I was reading on a RNY board, and there was the classic question about which surgery to get. The answers were mostly good, talking about researching and all that. But one got to me, and it's something I've read before. That being that the poster didn't like the idea of a port sticking out of their skin. This is often from someone who has claimed to really have done their research before chosing the RNY. I have to wonder how through the research was to miss this. And there are always comments about having to get fills, and that being another surgery. :faint:

So, I guess this is a question and a rant. What misconceptions do you run into?

When DH has his surgery, my SIL thought they were going to cut fat off of him, kind of like a liposuction on steriods.

My dad thought the port would be on the outside of my skin too. Eeew, Id rather have stayed fat.

I guess just that people think I must vomit all the time. I have never PB'd, but people have this misconception that lapbanders all have wildly out of control eating habits and eat like bulimic people, unable to stop eating too much or too fast, and that the band just forces them to throw it up again. In short they think its surgically induced bulimia.

Which is why so many people have reactions of horror to know I've had surgery, and why so many people who could benefit from a band will not even consider it.

That, and people seem to think that the band gets removed when you've lost the weight.

The misconception about banding that drives me the craziest is that we're unable to eat solid foods like normal people after banding. I even found this posted as a fact on a DS surgeon's site in his comparison between the DS and the band!

It's not only ridiculous, it's ironic too -- we are supposed to eat only solids and avoid liquid calories. All I can think of is that people who think this have only been exposed to bandsters who were TOO TIGHT and stuck living on Protein shakes and yogurt rather than adjusting their fill properly. (and I'm not referring to folks who are tight in the morning but loosen up later.)

The misconception that drives me crazy the most is that people think this surgery is just like RNY and that I should be skinny already!! I am tired of explaining over and over again how this works and that I have to work it or it doesn't. It's not a guaranteed 60lb loss in 3 months, so stop staring at me already! ::grrrrr:: Also, most people seem to think that it is removed once I lose all the weight. Um, no, it's mine for life.

The one that irritates me is that after lapband you will never 'feel' hungry again... God I am so hungry most of the time...just cant eat much when i do eat!

i totally feel this thread, i have ppl ask me, when is that band of urs gonna start working,,,,,

I get them all the time.

People don't understand that the band opens, and them closes, like a bracelet. They think that the stomach is cut, the band is slipped on, and then the stomach is sewn back in place.

I've had many people think that each fill will take another surgery, because they can't imagine any way to get the Fluid in the band otherwise.

I've had people concerned that the band will absorb my body fluids, and get tigther (like a sponge).

How about people who think you can only eat certain foods. The question goes like this. "WHAT are you eating NOW?". I reply anything just not very much of it.

Seems like they think I have to go to the Lap band store or order my food online at Lapband-r-us.

edie

i get that too, for some reason people think we can eat ANYTHING we want too , i get that misconcepttion all the time too :faint:

The one that irritates me is that after lapband you will never 'feel' hungry again... God I am so hungry most of the time...just cant eat much when i do eat!

This might be a "head hunger" issue. I struggle with it, too. If you are truly hungry, a pickle will do the trick. But if the only way you can feel full is by eating carbs, that's not hunger - it's just a chocolate craving!

The thing that makes me mad is oh well you should have rny you will lose a lot more weight

that is not true in the beginning yes but I will get there slowly

i am not even banded yet and people are driving me insane

What I run into the most is they'll know someone else who had the rny and they will say "well so and so has lost 3 times more weight than you, wonder what's wrong?" Makes me soooo mad.

I made the decision to not tell anyone because of stuff like this. So far only two people know I'm planning on doing this and NONE of my family except mom who lives with me. That group in particular would make me CRAZY. I had one of them tell me about this great new drug that is just like gastric bipass. Just down a pill and water and instant full for 6 hours at a time....yeah right....

best one I've heard about lap band was "oh yeah, I've heard of that....they never work."

::silent scream::

The ones I mostly run into are questions about removing it once at goal.

Then again, I also have people ask me if I'm going to have mine removed since it didn't work for me, usually very angry people. This of course, leads to converstaions about Cushing's, and how while I probably won't need the band once I am cured, there is always the possiblity that I will indeed need it once I'm cured.

Oh, and that they also think I cannot eat "normal" food.

I hadn't heard the concerns that the think the port actually sticks out like a PICC line or something similar. I wonder when that rumor started...

I hadn't heard the concerns that the think the port actually sticks out like a PICC line or something similar. I wonder when that rumor started...<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

I don't know, but I had a friend who had a gastric bypass over a year ago and she said she chose the bypass over the lap band because she didn't want an "OPEN PORT". HUH?? The person who told me she said this, I had to explain to that the port was under the skin and you cannot see it. Meanwhile, not one person has noticed that I lost ANY weight at all. I swear one person looks like she is smirking every time she sees me, maybe she isn't and I'm just paranoid, but....Yesterday I ran into her and she says, "well, your makeup looks good." In other words, your makeup looks good but your body is still fat!" The operative word in that compliment was that she started off with "WELL". If she just would have said, Your makeup looks good" the compliment would have had a entirely different tone/meaning. I just wanted to scream "Eat Sh&T, I'll get there". Thanks, but not.

It's amazing to me reading all your responses how mean other people can be, how many seem to be watching and waiting for us to fail!

And we do seem to run into a lot of the same comments. The open port one still gets me.