OK, I'll admit it - I'm absolutely fuming.

Someone sent me a Pvt message here on this forum and without saying who did it, the title alone got my blood boiling.

Lap band failure

I have just read a post from you about how you have not lost all of the weight you wanted after 5-years of being banded and I would like to talk to you about that if you don't mind.

Um, actually I do mind.

The writer goes on to basically say (not in exact words but I'm basically paraphrasing) "I know you're a LapBand failure so maybe you can help me. You've been banded so long and haven't made it to goal yet. I'm not banded yet, but I want to make sure that this doesn't happen to me. Can you tell me why you think you were a LapBand failure?"

Grrrrrr...

Does it occur to this person that I have enough on my plate without being tagged in such a negative way. I've had many, many Ups and Downs with my Band Journey but I've made my decision to not continue to drag the detritus (oh, go look it up) of my whole journey along with me every single day - on here or in my life. So maybe it just doesn't occur to me that I'll have to hear about this everytime I truthfully say that I was banded so long. I almost liked it better when my original surgeon had mt be pretending to be a new Bandster - maybe part of the reason was that neither he or myself wanted to have to deal with the weight of bearing being considered a Five- Year-LapBand-Failure.

Yes, that's the word that the Private Message Writer used.

I'll admit to having a Remedial Band, but make no mistake - I'm clear on who failed who in my Journey - or what failed who in the case of my questionable Old-School original LapBand. I don't need to beat myself up about the mechanical failure of a silicone object.

So do the increasing number of now-bandless Forum members also find inquiries from the curious as to why their bands failed (oh, if it were always that simple) or what they did to cause the bands to have to be removed? How idiotic are the questions that the Forcibly Unbanded must have to endure - if I'm experiencing this, and I've still got the little Silicone Freeloader?

Attention, Newbies:

Actually I find myself really not wanting to be associated as the World's Biggest LapBand Failure, so no more inquiries about how to avoid my fate (as if!) are necessary, thanks.

As usual:

Happy Band (And Life) Journeys To All...

New Sho I think in the land of lapband you have few peers. Not many have lived through your experiences and come out ahead of the situation.

M

I just wanted to say I think you are a true inspiration, not a failure at all, because you didn't quit. You are absolutely not a failure. You've done great, and you WILL do great, because you are experienced, and intelligent.

Maybe next time this person will think before they PM. We already have enough to deal with in everyday life, much less a member of our own community calling us a failure.

You have a BMI less than 30??? H-E-L-L-O !!! I can only dream about being in your shoes!!! Failure??? Hardly!!!

You are an inspiration. Just because you aren't a size __ (fill in the blank), doesn't mean you are a failure. You aren't even obese!!

People use the word failure in such a negative way but really, when it comes down to it, you put yourself on the line and you followed through. Do you know how much :hail: courage that takes? I think you were very brave. If you hadn't tried, think about where you would be. Failure?, not a chance.

I think when you are in the research and decision part of this journey, you don't want to hear that this remarkable tool, your salvation so you have been told, has a dark side. In order to reconcile this you look for something the person might have done to cause the problem. That way you don't have to face the possiblity that you too could have a problem. Perhaps this person was trying to do this. In the meantime, it was very insensitive and good for you for telling her so. Life is about learning and I am sure she learned something today.

T

Sorry to hear you are pin pointed. This isn't fair. We all have our weight loss journeys and that person was insensitive. Good luck.