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I to was a success story, until my surgeon blew it.

I started out at 356, was 1 year on a pre surgicial diet, and lost over 120lbs., on a 1200 calorie diet.

Then banded I lost around another 20-25lbs, He over filled me, and swore he blew the Band, So when

I went back, he deflated me, and said the band was blown.

He wouldn't see me, they would call, and say that he is i Switzerland learning new things about the Band.

So 3 years later I gain it almost all back. Now I am entitled to Medicare, and they give it to me for the knees.

I can't find a surgeon to touch someone else's junk !

Well i found one, that was a student of my old Surgeon, He took me on, and asked me "who was the bigger pain in the *ss? him or his Nurse." I new the Nurse was, but I told him it was him....

Through Fluoroscope,,,,, there was nothing wrong at all ! Just deflated (I COULDN"T BELIEVE IT !)

Anyway I started all over again, and this 4cc band works. I am a little more smarter now, because I have been through this before.

So because I am able to do this again, and not quit. I call that a success in it's self. WL helps too.

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I to was a success story, until my surgeon blew it.

I started out at 356, was 1 year on a pre surgicial diet, and lost over 120lbs., on a 1200 calorie diet.

Then banded I lost around another 20-25lbs, He over filled me, and swore he blew the Band, So when

I went back, he deflated me, and said the band was blown.

He wouldn't see me, they would call, and say that he is i Switzerland learning new things about the Band.

So 3 years later I gain it almost all back. Now I am entitled to Medicare, and they give it to me for the knees.

I can't find a surgeon to touch someone else's junk !

Well i found one, that was a student of my old Surgeon, He took me on, and asked me "who was the bigger pain in the *ss? him or his Nurse." I new the Nurse was, but I told him it was him....

Through Fluoroscope,,,,, there was nothing wrong at all ! Just deflated (I COULDN"T BELIEVE IT !)

Anyway I started all over again, and this 4cc band works. I am a little more smarter now, because I have been through this before.

So because I am able to do this again, and not quit. I call that a success in it's self. WL helps too.

Good luck to a new start and new you!

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Good luck to a new start and new you!

Thank You !!! That's appreciated. Also I am working at it, and plan to get their.

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Wow, that is just disgusting and you should have had some recourse with that doctor! Re: the knees, glad the new ones work! I know extra weight can put a real strain on them....I'm glad my weight loss has relieved a lot of my knee pain so far....

I to was a success story, until my surgeon blew it.

I started out at 356, was 1 year on a pre surgicial diet, and lost over 120lbs., on a 1200 calorie diet.

Then banded I lost around another 20-25lbs, He over filled me, and swore he blew the Band, So when

I went back, he deflated me, and said the band was blown.

He wouldn't see me, they would call, and say that he is i Switzerland learning new things about the Band.

So 3 years later I gain it almost all back. Now I am entitled to Medicare, and they give it to me for the knees.

I can't find a surgeon to touch someone else's junk !

Well i found one, that was a student of my old Surgeon, He took me on, and asked me "who was the bigger pain in the *ss? him or his Nurse." I new the Nurse was, but I told him it was him....

Through Fluoroscope,,,,, there was nothing wrong at all ! Just deflated (I COULDN"T BELIEVE IT !)

Anyway I started all over again, and this 4cc band works. I am a little more smarter now, because I have been through this before.

So because I am able to do this again, and not quit. I call that a success in it's self. WL helps too.

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I agree with Rsilversea. I have avoided this board for a while because of all the negativity and issues. I consider myself a successful bander as well. Down 86 pounds and no problems. Loving banded life. I'm actually the official blogger for my doctorbecause I've had such a good experience.

My doctor, as well as many others, highly encourages ongoing education and support groups at the local level. Being a therapist myself I found it easy to cope with the changes that came with the band and I try to use that to help others.

I'm not exactly sure what your post-op problems have been but if you need people to talk to who are positive and helpful think about emailing them privately. You are welcome to email me or find me on Facebook and I'll try to help as much as I can.

Best of luck and please email if you need to.

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There are plenty of success stories out there. Keep in mind that when we have been banded for awhile and nothing is going wrong, there isn't much reason to post. This forum is a great place for people who are having an issue to post a problem and get help from fellow bandsters. There are plenty of success threads here. Look for them. There are also several threads just like this one where people are put off by all the complications they read here and want to hear some success.

In my own case, I was banded almost 2 years ago. I have not had complications. I dropped 100 pounds in the first year and have not "worked" at it one bit. I don't think it's hard work at all. This is the easiest weightloss of my life.

I do believe the band is sort of "magic" because I have put in very little effort. People who are working hard don't like to hear this. There could be band complications in my future, but for now I'm not going to dwell on that. I am glad this forum is here so I can talk to other bandsters when and if those complications happen.

Your lapband journey can be a good one, so try to focus on that and not other's complications :)

Reading the complications can keep us aware, but please don't let it get you down.

Ditto here. Seems like people don't want to hear that you've had a breeze of a time. I'm glad when I hear it. My journey has been so easy that I am the official blogger for my doc and now his marketing firm has offered me my own professional blog. I can't say that I havn't had to work at figuring this band out but I can say that it's been a million times easier than any other weight los option I've tried and a hundred times easier that I could have ever dreamed. Thanks for the post. It made my day.

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I am sorry you seem to be having a tough time with this decision. Just hang in there. I bet there are many successful lap banders out there that can say they have asked themselves at least once during this "journey" "What have I done to myself?" - I know I have.

For me - this has been the best decision of my life and wish I had done it sooner. I feel so much better, I am much more active and have way more energy to spend with my family. I am one of those that doesn't really "work" it. I do and did follow my doctors instructions but I do not weigh or measure my food. I also do not work out as much as I should. The weight just fell off in the beginning but has slowed down this last 6 months. Overall my weight loss average for the last year is 1-2 per weeks - which is supposed to be "healthy".

Find yourself a support group. See your doctor regularly, follow his instructions. In my opinion - it seems as those who do not keep up with doctors appointments, do not follow the instructions, do not attend support groups etc, etc are the ones that have the most trouble.

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I look at my band success one way: I've only been banded since March 15th of this year, but started working at pre-op loss late December. I lost some weight, as usual, and it started to come back. I got back on track with my pre-op diet, lost 12 pounds the week before surgery, and have continued to lose (slowly, but I know that's expected). The most I have ever lost dieting on my own (no band) was about 40 pounds, 20 years ago. It came back, plus brought many friends. My typical dieting attempt results in 20-23 pounds, lasts 1-2 months, then I fall off the wagon and gain it back, plus more friends. I'm counting my band weight loss from my high weight the end of December, since all attempts since then have been with the band as my long term goal. So, this current weight loss attempt has LASTED 5 1/2 months and helped me los eover 30 pounds so far. Do I wish I was losing faster? You bet. But any slowness, in all honesty, has been my lack of willpower. Knowing my weight loss stretch has already lasted almost six whole months, a RECORD for me, and that the weight loss is over 30 pounds -staying off- and still losing...man I'm thrilled.

My band is preventing me from eating certain things. I'm at a point now where I'm borderline overfilled, but opting to leave it as is and just be careful of textures. I've been truly overfilled once, had to go in for a small unfill the next day, have had a pill get stuck once (I break them in half now), throw up/slime occasionally but again that is me chosing the wrong textures/not chewing well enough. No major complications.

The staff at the clinic I go to, aside form the surgeons and surgical scrubs, have all been banded. Many 15+ years.

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
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