Vanguard band-- regrets?

[Ruthie 2]

Do any of you regret having a Vanguard band? I go back and forth. When I first found out that my dr. had had given me the VG band I was surprised and a little disappointed.

But then I heard good things about less erosion, yada, yada, yada.

I'm at 9.5 cc's and am now just starting to have restriction.

Just wondering if I had it to over again if I would ask to be fitted with a smaller band. Not that I don't think my dr. did a great job just wondering if I would be losing a little faster if I had a smaller band.

What's your thoughs?? Are you happy with your VG band? Is it hard for you to get restriction?

Don't get me wrong, I'm VERY happy to be banded. And I'm going to be successful. Just curious to see what others think of their band.

[BIGMAN 0]

I just had my surgery on the 7th of Nov. and I have the VG as well so to be honest I dont know what to expect out of it. But I have been hearing that it takes alot of fill just to get some restriction out of it. So I would love to hear more on this. When I drink my liquids and have my puree or mushed up foods it feels like I dont have a banded on it feels normal to me, I dont feel any "restriction".

[holiday0522 0]

I had my surgery on October 11, 2005. My 1st fill is scheduled for 11/30. I have sent emails and made calls to my surgeons office attempting to get an earlier fill date but no such luck. I was told that 4cc were put into the band at the time of my sugery so that it would stay in place. I do not feel any restriction w/the band and to be honest, I wouldn't even know it was there except that I have the scars to prove it. I am and have been exercising daily and making wise food choices but the weight is coming off very slowly. As of today, my grand total loss is 12 pounds. I'm feeling discouraged and sorry for myself because I had anticipated things would be so different. From what I understand it will probably be some time before restriction is felt with this band due to the number of fills needed to get to that point. Sometimes I wish I had a smaller band but did not have a choice in the matter - the VG is all my surgeon uses now.

[banded_for_life 2]

I have the VG band and although I don't really feel any restriction, I am sure Dr. B made the best decision for me. Now that being said, I have had one fill on 10/24 I am getting my second fill on 11/22. I had nothing to begin with in my band and I got 3.6 the first time. Occasionally I feel a little tightness, but never any restriction.

[Kelliebelly 13]

I have the VG Band. I had 2.5mls put in at surgery and felt some restriction for the first couple of weeks. I then had no restriction until my 6th or 7th fill. I just had my 9th fill taking me up to 9.6mls. Restriction for me is different for me day to day. Some days I really wonder "Do I have a band?" and other days its like woooaahhh, I really have to be careful how I eat. My Dr only uses VG bands now, so it doesnt matter what size your insides are, you get the Vg so I wonder whether or not if youre insides arent very big, whether it would be harder to get restriction with the VG band. No matter what I still wouldnt change a thing. I have lost 50lbs and my life has drastically changed. We just need to work a little harder until we get the restriction we need.