lellow

Yes, got my lapband in 2008, lost 130% of my excess weight, stayed stable for 3 years, sprung a leak that for some reason seems to be hard to find, gained weight, lost some but with difficulty, so now am opting to have a band replacement in 12 days time. So didn't just choose it once, but will be choosing it twice.

I took two weeks off but could have gone back in one. And this time with the band replacement, I've only taken one. I work at a desk too, so I think I should be ok in a week.

Stick to your diet. I cannot stress that enough. If you don't and something goes wrong, you're going to be kicking yourself. It is a few more days, in the scheme of things, just a drop in the ocean of the rest of your life. Don't think about tomorrow, just get through today. And worry about tomorrow tomorrow. And again, stick to your diet.

Hi Jackie, I'm 43. So no, not young at all! But thank you, you made my day!

I lost so much that I actually got to the point where I was looking very thin, but I couldn't see it. I only saw the extra padding I still had on my thighs and the backfat I still had around my bra, and the double chin I still thought I had. I didn't notice the ribs showing in my cleavage, or how thin my arms were, or that my hip bones were sticking out. My friends worried about me, and my dr threatened to unfill me, and it took that for me to realise that my perception of myself was pretty skewed. It takes a long time for our heads to catch up. if ever. Even now, with just an extra 20+lbs up from my stable weight, I struggle not to feel like a whale most days. And yet I still an in a US size 6 - 8 (size 10 Australian). That's my head playing it's nasty tricks on me, and I have to keep reminding myself that what it's telling me isn't true. Our minds were treacherous to us when we were big and we couldn't really see it, and it's treacherous to us now, so you really have to work on seeing the real picture of yourself, and if you succeed, please let me know how because I'm still trying to figure it out!

My dr first suggested the lapband to me 18 months before I decided to go ahead. I was pretty content with being a big girl - I thought I looked okay, my husband never had a problem with my weight, and having been big all my life, I didn't know any differently. For me it was my younger brother being diagnosed with rampant diabetes that I realised I needed to take stock of my life. I have a 2 year old, and I didn't want to wait until I was told I had health issues that may prevent me from seeing him into adulthood. So I got banded. In fact from the minute I made my decision to the day I was banded was 28 days (gotta love living in Australia). I lost the weight, and then I realised what I'd been missing. I have a whole different life now, one of enjoying shopping, one were I have heaps more energy, one where, while my band was working, I didn't have to worry that I'd have a bad week eating crap and then put on 5lbs. It just didn't happen. Yes I knew I would have to live with it for life. You adjust, you adapt, and the new ways become the new normal. It became so normal for me in fact that in the last 15 months where I've had a leak in my band and therefore can't feel it the majority of the time, I MISS it. I want that restriction back! But like 2muchfun said, YOU have to be ready to do this. Wanting to lose weight is one thing, wanting to change the way you live in order to achieve your goals is actually more relevant. Until you're ready for that, you're probably not going to be prepared for what the band will bring, iykwim.

I was in the green zone for 3 years, easily maintaining my weight. I'd get the odd 'maintenance' fill annually to keep me well restricted but didn't really have to do anything else. Then in Jan 2012, I lost all restriction. So went for a fill and after a week I lost restriction again. Next checkup, they withdrew all the Fluid and discovered I'd lost half of what should have been in my band. So there was definitely a leak. I did get tests to eliminate the possibility of a slip and erosion as well and in every other respect, my band is perfectly placed. Just leaking.

My band is leaking. I've had two ops to resolve it (port replacements) but it's still leaking so it's a full replacement next.

Not quite the same but as there aren't many in my position I hope you guys don't mind me joining you. I'm getting a band replacement on the 27th April, so will be going through what you guys will be going through, plus some. I could use some hand holding too! And offer holding of others' hands. I don't have to do a liquid diet until 3 days beforehand due to my different circumstances but I did it when I got my band the first time around, so can empathise.

Yep this happened to a friend of mine. No cycles for 5 years, then that first weird, spotty period 3 months after surgery and only having gone down 20lbs and next month, she was pregnant after trying to conceive unsuccessfully for years. As you lose, the symptoms of PCOS will reduce, which often means the slow but steady return of your TOM.

When I first discovered I had a band complication, and posted about it, I got people coming and talking about similar things that had happened to them. To me, it would have been easy to then think "omg, this band is a disaster! It is a scam! Just look at all these people who are saying it didn't work!" But I've been around a while now. There are LOTS of people for whom the band worked, and worked well, including me actually. It's not a scam, it is a procedure that has risks and the possibility of not working and the chance of you not losing the weight that you thought you would lose, but it doesn't make it ineffective or dangerous to the EVERYONE, as you seem to insinuate Ivy. I read you saying tings like 'oh you'll find out I'm right' and I think hold the phone, Josephine, what about my success? What about my lack of complications until the leak? What about me? My experience is obviously better than yours, and I don't even know what yours is! I have a friend who got the lapband on my recommendation and has lost a grand total of 20lbs, because she happily eats around the band. I have another who lost 100% of her excess body weight and kept it off for a year. I have one who had to have an emergency removal due to erosion due to nothing she herself did and suffered greatly. None of them blame the band. We all react differently and will behave differently with the band. But we're adults - we traded off the risks for the chance at losing the weight. For some, they don't lose, for others, they lose at the expense of developing other health issues, and yet for others, they lose and live happily ever after (and despite what anyone might have read in this complications forum, MANY people like that exist). You won't know which one you'll be until you have the surgery, whatever surgery that is. Yes there are risks, yes we should talk about the risks, but scare-mongering isn't the most helpful way to help people who have complications, imo. I think support for each other should take better forms than that.

