Hi, Everyone;

I'll assume that some of my comments won't be all that popular here, but if you want honesty about the Lap band, I'll be happy to give you my point of view.

I have a Lap band. It was one of the biggest mistakes I have ever made in my life. I had it "installed" at one of the finest medical centers in the world, by a well-known surgeon.

It has almost killed me. And, I am entering the hospital on May 7th for a 4th and final surgery that MAY be fatal for me. The lap band will be removed, the big hole in my stomach that it may have created will be repaired (hopefully), and my colon will be opened up so that they can remove the Lap Band tube that burrowed it's way inside.

It's a long story, with lots of twists and turns.

My purpose for becoming a member here and sharing my story is to let potential Lap-Band recipients know that there is a "dark side" to the lap band. It should not be a quick or easy decision. It's only one option.

I hope my comments here will be taken seriously.

David

I was wondering the same thing when the comment was made about "slider foods". Nothing but pure willpower is going to keep you from eating just about anything you want; thus the term "tool" being used when referring to Lap Band.

I am seeing this mentality on several other boards on the internet. People seem to think that once you have WLS, BOOM! You wake up and don't want to eat anymore and become thin. Too bad it isn't that simple. The work never ends!!

I was wondering the same thing when the comment was made about "slider foods". Nothing but pure willpower is going to keep you from eating just about anything you want; thus the term "tool" being used when referring to Lap Band.

I am seeing this mentality on several other boards on the internet. People seem to think that once you have WLS, BOOM! You wake up and don't want to eat anymore and become thin. Too bad it isn't that simple. The work never ends!!

I blame band advertising for a lot of that. I have seen the band infomercials on TV and it really does make it seem as though you just get a band, eat smaller portions and before you know it, you are thin again.

That's just not realistic.

You'd think that docs would counter any misconceptions with explicit education / instructions. A higher band failure rate due to lack of aftercare = bad PR = less surgeries = less money.

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones that has an excellent doctor. From seminar to pre-op, they repeatedly drilled into my head that I would only get out what I put in (to the point where I was tempted to interrupt the speech with a "I got it, I understand").

Plain,

Same here...my doctor was very strict on his instructions. In his seminar, he mentioned all the good and bad. He also does RYN, but he prefers the band over any surgery.

But the message was loud and clear: this is only a tool.

I'm still fighting the head hunger. But, with my tool, I can fight it and succeed. Whereas before, left only to my will power, I couldn't do it.

You know, maybe David is right about that - with me at least. Maybe I don't want to hear it. I heard about complications before going into it, but still jumped in. Now that I love my band, and that it's been working for me so well, I'd be scared to have to do it alone.

I've been unfilled for about 2 weeks now, and I'm struggling. I'm doing WW with my daughter, but I can see old habits creeping up and it's very hard to tame them down. I'm doing it, but it's only been two weeks! What happens when I get to goal? Or worse - what happens if something goes wrong BEFORE I get to goal? I have started to question myself if I can really do this without the band. Right now, at the weight I am - no, I can't.

My doctor and his staff have done the same thing. At every turn it is stressed that the patient is still ultimately responsible for how successful the band is. Glad I have the surgeon I do!

I speak from my own experience as I've actually had the lap band. Not everyone has "willpower" and that's why they got the band. It's a tool but if we had will power we'd be able to lose the weight without the band right?

People who have sugar/carb addictions will definitely have a harder time with the band and I didn't know a head of time what foods went down quicker, if I had, I probably wouldn't have been banded. I've gotten a lot of the fill removed now so that I don't compensate for lack of food by eating slider foods and that's making it much better but I can say personally that the band isn't the main tool right now, it's me!

brandyII I love me not the band!

Edited April 23, 200818 yr by brandyII

My band experience has been entirely positive. I was a bulk eater and I loved my carbs. The band caused me to feel full on much, much smaller amounts of food. As for me, I have always eaten well but after being banded I did more home work on nutrition and food and I began to eat even more carefully than I had before. I lost 50 lbs over 10 months and looked and felt great.

The one problem which I thought might be band related, acid reflux, turned out to be cancer of the larynx, a whole other story.

I too was a bulk eater, I ate lots...regardless what it was!! I ALWAYS felt hungry....I felt a total lack of control when food was involved.

The band has helped me by giving my control back! I am not hungry all the time anymore....and when I eat, I eat much less---and feel satisfied with that amount. Food no longer holds the appeal it once did. I used to be able to sit down at any given time and name off a dozen things that sounded good to me---and I would have to choose which to fix or go after. Now---it takes longer to even find something that sounds good to me. And when I do finally decide on something, it is not like the be all end all food used to be to me.

