Hi. I have been thinking about having the lap band surgery for a long time. I am 36 years old and I weigh 304 pounds, my BMI is 49 so trust me I know that I need the surgery because everything else I have tried has failed but the more research I do the more I wonder if I can handle it. I have read alot of your posts about the varing levels of pain after surgery. I have five children and I don't know how I would be able to care for them if I was in alot of pain. I am also concerned about the PBing that alot of you talk about. How long does this go on? Is it a permenant problem? I would really like to hear how you all cope with things like this. I think it would help me alot. I have alot of fear.

:help:

The pain is the least of your worries, heck you're a woman and had children...lol! But I would do a lot of research if I were you, and dont just read the good parts, read all the trouble people have and weigh it up. I was banded in Jan2004, and had problems from the word go, terrible reflux, slippage, tremendous amount of gas, so much so that it intefered with my life, could barely go to work etc. etc. I had three ops in as many years, the latest is that I am not digesting my food properly, that is, food is sitting in my stomach for too long causing terrible discomfort. I was big before but never had any digestion problems , now the list is a mile long, at the moment I am at a cross road to decide whether to have my band removed.

Was it worth it, I dont know, to tell you the truth I think sometimes, I need a band on my head rather than my stomach

Good luck with whatever you decide!

I had the surgery on July 10th and had a little pain but nothing major. I am a single parent of 3 very active boys. I really wanted to be the parent for them that they needed and my weight held me back from doing a lot of fun things with them. I have followed the plan about 95 percent and exercise 6 days a week for 50 minutes. I have not pb'd or slimed...I really feel if you are careful that you have less of a chance that this will happen to you. It is more than just getting banded and that is it...food is a hard thing to overcome. It is not something to be taken lightly however it has been the best thing for me and a lot of others. You will do the best thing for you and your family. Good luck!!