:faint:I am really considering the lap band.......I, like so many others, am so frustrated with myself for not being able to live life at a reasonable/healthy size. I am trying to figure out if this will be a help to me or will I have problems as an older person and just really screw my body up. Has anyone had the lapband for longer than 5 years or so....

I would really like to hear from someone.:help:

I honestly did ask that question 6 months ago. Then, I started asking "What if I DON'T go through with this?" That changed my way of thinking. I like my chances to live a healthy life now a lot more than 6 months ago when I was close to 300#.

Bruce

:faint:I am really considering the lap band.......I, like so many others, am so frustrated with myself for not being able to live life at a reasonable/healthy size. I am trying to figure out if this will be a help to me or will I have problems as an older person and just really screw my body up. Has anyone had the lapband for longer than 5 years or so....

I would really like to hear from someone.:help:

In my pre-op visit w/doctor today- he said we don't know what will happen in 20 yrs - the band is too new. and that's an actual quote.

I am being banded 7/17 and the alternative is worst that the unknown. I will die if i don't get this weight off and keep it off. I will lose out on what years i have left (i'm 52 - so say i have 25 yrs left) I want to be able to do things, go place with out worrying about how much walking the trip will entail.. I want to see my grand kids get married and have kids. I want to look better and feel healthy... I am willling to take the risk - it can be fixed if it breaks... (hopefully:))

Apart from being 20 years older, I expect that as long as all is still well with my band, I will still be around the same weight as I am now, and still banded.

The band has been used in Australia and Europe for the last 15 to 20 years now, and while some of the very early bands have been removed, or revised, there is some very good evidence to show that the band is safe long term.

Waht will happen in 20 years if you dont have it done? I was banded 5 weeks ago lost 16.5 already been taken off my BP and GERD meds. hmmm...

I questioned the same over the past couple months, especially when people would ask 'when do I get it removed?' My biggest concern was how my life is at the current time and how it would be if I didn't have this surgery. If in 20 years the band has to be replaced, I know that it would be worth it.

Great question....so many people have asked me this and I don't know what to say.....does anyone know what the band is made out of? Is it SAFE to have in your body the rest of your life? Out of all the questions I have gotten by family and friends...I must say that this is the most common question. I understand some of your replies....that you would be dead without the band so it doesn't matter but there are some people having bands who don't have such crucial and life threatening health concerns. What do you all think? Would love to hear opinions. THANKS!

It is made of solid silicone which hasn't been shown to have any ill-effects. I guess if we did find out in years to come that it was detrimental (like liquid silicone implants were found to be), we could have it removed or replaced with a new kind. I'm not too worried at this point. I mean I'd rather not have something inside me but if I had to have a steal plate or a pacemaker or a hip replacement to save my life, I would. I see the band as life-saving for me.

I am thinking of it this way. In the past I have been on Phen Fen, Phentermine and God only knows what other meds that a weight Dr. had given me. The damage of those drugs over years of taking them are far worse on your heart than the band could be.

I don't know what will happen with the band in 20 years but I do know that if I don't get the band I may not be here in 20 years. I want to be healthy and watch my babies grow up. I know that with the band my quality of life will be so much better than it is right now. I hope this helps you!

I have faith that its safe to have in your body - we dont worry about hips, knees, pins and bits and pieces holding us together, the band is silicone and is safe.

I did worry about what it may do to things like eosophageal motility etc over that period of time. I was prepared to take my chances. The alternative wasnt too tempting.

So would I like to hear from longterm bandsters. After two years I feel I am now in for the long haul, but with so much uncertainty ahead. I really need company on this road. Cedar.

From what I've researched thus far, there is no known life expectancy of the band because it's only been around in the states for 10 years and it's only 12 years old in France.

I think about the risk factors too and of the fact that once it's on it's there for life. If removed, patients turn to their old eating habits and gain the weight back and then some. Apparently, your stomach gets a little bigger after you've had the band for a while. So, if the band is removed you're able to hold more food.

It's a permanet solution. I wasn't too thrilled about that, but then I think about my health NOW and how I seriously need to lose this weight. Like the previous reply-ers - you have to think about your health and not worry about the band itself. I'm going for my surgery towards the end of Nov and I try not to think about the fact that this thing will be in my body forever. I only think about the health benefits. I'd like to be alive long enough to find out just how long does this thing last...

Good luck!

in 20 urs i hope im alive still .and living till im in my80s,getting old syre isnt fun,its my birthday today and im hoping to seeeeeeeeeeee many many more nxt monday ill be banded

The doctor at our orientation stated that the FDA placed a 10-year usage on the Lap Band once it is installed in the patient. Not sure what happens after the product is in the person for 10-years. I suppose it would be like any manufactued medical device implanted in the human body. Nothing lasts forever.

Ive been wondering why your stomach (the part below the band) doesnt shrink... I mean if we restricted ourselves w/out help from the band it would. Is there something about the band that keeps the stomach from shrinking? If there isnt it would seem that 10 years from now our stomachs would be small again. Am I missing something?