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Sleeved 9/3 and down 32 lbs. I couldn't be happier. I didn't have complications, but constipation for the first 3 weeks. I think my worst problem is weighing myself daily. I get obsessed. Every day is a learning process on what I can eat. I'm just sorry I didn't do this sooner. Too much time spent over weight and in pain. Life is a gift!

I think the worry is that you may get sick (vomiting) and cause complications. I would call and see what surgeon recommends - they may be ok with progressing to pureed.

I also have an office job. I took two weeks off to recuperate. My surgery was a week before Thanksgiving so I had a few free days in there. I had a pretty easy recovery overall, no complications or anything like that. For about my first week back, I would hit a wall in the afternoon. The first day it was noon. it got later throughout the week. When I hit the wall, I went home so I knew I was still safe to drive. I would take a nap and be ready for the next day. Tiredness really was my biggest factor through most of my recovery. Just take it easy and don't push too hard and as you hear frequently on here, make sure you are getting your Protein and Water and you should be good. pam

Hey KVP glad to offer up answers to your questions: How have you come to the decision lapband is/was right for you? Because I had tried every diet on the planet and continued to lose but gain more after the end of that diet. This procedure did not involve cutting my intestines and sewing them together. (something I wasn't prepared to do) Is anyone disappointed in thier procedure? Not one day since I awoke from the surgery. I awoke with HOPE. I loved the methodical way my doctor answered my questions, how he was not in a rush, how I felt more informed after talking to him (and I hadn't paid him a dime). Does the reward outweigh the risk? In my case I had sleep apnea (you stop breathing in your sleep), diabetes, high blood pressure...I already had risks from being fat. How do you deal with the complications? I have had no complications from my Lap-Band. I did have a complication with certain foods running through me that my MD was not able to resolve. My Lap-Band surgeon suggested a plan of action that worked. I have read several threads with people complaining that the band isn't working for them I will tell you this. If you are looking for a CURE for obesity, the band is not a cure. The band is a tool to help people like me who have a heck of a time with portion control. It restricts food intact but you still must maintain a healthy diet. Listen to yourself. Do what is best for YOU. No one else has to live with the journey of choice but you. Best to you.

yes , I had SILB on 6/9/10 , I had very little pain and my recovery was amazing , didn't have any problems, I was a little uneasy with it when my surgeon told me that she would be using a single incision type lapband surgery, but afterwards i was very happy with her decision, because you heal quicker and you have less complications.

No one knows how long the band will last, it's a foreign object, there could be many reasons why someone may have to get their band replaced or removed. Some have medical reasons, sometimes there are malfunctions with parts like leaks, some have very poor aftercare. The best thing you can do is arm yourself with knowledge of how the band works: Here are some things you may need to ask your surgeon: 1. How many lap bands has he/she has performed? greater than 500 is best 2. What is his/her complication rate? Do they convert many band patients to Bypass or Sleeve, if so, BEWARE. 3. Research the new eating habits of how to chew your food with the band to prevent frequent vomiting (frequent vomiting can cause lap band complications long term, like horrible reflux, bad enough to get the band removed). I will be 8 years post op this month, however I had my older band replaced 4cc band, that is no longer used in the US due to higher complication rate from Pouch and esophageal dilation. However these same complications can occur with the newer bands, but they occur less often, as long as the patient don't keep it dangerously too tight. The reason I got the band was because I can get it removed if something happens and I can always get it adjusted to help with weight loss. I would do the band over again in a heartbeat. Good luck.

