Hi - I haven't posted in a long, long time.

For now I just want to quickly ask about "autoimmune disease" and Lap Band.

I just heard, for the first time that having an Autoimmune connective tissue disease (like Lupus) is a 'contra-indication" for the surgery.

I have had a Lap Band for 1 year and now it appears I may have Lupus.

Does anybody know what the problem is ???? I cannot find any information on why there is an issue with Lupus and the Lap Band.

Thanks in advance...

And you're damn right I did.

If YOU had a BIG problem with a Car Dealership, dentist, Dry Cleaner or ANY OTHER business, wouldn't YOU suggest people look elsewhere?

I think you might. "Dude".

Well....I don't think I would. I know some others on here that might, but I think it's a little intrusive to give a very strong uninvited opinion. See, your post where you explain your rationale has some valid points....but the fact that you had to explain why you did what you did tells me you came on a little strong.

Yes, that is exactly what he did. However I am an intelligent consumer, so I am taking his story with a grain of salt.

Ok. That's the thing. Headhunter was exactly right on some things. Every surgery has it's risks, and they all should be researched extensively (the good, the bad, and the ugly) before you make your decision. I just thought it was a little pushy to give unsolicited advice. Maybe it's a cultural thing?

Plain, Just to clarify one more thing;

My description of my experience was not entirely unsolicited.

Just for the record, here's what happened.

I saw that she was going to have surgery at the same hospital that I did.

I PM'd her, stating that I had had a bad experience there, and I inquired as to who her surgeon was. She stated that she was just in the eval phase, and did not yet have a surgeon. and THEN she asked me what my bad experience had been.

And I told her.

I do not want anyone to think that I am simply PMing people and blasting them with my sad tale....If she had not asked for some details, they would not have been forthcoming.

And the reason that I felt that i had to explain what I did in such detail was that she simply mis-stated the nature of our PM. My first PM was only 3 lines, i think.

I am a little sensitive about these types of things, because of some of my history here; people taking things that i say out of context, and attaching their own meaning to it etc,....I just want to be very clear about everything.

Thanks for your comments....I simply want this process to turn out well for people, and perhaps my bad experience can help others do things the RIGHT way. :thumbup:

I do not want anyone to think that I am simply PMing people and blasting them with my sad tale....If she had not asked for some details, they would not have been forthcoming.

That was my biggest concern.

My experience was the other way around.. I had lap band surgery 5 years ago.. then I came down with a very nasty auto-immune disease. I had no idea of the connection until I read the following.. which I pasted into my wordpad from a lap band website.... it was only a few days ago, and I cannot seem to find the source in my favorites.. I'll keep looking.. Lizzie

Silastic reaction

It is possible that the material of the Band could create some type of body immune reaction that stimulates a separate disease process such as arthritis or Systemic Lupus Erythematosis (SLE). However the Band is made of a silicone elastomer which is completely non-reactive to the body tissues, as far as it has been possible to determine. The same type of material has been in use in a number of implanted medical devices over time, and no problems with tissue reaction have been demonstrated. Here again, the early data is reassuring but no true long-term information exists.

i am a family member of someone who went through the lap band procedure about 2 yrs ago and for the past month he has been in and out of the hospital. He has this week been told that they have found a lupus cell. I didnt know the 2 would be connected in any kind of way until i started googling. This is very upsetting to find this out after all this time.

i am a family member of someone who went through the LAP-BAND® procedure about 2 yrs ago and for the past month he has been in and out of the hospital. He has this week been told that they have found a lupus cell. I didnt know the 2 would be connected in any kind of way until i started googling. This is very upsetting to find this out after all this time.

Neither did I. It doesn't mean that the two ARE necessarily connected in any individual case, but it looks like it is a possibility. I had the lapband 5 years ago and came down with a crippling auto-immune disease soon afterwards.