Hello my name is Frankie and I have my first consult this April 11th. I have been educating myself about the lap band and all I ever find Is negative remarks about the lap band like the risks of getting the band like erosion and infection and band failure the things I read make it seem like this is something that happens 99.9999% of the time now I'm having second thoughts and I was all gun ho about getting my band I'm so frustrated I could cry honestly.

i will say each person will experience different results. like with all things in life, things happen, good and bad.........i mean my tarheels aint going to the final four geesh

no one can say anything that will change one persons mind when they are convinced it will fail...if you (claim 99.9999% fail) i will say myself is the .000001% that hasnt failed......why?

because i took that small risk to save my life....while naysayers quibble on BS so called latest claims of band failures (all the while ignoring its usually the people not complying with how to use it who are the ones writing those claims), i will be all the more closer to my goal weight..

while you and other naysayers quibble on BS so called latest claims of band failures

I think some of you may misunderstand me i really really want the lap band i have had to convince my loved ones to convince them that me getting this done was ok because my parents and girlfriend were so scared. I have NEVER has surgery in my life so im terrified i have muster up just enough strength to know on the inside that i will go through with getting the lap band but when i see SOOO many people and news articles on the internet talking about how its gonna erode my stomach and it will need to be removed my main concern is i only wanna have 1 surgery i don't wanna have to go through getting it taken out. I really want this i need this im six foot 2 and bounce between 493 lbs and 500 lbs so this is something that means alot to me in no way would i NAY SAY or talk bad about the lap band it just im so scared and when i read all those things it terrifies me. like i said i could just cry because i need this...

I think some of you may misunderstand me i really really want the lap band i have had to convince my loved ones to convince them that me getting this done was ok because my parents and girlfriend were so scared. I have NEVER has surgery in my life so im terrified i have muster up just enough strength to know on the inside that i will go through with getting the lap band but when i see SOOO many people and news articles on the internet talking about how its gonna erode my stomach and it will need to be removed my main concern is i only wanna have 1 surgery i don't wanna have to go through getting it taken out. I really want this i need this im six foot 2 and bounce between 493 lbs and 500 lbs so this is something that means alot to me in no way would i NAY SAY or talk bad about the lap band it just im so scared and when i read all those things it terrifies me. like i said i could just cry because i need this...

dont cry....if you really want this, then have a wls but go into 100%

any surgery has risks (from manicures to wisdom teeth)..nothing is for sure..heck godzilla could walk on my house but i am not gonna worry about it..

...sure i was scared...i had trouble wiping my butt

it was either do it or get bigger...

that was 9 months ago...

I think some of you may misunderstand me i really really want the lap band i have had to convince my loved ones to convince them that me getting this done was ok because my parents and girlfriend were so scared. I have NEVER has surgery in my life so im terrified i have muster up just enough strength to know on the inside that i will go through with getting the lap band but when i see SOOO many people and news articles on the internet talking about how its gonna erode my stomach and it will need to be removed my main concern is i only wanna have 1 surgery i don't wanna have to go through getting it taken out. I really want this i need this im six foot 2 and bounce between 493 lbs and 500 lbs so this is something that means alot to me in no way would i NAY SAY or talk bad about the lap band it just im so scared and when i read all those things it terrifies me. like i said i could just cry because i need this...

But you are reading anecdotal evidence not facts. The fact is, you follow the rules and do what you're supposed do, you only have a roughly 5% chance of serious complications. In sharp contrast, if you remain morbidly obese you have almost 100% chance of obesity related complications someday. Don't you think the band is a much safer long term "risk" than remaining obese?

You simply cannot gauge the success or failure of the band based on what you are reading online. You need to understand- it's the people who have problems that post the most and loudest. Those of us happy with our bands too busy enjoying our new healthy lives to bother blowing up the internet. Plus, if you look closer at all those horror stories, the majority of them you'll the person has no one to blame but themselves. The band didn't fail- they did. Vomiting, chronically over-eating, and walking around with their bands too tight are sadly common but all things you can avoid to keep your band healthy.

Don't let the naysayers scare you. Speaking for myself, I've lost 200 pounds in 15 months and never been happier or healthier in my adult life. There are many others like me, too.

Best wishes.

I'm three and a half years post band. I have had ZERO band troubles, not one. I didn't even give 100% effort like a lot of very successful folks on here do, and yet I am still down over a hundred pounds since surgery. And still losing.

This little device has turned my life around! I just let it work its magic, now that I am in that wonderful "green zone". I can do anything I want now. I feel better than I ever remember.

Frankie, it's me again. I have a son Frankie, who has been obese most of his life, he is 34 1/2 now and dieting on his own, this time. He is being good and wants to be around for his 2 sons. I have a MIL who doesn;t believe in any cutting what so ever, so that means she wasn't thrilled with my band surgery. But she does see a huge difference in me. You have to do it for YOU and no one else. It's your health and you seem smart enough to realize that because you have looked into WLS.

Make an appointment with a doctor and start some where with the rest of your life. Planting daises are much better than pushing them up. My husband and I always say that.

