Just left LIfe after lap band removal thread. I'm sick to my stomach from some of their stories. I know they are in the monority. I should stay away from there and read all of your stories. I'm two weeks from surgery. It's getting done scary thoughts or not.

I had the exact same problem!!! and a nice person on this thread said some wonderful things to me. Yes, there are bad things that happen to people who have this surgery, however, they are in the minority, you are having surgery.. there can be complications!

Next, the stuff that will change in your life from having this surgery are astronomical! The participation in life...living long enough to see things come to frutiion!

and to finally stay away from those darn negative threads. They will scare the hell out of you. You should be educated on what can happen. But if you are following directions and all goes as planned, you will be fine... as most of us are.

I was scared s******s to say the least. I wanted this thing out of me so bad. Now its getting normal. I am not there yet. Sometimes I still wonder what did I do? but now I am actually losing weight on the scale.. down 3 more pounds! and its getting exciting!!

Think positive and good luck!!!

Its hard not to read the horror stories and they are going to be there no matter what you do. Stick with the positives and you can do this! I love my band and know I never would have accomplished this with out it. Yes it is just a tool and I used my tool to its fullest ability. I have changed my life style and my band helped me do that. I enjoy eating healthy, granted those cravings still come knocking. Dont be afraid to give in to cravings. You are human! And I love to exercise. Right now I am extremely passionate about weight lifting and toning everything up.

My uncle's wife had to have her band removed just 2 weeks after surgery. Her problem was she just flat refused to do what she was told to do by her doc.

I had some major life events right after I had mine (NO problems with the surgery or band) but I talked with my doctor and did eventually get to where I could start having fills and I don't regret anything.

Hang in there and stay positive; you will do just fine!

If you don't mind me asking what she refused to do?

Banderama~~~~My very first OBGYN, a very soft spoken southern gentelman, told me"Dont listen to anyone about giving birth. Your aunt Betty and best friends of your momma will just scare the **** out of you"

Well, this is the same scenario. I was banded on the 6th of July. I was just reading horror stories about surgery. Mine was really quite wam, bam, thank you mam. After wards I did have some discomfort. One week, think it was about 3, my post started to really hurt me. But that was due to my stupidity of trying to do housework. And as far as drastically changing my life? No, I would not say that yet. I have lost, not alot but Dr. says I am right on track. Have had 2 fills so far. I can eat anything.

Good luck Banderama!!! There are A LOT of Drama Queens out there! Also, please feel free to contact me if you need any support, questions, or just chat.

Some wise advice on this thread.

Another interesting statistic- only about 8.6% of Lap Band patients have serious complications due to no fault of their own. The rest have made mistakes, either knowingly or unknowingly, causing the complications themselves. The problem is that most are very quick to profess "oh the band didn't work!" and blame the band but aren't mentioning the fact they learned to eat around it, or habitually over-ate, or walked around with a band way too tight for months, or were vomiting regularly, or drank soda multiple times a day.

It's shocking to me how many people go into surgery for the Lap Band are truly ignorant to what the band is supposed to do. There is either a scary amount of doctors just pushing patients through without the necessary information to be successful, or there's a scary amount of patients who aren't listening to a thing their surgeon says. Either way, it makes me sad that so many are causing themselves so much avoidable grief .

Don't let the negative posts scare you. Do your homework and do what you know to be right and you'll be just fine.

I am so lucky I have found this site. It helped prepare me for what I 'might' expect after surgery. I know what I have to do to get through. I have met a wonderful friend on here who has litterally helped me through this journey before, during , and after! I am doing everything by the book, even though I have hit a bump in the road right now (not of any fault of mine). I am dealing with this now and I am thankful I have my friend Missy their to give me reassurance and encouragement (she is the pro).

I have read the good,bad, and ugly. Even with all that I did what I felt was right for me and I was going to make sure I put every effort to use this band as a tool only. I have to admit, I was scared reading some things that were posted, and at times I did cry because I was scared. My main goal here is to get healthy and I am going to do whatever I can in my power to get there...

Keep in mind that this is NOT the band that failed but rather my uncle's wife who wanted to lose weight and lose it fast! She of course blamed the band, the surgeon, the hospital, etc. but she was just not going to do what they told her.

She thought it was going to be "Oh, I'll have this band put on my stomach and I can eat what I want to and I'll just drop all the weight." Things like that is what she was telling everyone. So, she was banded and when she got home, she did not follow the diet at all. Instead of liquids, she wanted to eat "real food" and so she did. She started eating and throwing up and would eat again and then throw up again. In 2 days, she was back in the hospital. Had a meeting with a nutritionist and went home...she wasn't even home 12 hours and eating a Big Mac. Sick, throwing up, hospital. Band removed and she had thrown up so much, it was not easy.

Again, this is just someone who wouldn't do what she was told and it had to be removed. She tells everyone it was horrible and made her sick and almost killed her and so forth and so on. Not once in her rampages does she ever tell anyone that she wouldn't do the liquids, she ate like a horse, etc. That's what happens sometimes though...always looking for someone else to blame.

I know that there are some who have complications through no fault of their own but this is a great support system and I enjoy reading the posts for my own, personal motivation. Just do what the doctors say and you will be fine. What I have learned is that people who fail will only tell one side of their story.

What an idiot! I wonder if she would have been so stupid if it was a pacemaker that she had just had implanted!