my surgeon has told me that lapbands can last anything between 2 and 15yrs. i am confused becoz I've seen ads for lapbands that last a lifetime and i dont want to have to replace it in a few yrs becoz basically I cant afford to. Can any one shed any light on this please? has my surgeon got it wrong?

julia x

You read my mind, I was just coming on to pose that same question! Any of you long time banned veterans have any advise or information for the newbees? Thanks!

Well, I have hopes of sitting in the nursing home with mine still with me some day!!

Great question! I'm just at the research stage stage, and I had not even considered the life of the band. I'll be very interested in an answer too.

thats wot I had in mind too!

all the best with it all! hope your brains coping with it all better than mine!! there's so much to consider.

I really can't imagine the band having to be replaced. I've never seen any sort of prosthetic device that had to be replaced after a set amount of time. I could be wrong as almost all of my information is based on orthopedic prosthetics.

That's my thoughts, but if I'm wrong then someone correct me because I wanna know for sure.

Maybe your surgeon meant the effects last 2 to 15 years? Some people start eating around their band almost from the start and since bands have only been around for about 15 years no way anyone could say they last longer. Mind you this is totally just a guess based on what the band is made of and how it works.

the surgeon said everyone is different when it comes to how long silicone can stay in the body without deteriorating. i just hope if I get a band its lasts a long time!

I was told it should last a lifetime, but of course there's always a chance something might happen. I just have to keep that risk in mind. You can't just not do something because of a risk, almost everything in life has a risk, well everything.

You take a risk everyday driving your car, taking a bite of food and not choking. Etc.

Either way I would say the surgery helping you is much more of a thing to happen then it needing to be taken out.

the surgeon i spoke to def said the life of the band was up to 15yrs becoz it was all dependent on each individual and how well the silicone endures in their body. I'd never heard that before. I've been reading about bands with a lifetime guarantee so i was disappointed and wonder whether to find another surgeon.

My band just eroded after it being in for 21 months. The pain was unreal and I could not stop vomiting. My surgeon said I caused the slippage due to the vomiting, but I told him the vomiting was from the slippage. In any case, this is rare. I have lost 118 pounds and now have a new band. I would not be worried about this happening-as I said it is quite rare. Good luck to all. Be well.

Fran

Hi fran

Thanks for replying. I have so many questions! Do u mind me asking if u had to pay all over again for your new band to be fitted? and also wot was the life expectancy of your 1st band, the one that eroded? it sounded terrible.

Julia x

I do not mind answering questions-that is what we are here for. I was a self pay the first time, and with the help of an attorney got back some money. This time, it was an emergency and as it just happened May 14th. I do not know if they will pay or not. I never asked the life span of the band-there are just so many questions and I never remember them all. I do know that this band is bigger than the first one, and I had a fill last week and feel no restriction. I hate when the fill is too tight so I will get another little one. Where are you on your journey? Please do not worry about this problem of mine because as previously stated this is quite rare. I wish you luck and urge you to ask as many questions as you need to.

Be well.

Fran

Hi fran

Thanks for replying. I have so many questions! Do u mind me asking if u had to pay all over again for your new band to be fitted? and also wot was the life expectancy of your 1st band, the one that eroded? it sounded terrible.

Julia x

The erosion she is talking about is the band eroding into the stomach (which can happen with any prosthetic put around organs) not the actual band eroding. Judging from what I've read in some medical books and what a lot of my professors have told me, silicone can last in the human body for quite a while. It's not really something to worry about. Our abdominal cavity is not filled with anything that is going to wear away at the band.

Also fran, I forgot to ask you something. Was there a period you had to wait to get your new band placed? Any time to allow the stomach to heal? Thanks for any info!