lbs is totally crazy loss...I thought 16 in a month was crazy. my ticker below gives my monthly play by play and it looks pretty common from what ive seen (12-18 a month in 1-2) then a drop to around 8-12/month until about month 6 and then another drop from there. Keep in mind starting weight (BMI) has a huge impact of rate of loss, certainly early on. Age and health conditions all impact rates of loss. The reality is, that I have yet to see even one post from someone who considers themselves a "slow loser" who actually is a slow loser. most bariatric patients have wildly unrealistic expectations of post op weight loss. I can only imagine it has to come from shows like "my 600lb life. Think of it in percentage of total weight...if you weigh 600lbs and you lose 5% a month for the first two months...it looks like 30lbs. if you weigh 250lbs 5% looks like 12.5lbs.

gastric bypass

I have to agree with others that knowing the real results of the band I would never steer someone that way and then sleep at night. Look into all your options, read the studies and make an informed decision, i for one wish i'd just done RNY to begin with.

what you are going through is normal for many in the early post op period. it is the hormone dump from rapid fat loss and the adjustment to the healing (I remember thinking "OMG am i going to be burping my way through every meal forever?" Now I read posts like yours and go "oh yeah, i forgot about that part". you will feel totally normal in 3-6 months (for me it was 2 months, but i'm a quick healer)...I'm 15 months now, in and if it weren't for: being amazed every time i look at a picture of myself wondering why i don't get winded anymore, ever wondering how far i need to push myself on the treadmill to get my heart rate into the cardio zone wondering how the hell these size 2 pants fit me, because that makes no sense at all ...i would not remember I had surgery.

There are dozens of studies globally that all say the same thing. complications that require revisions (read surgeries) of some sort range in the 30-50% range by 10 years out. it is why the rate of banding dropped to less than 5% now and it is banned in some countries. Until the "newer" bands have been around for 10 years, no one will be able to predict whether the pharma marketing claims are true (hopefully they are, but nobody can say that yet). all procedures have advancements over the years. the data is what it is aged, in every single case for all surgeries (by about 10 years to be viably trusted). Frankly at revision rates of 30-50%, the long term band complications are significantly higher than other bariatric surgeries. Having said that, this means 50-70% are still revision free at 10 years, so issues are not a foregone conclusion. So if you are symptom free and successful, enjoy it and don't worry about it. I had a great 3 years with the band before mine went bad. My advice though is this. if you start to have issues, don't do what I did and many others and ignore the symptoms, make excuses for it and stick your head in the sand. get them addressed and fast. If they aren't resolving, remove it before it is too late to have other options. The band is sold as low complication and virtually consequence free, that is simply not true. Yes it is reversible, but it does permanent damage in many cases. it stretches the esophagus over time and can cause reflux (which can lead to cancer), cause adhesions to other organs (my hospital roommate spent 4 hours longer than me in surgery with 2 surgeons removing the adhesions from the band to his liver and intestines. many have slips or erosion. Just make sure you are being your own best advocate for your health, and act to resolve issues, they will not go away on their own.

revision rates due to complications range from about 30%-50% from most of the studies. estimates are that those numbers will only continue to go up from here. ultimately it is a piece of equipment and equipment fails. if you go the the "failed Lap band and realize band" page on Facebook, it looks, overwhelmingly that gerd, reflux and vomiting are the major causes for people wanting to seek removal. followed by lack of weight loss (mostly due to de-fills to alleviate the reflux or vomiting or eating unhealthy sliders because healthy foods get stuck). and also erosion and slips show up. I revised to RNY and just wish I'd done it to begin with. no issues with surgery or recovery, RNY feels normal. totally different than living around a band and dealing with the unpredictability of a band. recovery felt quicker and easier than with the band, but that is probably knowing what to expect and doing lots of walking to get the gas out. I did self pay because I couldn't live with the band for one more second (and frankly was warned by my surgeon that it needed to come out asap) and wait lists where i am can go a year or more. I also wanted to chose my surgeon. my cost for the revision was 23k CAD, straight removal would have been less (I think 16k). it would have been covered if i'd chosen to go through the whole process for insurance. In the US I know some folks have had issues getting coverage for revision unless their BMI was high enough. .

