I am curious to see how everyone from a few years back are doing. I'm not sure if there is anyone else who has been on OH that's been banded as long or longer than me and still has the band.

I am NOT happy with my band neither is my Hubby. I can eat mushy foods on a good day. I'm mostly on a liquid diet. I originally lost 140lbs, played the fill/unfill games. In Feb. 2008 I had ALL of my Fluid removed because I could not swallow my own saliva. At the current time, I have ZERO liquid in my band and I'm on liquids most of the time. My husband on the other hand has fluid in his band and can eat whatever he wants as much as he wants.

My plan is to have an EGD tomorrow, see how destroyed my stomach is from this stupid band. My insurance company approved me for a band removal but denied me for the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectemy Procedure as it's "experimental".

Dr. Robert O. Powell had several of us in the DFW area. For some reason his patients were ALL TAKEN away from him and given to other doctors. We didn't pick the doctor we have at this time and I think he knows a lot more about all the bad stuff he's seen that Dr. Powell has done. Dr. Powell is in California still banding innocent folks. He needs to be stopped in my honest opinion. I have an appointment for a second opinion with another doctor who is not affiliated with my case or the Surgery Center and is used to "cleaning up" after the crappy doctors destroy bodies.

I'd love to see other's updates. Perhaps it might make others think twice before having this procedure done. All was great for 2-3 years then what. They couldn't give us an estimate on how long the band was good for when we first asked. I refuse to ever have another band placed in my body and would beg anyone I know not to have one placed.

Best of luck to everyone!

-Carrie

I'm almost five years out and still going great, I've been at goal for about 2 and a half years now.

My band is very stable and dependable, its never given me a moment's trouble and I've never needed to be unfilled. I dont have it very tight though. I guess I'm one of the lucky ones.

I've not heard anyone with a troublesome band who has converted to a sleeve say they're sorry to have done it though, so best of luck with that.

I'm somewhere in the middle of the two of you. I have had a pretty good experience with the band in the sense that it allowed me to lose 'most' of the weight I was trying to lose. I have had an unfill but was able to refill 3 weeks later, so it was a relatively minor speed bump. I will say as a warning to people looking for a band that this is not the answer for everything. You will still have to follow a diet that allows you to lose weight, bear in mind that this diet may not mean the one that is easiest to eat with very tight restriction.

I started gaining my weight back after about the 4 year mark where I was 21lbs above (189) my lowest weight (168). Now I have gone to a low carb diet because it completely eliminates my cravings and provides the maximum nutrient density. Not to mention, it keeps my insulin under control and stops the fat storage from continuing. I am now under my low weight at 166 and am shooting for my 150lb goal. Finally. Then on to maintain land!