Sharon Osbourne is telling everyone that you can't have your band more than ten years - eventually it has to come out. Has anyone heard this? And if so, does that mean you have to have it replaced every ten years, or that it has to be completely removed? I'm going to ask my doc when I see him on Wed, but I'm curious to know if other people's doctors have said anything about this.

If it is true, I think I'd more likely to convert to a bypass when the time comes to remove the band, rather than have the surgery every ten years for the rest of my life!

I have shoes that are older than 10 years, so I'm sure my band will last longer than that.

Eh, if it lasts 10 yeas, it lasted me 10 years.... But it may last forever. No one really knows.

Hi, Like anything the band may need servicing and updating in the future. There will probably be a newer more advanced device in the next decade. It is exciting to contemplate really. Susannah

Hey Folks

Well my first follow up appointment was not so great

He was poking around, proding and poking (hurt quite a bit) for about 10 minutes and could not find my port with his fingers/hands *Sigh*

So then he gets a needle and says I'll have a poke around with the needle and see if he could find it. LIKE WHAT! He can't find it with his hands and now wants to find it with a needle? I froze. He then said I was too tense. SURPRISE SURPRISE I wonder why? *Gasp* Anyway he kept to his word and started proding and poking now with a needle, but still could not find my port So now I'm having to go to the hospital to have it done under an xray & light. He has ordered a 3ml = 3cc fill. From all the posts I've read about peoples fills they usually get .5 or 1cc. Mind you I have a ravaging appetite right now, so a tight fill won't hurt, so long as I can still get something down So now 2 more days till my fill at the hospital. I'll keep you posted.

While I was there I did ask how long a life span the band had, he stated it had at least 20years. So long as there no other complications.

Can anyone tell me is 3cc a big fill? sure sounds like a lot *sigh*

CHEERS to all Happy Healthy Eating

Uhm... do you think the people 10,000 years from now will think we are weird-o's for wearing a band around our tummy? They will probably think it is like the tribes wearing plates in their lips... some trendy decoration or something. I can see it now.

"Yes, in the North American culture it was obviously considered desireable to wear such adornments as a plastic inflateable ring around the top portion of the stomach. Although how one would display this jewelry has not yet been discovered."

I read that the band would probably have a life span like breast implants. So I figure once I get skinny and get breast implants, I will just need replacement parts every 10 years or 30,000 miles... Like a car. It is a better alternative to dying in 10 years from co-morbidities.

AMEN!! Well said

Hey Folks

Well my first follow up appointment was not so great

He was poking around, proding and poking (hurt quite a bit) for about 10 minutes and could not find my port with his fingers/hands *Sigh*

So then he gets a needle and says I'll have a poke around with the needle and see if he could find it. LIKE WHAT! He can't find it with his hands and now wants to find it with a needle? I froze. He then said I was too tense. SURPRISE SURPRISE I wonder why? *Gasp* Anyway he kept to his word and started proding and poking now with a needle, but still could not find my port So now I'm having to go to the hospital to have it done under an xray & light. He has ordered a 3ml = 3cc fill. From all the posts I've read about peoples fills they usually get .5 or 1cc. Mind you I have a ravaging appetite right now, so a tight fill won't hurt, so long as I can still get something down So now 2 more days till my fill at the hospital. I'll keep you posted.

While I was there I did ask how long a life span the band had, he stated it had at least 20years. So long as there no other complications.

Can anyone tell me is 3cc a big fill? sure sounds like a lot *sigh*

CHEERS to all Happy Healthy Eating

Wow! What an ordeal! I bet your fill under xray will go super smooth.

If you have a VG band, no, a 3cc fill is not huge. If you have a 10cm, 4cc or 9.75cm 4cc band, yes super huge fill. I suspect you have either the VG band or the new AP band (I am unsure of the total volume of the AP band, I must look that up)

Good luck!

Wow! What an ordeal! I bet your fill under xray will go super smooth.

If you have a VG band, no, a 3cc fill is not huge. If you have a 10cm, 4cc or 9.75cm 4cc band, yes super huge fill. I suspect you have either the VG band or the new AP band (I am unsure of the total volume of the AP band, I must look that up)

Good luck!

Thanks alot Chickie. It sure was an ordeal, I went to work crying after and spent the afternoon thinking it was just me. I'm sure hoping the xray fill will be a whole lot smoother and simpler. I'm sure they forget we are humans under those proding needles sometimes To be absolutly honest I don't know what type of band I have, but I do know its a 14cc band. I'll have to wait 6 weeks now to find out. He wants to see me every 6 weeks I'll keep you posted on how the xray fill goes.

CHEERS and Thanks for your understanding, I was really starting to wonder if I just wasn't coping well with the treatment and was just a woose. I suppose I'll have to have all my fills done under xray now??

Thanks alot Chickie. It sure was an ordeal, I went to work crying after and spent the afternoon thinking it was just me. I'm sure hoping the xray fill will be a whole lot smoother and simpler. I'm sure they forget we are humans under those proding needles sometimes To be absolutly honest I don't know what type of band I have, but I do know its a 14cc band. I'll have to wait 6 weeks now to find out. He wants to see me every 6 weeks I'll keep you posted on how the xray fill goes.

