Hi all,

You may or may not know that I am a newbie having some tripidations about getting the band.

SO I took myself to a Lap Band support meeting last night.

It was a small group, about 6 of us. I was a little surprised at how much the banded people in the group did not know about how to eat, food selections, erosion, slippage, etc.

One of the things I asked the doctor was about erosion and he said 2 in 100 people will experience it within 3 years.

I also asked about long term and he said the band probably would not last the lifetime and would need to be either replaced or removed or left inside at some point in a bander's life.

So, additional surgeries are likely for a bander.

How do you all feel about that?

I asked one person there that question and she said she doesn't worry about the risks or what may happen. I'm just can't do that.

Interesting to note no one in my group asked the questions I did and where hearing them for the first time.

On the positive, all of them said it's the best thing they ever did and many said do it now before diabetes sets in.

I can't believe the Dr. said it wasn't a permanent thing. It is supposed to be permanent, but can be removed if complications arise.

Someone (sorry, I can't remember her name) from Israel who posts here e-mailed me that they have been doing them for about 10 years in Israel and most of the people she knows have had to have at least one more surgery for some reason...so maybe it's not as permanent as we have been lead to believe???

Emily

Well its to late to worry about it now (for me that is). Let just hope for the best

Professor Paul O'brien said it does last a life time and only needs additional surgery if there are complications.

If the band is still working it does not need to be touched. The band does not deteriorate over time at all.

Newbie here waiting on surgery date....I would rather have something i can have remove than to have to go through having my stomach cut and reattached.

Hey all, thanks for the feedback. Seems you hear different answers depending on who you talk to! :-)

I'm with MzzNet...I'm OK with having to have it removed somewhere down the line if needed rather than having my insides cut and rearranged. I think the bad probably does last a lifetime...it's our innards that have problems with it sometimes and necessitate additional surgeries to correct the problem. But I'll take my chances with it anyway.

Emily

OH! ANother thing I asked (de to reading DeCarla's recent complication) was what happens if erosion occurs.

First I asked if there are periodic checkups to make sure all is normal and he said no, only if you feel something is wrong do they take further look to see if there is slippage or erosion.

He said the hole in the stomach is sewn up.

I asked what happens to the stomach, is it okay after that?

He said most of the time yes, sometimes the whole in the stoamch does not heal.

!!!!!

I said, what happens if the hole in the stomach can't heal??

And we were inturrupted by someone so I never heard the answer to that.

I would think you could die from stomach leaking into the system right? Infection, septicemia, etc.

Again, the people were hearing this for the first time. I was sort of concerned no one asked this before getting banded.

I don't know, maybe I'm not normal or something.

I think that you're just being cautious and smart...people are crazy to not ask questions before hand. At least you can go into it knowing what you are dealing with. I've been spending hours and hours researching...reading all opinions, general comments, everything about post care, all of it. I want to know all of it, the good and the bad.

For me personally, I think that I will be going ahead with surgery in March. I feel like safer getting the band than gastric bypass.

I think that you should keep asking questions until you feel comfortable one way or the other.

Good luck in your search.

Lanie

I know my line of questioning is annoying to some, and many are so desperate at this point that they just do it and hope for the best. I'm desperate too, believe me. But I was desperate when I took Phen-Fen along with others and was lucky enough to not be one of the many who have life threatening heart and lung disease from taking that stuff.

Like Phen-Fen, I would hate to rush into something releatively new here in the US and surgery to the body as this is, and find out later it causes serious problems.

I am leaning towards doing this in the next few months, just hunting now for the best surgeon I can get.

Surgery is a risk and so is having something implanted in your body - like a lapband, fake heart valve or breast implant. So you've got to do your homework. Write down the benefits and risks side by side on a piece of paper. Decide if any of the risks are "deal busters". If there are no deal busters and the benefits outweigh the risks, you have your answer.