Hi All, I have gotten to the point where I don't want to read the main board due to the overwhelming amount of posters saying that they are having complications/problems with the band. Some even wish they never had it.

Where does that leave me, as someone who will soon be having the procedure?

Will I have all those stresses and problems? How can I avoid them?

Nervous and worried. Susannah

I think it's great that you're worried as there are risks and complications with any surgery and you'd be foolish not to consider these when making your decision.

But, consider this - when a person has a good experience, they tell about 3-4 people on average. If that experience was a bad one, they tell 9-11! And not only that, this is also a place of support. One where you expect to see the ups and downs as it's the nature of the beast. There are a lot of us on this board who are pretty quiet about our bands because everything went well.

No matter what you ultimately decide, know your doing the right thing by being informed. We'll help you with anything else along the way

hi there susannah dont get discouraged i love my lapband and have had an unproblematic time with it...in fact the it has probably saved my life! I have been able to avoid a lot more imminent health problems that i would have had if i had of stayed morbidly obese...so all good here...there is hope for you...

becky

You take the good with the bad.. It's good to have concerns it's good to know of all the things that can happen with the band.. Some people have problems some people don't.. I guess it's just a risk one has to take..

Anytime I have had a problem or thought to be a problem I jump on here and there is always someone here to give you the advice or answer your questions.. There's always someone that has gone through the same thing as you.. So in a way it's great and you really appreciate it..

I came on here prior to my op to read up and get some knowledge.. And man did some of the stories scare me.. But overall the outcome of peoples bands have been amazing and inspiring..It's a chaper of a whole new life..

I wouldn't change it for the world..

Let that fear motivate you to gain knowledge you would have probably never have had without this site. "There is nothing to fear but fear itself!"

Hi susahnna,

I too was like you and almost had second thoughts at the 11th hour.

These forums should be taken with a grain of salt.

You need to get along to a support group ( like bansters ) before surgery.

I wish i did, at a meeting you can talk to people and see the real life pro,s and con,s .

And these experiences are by local people 0not those of third world nations ( like the rest of the world.)

It is a group of friendly people just like us (excactly the same )

Like i said i wish i had gone prior to surgery.

See you there.

Now i had surgery and lived happilly ever after..... well almost

Mark :clap2:

Same here, no problems whatsoever. There was a post made about a month ago about people who'd had complications and people who hadn't, it was like 1 % who had problems versus 99 % who didn't have any. If I can find it I will post it for you. The great things the band helps you do far out weighs the bad. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Hi, thanks for all the well considered replies everyone. I will be having the surgery in February. I must have it for my health, and this bloody disease.

Gonna take a chance with it. Susannah

Ive had a great experince and am soo glad I did it!! Im at goal and havent had a problem, there are lots of us happy lap banders out there dont be discouraged

Susannah your fears are valid. The band is most definently not suitable for everybody and i'm sure your surgeon has sent you to a psychologist to determine your suitability.

I love my band and got to a normal healthy weight within a year. I am very determined but still struggle to maintain my low weight. This is not easy but it is worth it. The health benefits alone are worth it and the physical size is just icing on the cake so to speak. I know a lot of people who never should have had the band so i'm not going to tell you to get it if it's not suitable for you (more than half the people I know with the band were not good candidates and many lied their way through the psycholgical evaluations). There are various weight loss surgeries for different situations. There isn't a one-size-fits-all answer.

