I am being banded 3/30/06 and I keep reading about erosion and the band slipping. I was first approved for RNY (which I never really wanted but they sent the pre-approval by mistake). I am beginning to question my decision. This just has to work. I figure if I work really hard I might be able to get the weight off before I have any problems. How often do problems occur?

If you read through the threads (may take the better part of a day) you will have all the info you need from the people on here about erosion, slippage, etc. Just remember people come here for support. There are lots of happy bandsters out there that rarely show up here. We come here to learn from others and to give help if we can. I'm unable to help much because I'm not yet banded, but I won't change my mind for anything. For me this is the only option. I think people are OH SO TIRED of answering this same question over and over, so please...take a day or a week and just read everything on here. You will be so informed.

Thanks Dody. I think that's the problem. I read to much. I was very secure in my decision but I have read so much here about erosion and slipping that I was just wondering how often it really happens. I don't mean to make anyone repeat themselves but I was looking for some recent numbers.

You should check out the Inamed website - you'll find info there. Better yet, get statistics from your surgeon. Every surgeon has different stats. My doctor has a very low complication rate - he's been doing surgery for a very long time and has done literally thousands of lap band surgeries. A doctor with less experience will almost certainly have a higher rate of complications. There's more to it than your surgeon's experience though. The patient's have to take some responsibility in terms of compliance with their doctor's orders. There are a lot of variables but I'm sure you'll be able to get a sense of where you stand if you continue to do research. Good luck on your weight loss journey.

At my recent endoscopy I asked the doctor how many banded patients he's done endos on, and the answer was "oh, lots." Then I asked how many erosions he's diagnosed, and the answer was "a couple." That set my mind very much at ease, because it's so easy to assume every bandster ends up with erosion just by reading this site. But we keep hearing the 1-3% figure from the medical community, and it's just really nice to have that (admittedly casual) assessment from a doctor in the trenches with no horse in the race.

It always puts my mind at ease to remember that erosion has a 1-3% chance. If I recall correctly from the researching days, RNY has a 1-3% MORTALITY rate. There is obviosly no comparison.

Thanks Alexandra. What made me nervous was reading the post on this site. I'm very ready for this to happen. My legs/knees are killing me and the doc is sure wl will help.