Lap band - don't do it!! Scarred for life

[LAPBANDFREE 0]

But there are sad faces in the banding column oh my Choose Your Weight Loss Surgery *rollseyes*

Anyone can make a video and post it to youtube....

Call the number, I did - you'll reach the good DR himself - I also took the .0118 second to Google his name to see if he was 'real' ...and quess what - he is!!

Well, it's been fun -

[Minxz 0]

I know he is real I surfed his website and was not impressed. He obviously rabidly favors the Gastric Bypass.

I have no problem with those who choose the gastric bypass I have friends for whom it worked wonders. I have done a lot of research and listened to a lot of opinions. In the end everyone who has the surgery has to own that choice weather it be LB or GB. There is no 100% success rate on anything. I'm sorry you had such a bad experience but you are using scare tactics.

Surely you must have seen the hundreds of people on this site who feel that the LB tool gave them the edge they needed to change their lives for the better.

[Shinyhappymommy 2]

Posting videos from Dr. Rutledge doesn't help your case--at all. He's got a controversial product to sell, (Mini Gastric Bypass) and so he's trying to put down his competition. His stuff scared me for about two minutes until I looked into it a bit. He's not a very reputable source for info about the band, IMO.

You approached this whole thing with such a negative and sassy attitude, it's no wonder that you weren't received very well.

I've had a great experience thus far with the band. I'm sorry it wasn't the same for you.

[snowbird 2]

So you read the forum here and we suggested chocolate, ice cream, and cheetos as foods to eat. I don't think so. I have seen recommendations of creamy Soups, Protein shakes, and sugar free pudding here, though, if you are too tight. I have also seen countless threads discussing the danger of being too tight. If your band was too tight from the beginning, it sounds like you were a bad candidate for it and it should have been removed near the beginning of your ordeal.

You made bad choices from the beginning and are looking for someone or something to blame other than yourself.

It is good that you posted, so people contemplating the band can hear about what not to do when you get banded--the main item being to ignore signals from your body that says things aren't right, and to fail todiscuss problems with your doctor and seek another doctor if you are not satisfied with the original one.

I am sitting here, two pounds from goal in less than 11 months, eating leftover stuffed shrimp with stir fried vegies. When people ask me about the band, I am careful to explain it means a major switch in your life with food, and can result in problems that may occur if you don't follow the rules, and sometimes even if you do. But I would never tell people to DON'T DO IT!!!

[Rhondadbe 0]

I have been considering getting a Lap Band for several years now. I have talked with people who got the Gastric Bypass, decided I didn't like it after researching it online. Then I started researching the Lap Band procedure online and knew that was the one I preferred. I still wanted to talk with some people who had the procedure done. You can get great information from people who have had the procedure done. I've learned a lot on this site. I'm sorry it didn't work out better for you. I feel like I will be able to deal with just about anything that happens when I have my surgery. The doctors and other support people where I'm having it done are excellent and then there's this awesome site. I know it won't be easy and it will take time. I'm sure it won't be "perfect"...whatever that is, but I'm sure it's going to work out fine !

I hope things continue to go great for you.

[Carrie_C 9]

I have seen those videos on youtube. I watched them before my surgery. But I am skeptical. He is just trying to sell his surgery and of course he is going to talk negative about the band. I just wonder if those "patients" are really patients and not actors he hired. I love my band, and I can't imagine my life without it. I think some people who have trouble bring it on themselves by not following the rules and still eating junk. I know there are some people who do exactly as they are supposed to and still have problems, but I think other people think the band is going to do all the work for them. By the way, I also think you could have managed to eat some healthier foods other than chocolate, ice cream, and cheetos. There are softer healthier foods other than those.

[vegasgirl44 0]

Troll?????

OMG! Is this the "dentist" from the other post? I think a moderator needs to step in here. I have a feeling that whomever is doing these posts is just a troublemaker with nothing better to do.

[Laurinda 1]

I am happy your happy now. A lot of your post was hard for me to believe but <shrug> stranger things have happened.

May I ask the point of your post? People come here for support, if you have already gotten it removed why join the board today?

*9/03/2008*

[vegasgirl44 0]

OH - and here are some posts from OTHERS......

danceswithforks  17:11my best friend is a nurse and she says it's bad to get a lap band.

It's not fun to deal with either. You just need to join the rest of us who are dieting and exercising and not be in a hurry. We are a microwave society. You have to diet with one of those on so you can't escape dieting. I wonder what kind of complications they bring on? maybe you pass gas or you feel sick. No thanks. It's not normal.

I'm trying to encourage you to do it the old fashioned way.

tinav  16:19Unless you are at deaths door any weight loss surgery is not a good idea. Thats my thought on the subject. I have watched many tv programs and read a fair amount of information on these surgeries. As most of you already know, there are cases where the person has lost the weight and is as happy as can be. Others where they have lost the weight and now need a whole series of surgeries to remove skin. Some have replaced their food addiction with alcohol, drug or gambling addictions. Thats just too many risks for me. Besides that, Im a chicken and wouldnt opt for any surgery unless it were absolutely necessary. As beachwalkers friend said, if you can stick to the diet after the surgery then why not stick to it before the surgery. I think so many people in todays society want everything yesterday and they want it easy. Fast lifestyle, fast cars, fast food, fast fix. The faster we go the more we miss, the more we miss the less we learn, the less we learn the less likely we are to make good life decissions.

beachwalker 15:31Let me say this. I met a woman who had the proceedure. They gave her a diet to follow. Her exact words were "If I had followed the diet to begin with, I wouldn't have needed the surgery."

shekitty 13:36I am generally against weight loss surgery of any kind. I know four persons who had bypass and all but one of them has gained back a significant amount of weight. All of them had complications after surgery. I girl who works for me had lap band surgery about 7 months ago. She too has had complications and has had to have the band "redone" twice because it doesn't stay where it is supposed to. She has also only lost 30 pounds in the 7 months, which she could have done through traditional dieting. It is a diet surgery myth that these procedures will fix the problem. Unless you are experiencing a life threatening health issue and your doctor is suggesting lap band, I would try to lose weight without it. For the record, I started here at 280 pounds and am currently at 260. I am considered morbidly obese and a prime candidate for these procedures. Personally, I would rather be fat than to go through the hassles the folks I know have gone through after their surgery.

I thought you had a "life."

[vegasgirl44 0]

Posting videos from Dr. Rutledge doesn't help your case--at all. He's got a controversial product to sell, (Mini Gastric Bypass) and so he's trying to put down his competition. His stuff scared me for about two minutes until I looked into it a bit. He's not a very reputable source for info about the band, IMO.

You approached this whole thing with such a negative and sassy attitude, it's no wonder that you weren't received very well.

I've had a great experience thus far with the band. I'm sorry it wasn't the same for you.

OH, shinyhappymommy! I know of someone who had the mini-gastric bypass here in Henderson Nevada, only one doc does it in town. What is it anyway, if you don't mind me asking? What is the difference? Thanks!

[Shinyhappymommy 2]

My surgeon was talking to me one time about it and told me that it's not considered a viable option for most of the surgeons he knows and that Dr. Rutledge is not taken seriously among his peers. I honestly haven't researched the differences in the surgery, I just know that from a surface google search, I found a few articles that say that complications that arise from this surgery are common and serious. Sorry, if you need concrete facts, I'm not the person to go to. I just know from what little I know that I wouldn't personally consider the MGB and certainly won't listen to a thing that Dr. R has to say.

[plain 12]

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my hair's growing back - it isn't lack of Protein - it's restricting the most oxygen rich organ in your body

So......you mean the stomach is the most oxygen-rich organ in your body? Or did the surgeon place the band around your lungs?

[plain 12]

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i survived for three years on cheetos, chocolate and ice cream - the only foods i didn't throw up from - i hated them all

So....you hated cheetos, chocolate and ice cream?

i am now back on a healthy diet and have lost more weight in the last four months than i did in 3 years with the lapband

Wonderful! That's great success!

my blood pressure is back to normal - they were getting ready to place me on bp meds for life

For life?!? Most Docs I know want at least a couple of follow up visits...

thank god i've only lost 2 teeth to the constant throwing up - i've met others who have lost them all

I've met those people too. I live in the rual south.

my belly looks like i've been clawed with-in an inch of my life by a bear

You must have had an extermely skilled surgeon

think before you do it -

Well, at least we agree on this point. I wish everybody would think before they jump in. Don't you wish you'd have thought it out a little better? Although if you could lose more weight in the last 4 months than the previous 3 banded years, I wonder why you needed surgery in the first place? Likely you weren't as fat as me.

[She Smiles 2]

Ahhhh Plain, you're an absolute legend. That's all I have to add to this thread.

[Chickie 15]

Ahhhh Plain, you're an absolute legend. That's all I have to add to this thread.

That.

And I read it in Peter Griffin's (From The Family Guy) voice. Highly entertaining.