CHEERS and Thanks for your understanding, I was really starting to wonder if I just wasn't coping well with the treatment and was just a woose. I suppose I'll have to have all my fills done under xray now??

Fills can be a big deal if you lay there with them poking around for too long. My second was done under fluro, I remember being really upset that I had to have it under xray (why I don't know, but anyway).

So three days later, I got there, and It was so quick and easy, I wanted to have all my fills under xray! lol. My third, a month later doc says lets try this blind, and it was even quicker than the xray! I was thrilled. I had all my fills after that blind (I had an unfill under xray, but that is a long story)

So no, one fill under xray does not mean you will have to have every fill under xray.

Silry: Mother know's best!, Remember that. LOL. Sharon Osborne is not a

model candidate for the Lap Band. She claims that it is all in her head, and she is ready to deal with it; with the help of a shrink! She then can keep the weight off. Lots of Luck. Who's been there and tried to loose weight, but soon, just to put it back on? I would be willing to bet that she has it put back, "in time" or has some other procedure done. I don't think she can afford the people that Oprah has helping her to tryyyy to keep her weight down.

To you: youre gonna love this! I no I do. I started my weight loss journey in 10/05, I was banded 10/31/06. Since I started, untill now, I have lost 146 Lbs. 22 of those pounds were with the band, but I'll take it.

Check yourself out in about 1 year, maybe less "depends on you!" and I'll bet you are happy with what youre seeing. Shirley

LOL, I wasn't going to say it but....my very morbid surgeon said that with the popularity of the band, one day archiologists will dig up our remains someday and find all these silicone bands as they will last for a VERY long time....

I got a kick out of some guy digging along and finding a bunch of little white bands. It makes me giggle. Then makes me wonder about myself.....

hee!

I really wonder about myself then, because this made me LOL!!:heh:

My doc told me that if you dug me up after I died, they would find bones and my band. Morbid, but after that I was under the impression that it was life long.

Ginger

I've also been told that my band should be with me forever. In 10 or 15 years though if I'm told it has to be replaced, I don't think I'll be crushed. One the one hand, the technology will be better by then, so I'll probably end up happier anyway, and besides, it's possible I could tie the band replacement surgery into getting my tummy tightened a little bit. LOL

As for Ms. Sharon... her reasons for removing the band were very surprising to me, however, I do believe it's best if she's still battling heavily with bulimia, which is what I read.

Fills can be a big deal if you lay there with them poking around for too long. My second was done under fluro, I remember being really upset that I had to have it under xray (why I don't know, but anyway).

So three days later, I got there, and It was so quick and easy, I wanted to have all my fills under xray! lol. My third, a month later doc says lets try this blind, and it was even quicker than the xray! I was thrilled. I had all my fills after that blind (I had an unfill under xray, but that is a long story)

So no, one fill under xray does not mean you will have to have every fill under xray.

After the prodding and poking yesterday, I am relieved to have it done under xray. In fact if it doesnt cost the earth, (being it goes smooth) I'll insist on having it done under xray. I paid a $1,000 co paymentup front at the time of surgery, this was to cover all my fills and follow up appointments for 2 years. It will be interesting if I'll have to pay anything more to have it done at the Hospital?.

He really did scared me yesterday prodding and poking with a needle when he couldnt find it with his hands first. I guess I'm curious if he couldn't find the port the first time, yet might find it the second time, I take it that the port moves around?

I was actually talking to my friend about this the other day and how cool it would be if we could get clear tummies. Like the cows on quad day. (I go to U of I. I actually had a dream I was petting calves last night. Dairy calves naturally. Though I do admit that when I see angus out in a pasture I think to myself "yummy cows". But I grew up with dairy cows and they can be real sweeties...) Anyway, there are these cows in the ag department with clear abdomens for research purposes. Wouldn't it be neat if I could get a clear tummy? Not only could a visual scan look at the band and see how it looked and the stomach as well, but also my other internal organs. Not feeling well? Just peel back my skin colored outer layer and take a look for anything apparent on the organ surfaces. Personally, I want the six pack shaped tummy.

Because I watch way too many episodes of things like CSI, I do feel comforted by the thought of devices with serial numbers inside of me. I have, however, been told I am odd.

I was actually talking to my friend about this the other day and how cool it would be if we could get clear tummies. Like the cows on quad day. (I go to U of I. I actually had a dream I was petting calves last night. Dairy calves naturally. Though I do admit that when I see angus out in a pasture I think to myself "yummy cows". But I grew up with dairy cows and they can be real sweeties...) Anyway, there are these cows in the ag department with clear abdomens for research purposes. Wouldn't it be neat if I could get a clear tummy? Not only could a visual scan look at the band and see how it looked and the stomach as well, but also my other internal organs. Not feeling well? Just peel back my skin colored outer layer and take a look for anything apparent on the organ surfaces. Personally, I want the six pack shaped tummy.

Because I watch way too many episodes of things like CSI, I do feel comforted by the thought of devices with serial numbers inside of me. I have, however, been told I am odd.

With Clear Tummies everyone could see what we have been eating