marrakesh

Hi all, I've been lurking for a while and wanted to finally de-lurk and ask for some help. I've been banded nearly 3 years and have lost 25-35 kg /55-77 lbs(depends on several factors!). My surgeon wanted me to lose at least 50kg /110 lbs (ie, 2/3rds of my excess weight), so I am a way off. The problem is that I've had some quite ghastly psychological problems which I think are related to the band. Facing a few situations over the last 18 months and not having food to fall back on resulted in me having a horrible depressive episode/nervous breakdown late in 2005. I've spent all of 2006 seeing a psychologist and my doctor regularly and I finally feel like I'm back on track. And now I think I really want my band removed. I feel deprived, short-changed and generally annoyed. I haven't brought this up with my dr or psychologist yet (it's Summer here in Australia, everyone's on holiday, including me!) but I wanted to seek opinions from people who've been there done that. I guess my biggest question is - if I get the band removed, can I revert to eating anything easily? Does the band area have scarring that essentially means I'll have restriction anyway? It's not like I want to eat everything in sight. I want to have a salad sandwich for lunch, be able to have dinner with friends and not have to worry when nothing on the menu looks band-friendly, etc. And we all know that the junk slides down really easily! I've written a heap here and it's only the tip of the iceberg, really, but I won't bore you all with that! I'm also going to be away from computer access for a few days (how will I survive??) so if you are kind enough to respond, please don't feel I'm ignoring you. I look forward to any insights you have! marrakesh.

Fabulous Jennifer! What great advice you got. Yay you!

Karenb, that is just a tremendous post! Good for your for finding a way to make it work, especially given all your other considerations. Makes me feel like a bit of a whiner.... Jennifer, I agree that this board is so supportive, even when things go wrong. (Which is when we need the most help, right?) I'm really going to be thinking hard the next few weeks.

Go Jennifer! That's very cool and I'm excited for you!

This has been a great thread for me - I've posted in "life after lap-band removal" about maybe getting my band removed, for all of the reasons mentioned above. (http://www.lapbandtalk.com/new-and-seeking-t28099.html, if you'd like to see). I really appreciate the responses above and it's very encouraging. I'd also like to say to the OP that maybe you could stop thinking of "diet", but aim more for health? Good food, exercise, and the occasional "whatever floats your boat". Not that I can talk...!

Hi everyone, Thanks again for the encouraging posts (and the nifty info about Sharon Osbourne!). I just came from an appointment with a surgeon (not the one who did my band, but another guy in the same practice). He was supportive of whatever I choose to do, but he did encourage me to keep the band and have a good think. I got him to take out the fill I had (about 1.5 cc) and I'm going to have a barium swallow test next week to rule out any physical problem with the band. I've just had dinner and it didn't exactly slide down so I think I have some restriction even with no fill. I'm going to see him again in 3 weeks, and meanwhile have the barium test, see my doc and psych, and do some thinking. I guess that seeing as I have the band, it would be better to work with it rather than go all out to remove it... I dunno. Anyway, thanks again and I'll try to post (and read!) more often.

Thanks everyone for your words of wisdom. I have spent the last year under the care of a psychologist and I have a much better idea of why I eat/ate junk now - and as someone mentioned, it's about caring about myself. I'm still thinking, though, and will of course need to talk it over with my various doctors. I just really wish I'd met my psychologist before the band. She's been fabulous and I've learnt more about myself and why I eat/how not to eat than I have with the band making me feel socially awkward.... Oh well, I'll have to see how things go. Thanks again, everyone, you're all wonderful.