I heard that as much as 40% of people fail on the complications board. Does anyone know if it is really that high? I am really hoping that this is what works for me....

I don't know who posted that statistic, nor the source, so I can't really comment on it. I have not heard that. What I do know is that the success rate with the band is higher than with diet and exercise alone, but the rate with RNY Bypass is higher than with the band, per some studies. Other studies show that 3 years out, bandsters and bypassers lose the same percentage (up to 80%) of excess weight. Neither procedure guarantees any loss, and not everyone loses all they want to.

The band is only a tool. It is not a quick fix, it isn't even a fix, unfortunately. It is a tool. If you follow the band rules it can help a person lose and keep the weight off. If you choose the wrong food or don't follow the rules, it won't magically "make" you lose, anyway.

I do not mean to sound negative. I think the band is wonderful! But it does take work. Your concerns about the success/failure rates may be best addressed with a good surgeon. The band is not for everyone. But it can be a life changer for others.

Funnily enough I didnt think to ask my surgeon. I have my consult on wednesday, I will ask him then :redface:

This board is great, but honestly most "evidence" here is anecdotal (this is a talk board, after all!) and of course on the "complications" forum you'll get unfortunate people who are having trouble; in other words, it's concentrated. Your surgeon should be able to back up his statistics with research studies you can peruse if you want to. S/he is the safest source for solid info on your band...including pre and post op diets etc! :redface:

Ya, I'm stress about my pre op diet too. I have to do a 6 mth diet and cant lose more than 7 pounds or I will go below 40 BMI and probably get rejected by my insurance company :redface:

Honestly a lot of the reasons why the lapband fails are entirely within your control.

I sat in the waiting room a few months ago listening to two very overweight middle aged ladies complaining. "this band is too loose, I'm getting a fill" "I can eat way too much at the moment, I'm going to give that doctor a piece of my mind" "you would think they'd get it right, wouldnt you, with so many patients going through".

I just thought "oh boy". You cant judge a book by its cover of course, but you can bet your bottom dollar that because they could eat too much they DID, that they did not exercise etc.

If you work your band, and avoid the much lower incidence of actual problems, its likely to work very well for you. But it takes hard work and to lose ALL your weight takes a bit of dedication to exercise. Its not automatic. YOu can have a band in there and not lose any weight at all, its pretty easy to eat around it and still get the calories in.

Failure rates ARE quite high, but its mainly due to people failing, not the band. Actual complication stats are way more acceptable. And lets not forget taht band bad behaviour resulting in constant vomiting episodes can CAUSE those complications, they dont always happen spontaneously.

Thanks J! Your post is really encouraging :redface: I really think that I can do this as I already exercise everyday and I feel that with the band as a tool to help me I will be able to make the right eating choices thankies

Of course you can!

You know I think we all doubt that a bit, but you wait till you see just how motivating it is for the first time to actually see results for your effort.

I dont know about you, but about 20lb was my sort of easy weight loss that I'd get to and could never get past, I'd always begin to gain again. When I passed that, I was SO excited. It really gave me faith that I could do it.

And exercising doesnt seem so pointless when you are rewarded for it with weight loss. I was an exerciser too but I never managed to get exercise and nutrition going right at the same time.

Everything that Jachut says is so spot on. Sometimes I feel like your posts are reading my mind! :redface:

Yay! LOL I am so excited for my consult on wednesday, I know that it is really not very far away but I am so excited its like a kid on christmas eve. Its theoretically my consult but I was only one of two at my seminar so I got to speak one on one with the doctor. She told me that we could start my 6 month diet weigh ins then also, though she didnt sound like she put to much faith in them. 6 months has never seemed so long to me

My magic number was about 25, I got there 2x on weight watchers (around 16 weeks because I got both keychains at the same time both times) but then I would start gaining. I lost just over 35 pounds on Alli but ended up getting really sick backpacking through eastern europe and had to go off alli for the major antibiotics my doctor called in so that I didnt have to check my self into a hospital, grrr. I gained all but 5 of it back now :redface:

Ohh and on excercise, in high school I was on the swim team which meant 4 hours of practice 6 days a week. I still managed to be overweight ( LOL I must have eaten SOOOOO many calories) Backpacking through europe this summer I was super broke so it was easy to get my exercise in LOL like 12 hours a day running all over the place to see everything ( I did 22 countries in 3 months) I am also lucky enough to have roomates (now that i am in college) that drag my lazy butt to the gym everynight if my weight started seriously affecting my exercise it terrifies me how much weight I would gain :redface: I wish I could swim at school but we dont have a pool big enough for laps (just one in the dorms for recreation) while I can get running and stairs in its kinda hard on my knees

Ya, I'm stress about my pre op diet too. I have to do a 6 mth diet and cant lose more than 7 pounds or I will go below 40 BMI and probably get rejected by my insurance company :redface:

A lot of people believe this can happen but sometimes it is a fallacy. I know when I was looking at insurance coverage originally, I asked my surgeon this question and he said that other than making you better prepared for lifestyle changes and surgery itself, the letter he sends to the insurance company is based on the initial weight of the consult (which put me at a 40 BMI) so loss on the 6 month diet is a bonus that can really help me.

If you can check both with the insurance company and your surgeons office, you might find that ending up with a lower BMI may not harm your approval likelihood. If this is the case, I would do everything you can to make the best of losing during the six month time frame instead of staying within 7 pounds. Sometimes lack of loss or even gain is also grounds for a denial after this six month term.

The more you know about your insurance criteria for approval or denial, the better prepared you will be to get through this process with an approval and minimal stress.

I heard that as much as 40% of people fail on the complications board. Does anyone know if it is really that high? I am really hoping that this is what works for me....

I would review scientific medical journal articles rather than take information from the thread as actual data. JAMA has many free journal articles on their web site that you can review. Here is one link to such an article http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/292/14/1724.pdf

If you cannot open the link then go to JAMA:

JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association, a weekly peer-reviewed medical journal published by AMA and use their search tool. Key in words such as bariatric WLS or bariatric banding.

Good luck!

ALWAYS!!!!! She has proven results too which makes it easier to believe her. Thanks Jachut!

Everything that Jachut says is so spot on. Sometimes I feel like your posts are reading my mind! :w00t:

Originally Posted by ashleysara

Ya, I'm stress about my pre op diet too. I have to do a 6 mth diet and cant lose more than 7 pounds or I will go below 40 BMI and probably get rejected by my insurance company.

A lot of people believe this can happen but sometimes it is a fallacy. I know when I was looking at insurance coverage originally, I asked my surgeon this question and he said that other than making you better prepared for lifestyle changes and surgery itself, the letter he sends to the insurance company is based on the initial weight of the consult (which put me at a 40 BMI) so loss on the 6 month diet is a bonus that can really help me.

If you can check both with the insurance company and your surgeons office, you might find that ending up with a lower BMI may not harm your approval likelihood. If this is the case, I would do everything you can to make the best of losing during the six month time frame instead of staying within 7 pounds. Sometimes lack of loss or even gain is also grounds for a denial after this six month term.

The more you know about your insurance criteria for approval or denial, the better prepared you will be to get through this process with an approval and minimal stress.

I was going to comment on that statement too, but Heather covered it very well. The question of losing weight and going below the 40 BMI threshold came up in the seminars I attended and the response was that for approval, the insurance companies go by your starting weight. But, as Heather also said, you have to verify this information with your own insurance company. You don't want to risk losing coverage on hearsay. Best of luck to you!

Thanks for all your help guys Turns out I have sleep apnea ... torn between ahppy because I can diet without worrying so much about getting approved (have about 40 pounds I could lose now) and giving myself a headstart. Sad because I have sleep apnea tho :w00t: