I am trying to make up my mind as to what surgery to have or even to have the surgery. I do not have insurance to cover it so it is a big investment for me in many ways.

I would love to hear from some of you that have had the band for a while. Is it still working? Anyone had the band slip or any other complications I should consider?

I go to the Dr. today for the consult, and I am very aprehensive. Would appreciate your input.

Three years, no complications. Not losing as quickly as I used to but I'm about twenty pounds from goal and I'm not gaining so it's all good!

Banded in August of 2009 and would do it all over again in an instant. No problems and nice low and slow weight loss. 86 pound down and 20 away from my goal weight. You can read many many comments about good experiences and bad but in the end you have to go with your heart.

I too, paid out of pocket. 15K and it was a choice of my money or my life. I chose to part with my money and it was the best decision I ever made.

The Lap-Band is a proven 'Tool' to aid in weight loss. All I can say is find a good doctor who provides all of the necessary after care and support systems. Drive-thru docs just don't give you the aftercare you need. My doc provided self-payers with a full year of after care and fills for free.

I now blog for him and will soon have my own blog site via his marketing firm, that tells you how happy I am with my experience.

Just use your best judgement, follow your gut instinct, and go forward when you are perfectly comfortable with the decision.

Good luck and if you are in the Atlanta area I can recommend a fantastic surgeon.

Banded december 05 so getting on for six years. Never had a single issue - I'm unfilled at the moment purely because i had to have an unrelated surgery, and that caused me to lose quite a bit of weight and the doc wont refill me when my BMI is only 19, she wants me to regain weight. I dont want to regain weight but I want my fill back - so I have a dilemma, lol.

My band works text book perfectly, and I learned new habits and a new lifestlyle so much so that I really only want the fill for lazy reasons, I dont really need it because I know what to do and how to keep my weight stable.

My secret? i would say that running is my secret. I never ever needed a tight band because I took up a form of exercise that for me is magic and shedding fat and keeping weight away. Therefore I've never had the reflux/vomiting/unable to eat certain foods issues that are so common. I attend Prof. O'Brien's clinic and his view is that the band is not meant to be that tight. I think a lot of the band problems that occur are due to overtightness and that its a tool that suits people that can work with it - which is not everybody, we all have different issues. I was relatively young, still very healthy despite my obesity and was able to take up the slack with very vigorous exercise therefore it worked well for me.