Dear Bandsters:),

Have any of you had these complications before getting banded - diabetes, hiatus hernia, high blood pressure, sleep apnoea:embarassed:? How did that affect the safety of the banding operation? My doctor stressed that it would be a major major operation and that I might not wake up from the anaesthetic or have all sorts of complications:omg:. What happens when you reach your required weight? How do you stop losing weight:confused:? Whats the longest period that anyone has had a band? If there were problems would they become apparent straight away or would it be years later:cry?

Can I drink coffee and soft drinks as much as I want:paranoid?

Thanks,

Brian (for Savery):straight

Dear Bandsters:),

Have any of you had these complications before getting banded - diabetes, hiatus hernia, high blood pressure, sleep apnoea:embarassed:? How did that affect the safety of the banding operation? My doctor stressed that it would be a major major operation and that I might not wake up from the anaesthetic or have all sorts of complications:omg:. What happens when you reach your required weight? How do you stop losing weight:confused:? Whats the longest period that anyone has had a band? If there were problems would they become apparent straight away or would it be years later:cry?

Can I drink coffee and soft drinks as much as I want:paranoid?

Thanks,

Brian (for Savery):straight

Brian & Savery...

While I respect your doc's honesty and ability to be bloody blunt you have to understand that he has to tell you folks the worst possible scenarios.

Hypertension is a problem if it is not under control at the time of surgery. Is Savery on high blood pressure meds? If so, may I ask which drug(s)? If it is well controlled that part shouldn't be an issue.

Sleep Apnea, the key here is to make sure that you bring your C-Pap to the hospital with you. There will likely be extra orders written for the PACU nurse regarding breathing issues. As long as they know what to look or it shouldn't be much of an issue. If they did not know about sleep apnea that could be a little un-nerving but since they know, the necessary precautions should be taken.

Hiatal hernia or a wide hiatus... not a biggie. It does not affect surgery unless it is so huge that they have to do that repair first and the banding another time. However, if your doc knows about the hernia he already knows how large or small it is. He already knows if he can fix it at the time of banding or not. I've only heard of one case where it was a consideration to fix the hernia and do banding at a later time and they ended up doing both at once.

Obesity is a big cause of hiatal hernias thus, many of us had them. Most docs will fix it while they are doing the banding. It usually requires 1-2 sutures, it's not a big deal in the least. Most people don't even know they have a hiatal hernia or a wide hiatus until they are told after banding that it was fixed.

Diabetes... that is certainly something that is a consideration before surgery. Again, if the docs know about it up front they take the required precautions.

There is currently a great deal of hoop-la regarding WLS and diabetes. I would encourage you to read the following study. This is not the full study, I have read the full study and this is just the beginning of the study. It applies to banding as well as bypass but with banding, diabetes improves with weight loss so results end up being the same:

Welsh Medics To Examine How Surgery Can Cure Diabetes

Stopping weight loss... many people have a slight unfill if they have reached their goal and they wish to maintain vs. losing. It's just a matter of increasing caloric intake a bit.

Longest anyone has had their band, I honestly don't know. I don't recall when the first adjustable band came out. There was/is a non adjustable band that has been around longer and it had horrible results, but remember, it was a completely different band and non adjustable.

Complications from the band can be immediate or years down the road. No way to tell. However, they are not common. Slips are 3+% and erosion is 1.3% per Inamed.

Coffee... most can, a handful cannot. Coffee can be an irritant to the stoma and some people swell after drinking it and others end up with reflux but for the vast majority of people they are fine with coffee.

Soda... that one is up to your doc. Docs differ on that one. I can't/don't drink it because it ends up being very painful but docs have differing opinions on this one.