. I just turned 55 and was sleeved on 12/15/16. HW 324 SW 300 CW 285 5'8" No complications Get to start soft food Thursday. Live in Dallas had surgery here. I have hypothyroidism so I am happy so far with the weight loss. Praying it keeps coming off. Don't feel hungry anymore. I have hit Protein and Water goals daily. No change in taste and am back at work after 1 week. Glad to find the 50's group. As my other forums everyone is so young!! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Chris... Great job on the weight loss! Good luck in Iraq. I had my lapband done at a teaching hospital in Boston (part of Harvard Medical) anyway there was a doctor that was doing his fellowship and assisted in putting in my band, he was also in the military and wore his uniform in the hospital. He left the hospital to be deployed to Iraq. I know this is a long shot but there is at least one doctor in Iraq that has done fills!!! I would suggest not getting a fill or an un-fill. If what you have now is working. I would just wait it out, you do not want any complications over there. Again....best of luck!

never heard of a 4 cc band so not sure what the complications could be most of use have a 10 cc or a 14 cc.. No matter what it is call your surgeon he can tell you everything about the band and whats going on and will refer you to your own doctor if it isn't the band... PCP or er don't know a thing about the band and the complication.

Hi Devin! I was banded back in May and it's truly gone well for me. No complications, no hang-ups, whatever. You might want to look around for a support group in your area. I've always been kinda "anti" group hug type stuff, but it's really, really helpful. This site is great too - even though I just got on last night. Read, pray, and follow your doc's orders - you'll do fine! Congratulations - today's the first day of the rest of your life! (Jenne - 31 is definitely not even close to old-fartdom!!!!) :biggrin1:

Doddie, Thank you for the offer, right now forgive me if I am annoyed frankly I think Cindy is a plant... three posts all negative and meant to stir the pot please that sounds like a rival clinic to me. I was talking to a friends who isn't banded and she actually gave me the idea... I told her the scenario and she said the best offense is a good defense... so it sounds like this person is a plant trying to stir up ill will towards your clinic and like she might be employed by a rival clinic lets face it banding is big business worth a lot of money and as a clinic if I can steer people away from the busiest clinic with the most patients then they up for grabs for the others clinics to make money off of. Was a 50 years Cindy even banded last year who lives in Sudbury? I don't know only Slimband and she does.... and I am guessing based on her accusations of me that the answer to that is no. I have had a very different journey than most, 7 complication surgeries but overall my journey is relatively easy. I just have the need to refocus my energies on my journey. And I will do that however it works for me.. I have been posting on myslimband since it is a different forum and I wanted to try a different crowd than the Yahoo group with a different perspective than I was reading.. and so I came back here too. For me it works to go back to my basics but I also want to add a few things in there and I am struggling with how to add a love of fitness in there... So for now I think I will keep posting everywhere it suits me and sorry if that annoys the people who aren't happy but it makes me happy and just for kicks everytime I read something negative I think I might just find a positive story about Slimband/TLBC from my present and past and maybe even the future as it happens and post that for contrast.... Slimband has done awesome things... they have done a ton for their patients over the years. But there will always be patients who fail to meet their goals and blame everyone else for the reasons why instead of themselves. And I so understand about venting and getting it off your chest I don't understand focusing on the negative. People will post what they want positive or negative... I am just choosing to focus on the good instead of the bad because I know in my life it is how I get to the best places for me to be. Again Doddie thank you I will continue posting and taking what works for me out of this discussion and the others on the site..