Like green---------the knowledge that I have to get all my nutritional needs met with the newer smaller amount of food I eat---has made me very aware of the nutritional aspect of my food. I try to focus my meals on healthy---and as strange as it is, now that is what tastes best to me.

I found that chewing like I have to being banded, that highly processed foods, tend to lose the good taste after half a dozen chews, and after it is chewed to mush---it is horrible!!! Most of it tastes like a mouthful of lard!

I have taken an approach of less restriction, because with the lack of hunger, I can personally better control my eating. Being too tight, really scares me. But it has been steady visits with my Dr.'s, and working hard to learn to listen to my body----and only feed it when it needs food, not 24/7.

Kat

Well, the horrible reflux turned out to be the flu from hell. I'm on the mend now and 8 lbs thinner - first time under 200 in I don't even know how many years. I hope they don't all come back when I'm rehydrated!

Well, Baggio, it's over now - I hope your recovery was as easy as mine. Um, except for that not-eating thing. You will get so sick of Slim-Fast. Try Isopure and Kellogg's protein water. They do have to be cold to taste their best. Good luck and welcome to the band!

So, Brandi II, I'm curious. Do you think your doctor didn't give you enough information to make a good decision on band vs. other WLS? Because that would really suck, if you got banded without knowing all the ins and outs beforehand. I'd have to give somebody in that office a good talking to.

My doc actually told me that he takes it very personally to make sure all his pts know everything they can about the band (could be BS....but they went over everything to the point that I felt like I could go out and be a "lapband sales rep", LOL).

plain,

I originally started the gastric bypass surgery pre-op stuff about 3 years ago before my surgeon even did lap bands. Then all these things started happening like my dad got ill and my sister got cancer and my dog died, sounds like a country song but it's true and I put it off because I felt like I was needed elsewhere.

Then two years later I decided to take the time for myself since everything in my life seemed fairly calm and I went back and then found out they were doing lap bands now. I started pre-op again for the gastric bypass and had it all approved and I changed my mind, I kind of chickened out I'd say and wanted the lap band because of two reasons, one I knew it could be removed if need be and two, I wouldn't have the bad side effects you get from gastric bypass surgery because I knew I'd end up cheating once in a while with ice cream. And also it wouldn't be as traumatic on my body. I think a lot of people feel that way.

Anywho, I had already discussed the post op diet with the nutritionist for the gastric bypass and had done everything else and called the doctor made an appointment because I wanted to tell him I wanted the band instead. This was about one month prior to surgery. I was never told those things and maybe it's my own fault because of the way I had changed things in the middle and maybe something (info wise) got lost in the shuffle.

I swear it's the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help me God. I'm not a soda drinker, I'm not much of an alcohol drinker but I like me some ice cream and knew that would be an issue. But because it was so much easier to eat the yummy cakes and cookies and pies and ice cream and candy instead of protein I tended to go that route because I found out it went down no problem. I think I learned that at Halloween.

My dad was an alcoholic and I take after him, except I'm not dead and I'm not a male. I tend to choose sugar foods over alcohol but there very similar in a way. I'm ate a salad today for the first time in a long time because my fill is reduced and I also had almost a whole sandwich with Weight Watcher's bread today and that was so weird to me. Anyway I have to learn to stay away from the WW desserts though because I'll end up eating them instead of the healthier foods.

I don't blame my surgeon, they have a good program here and they have an orientation first and then you meet with the surgeon, you go through a lot of pre-op testing and get screened by a psych of their choosing. I'm not a dumba...s but I guess to a lot of you I appear to be. I just have issues with certain foods that the band won't catch and didn't know it ahead of time.

I'm still working on it just in a different way now. So wish me luck, brandyII.

baggio,

Thank you so much for so eloquently saying what I've been thinking since this thread started. It's bugged me from the beginning that he kept putting off telling his story but had lots of time to comment on every single person who posted to his thread.

I hope your surgery went well today. Best wishes!

Brandy II - Nope, you're not a dumba$$. Don't even look like one. I would squarely place the blame on the doc / doc's office. Even if you did have some "stop and starts", they should have erred on the side of giving you too much information. You sound pretty laid back. I think I'd be a little angrier @ my docs if they pulled a stunt like that.

Hey what do you all think about letting this thread die a natural death and start a new conversation in the lap band lounge? It could be

lap band vs. gastric bypass. I would like to see this thread not get anymore attention.