Nanook

RecklessMonkey, I think what you've said "it's just a tool and not a solution" should be in big bold letters so that people hear that way before they ever get banded. The whole "slider foods" thing was something I was not made aware of before my lap band surgery and partly caused my downfall with the band. It saddens me to think people are seeing this as some sort of magical band when in reality it can be just as hard to lose weight after banding as it was before banding. I gained weight with the band and would never have gotten it right no matter how many fills and unfills I received. Luckily I got a second chance and wish everyone the best of luck with whatever WLS they choose but choose wisely! Nancy.

HH, I need that extra help to keep me in line for sure!! I'm usually on my best behavior in public so I'm glad this incident happened at home. But I will try to be much better at home too. I think you're right it might have been the combo of high fat/high sugar. Take care, Nancy.

Well it's been almost six weeks since my RNY surgery and since then I've done pretty well but I'm human and haven't been perfect. Partially due to my type 2 diabetes I've always been a sugar craver (chicken/egg thing) and having the lap band didn't help with that situation which is why I never lost weight. The sugary foods would slide right through my band no matter what restriction I had. With the RNY most of my sugar cravings have gone but as I told a friend here at LBT I was dreading the fact that it was my daughter's bday today and I had this massive chocolate cake in my house! Now like I said most of my sugar cravings have gone but I'm only human and that cake was staring me in the :thumbup:. So I tried a bit of the creamy parts that I knew I could possibly tolerate. It was a demonic cake :thumbup: that had a layer of raspberry mousse, vanilla cheesecake, chocolate cake and then topped with a covering of chocolate ganache! I ate some, 15 minutes later I was experiencing dumping syndrome for my very first time. I felt nauseous and thought I could just relieve that feeling with a pb but no such luck. Then the hot sweats began and the stomach was churning and it was just not pretty! It was bad enough to avoid this ever happening again, I hope!! But I am happy that it happened because I am far from perfect and so far with this surgury the weight is coming off and I still have a lot more to lose and do not want to go backwards like I did before!! Well better go, have to call an old priest and a young priest to give my refrigerator an exorcism:drool: Nancy,

Mare, There's a good revision section over at www.obesityhelp.com and I found it helpful when I revised from the lap band to RNY and know there are plenty of people revising from RNYs also. Good luck, Nancy.

I was required to go to two prior to my revision surgery to RNY. I wasn't too excited as I had gone to them before when I had the lap band and went to ones just for lap bands. But I switched to a different group that takes all surgeries before, after or just thinking about it and have found it really helpful. It's also held at the hospital nearest my home. The woman who runs it is wonderful and had the same surgery six years ago and there are other women there and men who are post-op that long and it's nice to actually see people face to face for me. It's only once a month but it helps me feel somewhat accountable. Maybe because I'm on my second surgery I wanted to feel like this time around I did everything right, you know what I mean? Good luck, Nancy:thumbup:

How often do you see your friend? Maybe where she's lost it you don't see it. If she is your friend you should be supportive of her. If she had RNY 3 months ago I'd think at her size she would have lost 60 lbs by now. Everyone shows their loss differently.

For every surgery I've ever had since diagnosed with sleep apnea I've been required to bring my machine with me. Do you use a machine?

divorced......, There are plenty of folks around who have had them removed, I being one of them although our circumstances are much different. In fact this is the first I've heard of undigested food collecting above the band and causing an infection. I know a weight gain is traumatic but it seems like you have more important issues on the table right now and doing whatever you can do to make yourself healthier is what is important right now. Good luck to you, Nancy.

Maryrose, I was a transcriptionist many years ago and had a shorthand type program that I loved! I still type the shorthand and expect the full word to pop up sometimes! I never downloaded spell check here so God knows what my posts look like! Nancy.

Debbie I'll ship you my 100 lb rescue dog with fear based anxiety issues, should do the trick! Take care, Nancy.

In order to have insurance cover a weightloss surgery you're going to need to see a doctor probably to refer you to a bariatric surgeron. If you see a doctor maybe you can get some blood work done to rule out other issues you may have. Possibly hormonal. That's when I found out I had an underactive thyroid. I was also the only one in the family who had a weight problem since I was young and I was a pretty active kid too. What they said about going to a seminar is good too as you can learn about all your surgical options. Prior to my attending a seminar I had to have my primary care physician write a letter of necessity stating I should have the surgery but everyone is different and every insurance company has different requirements. You're in a forum where either we all are fat or were fat and going to a doctor when you are can be a scary thing, I know and usually avoided it when I could. You just have to have the attitude that it's your life and your body and you want to take care of yourself and need the help of a doctor in doing so. Just because we're fat doesn't mean we're not worthy of taking care of our health! Good luck and keep us posted on how things go, Nancy.

