Hi everyone,

I recently saw my surgeon and was very excited to get my lap band surgery scheduled. However, while with the surgeon she actually recommended against the lap band!! I felt this would be the safer less extreme weight loss surgery and was very optimisitc that it would be the best for me. My doctor said the complication rate was much higher with the band than the gastric bypass. She said if it was her friend or family members she would not want them to have the lap band. She told me of the many complictions and of all the fills that would be needed and kinda freaked me out. She said it was up to me that she would do the surgery if that is what I decided to go with but now I am not so sure. Can anyone advise me on this? I am not sure what to think about this anymore. Other than trying to decide to go forward I am all ready to be scheduled for surgery.

Thanks

Dawn :thumbup:

An additional note, the number of complications are going up because more people are being banded.

No, not really. The studies such as Inamed are more comprehensive and over a longer period of time. Five years ago of those that were banded < 3% were slipping. Today of those banded > 7% are slipping.

Actually I can think of one reason more people=higher percentage of slipping, and that is that more people (and YOUNGER people) with less to lose are getting the band, (the infamous band mills, for example) ANYONE who gets banded and doesn't scrupulously follow the post op diet (as recommended by Lap Band) is more at risk for slips.

I am NOT saying all slips are the fault of the patient. BUT statistics are great only to a point. Since we don't have the source of wasabubble's data (again am not implying you are lying because I am sure you aren't, Wasa!) it's impossible to judge the validity, or whether that figure is even germain to this discussion.

The upshot is, all surgery carries risks. Even "dieting" carries risks. Remaining obese carries risks. We all have to make our own best choices.

Actually I can think of one reason more people=higher percentage of slipping, and that is that more people (and YOUNGER people) with less to lose are getting the band, (the infamous band mills, for example) ANYONE who gets banded and doesn't scrupulously follow the post op diet (as recommended by Lap Band) is more at risk for slips.

I am NOT saying all slips are the fault of the patient. BUT statistics are great only to a point. Since we don't have the source of wasabubble's data (again am not implying you are lying because I am sure you aren't, Wasa!) it's impossible to judge the validity, or whether that figure is even germain to this discussion.

The upshot is, all surgery carries risks. Even "dieting" carries risks. Remaining obese carries risks. We all have to make our own best choices.

I had the links at one time from Inamed. I had the links to their web pages. Then they removed the numbers and replaced it with something to the effect of ... banding shows almost as much weight loss as bypass.

Dr. Curry may still have access to old website pages, he's on OH LB boards.

I think there are a few reasons for more slips.

Newbie doctors going through their learning curve.

US doctors changing the post op diet vs. what the seasoned doctors use as well as the manufacturers suggest.

People not understanding the reasoning for the post op diet and therefore not doing it (non compliance).

Band mills not telling people what they need to know to be successful.

Actually I can think of one reason more people=higher percentage of slipping, and that is that more people (and YOUNGER people) with less to lose are getting the band, (the infamous band mills, for example) ANYONE who gets banded and doesn't scrupulously follow the post op diet (as recommended by Lap Band) is more at risk for slips.

I am NOT saying all slips are the fault of the patient. BUT statistics are great only to a point. Since we don't have the source of wasabubble's data (again am not implying you are lying because I am sure you aren't, Wasa!) it's impossible to judge the validity, or whether that figure is even germain to this discussion.

The upshot is, all surgery carries risks. Even "dieting" carries risks. Remaining obese carries risks. We all have to make our own best choices.

Not to mention, along the same vein as band mills, all the idiot doctors jumping on the wagon who have no freaking idea of how to manage a lapband.

I seriously think, and cane me for it if you like, that the approach to the band by many of the doctors is just fraught with problems. Take fluoro for example. In Australia we dont use this. Most people go along and get small conservative fills regularly. Filling a band to complete blocked off point whilst viewing it, then backing off to just prior may get you to super restriction a fair bit faster. But the trouble is, what goes through in that five minutes on the screen no longer goes through 12 hours later when the swelling has set in. Then starts the fill unfill procedure, all without the stomach really settling, so reflux, vomiting etc ensure. So out comes ALL the fill. Should let things settle right? Only when time comes to refill, back out come the big guns for the big super aggressive fill and wow, surprise surprise, the whole cycle starts over.