What works for me is to not “work out” but to fit activity into my life. That looks like walking to the local fruit market and carrying bags home instead of driving. Generally walking instead of driving whenever and wherever I can. Doing activities I like, like riding bikes in the summer with the family. Playing dodgeball at the trampoline park with my kid or doing climbing walls with him. Activity does not seem like some sort of thing I have to do. It is just part of my life.

I did not have any skin removal yet, if you have a large amount of weight to lose you will have loose skin. Exercise for health, not to reduce skin issues because it does nothing for skin...there is no muscle in skin. I have no hanging pannus..that is luck and body composition, and also the fact that I got down to the low end of body fat for my age. That is it. I didn’t spend time in the gym (though I am active), use creams or any of the other bill of goods people sell people on to make them think they’ll avoid it. Unfortunately, if someone carries weight around the Middle, odds are high they will have a Pannus, the only thing that will really solve that, is compression wear to disguise it or surgery. I’ve attached a pic of my loose skin. You can see standing it is not too bad (it is crepey and wrinkled, but I’m also 50). Lying down, it slides down...that is where you can really see the excess skin, and that it really is just skin.

Actually, things are great for me. I’m thrilled with my revision to a bypass. People come here for advice and mine is to not get a band and if you have one that is giving you problems, don’t stick your head in the he sand and ignore it, get it out before it causes permanent damage. There is life after a band...and it’s is infinitely better without it.

Mine are in my ticker below only regret was not doing RNY to begin with and wasting 11 years of my life on the band.

Don't recall anyone posting that they were eating any of the above. this reads like the pharmaceutical propaganda regurgitated. Lucky you that you haven't had complications, but about 50% of the people who have been banded have been permanently maimed by the band. I hope you don't end up like one of us. seriously, I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. My hospital roommate was in the OR for 4 hours while they were removing the adhesions from his band to his liver and other organs. There is a reason it has been banned in some countries...and it is not because of ice cream. My province estimates it is costing the healthcare system 100k in ER visits for every band in the province (prior to revision). The revision rate I've heard from the local bariatric center is around 80%. Every single band study done (even the positive ones) show a complication rate (that requires surgery) in the 30-50% range. You are in the lucky 50%...

you could do the old hernia repair story. need to eat purees while it heals. Ulcer? bring your protein shakes too. you will need to supplement protien. I like chocolate premier with a shot of decaf espresso.

Mine was smooth sailing. One thing that i encountered that was a surprise was dumping. conventional thinking says sugar=dumping. No problem, just avoid sugar, right?...Well in my case speed/volume causes dumping. I dumped on one big gulp of my protein shake. did it twice before I figured out the trigger. that was almost a year ago. now when I have a shake (like premier with espresso) I never gulp, I don't rush...small sips only .. have not dumped since. I also do not dump with sugar...I can have a cookie and be fine. now I have not tried binge eating sugar...I bet that would be problematic, but i'm usually fine with just a taste.

best of luck to you.

for starters the lap band fails everyone eventually. RNY is infinitely better! my recovery was smooth sailing but it very much is individual because it will depend on how much damage the band has done. Having an RNY is like feeling normal. no more stuck episodes, you can eat healthy food again. my results are evident in my surgery info. Good luck!

very very very bad idea. Lap bands have terrible complications and as of right now a 50% failure rate. the odds are extremely high you will do irreversible damage. there are Bariatric patients out there who have done band over RNY (never heard it for sleeve) and they can never have another revision because it could be fatal for them. my local center of excellence currently has an 80% removal rate...80%. there are countries that have banned the band. the conventional revision path from a sleeve for lack of weight loss is either RNY or DS (the sleeve is the first stage of the DS). Honestly, I"m shocked any doctor would recommend a band. my doctor says any doctor still putting them in should be sued for malpractice.