Hi, all! It's been a long time since I've been on here because it's been like a rollercoaster ride with my Lapband. It's like I have good months and bad months or entire years. LOL I was diagnosed in December with a major slip. Mostly since then, it's been plain awful. I'm having the band removed later this month.

Since you guys were there for me at the beginning of my journey, I thought I'd share with you. I also know when I was first looking at getting a band, I looked at some of the past support groups to see how common removal was and if anybody had anything convincing to say about NOT getting a band. If you don't want to read negativity about the band because you would like to believe it is the magic pill to fix your weight, then skip the next paragraph.

When I first got the band, yes it was great. It was forcing me to eat slower and smaller meals. It is what started me down the road to losing weight and getting healthy. In 2009 I became somewhat of a health nut and researching A LOT about exercise and nutrition. At that time, with all I had read and learned, I wished I had never got the band. I did my best to just deal with it after that. My weight has been up and down over the years, even when I had proper restriction. I'm currently 10 lbs over the lowest weight I have been since getting the band. I have done a ton of work in the past year to work on my emotions to handle the comfort eating and have a bunch of tools there. I also know a lot more about physical training and nutrition. I CANNOT WAIT to get this stupid thing out of my body. I wish I had already had all the information I have now and I never would've gotten it. It is not a magic bullet. By getting a Lapband, you are treating the SYMPTOM, not the disease. Yes, obesity is a symptom. For me the disease has been depression, anxiety, ADHD, pure and simple laziness, and apathy. I really wish proper nutrtiion and physical exercise was a standard core curriculum for schools. It would also help if they took those crappy vending machines out of schools and stopped serving kids pure garbage. /end rant

I'm positive I can keep the weight off and continue to lose after getting this band removed. I cannot wait to get back to normal internally so I can eat the way I'm supposed to in order to get the amount of physical exercise I would like to do. If anybody is reading this who is still considering whether or not to get a band, I BEG you to do a ton of research about failure/complication rates. It's not worth it. There are a ton of resources out there to learn how to take care of yourself if you just utilize them. Take a nutrition class. Get a personal trainer to learn how to exercise properly for your body size. Research, research, research.

For me personally, since my slip occurred, it has been pure hell to try and eat. I've had periods where I couldn't eat at all and was reduced to only liquids and struggling to get enough calories. It's been a painful past couple of months. If you have any other questions, just ask me. If you're curious about some of the resources I've used to learn about fitness and nutrition, go ahead and ask me. I'm open to any questions.

As for my group - how is everybody else's Lapband journey going?

I was banded in Nov. Of 2008. Its truly been a struggle for me. I am trying to stay positive, but it hasn't been easy. At times I feel like I failed the band, and other times the band failed me. I have only been about to keep off the 10 of the 60 pounds I lost. I had to have my fluid removed once, and things weren't the same after. I got so tired of that stuck feeling. But I have decided to give it one last try. I just began a job with benefits. I have about 3.5ccs left in my band. So I will see what happens then.

I was banded 11/07 I lost 191 lbs. I gained back 50 which today I am going to try yet again to get rid of. I had a slight slip twice, that went back on its own. In sept they suggested maybe I get a new band since my was old. Well in my head I thought that would mean I would start losing again...nope just meant dr bills, oh and something I NEVER had before...pain in my left shoulder if I eat or drink too much or too fast. And it hurts like HELL! Anyway here I am back in the 2's that I was sure I would never see again. But today is a new day and I will try yet again to get this weight off.