lap band LONG TERM

cashley · March 29, 2006

I guess the reason why I am so terrified of this subject is because I am paying $15,000 for my band, so if something goes wrong it will cost me another 5 or 10 thousand to get it removed or "fixed" I am willing to pay 15 for the band but I can't imagine paying to get it removed and then paying to get another one. I could not spend 40 thousand or how much ever it may cost to do all this. So I am praying that this is the right thing for me, I don't expect it to last forever but I would like 5 to 10 years,

Amen... this is what is so scary for me, not the fact that I might have to have one or more additional surgeries but that fact it was an extreme luxery to be able to afford this one time much less planning on this cost every 10 years or less...

I know there are people that can afford to waste $17,500 but I can't afford that. If I make a bad car decision or wreak it I have insurance for that.. I think they need band insurance for the self-pay people in case it needs to be redone.

YeeHaw · March 29, 2006

Everyone's situation is different. Some people can keep off weight and others can't. In my situation I got extreamly sick and gained 80lbs in 3 to 4 weeks, before that I was thin and exercised everyday and did not have a problem. After I gained weight, it got to hard to exercise everyday and so on...... I am just saying that it is different for everyone. I know for me I can keep off the weight when I loose it.

fiveholts714 · March 30, 2006

Maybe I don't want my band for life. Maybe I can learn to control what I eat and eventually have it out. And monkey's will fly out of my rear! I hope it will last many years. Long enough so that I will have long since lost the weight I wanted to. If it has to come out after that, I will be ok. If it has to come out before then I will be MAD! I am cash pay and it is a one-shot deal for me.

Fauxnaif · April 9, 2006

It's been 5 years for me, and I'm still trying to get my BMI below 30 (which is technically still "obese" by most chart standards.) Yes, I've gotten nutritional consulting and given much thought to what I eat. So I still have weight to lose, and yes I still try to work and be a "good band citizen." After 5 years of banding and struggling to get to this weight, it simply terrifies me to think of unbanding without a revision to another surgery. So let us not assume it just naturally gets easier over time.
Happy Band Journeys to all...

I have got to say AMEN to this post. Coming up on 4 years for me this summer. I feel exactly the same way as NewSho.

I don't know if it is just a matter of learning different habits either.

Oh well, here's hoping that if something happens to my band I can find the money to self-pay AGAIN.

stockymd · April 9, 2006

I do strongly believe in the next 20 years there WILL be a safe, effective pharmaceutical breakthrough and obesity will be far less common. It will be like anti-depressants. Huge numbers will get on them and say "wow, why did we suffer so long?" Until then, we have to accept the risks of WLS...or just diet...which basically means staying fat.

Until they then discover that the medication can kill you due to some newly found complication, i.e., heart trouble, brain damage, cancer...

(don't get me wrong there will be a drug.and you can bet I will buying stock in that company-then) But watch out for the later researcg studies of any drug--There are no miracles

Althought getting the band is surgery with an implant. It is the CLOSEST thing available to getting weight off naturally long term.

Research shows that 95% of folks who just diet and work-out will regain the weight in 5 years.

Band removal, slipage etc- average of a 2% chance. NOT BAD!!!!

Paulax · April 10, 2006

Until Research shows that 95% of folks who just diet and work-out will regain the weight in 5 years.
Band removal, slipage etc- average of a 2% chance. NOT BAD!!!!

OK that was bloody brilliant. Thanks for that!

PoPo · December 5, 2009

When I went in for my LAP-BAND® surgery, I tried to imagine the many surgeries I was avoiding by getting the weight off.

Coronary artery bypass grafts, amputations due to diabetes and joint replacement would very likely be in my future if not for the band. I'd:laugh: rather face a laporoscopic LAP-BAND® revision someday than any of the above.

sandiegokate · December 6, 2009

PoPo,

I agree with you 300%! My mother has had both hips AND both knees replaced due to arthritis and complicated by her weight. She is now 78 and a bit too old to get a band but I hope to not have the surgeries she has had to have due to her weight. Also she has high blood pressure and cholesterol... all of which could be made better by loss of weight.

For me the risk of the surgery and any complications was far less than the risk of being overweight. I am 45, been overweight (or yoyo'd) for most of my life. It wasn't going to get better from here unless I did something drastic. If a revision is needed later on, so be it... I'm still better off! AND, if I do need knee/hip replacements like my mom I will be healthier to have those operations. My mom's weight made it more difficult for the surgeon to do the operations!

Poodles · December 6, 2009

Wow, first of all this thread popped up from 2006, and I think that it is so appropriate since I was banded in 2006 and have revised to a Duodenal Switch 3 weeks ago.

I have had nothing but trouble in 3 years with the band.

It is now commonly referred to as the laughband... my assumption is because it is a joke.

It did more damage to my stomach than it helped me. Long term you can expect to be revised to something else.

My recommendation to anyone reading this pre op is to get the sleeve if you want a restrictive procedure. There is no foreign object and the stomach inlet/outlet stay the same.

It the sleeve does not work for you long term, get the intestinal part of the DS done and you will have a full Switch. (Sleeve is the first part of the DS anyway.)

Never Ever Ever get the RNY. If you go band to rny then you will have a more dangerous road if you want to get the DS. Very very dangerous to convert from rny.

If you are thinking malabsorptive procedures: Go to www.dsfacts.com to read long term studies on rny vs ds.

mrlddst · December 7, 2009

Speaking as a person who recently had her band removed 3 weeks ago, I am thankful for the weight that the band helped me lose while I had it after having it for 3+ years.

My band was supposed to be replaced but the scar tissue that was caused by getting the band the 1st time was so awful (what my surgeons told me) that they could not replace it.

I don't think its a lifelong solution, it wouldn't surprise me if you have to get that thing replaced every 8 - 12 years. Having said that, I do miss it (like a abusive relationship), I have been given 6 weeks to consider what my next move is going to be with me doctor. (VSG, RNY, or another band). Would I do it again, yes. The band....I don't know....I would like to look into the VSG but I don't want to have any organs cut....