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You have had the band 6 years, lost and kept off 80lb and you call that a failure????? Where would you be now without the band. If this was me my first choice would be to get the band fixed. But if that was not an option then I would investigate all the other types of surgery in depth and try to decide what I thought was best for me. Yes with a bypass you probably will lose quickly initially( although as you have already lost a considerable amount of weight that may not be so) but you still have to make sure you change your eating habits or chances are that the weight will come back on. There are many people who have had the bypass and lost weight only to regain it. Some of those people are now having bands over their bypass. The bottom line is which tool will be the one that you are best able to work with for optimal results.

I don't think it makes any difference if you have had surgery before or not, I am still always terrified. I think you need to focus on the fact that this is a really safe surgery and that going through it will hopefully help you to achieve better health and live longer than if you don't ( so long as you do your part) Just make sure you follow your Dr's instructions on diet presurgery as that is to help shrink your liver and make the surgery safer, give up smoking and any other bad habits and then just concentrate on the positive.

I'm confused - you have a Dr that bands you but doesn't want to give you any fills! Does this Dr actually understand how the band works? You are losing weight which is great but you are still starving - sounds like you need some extra assistance to me. Also you are regretting getting the band and wishing that you had got something else - well that is a bit like buying an electric mixer, never turning it on and then deciding to get another appliance because the electric mixer "doesn't work" properly. Generally if something doesn't work you read the manual or the troubleshooting guide before returning it. I think if you read the manual( or speak to Allergan , the manufacturers) you will discover that a necessary part of the banding process is getting fills.

If you are going to drink coffee you need to make sure it is normal coffee without sugar,syrup or anything else added. A cup of coffee, black or with a splash of milk is not going to hurt. Those fancy coffees that are loaded with sugar, milk, cream etc will stop you achieving your goals. Remember you should not drink your calories.

Yes the band erodes into the stomach. That means that the band is still intact, it does not break down or deteriorate but the stomach has damages, ulcerates or however you would like to describe it. Hummingbird is correct. You I am afraid are misinterpreting the phrase used in Allergans letter.

I would think that the nurse is probably right, severe vomiting can cause you to pull a muscle as can deep coughing. Take it easy and if it is no better in a couple of days go and see your Dr.

Gulp as fast as you are able to do comfortably.

No such thing as an easy button , sorry.

Not sure why you say only 4.5cc, that is quite a lot. You need to remember to take tiny bites, cold meats such as ham are too easy to take big bites of and then as you have found out they cause problems. Maybe you need to cancel your next appointment. It is possible that you have enough fill for now. Concentrate on working with what you have and learning to eat in a way that doesn't cause you to get stuck.

And then there are people that have lapbands over their bypasses........

It wasn't the stuck episode, your original post makes it sound as though you were getting your band adjusted tighter and tighter.

I knew there was a reason I never married Donny!

If you wake up hungry in the middle of the night then drink a glass of milk.

Too much salt is really bad for you. Most of us tend to chuck it in our cooking without really thinking. My mother always put salt in the Water when she was cooking vegetables etc and of course I did the same. I have now cut all that out. I try to flavour food with herbs and spices. So many foods have so much salt in them anyway ( soy sauce, worcester sauce,stock cubes.......) that we really don't need to add any more. it may take a while but you will eventually get used to eating less salt and it is much better for your health in the long run.

To me this says that you may be expecting something from your band that it is not able to give. That is probably not your fault. If you were not educated properly prior to surgery then you may have unrealistic expectations. If you are looking for something that will give you a feeling of fullness or stop you eating the things that you shouldn't then you are never going to be happy. But if you can recognise your band for what it does do and learn to work with it then I think that you can probably achieve success. Jean Macmillan posted a very good article the other day that I think you should read, it may help you a lot.

I agree but that doesn't affect the interpretation of the quote. Simply put it tells you that you should live a good life and I think that is something that we should all aspire to. If there were Gods then I think the Roman or Greek ones sounded like a hell of a lot more fun than the bunch we have currently, at least they had some character. The thing that amazes me most is when there is a tragedy and people turn to God. What the! If there was a God and he had power or cared then the tragedy (e.g Tsunami) would not have happened in the first place.Why turn to him after something like this. There are times though when I wish that there was some kind of afterlife - to punish some of the scumbags that commit such horrific atrocities. Hell should exist for paedophiles, rapists,suicide bombers, serial killers etc.

I found this quote a couple of months back and it sums up for me how we should live. "Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones."

It was probably the texture of the chicken. It can cause problems.

Well it does sound like you should have lost heaps of weight but maybe what is happening is that because you are so tight that you are actually filling up on high cal sliders. Are you drinking your calories? If not then maybe there is some other kind of issue. You probably need to go and see an endocrinologist to make sure all your hormones are in the correct balance.

If the dress makes you feel good then you should wear it. Personally I think you would look nicer and probably be more comfortable in something that was more floaty and not so fitted/clingy.

I have 2!

Put a band aid over them , it should help. I used to do that in the 80s when I went out wearing one of those tops that looked like it was made of chain mail and it worked .

I assume you are just postop. The best thing for the pain is to take the meds your Dr prescribed.You should also try walking as that also helps to alleviate it.

I can't comment on the legal stuff but I do have some questions. Before this when was the last time you saw your Dr? Were you going for checks 1 or 2 per year as you are supposed to do for life? Were you following the rules? Were there any indications that something might have been wrong that you ignored?

That is not really high. Maybe you need to go and talk to your Dr and see what he says. Ways of decreasing Bp are losing weight, cutting back on salt, eating healthily,exercising, not stressing etc but sometimes high blood pressure has no apparent cause and you can do everything right and it still remains high. You may have just had a little bit of white coat hypertension( goes up because you are at the Dr's) Good luck