Now I know people have had problems with good doctors looking after them. I am not making a blanket generalisation here on all band problems. But it is blindingly obvious from this forum alone that medical mismanagement is one major reason for problems.

Not to mention the fact that if you are going to eat only 1/2 a cup of food, then you need to be pretty freaking tight. Too tight I'd say. When you eat mainly Protein, you have to keep it to half a cup because protein is calorie dense. Wholegrains carbs fruit and vegies though - filled with Water and air. Same calories gram for gram as protein but filled with water and air which fills tummies. Which means if you include those foods, you can be a LOT looser (hey, no reflux, wow) because you can eat half a cup of them and maybe 1/4 of a cup of the protein food and wow, same calories, but looser band! There's a post on this board right this minute, from someone who professes being a doctor, advising bandsters not to eat salad because its worthless and will take up space that should be saved for protein. :thumbup: I'm sorry but that's just completely stupid. How about we leave a bit of stomach space for both? Maybe I'm delusional thinking that might be sensible?

That's just Jachut's personal theory. I dont pretend to be a doctor, I dont insist I'm right, I only know this approach works for me, is way more commonly the approach taken in Australia and appears to work for ALL the bandsters I know in real life, and none of us has exploded into gigantic fat marshmallows from eating bread.

I'll finish my rant by saying again, i agree, the band is not for everone and the sleeve is promising to be a very effective surgery that has less inherent maintenance and problems. It is worthwhile investigating for anyone considering WLS.

Can someone just answer me though - if you can stretch out a GBP or DS pouch and regain weight, and the sleeve is just the first half of a DS, then why cant you stretch out a sleeve pouch?

WOW!!! :mad2: What an interesting conversation. I am very appreciative to all for their input.

I don't think my doctor was trying to scare or intimidate me. I think she was trying to make sure I had heard the bad about the band because there is so much good out there. She is right about the commercials making it sound too easy. I am not worried that my surgeon is pushing me towards one surgery or another for money reasons. I belong to Kaiser and their doctors get paid a salary no matter what procedure so I believe there are no motivations in that direction. To be honest even with all the reading and searching I had done I was not aware of so many problems with the band. I am very aware of the problems with gastric bypass but the band info was a bit more on the positive side which is partly why I was leaning towards the band.

I have my physc appointment today and after that will be able to get my surgery scheduled. I have to do something. I have lost weight and rebounded my entire adult life and am definelty ready to take a major step to stop the cycle. It is a matter of choice of whether I want to rearrange my insides or have a foreign object in my body. At this point I am leaning towards the rearranging, at least those are all my parts.

This has been an eye opening experience for me at the least. I will be going forward from here and all I can do is hope for the best.

Thanks

Dawn

I just had my band unfilled for just the reason you stated Jachut.

I was down to less then a cup of food except at night and then only just over a cup. But it pretty much had to be all Protein this way, and for me, it was much harder to eat. It was so much harder to manage the food going in, without getting stuck, and it instantly became harder to manage getting the food out, the other end (poopy).

On top of all those problems, my weight loss came to a stop. I decided to have a little fill taken back out, in hopes of returning to where I was, when eating was a little more self control, but easier to actually do.

I heard just the oposite! My cardiologist, who is not a fan of weight loss surgery to begin with, feels that the band is the safer way to go. The complications are not a severe as with by pass surgery and in a lot of cases the complications of the band are because the person didn't follow post op instructions and diet.

I heard just the oposite! My cardiologist, who is not a fan of weight loss surgery to begin with, feels that the band is the safer way to go. The complications are not a severe as with by pass surgery and in a lot of cases the complications of the band are because the person didn't follow post op instructions and diet.

I agree that banding is "safer" than bypass but bands and bypass are not the only surgery types out there. The sleeve is safer than either bands or bypass long term.

Well, I listen to the guy who works on my car, tell me how I should fix my house all of the time.