Hanbe, I am friends with Kathy and I have a good relationship with Yau... two things I have learned in this life is that not everyone can like everyone else and they just may not be your cup of tea.. and that is ok. I get along with them and that is ok too, Kathy was one of the few resources for those who were banded way back when and she was amazing with people and her own research and I know from experience she does care but that is my relationship with her. Yau... first time I met him that I remembered I loathed him called him a bastard I do believe... I was going in for my first fill at Grace and after over an hour of Joffe and the radiologist freezing and poking me everywhere... they called Yau out of surgery he walked in found the only unfrozen spot on my stomach inserted the needle none to nicely said her tubing is disconnected she needs surgery and walked out... that was it I was like who is that bastard? I was told and I said well he is a total jerk. The moral of that story is Yau is a surgeon and as a general rule most surgeons I have met over the years aren't the most social creatures and like to cut people open and fix them, they don't always have a decent bedside manner. As I got to know Yau through my complications and helping a friend out who had complications I liked him, he became human with a sense of humour etc. That lesson took me a long time, and most of his patients won't ever get to see him the way I did because I spent that time with him and it is probably a good thing that they don't know him that way. Knowing him as a surgeon from other non banding patients there is not a surgeon I know that I trust more than Yau other than my plastic guy... and both of those two rank highly with me as people who care that they help you and are perfectionists and there is nothing more you can ask of a surgeon. I can honestly say this Dr Yau does care about his patients and if you are struggling and you aren't happy with your results or the help the nurses are providing you and at your wits end and you make an appt with Dr Yau he will sit there and go through things with you. He may tell you things you don't want to hear but he will take the time to work through issues and make suggestions etc. It isn't something he wants to do with every patient since there are well over 2000-3000 of us but if you do need him Hanbe he will make the time for you. The reason he hired all the staff he hired was so he could concentrate on surgery rather than on the patients and he arranged to hire people who had been banded and who could help in ways he may not be able to, but he will take the time for any patient who needs it and has exhausted the other options. And with that said even if you sat and talked to Yau you might not like him as I said I learned a long long time ago there are a lot of people who can't stand me and I am good with that not everyone can like all of us and we can't like everyone and that is ok. As for the pop you are welcome it is something I never believed until I watch that episode of Mythbusters it was eye opening. For liquids... I am a little different since I am at goal I do a lot of milk, water, some teas, wine, martinis and some fountain soda (the last three full of sugar and not the best choice but I do them in moderation and the soda I am trying to break that habit again)

Lucy, It was meant to show how absurd accusing anyone of working for a clinic is... Just because some one has had good experiences doesn't make them a plant, it means they had good experiences.. just because someone has bad experiences doesn't make them a plant either it means they have had some bad experiences. Over all my experience with Slimband/TLBC/no clinic prior to that has been amazing and this is coming from a girl who has had 7 complications surgeries that required her to fly back to Toronto to have them fixed.... none of the complications were the surgeons fault and I attribute them to a faulty band and weight lost. Sorry but my experience is the opposite of theirs and i don't mind saying it doesn't make me a sales person it makes me a happy bandster. As for where swansong lives i looked at her profile and it was on there... 50, sudbury , 3 posts and you can even read the posts so that is where I got that info. I don't work for the clinic don't need to work for the clinic don't want to work for the clinic my clients are high enough maintenance without having to deal with patients who are super high maintenance pain in the asses myself included in that, god if I had to deal with people like us all day I would shoot myself.. I have sat in the waiting rooms and listened.. and not a hope... being a software consultant is bad enough people are horrid computers are simple, believe me or not...I don't care my pay cheques are signed by someone other than slimband. You are going to go where you are going to go, I just say go where you are comfy and where you like the staff and the surgeons you will have a long relationship with them. You owe it to yourself to be happy with your clinic and the amount of money you spent and if you have 3-4 choices in your local area why not talk to all of them and then make your choice... I am not saying choose one over the other I am not saying lean to one over the other it is obvious where I would go and where I will take my mum when she is ready to be banded. And I don't care if this thread goes on forever I wanted to start something more positive so sue me, something that was shorter again sue me.. as I have stated many times I prefer focusing on the positive but yes sometimes my annoyance gets the better of me like all people and do you honestly think if i worked at the clinic I could post what I have been posting... and they wouldn't fire me, or at least tell me to stop posting...think about it.. I have always been known to speak my mind and I am not going to change that. Read Canadian lapbanders on yahoo groups or read my posts here you can search my name and you will read that it is not all about the clinics neither are my posts on here for the most part until recently. Sorry when I see something I believe in being jumped on I will speak up... and I don't care who likes it. And yes I will continue to post about my positive experiences because guess what I have that right just as people have the right to post about negative experiences... and when I had a negative experience I posted about that.. and dealt with it and got over it and moved on. People have both.. so what... I have never ever said don't post about the negative I have said post it and move on... So good luck Lucy I hope it works out for you, I hope you meet and exceed your goals and I hope that for any one who is banded whether I like them or not or whether they go to my clinic or not it is a free market system may the best clinic win you business and I hope you do your research and ask a ton of questions and most importantly make the right choice for you and that you are comfy with. But since I came here for support I think I will get back to my basics and start working on my support... Heather

