Hi Dublinbandgirl,
I have the same questions as yourself and will attempt to give you my point of view. I haven't had the procedure myself yet because I'm giving exercise and diet one more try. However I will review in the new year.
1.Price: Yes it looks cheap in comparison to say the hospital group. However it appears that medical care in Belgium is a lot cheaper in general. It did cause suspicion in the beginning but I haven't heard any horror stories on this site so far and as you probably know bad news travels faster than good.
2. The BMI of 30 is annoyingly low and 4 stone seems doable. However my view is that my overall health will suffer if I don't act (lose weight) somehow. So my advice is to do something.
3. Work Environment: I worked in a pizza factory for a year and put up 3 stone. So long term even with the band you still have to change your behavior. You should maybe consider changing work environments.
4. Low Self Esteem: This is probably the main reason you are having problems losing weight. For the last 3 years I have suffered from depression and anxiety. Losing job, business, home and relationship all at the same time, I piled on the weight. I'm addressing those issues for the last 6 months and I have stopped putting on weight thankfully.
I hope you make the right decision. The main thing is that you address the emotional and behavioral issues first. Losing weight is only a process (by what ever means). The operation will not succeed if the skeletons are still in the cupboard.
Finally, one thing that bothers me about this forum is that there are no bad stories. I'd like to see the down side (which I am sure there are a few)
Good Luck