Hi to All:

I am getting banded on Thursday......44 hours away. I have done tons of research and am very excited. I gained most of my knowledge through this forum.....it has been absolutely wonderful.....don't know what I would do without all of the 1-4 year bandsters advice. Just curious, what is the longest anyone has heard of the band being on and continuing to serve the purpose it was intended for? I see some people that have had it since 2003 and that is about the longest.....

Thanks,

Lori Ann

Will be Banded: 5-24-07 @ 10:00am

The band has been used in Europe, Australia, and Mexico for upwards of 10 years. People that far out of surgery don't spend a lot of time on message boards, I think.

In the US it's only been in use since 2001, when it was FDA-approved. ANd insurance carriers have only slowly been getting on board, so there weren't a lot even in 2001 and 2002.

Thanks Alexandra......I was wondering why.

Lori Ann

My grandma told me of a lady she worked with who had the band 15 years ago. I told her the lap band was only FDA approved in the US in 2001 and I asked if she was sure it wasn't gastric bypass or the vertical sleeve or something else. She was adamant that it was the lap band done by a dr in Houston. Does anyone think this is possible? She says that the lady lost over 200 pounds and has kept it off to this day. Do you think she has the lap band mixed up with something else?

I'm 6'2", but I doubt if that makes me the longest.

I know that the earliest bandings in Houston were done experimentally as the final research studies before general approval. Could be she was in that group.....

I knew someone would respond like that......gotta have a sense of humor......thanks!!

Lori Ann

Mark,

I knew someone would respond like that......gotta have a sense of humor......thanks!!

Lori Ann

My grandma told me of a lady she worked with who had the band 15 years ago. I told her the lap band was only FDA approved in the US in 2001 and I asked if she was sure it wasn't gastric bypass or the vertical sleeve or something else. She was adamant that it was the lap band done by a dr in Houston. Does anyone think this is possible? She says that the lady lost over 200 pounds and has kept it off to this day. Do you think she has the lap band mixed up with something else?

Yes, she's likely thinking of a vertical banded gastroplasty (VBG), an earlier incarnation of gastric banding. It may have been laparascopic (as in lap-) but what it wasn't was adjustable. The device that the FDA approved in 2001 was the first adjustable gastric band available in the U.S.

It's not done much anymore since it had a high rate of complications and failures.

There is an expected approval this year of a new lapband by Johnson and Johnson. Do you know anything about it. I read an on line article about the lapband and in there was a small mention of a new lapband waiting approval in the us and expected this year. I called the author and he didn't know much more than it was expected to be approved and it was by Johnson and Johnson. I am concidering the band but wonder if this is worth waiting for. Also I hear of band slippage is this in the ones that were done before they started stitching it to the stomach. Thanks for any help you can give.

There is actually a fill nurse at my clinic that has had the band for 8 years. I assume she got it out of the country but it is still working great for her!:clap2: