I have my first consultation next week for lap band surgery. I was certain that the positive result from the lap band would outweigh the negative. But reading about the lap band causing CANCER and heart problems and removal and revision surgeries and slipping and ‘horrible pain’ and er visits. I feel unbelievably scared and unsure!

Banded in 2011... lost 70ish lbs. Lots of small issues, nothing major or caused by the band. But it just wasn't working as advertised. 2 of the largest manufacturers, no longer make them. Lots of surgeons, won't install them any longer. The band works for some, but it was by and large over hyped and under performed.

Now for the caution. Outside of all the other horror stories listed... Mine was a time bomb and I didn't even know it. So, no real issues, no slippage, no erosion, all imaging, scans, and scopes were good. Zero issues. Well, until they went to remove it when I was revised to Bypass.

My band was 100% completely encapsulated in scar tissue. It took my surgical team more than 3 times longer to remove than it should have and increased my surgery time from 2-3 hours... to 6+. I can't say I really "Hated" the band... but there are just far too many problems and complications that just keep coming up. I didn't want to go permanent either, nor did I want to have my guts rearranged. I can say however that I'm beyond glad I got the bypass done. Who knows what would have happened if I left the band in there. I feel so much better now, I really wish I had gotten the bypass when I originally got the band. But my fear of commitment ended up costing me 2 surgeries and years of "dealing" with band.

Personally, I would take the fact that revision rates continue to climb, that installation rates continue to drop and that 2 major manufactures, both pulled out of the business as a sign that... the band, might not be the best option, even if it is the one that doesn't require things to be "changed" inside.

I had LapBand surgery when I was 18 years old. I only lost about 40 pounds. I had severe nausea with it the first 3 months. I had acid reflux with it. I had mine for 4 years before I HAD to have it removed. Early 2013 I found out my band slipped. I had having acid reflux so bad that month due to the slippage. I believe one thing to have ththe band to slip is when you have something stuck and then having to puke. Doing that a lot can cause it to slip. Will when I had revision surgery in 2013, I had to go back 2 days later for an emergency surgery due to an abscess in my stomach which caused me to lose my band. I think if that hadn't happened, I more than likely would have been at my goal weight. I'm at my highest weight ever. I'm 17 pounds heavier than when I started going for appointments to get the lapband surgery! The band is definitely a frustrating tool, I wouldn't get it again, but the thing I loved about it was that it is reversible. Although, I'm strongly thinking about something permanent and something that won't cause acid reflux and my surgeon told me that Gastric Bypass with be great for me. I'm so scared, but I'm going to make an appointment with my surgeon to go over it

I am having surgery with Dr. Garber in New York City, he does single incision gastric sleeve surgery in the belly button that is “virtually scarless”. I am 31 and have a 32-33 BMI. He recommended I do the sleeve over lap band as he says they are falling out of favor due to complication risk. I don’t like the idea of a foreign device in my body. If I could have gotten a scarless gastric sleeve surgery when I was 21, I would have done it. It does not get any easier in your 30’s!!

Welcomed . I understand why you are scared. I am having a RNY in a few months. When I started reading some of the post I was scared I was making the wrong choice about WLS. Then I went to my consultation armed with at least 60 questions. At least half of those were already marked off my list from what the doctor and Nut told me before it was my turn to talk.

No matter what surgery you are having it is a personal choice. All I can say is research it until you can recite everything by memory. That’s what I have been doing . Good luck and keep us updated on your progress .

I’ve had the band for 10 years and I would not recommend it. From the beginning I had problems. Couldn’t eat chicken but slider foods like cereal were unrestricted. This led to a very unhealthy diet. The restriction was variable throughout the day and day by day. One day couldn’t drink water and had it unfilled., gained all the weight back. Also had acid reflux which my dr says was caused by the band. Now getting a gastric bypass., if you look at the studies the band has a higher complication than the sleeve or bypass. And I never had a slip or erosion like some have had.

I hated my lapband ( placed in 4/2011) BUT I really believe it saved my life almost 4 yrs ago. I had my 1st slip 4 months post op due to losing 50lbs. I could feel my food funneling down, making a stop and sometimes even feeling the food getting stuck in my band, feels kinda like swallowing a rock or something. I kept insisting to my dr that there was something not right about but he kept assuring me that I was fine. That it was just that I was eating inappropriately.
I started to get really bad heartburn around 12/2013. For about 6 months I would have to go to the ER at least twice a months due to these heartburn episodes until finally I told the ER tech to give me an X-ray because I’d been throwing up for 4 days straight and I wanted to check on my band. I got discharged. I received a call at 3:30am from the ER asking me to come back ASAP cause there was a mass the size of a grapefruit in the middle of my chest. So after being admitted to the hospital and spending almost a week there I really didn’t catch on the oncologists and the students coming into my room. Not once did I think “ why are they here?” I checked myself out of the hospital because my mother-in-law was in her final moments ( stage 4 metastatic pancreatic cancer) and our youngest at the time was running a fever. I went down to get all my medical records and was fine for about two weeks which in the time frame my mother-in-law passed. I had another one of my severe heartburn episodes and decided to drive a bit further this time to another hospital where I was caught in mid air by a nurse due to my fainting from the pain. I woke up in a hallway of the ER where a dr asked me what I was feeling, I handed her my records, asked her for something for the pain, passed out and woke up admitted to the hospital. The next day I was once again surrounded by an oncology team that told me that they needed a biopsy of the mass because they considered that just by looking at it via X-ray it could potentially be a stage 4 mass. (Yay me!) ??‍♀️ thank GOD I had my biopsy done the next day, had results three days later. Not stage 4 but stage 2 of a thymoma ( that are usually benign, but not mine) aka thymic carcinoma and due to its size I’d have to start chemo. And to make my longer story short-ish, I thank my annoying little device that I hated so much because if I wouldn’t have had that 1st slip and that 1st experience I would have never asked for that X-ray to check for another slip of my band.

WowSiSSi829 what a tragic and also scary story. I hope better health is in the cards for you. You are correct your's is not a run-of-the-mill cancer and you do have reason to think your band buddy. Without its ornery actions your child would be without Grandma and Mommy. God Bless And Keep you. Please update with further chapters of your story.

STAY AWAY FROM LAPBANDS!!
I had one for 10 years and had it removed 3 months ago. Its horrible and a medical mistake. Just had Sleeve surgery 30 days ago and all I can say is AMAZING ! Loving life again.

Hi I've just had a gastric band fitted and I didn't take the decision lightly. I hadn't heard any horror stories to be fair and only heard good things from people I know who've had it done as well as accounts I've read about. I don't know if it makes a difference but I'm in the UK. Here only 1-2% of cases end up with the band being removed within a year of surgery and this happens due to mistreatment of the band (not following the correct diet). I would say to you to do your research, ask your doctors lots of questions and make your decision based on that. Good luck with whatever you choose! X

Sent from my HTC U11 using BariatricPal mobile app

9 minutes ago, Sutz Manchego said:

Hi I've just had a gastric band fitted and I didn't take the decision lightly. I hadn't heard any horror stories to be fair and only heard good things from people I know who've had it done as well as accounts I've read about. I don't know if it makes a difference but I'm in the UK. Here only 1-2% of cases end up with the band being removed within a year of surgery and this happens due to mistreatment of the band (not following the correct diet). I would say to you to do your research, ask your doctors lots of questions and make your decision based on that. Good luck with whatever you choose! X

Sent from my HTC U11 using BariatricPal mobile app

Be careful, the product is the same no matter which part of the country you are in, I didn't have any "problems" except for constantly getting stuck and pain when eating the healthy foods (leafy greens SUCKED), when I had my band removed, it was completely encapsulated in scar tissue and took over 3x longer to remove than it should have. I don't even want to think about what would have happened if I left it in because it wasn't a problem!

1 hour ago, Matt Z said:

Be careful, the product is the same no matter which part of the country you are in, I didn't have any "problems" except for constantly getting stuck and pain when eating the healthy foods (leafy greens SUCKED), when I had my band removed, it was completely encapsulated in scar tissue and took over 3x longer to remove than it should have. I don't even want to think about what would have happened if I left it in because it wasn't a problem!

I had a similar experience. The band had embedded and the surgeon had difficulty removing it. He said there was so much scar tissue and adhesions he was afraid of a perforation. I have big scars on my abdomen from this and the surgeon used clips as he said there was a high risk of infection which luckily didn’t happen.

If you are considering bariatric surgery the Sleeve or Bypass is better and probably safer. Good luck anyway.

3 hours ago, Sutz Manchego said:

Hi I've just had a gastric band fitted and I didn't take the decision lightly. I hadn't heard any horror stories to be fair and only heard good things from people I know who've had it done as well as accounts I've read about. I don't know if it makes a difference but I'm in the UK. Here only 1-2% of cases end up with the band being removed within a year of surgery and this happens due to mistreatment of the band (not following the correct diet). I would say to you to do your research, ask your doctors lots of questions and make your decision based on that. Good luck with whatever you choose! X

Sent from my HTC U11 using BariatricPal mobile app

Best of luck to you honey. In the US...not many Dr.'s are even doing them anymore. More and more revisions are being done because of complications.

On 1/19/2018 at 1:01 PM, Elrix said:

Why is everyone saying lap bands are “a thing of the past” and “very risky” and getting angry at anyone who gets the lap band done?!

My gastric team that did my bypass wouldn’t do lap band because they were having too many issues

Edited August 12, 20187 yr by George OG

On 8/12/2018 at 6:51 PM, George OG said:

My gastric team that did my bypass wouldn’t do lap band because they were having too many issues

Same for me George OG.

UPMC in Pittsburgh does not even offer them anymore. Not that I was considering it, but they made it clear on my first visit that they no longer offer the lap band

I have had my band for 10 years and I’ll be revising to a sleeve next year. I had to have all fluid removed. My story is not the horror show some have. I don’t have a slip or a port flip that I know of (confirmed via swallow test) and my pouch isn’t stretched that I have been told but for whatever reason, it simply becomes too tight (even now with no fluid ) on occasion and I’m unable to eat solid foods. So I turn to “sliders” because I’m hungry. But sometimes even those come back. The Dr recommended revision and frankly, I’m tired of the “stuck” thing on a regular basis.

If I am asked if I recommend it I have to say maybe but leaning to no. There is a lot of upkeep and so many drs are leaving this technology behind that I simply don’t feel it will continue to be properly supported. But I would also never discourage someone who wanted it - with one caveat.

I think the best thing to do is GET A HANDLE ON YOUR EMOTIONAL EATING because the band *will not* help you with it. In many ways, it’s worse because the “bad foods” like cookies, ice cream, mashed potatoes, sugar cereals etc all slide right in thru the band. So basically all the crap you turn to when you eat emotionally, yep, that’s going to really go thru. And the stuff you should be eating is what you get stuck on. So if you are really honest with yourself and are a big time emotional eater, you need to deal with that first. That’s actually homework for ANY surgery.

I’ll Also tell you what I told a friend. Start eating the “post op diet” now. Your portions may be larger but see what that post op diet is and eat that way now. You need to know if you can live with it before you have surgery. Lap band means NO carbonated drinks so get sodas, beer and fizzy drinks out of your diet now. All surgeries want you eating protein first, veggies and then any carbs last. Do it now. Can you be happy eating this way? If you’re a Diet Coke addict you may as well work that out of your life now and not in recovery when you’re dealing with everything else. Can you have the occasional champagne toast or piece of cake? Of course. But notice the word “occasional” meaning a wedding or birthday is an “occasion”. Tuesday or “I had a bad day” is not. If you eat that post op diet and feel like “oh, this is nice. I feel good” it will help bolster your decision. Maybe you will like eating your protein and then a veggie and feel like “nah, I don’t need mashed potatoes”. I know I did and it felt great!! But if the thought of not having soft drinks, or bread or drinking anything with your meal (lapband guidelines state don’t drink with your meal or for 30 min afterwards) makes you want to cry, then this isn’t the surgery for you.

Can you be successful with the band? Sure! I did well for quite a while although I only lost 40 lbs. But the success cases I’ve seen have been from folks who really did their homework and got their heads right remember, they band your stomach, not your mouth. If you eat a whole bag of m&ms because you’re upset, the band can’t stop that.