I think some of you may misunderstand me i really really want the lap band i have had to convince my loved ones to convince them that me getting this done was ok because my parents and girlfriend were so scared. I have NEVER has surgery in my life so im terrified i have muster up just enough strength to know on the inside that i will go through with getting the lap band but when i see SOOO many people and news articles on the internet talking about how its gonna erode my stomach and it will need to be removed my main concern is i only wanna have 1 surgery i don't wanna have to go through getting it taken out. I really want this i need this im six foot 2 and bounce between 493 lbs and 500 lbs so this is something that means alot to me in no way would i NAY SAY or talk bad about the lap band it just im so scared and when i read all those things it terrifies me. like i said i could just cry because i need this...

Hi Frankie,,,

What you are feeling and thinking is completely normal. Back when most of us here were researching the band in the beginning we got hung up on the negatives as well. At some point you have to decide for yourself if the risk out weighs the risk of doing nothing. I was 488 when I started...488!!! I am 46 years old and well into my cardiac years. I read the negative just as you have and I came here to this very site and voiced the same concerns. I finally decided I could not sit by any longer as a ticking time bomb. I needed to do something and it had to be then and now.

I decided for myself that other surgeries were not my cup of tea. Maybe if I had high blood pressure, diabetes and a Doctor telling me if I didn't lose a significant amount of weight in 6 months or I would die I would have chosen gastric bypass. I chose the band because it is completely adjustable and removable without any alterations of my insides.

Because of my success my Wife has embarked on her own journey. We went to a seminar this past Tuesday and she has her first appointment on the 16th. I am so excited for her but I am more excited for us. We are going to be a real team in every sense of the word.

Like I said before I am not trying to sway you one way or the other because you have to make this decision. I understand your family is nervous for you. Mine was as well. I was so scared that I sought out everyone in my family and made sure we had a moment before my surgery day.

See if your family and GF will attend an informational seminar with you. Show them the reports of the mortality rate with the bypass vs. the band. Ask them what kind of future do you have walking around at 500lbs.

I know for me I couldn't even walk a grocery store. I drove my wife there and dropped her off at the door and sat in the car and then helped her load the car when she came out. You know what...that sucked!! It sucked for her and it sucked for me and I swear I will never forget it and I will never go back to that.

Here's a little reality for you:

Taking action far outweighs the dangers of doing nothing!!

But you are reading anecdotal evidence not facts.

I have no information for the person who started this thread other than what you are doing isn't research. What you are doing is collecting negative stories to feed and reinforce your fear and uncertainty. The are WAY TO MANY PEOPLE on this forum who are successful, and happy with their band surgery to come up with a 99 percent complication rate. Fact is a large majority of the people on this forum who are complaining are on in the very first stages of the journey and are still healing and adjusting to the new lifestyle. Another fact is people are more prone to post on a forum if they have something to b***h about, those that don't have problems don't have a lot to say. I mean, how many times can you say "It just works!"

I did research before being banded as well, I looked at the industry rates of weight loss for several types of surgery, then I looked at the complication rates for those same types of surgery. Then I looked at my surgeon's stats on those same areas. What did I find? Banding has a lower average weight loss than more radical forms of surgery. It also had a lower complication rate than any of the other types of surgeries, and it had a lower mortality rate (1/10th) of those other forms of surgery.

Then I talked to my surgeon, I asked him about the lower average weight loss. He told me that the average weight loss for banding was 60% of the excess weight, then he turned and pointed to his nurse a hot young blond bander who had lost all of her excess weight (100+), and said "or you can be like her and lose it all. You get to decide what group you want to be part of"

Frankie, REALLY do the research, stop listening to the horror stories, start looking at the successes, because I can guarantee you that the highest risk option for anyone is to try and live their life weighing 500 pounds.

Is banding for you? Haven't got a clue, all I can tell you is I would choose it again in a heartbeat. That and no WLS is going to be automatic, I know a lady who has had GB who could eat me under the table before I was banded. And you will find people with all three types of surgery that have lost the weight and gained it back again.

Good luck with your research.

I am one who did very little research......

Medically, I had one footin the gave....was told I should think about the "arrangements"

As a LAST RESORT my PCP said do this, or else....make the appointment and speak with them.....

Sure, I learned about the risks, but was was the alternative? What was my back-up plan? Dieting? Been there, done that.....and with that I was a COMPLETE FAILURE....but with this I am a COMPLETE SUCESS!

This thing WORKS....it performed exactly the way it is designed to do....all I had to realize was I could be the biggest problem....

Changed and SAVED my life....with no problems at all other than the first few months as someone else said the majority of posters here are in that same boat....

I'm one of the few cases that the port has been infected since I had the lap band placed Sept. 2012. In the next couple of weeks I will be having the port removed and after it heals then my surgeon will go back in and place a new port on the other side in hopes that it will be ok. I would have the surgery again even with all the issues I have had. I have lost 70lbs as of today so even with the issues if you follow the rules then you will still lose weight.