I just joined this group today. I will be visiting my doctor very soon asking him to remove my lap band. In a way I feel bad that it didn't work, but in another way I think I'm going to have more peace of mind.
First of all, I have tried various other means of losing weight and none of them seemed to work. Maybe I'm a person born with less than my share of self disipline, who knows??
When I first told my GP doctor that I planned on getting the lap band surgery, she advised me against it. She said something to the fact that people thought it to be a miracle and it just wasn't. I dismissed her words and approximately 2 years ago I had the surgery. I dropped 30 pounds in a very short time. I was pleased with my rapid weight loss, maybe even a bit overconfident. Afterwards I heard so many different views on what and how much foods I should eat. I just tried to eat those foods that I knew were good for me and leave off the bad ones.
After about 6 months I was fairly happy with my progress and decided to get a fill. The procedure went fairly well and only cost me a about three hundred out of pocket after insurrance. In a short period of time I discovered the fill was too much. I could not keep most foods down. I returned to the doctor and he reduced my fill to my first level. Of course, for about the same cost of the fill. After the fill I could not keep most foods down and there were foods like orange juice that would send burning sensations all the way up to the roof of my mouth.
It's funny because the foods that seem to go down easier seemed not to be the best foods to lose weight. Over the next few months I slowly started to gain weight. I returned to my doctor's office and his nurse gave the the speech about how the surgery was only a tool and it was up to me to eat the right foods, eat less, exercise regularly, drink 8 glasses of Water each day, etc, etc. In the most polite means possible I told her that if I could have done that prior to receiving my lap band, I would not have needed the lap band. These words didn't seem to matter to her so I excused myself.
While visiting another specialist concerning another matter, she informed me that her daughter, along with several of her friends, had had the same lap band surgery by the same doctor. She mentioned that her daughter had to have a second surgery because the initial one wasn't done correctly. She and her friends were having negative results with the surgery and had formed a group and were going to seek legal advise. She invited me to join with them, but I very rapidly declined. I'm from the old school and the decision to have the surgery was my own, even after my GP advised me against it, and I can't see blaming the doctor for my not being able to lose weight. I believe I have only myself to blame for that. Even though I'm currently going thru a bit of discomfort, I can live with it and I'm hoping that once the lap band is removed I will feel normal.
It's been almost two years now and even though I had my fill taken out, almost everytime I try to eat or drink anything, I end up throwing it up. You know, the funny part is that after I throw up, I feel better and for some strange reason I can then eat the remainder of my meal with a lot less discomfort.
I am back to my original weight prior to having the lap band put in. My Mother is constantly asking me to get it removed even though my wife doesn't seem concerned either way. I feel my wife realizes I tried to lose weight with the lap band, but it just didn't work for me.
I can remember the "sales" talk made to many people like myself by the doctor and his staff at a large hotel meeting room a few weeks before I decided to have the surgery. I only hope that some of the people in the room at that time ended up better than I.
I will visit my doctor soon and ask him to remove my lap band. I wish it would have worked, but unfortantely for me, it didn't.
