Looking forward to band surgery probably next month. I was looking towards the sleeve, but insurance will not cover and did not want to go the whole bypass route. I am wondering what happens ten to twenty years down the line? Is the band supposed to be able to stay in that long. I see on these sites people seem to have problems 2 to 5 years out. Just curious!

What you don't see are the thousands of others that have had no problems. We all wish we could see 10 or 20

years in the future, but science isn't there yet. One thing to remember is that band technology and surgical skill

have improved dramatically in the past few years. The band is still

the safest form of weight loss surgery.

i think the band has only been approved in the US for 10 years so no one here has had it longer than at least 10 years.

The band can stay in you forever in terms of the materials and your body, and the longer its been there without slipping or eroding, the less likelihood ther is of that happening. The silicon the bn is made of should last a lifetime. However, in all probability, at some point either the balloon part of the band may fail or the port itself, due to the mount f anipulation those components undergo. This would require surgery if you want the band to remain effctive.

Look at it this way though, ive seen so many eople express that criticism, both here and on the sleeve board, yet in their signatures they list tummy tucks, boob job, arm lifts etc. You could say banding leads to further surgery in that sense too.

And insurance companies in the US have only been approving it since 2007/2008. Some other countries might have longer history of bands. But we just don't have the time here, yet.

Yes, the band has only been approved in the US since 2001. They've been doing it Europe since the 80's. I'm not going to stress out over what will happen 10 or 20 years down the road. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. All I'm sure of is without my lapband I probably wouldn't have lasted that long anyway!

Good point, Cindy C!