Leaderboard

I've had great success with the lapband. I do attend a practice in melbourne that is run by Prof. Paul O'Brien who is one of the band's pioneers. Their aftercare plan and their dietary guidelines are simple. Eat 3 meals a day (small Snacks if you really are hungry), come in regularly for checkups, get fills on consultation with your doctor - and the schedule and amount differs for everyone - settle in for slow but steady loss and never accept vomiting, reflux, night coughing as normal. Eat a normal diet - from all food groups, dont eat sliders, no need to cut carbs, obsess over Protein or avoid the occasional treat. Exercise regularly. Even thought that sounds simple, of course there are people who have the troubles you're experiencing. The band doesnt suit everyone and getting just the right restriction can be tricky - many people go back and forth from too tight to too loose and cant find just the right amount, I've even come close to having that sort of trouble myself since having my band unfilled totally for a big surgery, cant get the restriction I had, but I know I"m getting close to tight. So....... I know I have to work with what I have. The band takes a lot of work, if you let it it will help you eat the right things in the right portions but you are ALWAYS going to have to have self control to not overeat bad foods, which all too often go down very easily. If you expect it to literally stop you eating too much or eating the wrong things you are going to be very disappointed. It also doesnt result in very fast weight loss, its more slow and steady and it does require exercise as well as diet. It sounds to me like you'd be better off workign with the lesser restriction to the best of your ability and stop looking for the band to give you complete control. And if you cant do that, as many cant, this is a complex disease that has emotional and physical elements to it, then perhaps you might be able to look into a differnet surgery that might suit you and your issues better. The band does tend to work very well for lower BMI patients with eating habits not too out of control (which is what I was) and who are able to put in reasonably intense and regular exercise. This is not the situation many morbidly obese people find themselves in and the band is not always the right choice.

Congrats!!!!! and Good luck

I am so sorry that you have had a bad experience with the band. Sounds like you need to get a whole new doctor's practice. wow! no one should have to deal with all that drama. My fills take less than a minute also, the rest of the time we discuss my diet, how I am feeling. my fills are done with my surgeon's nurse practioner, who has been doing this for a long time. my port is deep, but she finds it with no issue and after a fill, has me drink water to make sure it goes down fine, with no pooling in my throat. they do fills slowly so you not have to make trips for fills/unfills. I with i could give you a doctor to go to,but don't know anyone out your way. I wish you the best and hope things get better for you.

OK, I am not a long term bandster, so I dont even know if you would want or value my opinion. I have only been banded for 3 months. But I have to say from reading your post that I totally agree with what Corrigan and Elcee are saying. It sounds like it is not the actual band that is the problem but perhaps the doctors and the surgical center that you are using. This is a major life change. I was told by my insurance company that they would pay 100% of the costs if I used a particular hospital that they were affiliated with and they would only pay 80% if I used the one that I wanted to. I opted to pay the extra money instead of going with the hospital they wanted me to use because I had done extensive research on my doctor and the facility and I also knew some patients personally that had great experiences with them. It was worth it to me to pay a little extra and get the care and service that I was comfortable with. It has definitely been well worth it as I have had nothing but a great experience. My weight has been dropping off at a very consistent pace and I feel absolutely wonderful. I have not thrown up one time or gotten stuck or felt bad. in fact I feel fantastic! But before I could have the surgery they required that I become well educated on the process to make sure it was a success. I had to visit the nutritionist, go to educational seminars to teach me what I would need to know about the surgery and the after care, how to eat and drink with the band, etc. They also required that I had to attend a support group meeting prior to surgery. My doctor personnally called my house a couple of times over the weekend after my surgery to check on how I was doing. So I say all this to make a couple of points about your post! First, I am so sorry that you are having a bad experience. I feel really bad for you that you are having to go through all of this. Perhaps you could find another facility to go to and change doctors. I would caution you though that your statement about not recommending banding to ANYONE is pretty strong. There are just as many great success stories out there as there are bad experiences. The band has changed a lot of peoples lives in a very positive way! Surely you know this too or you would not have decided to get it in the first place. I would recommend it to my friends in family in a heartbeat with the condition that they are knowledgeable about what they are getting into before making the decision and that they are fully committed to the dedication and work that comes with it to make it successful. I wish you the best of luck and hope that you can feel better soon!!

I don't know if this is a legitimate post or not, but as with plastic surgeons, weight loss surgeons are not all created equal. Some are a great deal better than others. In my opinion, anyone contemplating WLS in other than a Center of Excellence is taking a great chance with their future. Of course there are excellent surgeons that are not CoEs, but which ones? Anyone who undergoes WLS without doing adequate research is just jumping in the pool without checking if there's any water. How in the world would anyone allow a surgeon, advertising on a billboard, to operate on them without a thorough investigation? Is there any wonder why these surgeries fail? No pre or post op care? Come on.

I'm not sure about this poster. I am sure I have read an almost identical post somewhere before.It seems as though this has been copied and just tweaked a bit but I could be wrong. Just something seems slightly strange but maybe it's just the cynic in me coming out.

I would say that your eyes are deceiving you.