Hi Karen! My advice to you is to do your research if you haven't already. There are a lot of different kinds of weight loss surgery and a lot of different complications each can have. Make sure you know what the risks are, know what potential problems you can have, and make sure that you're comfortable with the decision. Read the boards here and find blogs of people who have had the surgery! The whole process went by really quickly for me. I went to a seminar, had an actual appointment at the office two days later, and scheduled the surgery at that appointment for four weeks after that! I was a little dazed through the whole thing, really. I'd researched for a few years and then when I finally made a move it was seemingly lightning fast. Best of luck to you!!

Chunky all my life, most of my excessive weight piled on after the birth of my second child. After several failed attempts at losing the weight with Weight Watchers, Slim Fast and other programs, I decided to see a bariatric doc & a nutritionist. Under their care (and diet pills) I was able to lose 60lbs thru self control and exercise. I started at 260 and got down to 200, never getting into blessed Onderland. I fell off the wagon as far as exercise goes last June and the weight started creeping back up when the diet pills lost their effectiveness. By last October, I had gained back 40 of the 60lbs I had lost and was disgusted with myself. I knew I needed more help in controlling what I ate than I could give myself so I started exploring WLS. At the end of January 2011 I went to a local seminar and begun researching my options. I decided I wanted VSG because it was the best fit for me. Discovered that insurance wouldn't pay and even if I appealed the decision, they only covered 50% of the allowable charges anyway. Hubby & I talked it over and decided that we wanted to avoid the wait, hassle and expense of the appeal, nut and psych visits, etc. and made plans for me to go to Mexico as soon as possible. There is quite a bit of heart disease in my family - my oldest brother dropped dead at 44 from a massive heart attack, my dad died of complications of open heart surgery and he had congestive heart failure and suffered his first heart attack at 56, both my other brothers are over 300lbs, cousins weigh in at 400 and just last month another cousin dropped dead of a heart attack at 52. The writing on the wall couldn't have been any clearer for me. I turned 40 this year and I'll be damned if I spend the second half of my life trapped in an unhealthy and gross body.

Sorry haven't been on in a bit. I'm on another site since its different on this site now. I'm doing great. As far as price goes, when I was ready for a quote, I contacted the Ariel Center to find out how much surgery would be for me. They are very prompt in getting back to you when you ask for a quote and send them pictures so please make sure if you want to know pricing to contact them. They don't hassle you to be their patient so contacting for pricing info is not complicated at all. Here are some after pics

I'm curious how much time are you taking from your job to recover after surgery are you taking? What is typical, barring any complications? I have a relatively sedentary job, medical setting at a desk mostly, so nothing too strenuous.

Much much better! Pain 90 percent improved. Highest temp only 100, still sweats/chills. Able to keep down my antibiotics. Had to change sheets and pjs twice overnight with drenching sweats. Thank you for asking! When do you get your sleeve? Are you going to another country to get it? Smart to look into insurance!!! I was honestly worried about "complications" and being out of pocket... I hope this continues to go smoothly. Today I feel like a normal person. If this is what it was supposed to be like the whole time, the recovery is not bad. Thx again! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I'm considering getting VSG. :001_unsure:I would defintely perfer this versus the lapband. I am really afraid of being put to sleep and the complications. I have a praying friend who will come with me for support. I know my family will be worried about me going to Mexico but I have faith in Dr. Aceeves and his experience. Please provide any advice you can. I'm a single mom and I really need to do this for myself. I recently lost 30 pounds by my weight tends to move up and down constantly. I try to work out at ;east 45 minutes 3 times a week. I'm so nervous about surgery!! Please Help!!!

