I had my band placed about 7 years ago at a university hospital. A couple of years after it was placed my physician's nurse practitioner shared with me (off the record of course) that the physician had submitted my records as some interesting show of a failed lap band. My band was filled up capacity yet he could not understand how I was able to eat untoasted bread, large amounts of food, and everything else I shouldn't have been able to do. While I did not gain weight, I didn't lose any either since I was doing the exact same things I was doing prior to the surgery. What a disappointed which was compounded by the fact that I'd paid for the surgery myself after my insurance company repeatedly refused to pay. I "only" had 85-90 pounds to use and no horrible disease...yet. When the surgery failed to produce any results and my physician apologized, told me he'd never seen such a complete failure, assured me he'd placed the band perfectly (quite naturally!), and reminded me that he'd made me no promises, I decided that I needed to do what I knew I could do on my own. I buckled down and over the course of the past 6 years or so (2 years after the band was placed) I have slowly lost 85 lbs. I've never had a useful band and hate I wasted my money. Recently I've had a tummy tuck and lipo of my thighs and back. What bothers me more than anything now is this port that sticks up out if my belly that u can see if I wear a fitted tee shirt. What can I do??? Is removing the band strictly for cosmetic reasons an option?
