donali

I joined this group in 2003 when I was banded. I would be very surprised if more than 5 of the original members still had their bands. :-( kerrib, I think it's time for you to have an endoscopy, if you haven't already. Donali

Condolences on your band loss. As far as what you can do when the hunger monster returns... The same old things we tried before. Water load, vegetable load, solid Proteins, exercise... That still didn't stop me from regaining 133 pounds. I had to get sleeved to regain control. Wishing you good luck. Donali

I was banded for 18 months, started at 303 got down to 200. Band removed 7/04 due to 40% erosion, gained back to 333 from 7/04 to 08/09. Vertical Sleeve done 8/14/09, down to 197ish depending on the day. Once my band was removed my hunger kicked back in to pre-band levels. :-( I feel like my band controlled my hunger better than my sleeve, but I'm still restricted enough (apparently) to achieve the same results. I did have a rocky time at the beginning of my sleeve journey due to a self-contained leak and spent the month of November in the hospital, but all is good now. Without the help of the band most people will not be able to maintain their weightloss - depressing, but true. No different than going off a "diet". That being said, there are those rare folks who are able to manage it. Best of luck - Donali

Hi - I am assuming that your doc removed all the Fluid in your band? That's usually the first step in a slip, with hopes that the slip will correct itself. Erosions generally are asymptomatic until there is no restriction whatsoever. I was 40% eroded and felt no differently from the day I got my band - no pain, no loss of restriction, nothing. I don't know the stats between a slip becoming an erosion, but I have not heard of any correlations there. Erosions can only be reliably diagnosed by endoscopy. Good luck!\ Donali Banded 1/23/03, debanded 7/04 due to 40% erosion VSG 8/14/09

Hey, Bright!! Whatever happened with your band? Hopefully all is well and you are back on track! Sorry Ireland didn't happen this year, but a friend and I are determined to Celebrate our 50th birthdays there, so sometime early 2011 is the goal. I see crazy fares right now for slightly more than $600! xxoo

Hey, Megan!! Time for your 6 year update!! I miss you! Hope you're doing well, and met your goal!

I loved my band, had a great experience. I was one of the lucky ones where my hunger was absolutely under control. Bread, rice and pasta were hard to eat, so those items were mostly eliminated from my diet. If I *really* wanted those things I could have them, but they were hard to eat and I had to go very slowly. Same thing with rubbery foods like shellfish - I could eat it, but it wasn't fun (or tasty). If I hadn't eroded I imagine I would still be banded today, pretty much at goal, and loving life. Unfortunately, in spite of being a model bandster, my band *did* erode, and I had to have it removed. I am now sleeved, and wish I had done this from the beginning (if I'd been sleeved to begin with, I would have saved $17,000+ dollars, avoided two major surgeries, and avoided 2 twilight procedures). Make no mistake - I loved my band. It did everything I expected it to do, and I lost 103 pounds with it *effortlessly*. I was in heaven! Until it all went south on me. So, hind sight is 20/20 they say. If I could do it all over, and if I could have known then what I know now, I would have been sleeved to begin with. But I didn't know. I chose the procedure that I thought was safest and least invasive with still a chance of a good outcome if I were willing to put in some effort to change my eating habits in response to better controlled hunger. I wish my band had been a permanent procedure (in that it worked exactly as it was supposed to with no complications). It's good that it's reversable, though, since the chance of complications is much higher than advertised (IMHO). After my band was removed I had a lot of scar tissue where the band had been placed and eroded and repaired. I would still ocassionally get "stuck", but I did not have the added benefit of true restriction, or reduced hunger. So my 103 pounds came back, plus 30 of their previously unknown friends. Thank goodness my Mom was able to lend me the $$ to be sleeved. I don't think I could have lived another year at 333lbs - every day I could feel myself literally dying a little more.

After my port repositioning, I don't recall the band interfering with my singing. Bear in mind my singing (while paid) is very low key, and not professionally operatic (I'm a paid church soloist). I do a solo once a month, and sing with the choir one service a week. For a true professional who's doing shows 5 days a week, I couldn't say how it might affect them. If you haven't been banded yet, I would highly recommend you consider the sleeve instead. No maintenance, no foreign object near your diaphragm, no chance of erosion...

Rosario, you have my condolences on the loss of your band, and having to go through another surgery. My band removal was a much easier recovery than my band placement - that missing 103 pounds really helped, I think! Are you really having no restriction from your eroded band? I regained all my weight plus 30 pounds after my band was removed. It took me five years, but once my normal hunger kicked back in I was fighting a "losing" battle. I just got sleeved on 8/14/09, and am already down 38 pounds from my highest. Wish I had been sleeved to begin with! Best of luck, and keep us posted. Donali

LEATHA!!! OMG! How the heck ARE you?!?! Okay, you already answered that, but it's so good to see you! Congrats on your reaching goal and then some - I hope you are able to put back on the weight you need. If you need any tips on gaining weight I'd probably be a good person to ask... lol Now that I look back, I think, "What was I thinking when I chose the band???" Did I honestly think that I would have that device in me for the next 40 years? I guess I did. Hopefully I won't think the same about my sleeve once it's done... lol

Thanks for everyone's replies. MacMadame, you made me smile. I used to be one of the top posters here many years ago, but once I lost my band it was just too hard to keep coming back, particularly when the weight started piling back on in spite of all of my good intentions and knowledge. Elisabethsew, I'll PM WasA. I did some research on other surgeons, but am self-pay, and wasn't sure I wanted to do another surgery in Mexico. Pleatman had the best self-pay prices I found for the states, plus he includes all the pre-op testing in the price, and has hundreds of VSGs and RnYs under his belt. He has also always answered my emails to him personally and promptly (I contacted him several years ago when I started thinking about the sleeve). But more info is always welcome. Tiffykins, that sideways port is torture. I could not get mine respositioned myself, and boy-oh-boy did it smart! I can't imagine doing it on my day out of surgery! Yikes! Thanks for the well wishes, and I send them back to you for your own revision. Oregondaisy, nice to meet you! Dr. Pleatman has taken his share of knocks on the board, but I always thought it was nice that he tried to answer some questions. The board has evolved quite a bit since he first joined - we didn't used to have ads back then, so docs posting on the board initially weren't exactly welcomed with open arms. Ruthi, are you being rebanded or revising to something else? Thanks again for all of the support!

Amen, BJean. It is up to all of us to protect the rights of everyone. It wasn't that long ago that it was illegal for blacks to marry whites, and if you put THAT to a vote in some areas of the country, it still wouldn't be allowed. The majority doesn't count when it comes to protecting civil rights - that's the whole point of minority protection. It's just a matter of time before these final discriminations fall away (the younger generation cares less and less about these kinds of discriminations, and tend not to support them), but in the meantime there are real people suffering the effects of this last bastion of bigotry. Equality for all can't come soon enough.