Wheetsin, I think I had the same name on LBT. It's been a while. My update: I saw my surgeon again this morning. There was some confusion, as I thought they had rescheduled my surgery for 8/24 (instead of 8/31). But it was really scheduled for SEVEN/24. Um, that's next Tuesday, and for a variety of reasons, I just cannot make it work. The big one is I am out of town for work. The next available option he had was 8/17. which was 3.5 weeks later. Fortunately, my surgeon is awesome. He worked me in on 8/3, so I don't have to move heaven and earth, AND I can get it done sooner. The bad news is my band is EFFFED UP! For real. If you've seen your band on film, you know it should look like a slash, '/'. Mine is a perfectly round, big, open, 'O', Yep, it has not only turned, but it has flipped and twisted. Which means my poor tummy is being drug up and through the O and then back down. Not good. He said he's seen worse though. I am thankful for once that my overachieving ways didn't have me in first place. He can't believe I don't have any restriction based on the band's position, but I really don't. Oh, also, my band has ZERO Fluid in it, even though it should have 9cc. Yep, it is a mess. I wonder if he'll give it to me as a souvenir! Sooooo, it's bad enough that I have to wait at least FOUR MONTHS between surgeries for my poor tummy to heal. BUT because he is seriously the most awesome doctor ever, he reassured me that I am NOT to worry about weight gain. He wants me to focus solely on letting my tummy heal. He said he doesn't care if I lose 10 lbs or gain 50 lbs between now and my sleeve, he just wants to see me healed. He said I will get it all off and then some with the sleeve. In fact, he insisted I will be sitting in his office a year from now asking for plastic surgeon referrals because I'll have lost so much weight. It seems impossible, but I know it is true. Whether I have the surgery now or in a few months, a year from now, it won't really make a difference. A lower risk of complication is worth it in the end. There you have it - the latest and greatest from this battling bandster. I have finally stopped crying. I'm still not happy at the prospect of being restriction-free for an additional five months or so, but it is what it is. I didn't have restriction for about six months with the band, so I just need to get in that same head space and do what I need to do. Thanks for reading if you've made it this far!

1.) If you could talk to yourself pre-op what would you say? What would you tell the you that was still undecided about having the surgery? I would do two things...first tell myself that I have a six year old with special needs and if I take a risk with my life I could be throwing him backwards in his development, even with just a prolonged absence while in hospital. I would also then grab a knife and a garden hose, cut a hole under my breast with only topical anesthesia, shove the hose into my lungs without anesthesia, and then ask myself if the pain was worth the next glass of wine or cookie? Believe me, the tortures I went through to save my life after the surgery were numerous, and most were severe enough to have made me join a gym and cut back for a lifetime! 2.) Do you ever regret having the procedure? Even in tiny moments...like dinner out with friends or around the holidays? Do the regrets ever out weight the results? Every time I look at my child. I was away from him for 46 days. I nearly died more than once. His feeding is set back as is his potty training. Steps that took all summer are back to the beginning. And what if I'd have died? I am his primary care provider and therapist. My husband works significant hours and his nanny is lovely...family really, but she's not trained in caring for him as I am. I took a stupid chance because I wanted to look better. I regret it despite the results. Now, that's the ugly side of the sleeve...the complications. I like to tell people that you need to weigh your entire life scale to make this decision. For me, with a small child, I had the surgery at the wrong time. I risked complications and death and should have not been so selfish as to have done that when he was so needy. I had no comorbidities and was lower bmi (35) so this really was about looking good in my case. I wasn't risking death due to my weight (my family lives til 100 easily, even when heavy) I was just unhappy with my looks. If you are pushing highly obese, and have co morbidities, your life scale might balance in a different direction than mine. I can't undo what's been done, but I still risk losing my stomach or having a third surgery due to complications. I regret it in a big way.

I would be interested to know the answer on this. If I had to take a guess, I would think that it all depends on what type of band complications were involved.