Debbie, I'm glad your friend said something. That nurse sounds like she was a bit wacko to me, but that doesn't take away her crassness/rudeness. Take care, Nancy.

I wish you luck Patricia. The main reason I worry about self pay with the band is when people have complications and are not covered by insurance to deal with those, like removals or emergency situations that they don't expect beforehand. Hopefully you won't have that problem. I personally would not have done the band if I had to pay for it out of pocket but I realize many people do. In some respects I think some people get lucky with their band situation. It works well as they expected and they're able to lose weight and keep it off and never have a complication. On the other hand there are many where it was just as hard to lose weight as it was before they were banded and/or have other complications too and this is not what they expected. Take care and I hope continued success with your band, Nancy.

I think all the reading/researching in the world can't always prepare you for what it will actually be like once you are banded. It's different for everyone and there are also things that come up that aren't quite expected. I also don't know if any psych eval can prevent all those that might have adverse reactions from being banded. Definitely more of a risk if you're self-pay. I've been banded and now have the RNY which basically you cannot "remove" but like most of you I chose the lapband due to it's non-evasiveness and it just wasn't the right procedure for me. I do believe though that it made the transition to RNY easier than it would have if I had not gone through all of that before. It's easy to judge others and their issues until you have something similiar. Good luck to all of you Nancy.

OK I thought it was pretty grandious like most of you but I caught the tail end of the service when his daughter spoke and it brought tears to my eyes. I guess in the end he was still a good brother, son and father to his kids even with all the controversy.

DVJ22, I had my band out for about 8 months before I revised and don't remember a lot of gas. I do remember feeling the food/drinks going down to a much longer stomach and than before and remembering how weird that felt after 14 months with the band. Anyway sorry you had so many issues I always worry about you self payers as there can always be comps that make things financially difficult. Anyway hope you're feeling better now and take care, Nancy.

Sue, When I posted there, in 10/08 I had just gone through a frustrating 14 months of living with the band and having issues the main one never losing weight with it. It just wasn't the right procedure for me. I had it removed and lost a bit of weight at first because I could eat normal foods which included healthier ones. Since then I gained a lot of weight as my stomach went back to its old size again and I have since revised to RNY on 6/11. This time it's working and after about a week post-op the weight just started coming off. I can't eat like I used to and can't eat through the RNY like you can with the band. Once you're full, you're full! I know no WLS is perfect and they aren't always as effective as they were in the beginning but at least I can say I'm losing this time! Anyway good luck to you, you will make the decision that is right for you whether you're band-free and doing it on your own or you decide to revise to another procedure. Take care, Nancy.

JMCam..... I still think I want to eat something but when it actually comes down to doing so I feel totally different about it. Plus you have a definite restriction which should relax at some point in time. For me it's a couple tablespoons of Protein at a time if I'm lucky. High sugar food makes me feel somewhat ill and I don't crave them like I had before. I'm going on my 4th week and do look forward to some enjoyment out of food again which I hear and see from my daughter will happen eventually. At this point it's hard to believe though, Nancy.

Glouc, After reading your history in another thread with your family I'd say break up asap unless she wants to go into some type of family therapy with you, and you pick the therapist. Good luck, Nancy.

OK, I have a question. I know that Michael was abused by his father but was he sexually abused? I think I remember Latoya saying she had been sexually abused by her father and from what I saw on the news today Latoya was probably Michael's closest relative. Possibly because she brought out the abuse to the public. Just curious if anyone knows. I know he used to beat the sh^&t out of Michael but didnt' know if that was the end of it.

I'm fat now all I need is the rich!:thumbup:

If you think you have an eating disorder and can get help for it and be able to work with the band that would be the perfect scenerio. I didn't consider myself to have an eating disorder but after a month or two on the band I began eating through the band, the sliders trying to "fill up" as I had a diffiult time getting in food and certain foods would go right through. After 14 months of dealing with this and then GERD the band was removed and I've moved onto a procedure that I should have done from the start, the RNY. I have "real" restriction and a loss of appetite something I never had with the band. I hope you can work the band and get some help if you think that's what you need but sometimes mistakes happen and we do pick the wrong one. Good luck to you, and no one here should bash you!! Nancy.

Honestymm, Wow, tell us how you really feel!!!! And by the way I still have my stomach it's just stapled into a smaller pouch kind of like your band gives you a smaller pouch. When I was in the hospital last week wishing I would die due to my pain I didn't consider that the easy way out! Nancy.:thumbup:

I had the lap band because I was basically afraid of the bypass but after 14 months had it removed as it never worked for me and I developed reflux. I've just had my RNY surgery and was more prepared this time around and am finally losing weight! I am a 49 year old peremenopausal woman with diabetes II, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, sleep apnea and on antidepressants so it was not easy for me to lose with the lap band. Good luck with your decision as I know it's not always an easy one.