Hello everyone, I'm new to this site. I've been learning about the Lap-Band and it's positives, along with it's negatives. I'm beginning to see the benefits outweighing the risks and I'm thinking it could be an amazing tool for me to have on my weight loss journey. I currently weigh at least 100 lbs above a healthy weight and have never been a thin adult. I've already seen personal successes of others in my life, and now, I believe, it's my turn. Still, I have some reservations and I'm not 100% sure-I'm probably around 60% convinced right now. I just went to an info session @ NYU in NY city and learned a little bit more. I'll be checking out the forums and learning about other people's experiences in the coming weeks and go through the process one small step at a time.

Gina

@@Mac the Knife How was that the bands fault? Wouldn't that be your DR's fault? I had my band placed 11/10/09. Sure i had episodes with vomiting.... but they were my fault.. ate the wrong thing or ate too fast.. or didn't chew well, or didn't pay attention..... none of which is the bands fault.

I LOVE my band... she and i have an understanding and i know if i do what im suppose to, she does also.

Now i did have an episode recently that my band tightened up for no reason... so i went to my dr./friend and he removed the fill to give my stomach a rest. All is good now and im steady at 130... which is a 100 lbs lost... 90ish lb maintained over the past 5ish years.

over the years i have seen many people lose with all the WLS..... i have also seen many people gain it all back with ALL the WLS..... Now of course there are some situations where the band fought back. But those are not the norm.... Ive seen people that had GB have issues and gained it all back, the sleeve and gained it all back....

We must listen to our bodies.... i knew something wasn't right when i was still following all the rules and wasn't able to keep food down... so i carried my a$$ to my dr and took care of the situation.....

Diff between me and people that had GB or Sleeve.... I CAN DO THAT.... they can't. I control my band... they can't...once your stomach is cut off.... it's gone. Once you are re-routed... it's done.

@@dvons Again, you see... dvons is correct you have to be committed to the band for it to be committed to you... and again, your issues aren't really with the band, just your life and not being able to go to the dr.... I would say, stick with it dvons...

Good luck..... @@newgirlwhodis and remember what you put in is what you get out.

Chris

@@bayougirlmrsc Even the sleeve will fail if you aren't committed. I just saw my surgeon, and he said I'm doing good so no reason to change. I was actually relieved. I just have to keep on with the check ups since the fluid in my band changes with time. Complacency is the root of all evil lol.

@@dvons Absolutely..... it all about what you put into it. If you follow the rules and do what your supposed to... so will your WLS no matter which one it is. I have seen first hand weight gains with all of them... but i have seen success with all of them too.

Like you said....complacency is the root of all evil....

@@Mac the Knife How was that the bands fault? Wouldn't that be your DR's fault? I had my band placed 11/10/09. Sure i had episodes with vomiting.... but they were my fault.. ate the wrong thing or ate too fast.. or didn't chew well, or didn't pay attention..... none of which is the bands fault.

I LOVE my band... she and i have an understanding and i know if i do what im suppose to, she does also.

Chris

Chris,

I neglected to mention a key detail in my previous post: upon resuming bariatric care, one of the first steps taken by my new doctor was to do the testing I had begged his predecessor to do - checking the band under a flouroscope. The findings were that the band had, in fact, failed in a fashion, as my body defeated it by creating a new "pouch" above the band.

The temporary solution has been to remove all Fluid from the band, after which I experienced an immediate end to all my symptoms. The long-term solution, which hopefully occurs in mid-December, is replacing the band with a duodenal switch.