It's all good MsMaui! I know you posted out of concern for me. My doctor is incredibly experienced with WLS and is one of the best drs in Australia, so I trust that we have come to the right decision together. I know that revision to the sleeve seems to be the 'done thing' but I can't in good conscience make that decision for me, not after weighing up everything that applies to me. Thank you for your good wishes for the upcoming surgery. I'm very excited at returning to the band life and all the benefits that it has provided me!

Yeah I don't relish having had so many operations myself, and despite my post above, I did understand that you were posting out of concern. I wasn't going into it with my eyes closed, though, and I wanted you to know that. I am still unsure though what you had hoped to achieve with that last post you posted. Was it a discussion you were after? Because I think that's what you got. If it was just for information, then it may well be that the content you posted actually came across as a little bit condescending to those that chose the band. Either way, I personally have never had anything but support here in the complications forum, so maybe, just maybe, what you posted came across in the tone you didn't intend (or did intend), in which case, people responded to the tone of the post more than to YOUR specific complication(s). I hope you geniunely seek and get support here in the complications forum for your complications, and that you find peace in whatever happens in the future for you.

I'm asian so I can eat as quickly with chopsticks as with a fork lol. One thing that worked really well for me (and still does) for those who don't weigh and count everything, was before I got to the green zone, I used to split my food portion in half, and put one half in the fridge. I'd eat my allocated portion, then if in 30 mins I was still hungry, I'd go back to eat the 2nd portion. I actually only ever went back once in all the time I've done that. And my mind was nicely fooled into thinking I wouldn't have to go hungry if I didn't want to, and yet by the time the 30 mins was up, I wasn't actually hungry anymore anyway!

I think talking on a personal level about your complications is a lot different than posting a generic post that denegrates the band. Yes, people get their knickers in a bunch, and they will if anyone makes out that they're somehow silly for having made the choices they have. I'm like Terry though, I don't care what anyone else does, I just care about the choices I've made. In a thread I started, you actually suggested to me that everyone you know who decided on a band replacement (I'm not sure who 'everyone you know' is) regretted it, had their replacement band removed and asked why I didn't just revise to a sleeve. I was very precise about explaining why I made the decision I made, but to be honest, I don't know that my thought process on it was really any of your business, considering I was asking for experiences with band replacements. But I answered because it's a forum, and people of all walks will discuss things so that all sides of the story can be discussed, including the very valid, and very positive reasons I'm choosing to have a replacement. I understand your band complications frustrate you, and you don't want others to go through what you are going through. But I have had nothing but good experiences with the band, aside from this leak, so I will be a counterpoint to your arguments, and I actually would recommend the band based on my experiences. And I don't think it's wrong for anyone who HAS NOT had complications to post in here, because that's a positive story as well. And I think all those sides should be heard. If you only hear bad things, you do not get a balanced view, and heaven knows that this forum already has enough horror stories that, imo, aren't truly representative of the banded population. Posting their experiences is NOT the same as insinuating that the failure of the band MUST be your fault, but I didn't see anything that said that in that last thread anyway.

I am legitimately in the complications forum because, well, I have a complication with my band. I didn't read your initial post, OP as providing any real helpful information for someone who has had complications with the band, because it didn't say 'these are the things to consider when you have complications'. Instead it just kinda scolded anyone who chose the band (and in my case, who is choosing the band again), insinuated that they're choosing an inferior product (and I don't believe so), told them they were probably not going to be successful (which was not true at all for me), without providing context on the motivation behind your post. So I posted because since we're talking anedoctal evidence, I am anecdoctally what a successful lapbander looks like. And one who has a complication, but will still choose the band given the new choices I have available. I would think me posting provided a nice balance to the discussion. And surely, balance is necessary, isn't it?

It's hard because for those for whom the lapband was not successful, I'm syre that they feel like they need to let others know so that others won't go through what they went through. It is the flipside to those who, like me, make the band seem like it's easy peasy (it was for me, I'm not going to lie, but it isn't for everyone, and that's the truth). Or for whom complications (like my leaky band) happen but given that, we'd still choose the band. But sometimes, and I've seen it often on the years I've been on this site, it goes from 'here's what I know so you don't suffer like I did' to completely ignoring the fact that there are people like me for whom the band has been successful. So it becomes about 'here's some downsides so you know the full story' to 'YOU WILL RESPECT MY AUTHORITAE!'. I actually don't think this post is one of the latter btw, but it's showing small shades of it.

I won't lie, I worked my ass off to lose. But once I got to my goal weight, I actually stopped formally exercising and the weight kept dropping off. I eventually got to the stage where my BMI was under 21 and my dr was talking about unfilling me, so I actively ate to GAIN some weight. When I say it was effective, it was VERY effective for me. It took away my hunger almost completely. Even now, when I get fills while waiting for my surgery, I can go from hungry to not hungry at all with the right fill level. It takes away cravings, keeps me full for hours and I can then go about living my life. The band may not be successful for everyone as it was for me, but hell, what surgery gives you 100% gaurantees anyway? So you do your research, take a punt that it will work for you, and get on with it. And you know what's NOT in the studies? I learnt more about food and hunger with my band than any othe time in my life. I gained initally when my band started leaking, and now I'm maintaining without the help of the band, and am in fact slowly losing. So it's given me more than it has ever taken. And that's MY opinion piece on it!

To be honest, any WLS is only as good as it will be to the individual. Broad studies may be conducted on the effectiveness of each, and opinions provided on which may be more effective, but a patient SHOULD look at all the pros and cons of each type of surgery and make an informed decision as to what's right for THEM at that point in time. After I got my band in 2008, I went through huge sleeve envy when a colleague got her sleeve at the same time as me. But the band was incredibly effective for me and has been for years until I sprung a leak. Now I'm looking at band replacement because in the end, I would be silly NOT to go with a WLS surgery that helped me lose 130% of my excess weight and helped me keep it off easily for 3 years. It may turn out to be the wrong decision in the future but right now, I believe it's the right decision for me. And I think that that's what everyone needs to weight up - what's right for you? On a personal note, I'm excited to have the option to 'start from scratch' with a new band. I'm not sure what happens next with a sleeve where, like my colleague, she started gaining again after a few years...

My dr is both a lapband and sleeve surgeon and we discussed the pros and cons of each. The reasons that I'm sticking with the band are: It worked amazingly well for me until the leak. I lost 130% of my excess weight and maintained without issue for 3 years. I had no real adverse affects with the band The sleeve and it's side effects on me personally are unknown Revision to a sleeve would entail two operations - one to remove the band, and then a future second operation to revise to a sleeve My insurance will completely cover the band replacement but I would have to pay out of pocket for a sleeve revision So after weighing all that up, I've decided to get a full band replacement. I love the lapband, and it's been very good to me for a very long time. So I'm sticking with it.

How much sag do you have? Generally speaking, I found that where the skin was stretched to buggery, it didn't bounce back to normal, i.e. my tummy, my back, my inner thighs etc. But where the skin was not too stretched (so where I didn't have stretch marks) they actually tightened of their own accord over the years. I had the worst bingo wings after I lost all the weight. But I didn't have any stretch marks under my arms, and eventually they went back to nearly normal. Same for my outer thighs and the skin near my elbows. They eventually shrunk over 1 - 2 years to fit the rest of me. And while I had a belt lipectomy for the tummy, my skin on my inner thighs, while it never completely shrunk back, was not as loose as it was from right after I lost weight. My reconstructive surgeon actually told me that he believed that the only place he thought I needed surgery was my tummy and back, and it turns out he was pretty spot on!

Wow, I'm amazed to find others who have experienced the issue of a persistent leak.I have to admit that since I last posted, I've come to the decision to replace my band rather than revise to a sleeve. I have had great success with the band and I know it works for me, when it works, so rather than go the sleeve and develop possible issues, I will stick with the band and the issues I know and can live with already. And to be honest, with the band, there aren't any that I find onerous. So I'm now scheduled for a full band replacement in 3 weeks, on the 27th April. I saw my dr on Friday and I've lost another 2cc in about 5 weeks so it's going to happen. I'm actually really excited about it! I can't wait to feel the band working again. I love it when they fill me at my appts and for 2 or three days I lose all desire for food and have zero cravings. Oh how I miss that! Then it disappears and it annoys me no end. I just want it to work again!

With the examples of medical conditions you gave, I'd say the band would help, not hinder. I have ovarian cysts and when I lost the weight was the first time I didn't have pain mid cycle. A friend of mine who got the lapband lost just 30lbs and fell pregnant naturally after 5 years for trying to conceive because her cycles returned for the first time since her early twenties. I also have a strong family history of heart disease and diabetes and losing the weight meant I became low risk for both. But it can exacerbate issues like reflux. So like anything, you have positive and negative impacts.

I didn't gain weight until after my band started to leak. So my weight remained stable for 3 years. I gained with the leak only because I suddenly couldn't feel my band anymore and started to enjoy that feeling a little too much. I'm now trying to lose the excess weight while waiting for a full band replacement. I have to admit, one thing I am thankful for is that the band did help me break my addiction to a lot of foods that would likely have had me balloon in a short period of time had I still craved them - things like junk food, soda and chips. So while the band is currently not working, it's taught me about discipline and good food, and that's better than the way I was before. More importantly, it has shown me that I can control my weight if I set my mind to it.

common? I wouldn't say so, not according to my dr. But I guess it just has to happen to you and it will feel pretty common. The thing about leaks though is they're normally easy to resolve. They're not usually a result of user error and once you replace the leaky part of your band, bam, bob's your uncle and you're back on track. Unless you're me, that is.