I was scheduled to be banded next week until last night I decided to look at the before and after pics, and gave myself cold feet.

I was startled by the number of people posting there that have since (noticed the updates in signatures) had slips, erosions, needed a new band, "upgraded" to the sleeve or RNY, etc. It seemed to me, it was more common than not to have some sort of complication and additional surgery following the initial band for those people that got it in 2004-05.

I got so diseartened and scared, I called my doctor and cancelled my surgery today

What exactly is the average lifespan of a band?

What % of patients are still happy bandsters 5 years down the road?

Do people being banded today have better odds at band success than those being banded 5 years ago (since it's more common, more practiced doctors)?

The thought of losing this weight of my own, without the tool of WLS for support, is overwhelming. I have been dieting or "changing my lifestyle" for the past 15 years at least and all I have to show for it is an extra 80 lbs on my body.

But the thought of going thousands of dollars in debt (yay for self-pay!) for a surgery that will only work as intended for 2-3 years....

I feel so ambivalent about the surgery now... I wonder if I chickened out over isolated, rare, incidents or if my impression was correct.

Can someone point me to some information (either studies, statistics, or personal stories) about actual long term results with this surgery?

All I can say to this post is "WOW"! The thread took on a life of it's own! Before I had my band, I felt the same way you did and also researched into the long-term effects of the band. I didn't find alot of info and it is hard to find anyone with 10 years or more with a band. I did post a thread asking what was the longest anyone on this forum had the lapband, I will go back and see if I can find that information.

There has been some good advice posted on this thread, after you weed out the bickering. Just follow your heart, do your homework and remember that no road to weight loss is easy! Also, anything worth having requires a little work!

So far, so good with the band! Best of luck to you!

I have no problem with debate and disagreement. I am thrilled whenever there is peer-reviewed information shared. Statistics excite me. I love seeing fellow RNs sharing accurate health-related information.

I just find the snarkiness and condescension to be kind of contrary to the stated purpose of the board. I would think it more productive to share information without the digs.

You have a lovely evening, too :thumbup:

But I did share factual information and ASMBS studies. What's the problem? Nurse09 told me my surgery was proven ineffective, that is false information. She wrote that the band is the most effective WLS type on the market today. That was wrong. She wrote one wrong piece of information after another. As a fellow nurse are you suggesting we should just let it go and let people think the wrong information is correct?

Just been doing some reading over at the VSG board . From what I read it appeared that some of the issues banded people experience can also be experienced by sleeved people.

The one which surprised me was that sleeved people can also get that stuck sensation and have to bring food back up as it won't go down. I thought this was a problem with the band that wasn't experienced with the sleeve and that it was due to the small stoma that the band creates.So why do sleeved people have this problem as well.

Can someone please explain for me.

Thanks

Just been doing some reading over at the VSG board . From what I read it appeared that some of the issues banded people experience can also be experienced by sleeved people.

The one which surprised me was that sleeved people can also get that stuck sensation and have to bring food back up as it won't go down. I thought this was a problem with the band that wasn't experienced with the sleeve and that it was due to the small stoma that the band creates.So why do sleeved people have this problem as well.

Can someone please explain for me.

Thanks

Coming out of surgery your sleeved stomach is the size of a cigar. If you eat a piece of steak and don't chew well, something bigger than your stomach it can feel stuck. But after your stomach stretches out to a small banana in 4-6 months it's not a problem anymore.

There is a learning curve to all WLS types.

Thanks for explaining that.

Excellent work on this reply thread

I'd like to personally thank YOU for taking the time and effort.

And kiddos for editing. Even though those whose only replies are to attack a misspelled word (auto correct does that too often).