Just because someone is a doctor doesn't mean they really know anything about the different WLS options out there now, and what the risks are associated with each type. In fact, many know less then the average person does after a good couple of days of research.

wow. I'm amazed (though in my line of work, i shouldn't be) at how many bad surgeons are out there. Mine is very well respected, has done tons of RNYs and Bands (he's mid 50's, the perfect age to be cutting me in the opinion of my attorney, who happens to be me)-- he put on no pressure for either procedure, even though he charges about 5k more for the bypass. This is the kind of guy who is booked ahead by almost 5 months, because he's THE guy in the Pittsburgh area...

He talked to me about what kind of eater I am, and outlined the things needed for success with the band--- he said only rarely did he try and push an option that wasn't what the patient had in mind---because in his experience, most people know what is going on and what they want well before they see him. He will advise them to go the other way when he thinks they are making the wrong choice, but told me that happens less than 10% of the time for him.

Glad I got my guy---this thread was making me apprehensive about tomorrow--- but my group has been in existence for quite a while, is a "center of excellence" --and has experience with the band back to US clinical trials. I've been told that even 5 years out, they've seen very few coplications, and that they are very proactive about fixing things when they do go wrong.

My surgeon said that from what he has seen, that the band is the safer way to go.

everyone is different, but i'm damned glad i'm in good hands, and intend on following the post op to the letter.

both my mom and my aunt passed away from problems that happend after they had their gastric bypass back in the 90's. I and going to go with the band because if it goes bad i can get it removed and be back to normal.... there is no going back from a gastric bybass.

Sleeves, RNY, bypass, lap band, etc.

All of these are surgery. All of these have dire risks if done improperly. All of these can work or not work.

A Lap band implant is the quickest of the options. Because of this, there are a lot of doctors out there setting up high volume "band mills" geared around quick surgical turnaround.

Equalize away the hack doctors jumping on the "bandwagon" and I personally believe the band is the safest of all possible surgeries long term, simply due to it being the least invasive and not going down the malabsorption path.

Bottom line? Whatever WLS you choose, use the best doctor you can find. It amazes me to read about surgery decisions made solely on best possible price. Some people research the shampoo they use more than the doctor they pick.

Sleeves, RNY, bypass, lap band, etc.

All of these are surgery. All of these have dire risks if done improperly. All of these can work or not work.

A Lap band implant is the quickest of the options. Because of this, there are a lot of doctors out there setting up high volume "band mills" geared around quick surgical turnaround.

Equalize away the hack doctors jumping on the "bandwagon" and I personally believe the band is the safest of all possible surgeries long term, simply due to it being the least invasive and not going down the malabsorption path.

Bottom line? Whatever WLS you choose, use the best doctor you can find. It amazes me to read about surgery decisions made solely on best possible price. Some people research the shampoo they use more than the doctor they pick.

The actual surgery for the band is safer but long term the sleeve is safer. Much fewer risks and complications.

Totally agree with you about the band mills!

The actual surgery for the band is safer but long term the sleeve is safer. Much fewer risks and complications.

Totally agree with you about the band mills!

Actually my point was that long term effects are primarily keyed off of the quality of the surgeon and not the type of procedure.

For example, check out this web site. I wouldn't buy a ShamWow from this hard-sell clown college.

- The Mini Gastric Bypass

There are Sleeve Mills and Bypass Mills just like there are Band Mills.

PS to "clos.net": Since you like to take our out-of-context quotes from lapbandtalk and use them without our permission to imply that lap band surgery is deadly and ineffective, I'm giving you permission to use this post on your site as well. :thumbup:

Actually my point was that long term effects are primarily keyed off of the quality of the surgeon and not the type of procedure.

For example, check out this web site. I wouldn't buy a ShamWow from this hard-sell clown college.

- The Mini Gastric Bypass

There are Sleeve Mills and Bypass Mills just like there are Band Mills.

PS to "clos.net": Since you like to take our out-of-context quotes from lapbandtalk and use them without our permission to imply that lap band surgery is deadly and ineffective, I'm giving you permission to use this post on your site as well. :thumbup:

It's both, it's the surgeon and the device. The best surgeon in the whole world can't change the problems of the device. The long term affects of the band have nothing to do with surgeon skill. Esophageal damage, stoma spasms, slips, band intolerance... those are not surgeon issues. Those are a direct result of the band.

MGB is a horror. That's another procedure that the best surgeon in the world isn't going to make the problems of that type of surgery better.