iluvbears42@yahoo.com

I am saying this with love. Surgery doesn't fix us. It only limits what we can eat at one sitting and if you go back to your old ways then you will gain weight back. Your stomach will stretch right back out. You have to always weigh your food. I have had my band for 9 years. Tired of it. It never kept me from being hungry. Converting to the sleeve. Can't wait to get this nightmare out of me.

I have had mine for nine years. Going to the sleeve hopefully as soon as my insurance approves it. Same with me. last three years hell. Was living life and loving life then one day I just started vomiting. My insurance would not pay to have the band removed so my surgeon just unfilled it. I have lived on liquids for the most part once in a while I get a good meal in but even empty its still tight. He said most bands are an 80 percent failure rate by year ten. I have gained all my weight back but I can't eat healthy. Its the most ridiculous thing in the world. Good luck with your removal. I would not just have mine removed without converting. Life has been pretty miserable.

The only thing I can tell you is be happy they caught it instead of being a statistic. I don't know why your surgeon would even do the surgery without being cleared by cardiology and the fact that you are on blood pressure meds. Is he willing to do the surgery without being paid again. That would suck totally. But you are still here which is a plus to me.

You may be going through surgical depression. If it is lasting more then a month I would talk to your doctor. Your body has been through a big change.

I was researching vitamin patches and what I thought was true. Vitamin patches can not be absorbed by the skin. This is what I found. When we heard about ‘multivitamin patches’ that were being marketed to bariatric patients, we were skeptical because we remember the ‘spray vitamins’ similarly targeting us a few years back that turned out to be bogus – the FDA and Attorney General of several states thought so too. We consulted with experts regarding ‘patch multivitamins’, all of whom emphatically said that none of the claims made by the patch company were true. Not a single word. They even underscored that what these companies are proposing is biochemically impossible, as the skin is a very good seal against water soluble organics, which is why you can’t get drunk on alcohol through your skin. It’s also a good barrier against ion transfer, or else a few hours in the ocean would dehydrate and kill you. Think of all the things you come in contact with during your day – if these materials passed through the skin, it could in many instances mean death. Most vitamins and minerals fall into these two categories and anybody claiming nutrient absorption through a known protective barrier had better produce studies to back it up – burden of proof is upon the patch companies, as their claims go against widely accepted and well known medical facts. One pharmacological expert went further to say that the people responsible for the bariatric vitamin patches ‘are either willfully fraudulent or just plain stupid, but either way are a second away from an FDA Warning Letter or FTC action’. Use your judgement and please be careful of this kind of stuff. You cannot fit the entire world of nutrition in a single pill. It does not make sense that you could tape a packet of pulverized vitamins to your arm and have all that material magically move through your skin and into your body. You cannot absorb the amount of minerals needed after bariatric surgery through a ‘sticker’. People who have had bariatric surgery are often looking for something easy and defend this product because they want to believe. People cite nicotine, birth control and other medications used as prescribed treatments via patch dose – the difference is that the highly specialized transdermal medication patches available via prescription, are for tiny amount of drugs, not several teaspoons of organic minerals. There is no comparison. If you’d like to be compliant, there is no easy way out, you must swallow capsules or chew tablets. There is no magic pill and certainly no magic spray or sticker.

https://www.bariatriceating.com/2016/06/faq-vitamin-patches-bad/

I am a lapband patient getting the sleeve sometime in the next few weeks. I don't have a date yet but doing my preops so I can get this miserable thing out of my stomach. I will be happy not to throw up every day of my life with an empty band and still have tight restriction. I am nervous but hopeful I wont have any issues.

Yes it does. Maybe I should have went to the lapband forum lol. Yes I am very nervous but glad someone has had a great outcome. Thank you.

I have had the lap band for 9 years and it does not like my body any longer and has to be removed. I did very well with it but because of the complications of the band it has to come out. My surgeon said because of my issues he would do the bypass but I refused and it was the sleeve or nothing just get this band out of me. How many of you have went from lap band to sleeve and have you experienced any issues. How many of you were sorry to do either. I just want experienced people. No I didn't fail my band. No I did not go off my diet. Yes I followed all the rules to the T. My band is just old and needs to be removed. They have found that at ten years the band has an 80% failure rate. I am really unsure if I want to do another weight loss surgery.

After nine years with my band it has to come out. I dont have a surgery date but I am getting the sleeve done. My surgeon doesn't even like doing the lapband anymore because at ten years there is an 80 percent failure rate. My band failed me. But I am really glad to be getting it out. I have been one sick cookie with this thing over the last year. Insurance wouldn't pay to get it out before now.

If you normally don't crave sugar I would see a doctor and find out if you have an infection somewhere. I crave sugar big time especially if I have a urinary tract infection. Its worth looking in to.

I just came here today to say my piece about band life. I had my lap band placed in 2009. The first five years were heaven. I never got a fill until a year out and got down to 160lbs. I only had 3cc's total in my band. For months at the five year mark I started vomiting. I could not eat solids they were coming right back up. I thought well maybe I will just try liquids for a few days and it went on for months. (Because I am Irishly stubborn) I started having abdominal pain one night and could not stop vomiting. Went the ER they did a cat scan my band was in place but every lymph node in my abdomen was inflamed. There was also an unknown etiology inside my band and referred me to see my gastro. Lucky enough I had an appointment with him the following Monday because I had, had enough of this crap. The constant vomiting. Then came the labs. My tumor markers were high which he assumed I had lymphoma. He scheduled and endoscopy for that same week and inside my band was a blueberry that had petrified and as he placed air it would move from my stoma and when he stopped it would fall back into the stoma. The impression of my lap band was seen easily so he told me to go get it unfilled immediately it was too tight. I thought how could it be too tight with only 3cc's in it. He removed the blueberry and he said he would repeat the cat scan in three months and by a month and a half later I called him and I just couldn't wait. So fast forward I did not have lymphoma and everything turned out fine. Since I have had my band unfilled I have gained most of my weight back which will happen. My surgeon told me they don't recommend lap bands because they have a ten year 80% failure rate. This is only what my surgeon told me and it doesn't mean it will happen to you. Honestly even with the fluid out I still have restriction. Eating is miserable. I just want this thing out. I doubt that I will have another surgery because being skinny didn't fix me. Being fat doesn't fix me. I was not happy being skinny. I am not happy being fat but its not a weight issue its a me issue and I could weigh 90lbs and still would be depressed. I would still have anxiety. I never had any medical issues that caused me to need the lap band. Being skinny didn't take away my fibromyalgia pain. I am just saying all this because people are not always fixable by weight loss. Do I feel guilty or feel like a failure hell no. It just wasn't right for me.