Anyone out there that has been banded since 2003? I Iwould be interested in knowing how you are doing? I was one of the first dozen banded by my surgeon 5 years ago an am curious how some oldies feel.

I am so glad to have found this thread. I have been banded since February of 2004. Everything was going great until Oct. 2007 when they told me I had some esphogus problems. He took all my fluid out and I gained back 45 pounds. I have a swedish band that holds 12 cc's of fluid and am just now back up to 10.5 in my band. I received my third fill in seven months last week and am back to the throwing up and not sleeping. However, the trade off for getting this weight off seems to be worth it. I love my band and hate to read that complications start happening around the five/six year mark. I have been so much better with the band and would do it again without thinking. However, I am ready to get back to my skinny self that this band helped me achieve. Thanks for the great post. Now I know that I am not the only "old bander" that exist. They need to start a good thread with us old timers!!

Hi-

I thought I would post an update to my June post on this thread. In July I had my band removed. It's not the outcome I wanted, but my doctor felt there was too much scarring to give me another one.

Since then, I've regained quite a bit of weight and I'm almost back at my starting weight pre-band.

It's so hard... I'm now investigating the gastric sleeve.

All this and I'm still pro-band. However, I do suggest that before having the band or any other WLS that you research this in depth. I subscribed to the Obesity-related medical journals so that I could read the studies coming out about the various WLS methods. Don't rely upon these boards for your statistics. Speak with your surgeon and read the medical reports for yourself.

My surgeon cooborated what I've read in several journal articles that complication rates for bands are as high as 25%. And a good number of patients will require intervention at the four or five year mark and beyond.

If you are a long-time bandster and experiencing complications or weight gain, please don't hide out from your doctor. Please get evaluated.

Wishing you all the best~

Anyone out there that has been banded since 2003? I Iwould be interested in knowing how you are doing? I was one of the first dozen banded by my surgeon 5 years ago an am curious how some oldies feel.

I was banded in 2002 in mx. I was almost at my goal (shy of 15 pounds are so) and I have gained it all back because of lack of know how. So I am set for a fill in Jan and ready to shed some weight.

hi, how do you think that your pouch shrunk. my is huge and a hiatal hernia.