Hello everyone! I'm new to Lapband Talk and have not publicly discussed my band with anyone other than close friends. I struggled with having a not so good Surgeon, who cared less whether I hit my goal weight on target. Instead, he decieved me into choosing a lapband over Gastric Bypass and was reluctant to give me fills. This led to depression, feelings of being a failure in everyones eyes and me starrting back on appetite suppresants. It was not until I began to start over "cold turkey ", with exercising, dieting and getting the courage to hire another bariatric surgeon did I began to lose weight. I have had 3 fills, 1 unfill and now waiting to get another fill. I love what the lapband has done for my health & body image....but all the hassles in between makes me really hate that I didn't get the Gastric Bypass.

If you started out with a not-so-good bariatric surgeon who somehow deceived you into choosing the band (I'd like to hear more about how he did that), there's no guarantee that you'd have better success with the bypass.

It's great that you've found a better surgeon. I hope the rest of your WLS journey goes more smoohly now.

I'm so sorry that you had such a bad experience in the beginning, but I'm glad to hear that you are now on the right track and things are moving forward. I don't know that bypass would have been better. It is a lot more "work" on your part, because of the malnutrition issues with digesting, or not digesting, the right nutrients. Now that you are moving forward with the lap band I would stick to it! Get a smaller fill this time and just take it from there! You've already lost a pretty big chunk of weight, so don't be too concerned. Just take it one day at a time. Good luck!

One more thing...

In my opinion, the "sweet spot" is a myth. Nor is there any such thing as "perfect" restriction. We experience restriction in a range that Allergan calls the Green Zone. You might have an hour or a day or a week of what feels like "perfect" restriction, but it's not likely to be permanent because we are living, breathing human beings who are affected by dozens of perfectly ordinary things (medication, time of day, time of month, allergies, hydration, stress, the food we eat, etc.). So if you go into the next phase of your WLS journey still looking for that sweet spot, you're probably going to be disappointed. And if you go into the next phase looking for ways to work with your band (or whatever WLS tool) to maximize your weight loss, you'll have a happier, more successful journey.

First of all...if you learn nothing else through your recent experiences with your original bariatric surgeon, it's the patient's responsibility to ask questions, and understand any medical procedure to be done on them before the procedure is done. We each need to become our own advocates in the areas of medical and health care. If you don't understand what the physician is saying or wanting to do, you need to become appropriately assertive to take an active role in any and all decisions as they relate to your specific medical conditions.

That said, my surgeon and I would need to agree with Jean's assessment of the "green zone". I discussed this issue with him during my last appointment, as I wanted to better understand why he was reluctant to place any additional fluid in my band.

He shared that very few patients will actually get to a "perfect restriction" where they rarely experience hunger, and there is always a risk that the restriction will be too much, which then necessitates unfilling the band. He would rather avoid a situation which a band is too tight, and I have to agree. It's important to me to be able to swallow a medium sized pill, as I hated crushing them like I had to do just after having my band placed.

This transfers the majority of the responsibility for my success or failure to loose weight to me for compliance with my diet using my better judgement and will power to resist eating the wrong foods, control the size of my portions, and manage my hunger using water and distraction. If I want to be successful with my weight loss journey, that's the responsibility I readily accept.

I guess that there is more than one way to approach using the tool which is your band...my band does provide me with some degree of restriction and assistance with portion control, but it will never be too tight, and I will not worry about waking up in distress as so many others have reported. I know that my band is tight enough that food could get stuck fairly easily, and I have adverted several near-stuck incidents with mindful eating.

If reaching my goal weight takes me a bit longer than others, I will prefer peace of mind to speed and risk during my journey.

I know that others mileage will vary on this...but it's important for me to stay in my comfort zone when it comes to my health.

Best wishes to all of us for success...