NewLife'sGr8

I don't watch The View, maybe caught a couple episodes when it debut's. I thought the whole premise of the show was to get women of varying ages and varying opinions, to speak on certain topics so the public could realize there are a wide range of opinions on any given subject out there. I thought it was up to each individual watching to take the discussion, to form their own opinions.. I was banded in '09. due ortho injuries resulting in multiple surgeries, I wanted to have enough nutrients to heal well. I requested a slow. gradual fill which I'd hoped would coincide with the end of surgeries. 8 surgeries in 4 yrs; 2 with lots of blood loss that rendered me unknowingly, extremely enimic. It hasn't been easy but I did lose 100lbs in those 4 yrs. In 2013, I experienced band complications of my own doing- picked up smoking cigs after 5yrs smoke-free, due to extreme mega- stress. The stress inflamed the band site. Smoking inflamed the band site, Alcohol increase inflamed the band site & a too-tight adjustment following the last of my surgeries further complicated already well-inflamed band site. I ended up awake all night with those uber annoying, hacking, night coughs. Then, the acid reflux. Burning all the way up my esophagus to my throat-OW! Then on top of the cough wake ups, I began also waking up an additional 2-3x's a night, vomiting blood that pooled in my tummy from the acid. I had the band loosened & gained 15lbs in 4 mos. The gastric symptoms were treated with omniprozole & some other liquid tummy med & it healed nicely. The PA put back 1cc and it seems ok though there are nights I still cough all night. Still trying to figure out the new sweet spot. I've lost 10 of the 15lbs I'd gained so am now @ 95lbs lost, 5yrs out. Even with all that, I'm not considering tossing the band and giving up. I'm pretty confident that once my mind's in a place where I have reduced that mega-stress enough to stop quitting smoking again, my tummy will stop being so inflamed & the band will again do its' job. I have 25-30lbs to lose to get to my goal weight. I'm not offended by Rosie's comments @ all. It is what it is. My PA informed me the band has had a low success rate in general; that I'm an exception to the rule. So what! I'm glad I'm still in the 50% group of band successes. I took Rosie's comments with a grain of salt; it's just her opinion based on whatever she knew @ that point in time. We've all done research to chose whichever WLS we get. What I discovered that informed my decision to get banded would probably offend the sleeve & RNY people. Who cares? We're all in this together, learning as we go, even Rosie. Anyone who makes their WLS decision based solely on "Rosie said..." should maybe consider a lobotomy instead of WLS, IMHO.