4myfamily3

Hello, I'm new here. Let me start by saying what a great and helpful sight this is- you all seem so knowledgeable and friendly. I am seriously considering getting the LB. My insurance covers it as long as my GP refers me. I am going to talk to my general practitioner next week who has been wanting me to lose weight for, oh, about twenty years now. Here are my concerns and questions with the lap band. I see a lot of people who have been banded and seem happy with the short term results, but most have not been banded very long, and I was wondering why that was. So is there anyone here who has been banded for over 5 years or longer? I've been doing A LOT of online research on this and to be honest, I've been reading a lot of horror stories about erosion, slippage, and worse. I've also heard that many people have trouble with things getting "stuck" and that it is quite painful, and something called "slime" or "sliming"? Some people even claim that they day they had their bands finally removed was the best day of their life-- oh the joy to eat a crunchy carrot again! I am attracted to the LB surgery because the thought of having 80% of my stomach removed is just too intimidating, but after reading about the high level of maintenance and lack of bandsters beyond 5 years makes me a little scared. If any of you have any insight on this, I would very much appreciate it. Thanks in advance!