I just had surgery on 12/19 and got both at recommendation of my doctor. I can't offer as much information as the others but my doctor mentioned a study by Duke University that I read up on. It seems to help people lose more in the beginning. It does add a possible extra complication - for a few the stomach part that is folded over (so to speak) gets inadequate blood flow and causes issues which I think are only resolved by more surgery. So just do your research and weigh the risks.

I am starting to schedule my lapband and after following along here for months, I am getting nervous about doing this surgery to lose weight when I don't have any REAL health issues. My BMI is 39 but all my bloodwork & everything else is good. I am worried that I might be creating problems by getting this surgery when, right now, none exist. My weight has controlled my life since I was 12yrs old, I'm a major yo-yo dieter & have never kept weight off like everyone else who has tried. I hate being fat. BUT I just read a book called "weight-loss surgery, Everything you need to know about Bariatric Surgery" by the former president of the ABS and it has freaked me out. The book keeps saying over & over that it's a last resort & you should be willing to accept death as a possible consequence. I know all surgeries have that risk....blah blah blah but if we really thought we were going to die I'm sure we wouldn't do it. I'm worried I will be running to the doctor now for life because of slips, erosions, overfills, underfills etc. Who else had the lapband that didn't have serious health issues? Has it complicated your life? I am worried I might be better off fat then slimmer & having all sorts of eating problems with the band in place.

My band was put in on 6-4-07, the happiest day of my life. Over the next year I managed to lose 55 pounds with lots of HARD WORK and EXERCISE....about 3 weeks ago, I began to notice changes in my body. I was having more variations in my diet because some foods went down so much easier than others. And I am sorry, if I have not been able to eat hard Protein all day long, by the time the evening come around, my body is weak and trembling and HUNGRY. Mind you, I had 1.8 cc in a 4.0 band. Anyway, I resorted to eating more high caloric soft foods such as ice cream, so that I could have some caloric intake. This went on for a few days and I knew that I needed to see a doctor as the weight was starting to creep back on. The only problem, was that my surgeon retired 4 months after my procedure and left no follow up instructions. At the time, I was really OK with this because at the time of his retirement, I was losing relatively well and easy and had been told that my body would never need another fill as I had recently had to have a slight defill. So last week I began looking for a doctor and started feeling worse and worse, more tired and more tired. Labor day, I was in the hospital with my daughter who was having surgery the next day, and I began to feel sick. I went/vomited in the bathroom several times and then realized I was having pain. Suspecting a slip, I walked over to the ER to check myself in. The next 24 hours are a blur to me as my pain became so intense. My BP was 175/157, low grade temp., pain so intense it radiated through my abdomen, chest, back, both shoulders, and jaw, sever nausea, vomiting bright red blood spots; at one time they did and ekg because they thought I might be having a heart attack. They did plain xrays on my which showed nothing and told me to go home and follow up with wichever lap band doc i could find, and i forced them to admit me for pain control and to consult with a surgeon. The next mid-morning my pain became more intense, bowel sounds stopped, pain meds were doubled and given twice as often and nothing touched the pain i was in...nothing. I was given a CAT scan to look at the band and was told I did indeed have an extremem slip to where my entire fundus had passed above the band and yes I had the stitch method used to prevent the band from slipping. That night my wonderful surgeon came and removed the band. He said when they first saw the stomack it was COAL black. He was afraid I was going to have it surgerically removed. Luckily, when he removed the band, the tissue above the band began to turn deep purple which meant the blood was beginning to return. There is one small spot on my stomach that did die, but my surgeon says that will scar over in time. I am only 5 days post op from band removal and still very emotional. I am so happy that it's out. I was told about complications of slippage and erosion, but NO ONE every told me about complications of possible neucrosis. I have no an idea of why what happened, happened. I followed ALL band rules to the tee! I keep replaying the whole thing over and over in my head and realize how close I was to losing my life. If I had indeed developed gangrene, I may not be alive right now. NO I WOULD NOT RECEIVE ANOTHER LAP BAND NOR RECOMMEND LAP BAND TO ANYONE. _______ If you have a slippage....please have it removed!