Around half the people that get the band (Around the world stats recorded by inamed not people on this forum) have not lost more than 15kg at the 5 year mark. That sounds bad so the average the weight loss and then show a % of excess weight lost on average which nicely works out to 50% when you take all the people like me that lost 130% of my excess weight and balance it with those that didn't lose anything, lost a little or gained). Don't let yourself be one of those people! Those that get to a normal bmi and below skew the stats to make the band look a better success than it really is. That is not because of the band "not working" - all the band does is restrict quantites of solid foods, anybody can eat around the band (chocolate and junk slip right down in huge quantites so if they are your poison your up for a challange). Not everybody that gets the band really wants to lose weight more than they want to eat "xxxx". Obesity is a disease but it's also frequently an addiction to food not just hunger. You have to put in a lot of effort - the band restricts and it's around your tummy not your brain. I would say get the band if you can say yes to the following:

• Your doing it for yourself and nobody is pressuring you to lose weight (eg. some people do it just so it looks like they are doing something to shut up their family/friends who tell them they really need to do something abou their weight). Your life will not suddenly become perfect when you are skinny - if you think it will think again - if that's the reason your doing it you need to work on the other problems as well as your weight. Skinny doesn't solve problems.

• you understand how the band works and that their will be chest pain and pb'ing (vomiting) in your future as you learn how to deal with the band. People who dont' know/deal with this get a rude shock. If your worst fear is vomiting your a good candidate for soft food syndrome - that is bad and why many people complian of little or no wieght loss after the initial Water weight drop. We don't want to vomit but we can't be eating just soft foods to make sure we never ever have the band tell us " no" (eg, if you dont' stop eating when you get the first signal the band sends th efood back up and out - if you only eat soft food or liquid calories the band doesn't send the food back up even if you eat to excess - you need to work the band and let it tell you "no" even if that means once in a while you make a mistake and the food comes back).

If your dedicated and will do ANYTHING to make your band journey work you can do it. No question. If you go in saying "i wont do this and i wont do that" you are hurting yourself. You have to set your goal, keep your eye on the prize and be prepared to tell all those family and friends that try to sabotage your success (and they will - it's happened to all of us) where to stick it. Don't eat to make people happy (eg. oh please have some b'day cake it's my b'day and I want you to have some, you hardly eat anything these days, your so skinny now (when your really still obese)). Do what is right for you. You are #1! Your health should come first.

If you have doubts about your ability to follow the band guidlines sort out those doubts and decide if the band is really for you. 1 in 5 people require re-operation for some reason within 10 years. It could be as simple as a flipped port or as serious as erosion. You have to realise your chances of needing another surgery in the future are quite high.

Think carefully before you take any advice on board at all stages of your band journey. Research who is giving the advice and ultimately go back to your surgeon because you are paying for his good advice. Did they just get the band last month? 10 years ago? Have they had lots of problems or was their ride an easy one? Are they still obese after a very long time with the band but preaching to you about how and what you should eat? Each opinion or answer comes from personal experience so it's different for each of us so we are all going to come to the table with different ideas/opinions on the band.

I really researched those who I took onboard the opinions of and I really attribute that to my success. It's a pitty those people are no longer around as they were very inspirational. I did what they did and made goal in the time they made goal. I made sure to follow only the most successful and tried to ignore those who had the most to say about what you should and shouldn't do but lost the least/struggled the most to get to a healthy weight. Work smarter not harder!

I'm honest about it. Theres no point in sugar coating it because this is a serious decision for you & one in which you really need to weigh the pro's and cons and be super honest with yourself about what you REALLY eat. I rarely post but there are really successful people on here who do post so seek them out and see what they did.

Susannah,

I can't add much to what the previous posters have said, except that keep in mind that people are often more inclined to post when they're having problems, and when things are going well, they're off busily getting on with their lives...

I felt like you before having surgery. It's good to think through these things and ask these questions. Hope that your thread responses have helped you.

See if you can come along to a support group - there's a few around Melbourne. Hope to see you at ours!

oh, yeah no problems with this newbie bandster - I'd do it again in a heart beat!

I love my band, I have not had a problem that I didn't cause myself because I wasn't following instructions....and nothing was major or anything I couldn't live with. I would definately do it again in a heartbeat.

Carol

Hi, thanks once again for your replies. Thankyou so much Cam for taking the time to post such a well considered ,comprehensive post. Well done on your success also. Susannah

Wow Cam, what a nice post.