Advice from a Bypass Patient

[Dody 0]

You know, opinions are like @$$holes, we've all got one...and MINE is that the LapBand has proven to be risky and HAS rearranged my innards, and that the DS patients (not RnY gastric bypass) who regain weight tend to "regain" 30 pounds max.

And the counselor at WW is full of it. My sister has just lost about 70 pounds at WW and Curves and has bags of skin hanging all over the place...and another hundred pounds to lose. I have no idea why people tend to believe WW counselors without any research to back up what they say...but they do.

Be kind enough if you will to let me know how lap banding "rearranged your innards". Did they do anything to your intestines? Nope they didn't. They merely put a band around you stomach and inserted a port to fill though. They didn't arrange a single thing at the time of your lap banding. If you had further surgery they may have re-arranged your innards a great deal, but they didn't when they banded you.

[kimberly6671 0]

Dialogue is good, people....I don't think for one moment that Lisa ever posts to purposefully alarm people. To the contrary, I will be banded next week and find most of her posts to be very helpful in making MY decisions. This is a place where we should all be made to feel COMFORTABLE in sharing our thoughts and information. What everone does with it is up to their own discretion. But Johnnyreno, I did take your comment as an attack and that's really not appropriate in this forum. Say what you think, feel, etc....no need to attack. Kim

[Penni60 45]

In fact, attacking the person is breaking a guideline that we all agreed to when we signed up to post to this forum. SO be aware that you can post your thoughts, ideas, opinions, but never ever attack the person expressing those things. Let's all be more mindful of each others feelings.

There are ways to constructively disagree with someone without attacking them.

Dody, I think that Sue had a rough time with her surgery to remove the band and that is what she is referring to in rearranging her innards. So, don't be so quick to snap at her about the possibility she is wrong.

[SuperDaddy! 1]

On that note....let's add another: This is a SUPPORT board. Although a little excitement and drama makes for a good read...remember that the purpose of this board is to support each other. We can be full of passion, joy, confusion, concern...but let's remember that everybody on these posts also deserves RESPECT!

This whole thread was very interesting, and full of good points. Unfortunately....it is loaded with blatant generalizations, stereotypes, exagerations, and sarcasm. There are lots of great Weight Watcher's employees that care, and for every doctor or patient that speaks of the horrors of WLS, I bet I could scrounge up 100 more that can sing it's praises. Weight Loss Surgery is dangerous, but less dangerous than being morbidly obese...and on a support board we hear a lot more from the 3-4 percent with complications than you would anywhere else. But remember that there is 96-97% of people out there who can show great success. As far as long term success....you gotta' use or lose it (or is it use TO lose it?!) We all have a 100% chance of dying...someday. Use this tool to improve and extend your quality of life, everyone! Use the gift of life and live it to the fullest.

I appreciate hearing your struggles and your passion. We've entered an amazing emotional journey together, bandlanders!

Jon

[DeLarla 22]

I'm the 1st to admit I've started many controversial threads, but this wasn't one of them. I honestly had no idea sharing views of one bypass patient would be taken with such distaste. Forgive me for not spreading rose petals or putting up rubber bumper guards. Everyone has opinions, and my opinion is food is evil and weight loss surgery sucks. I want to be normal; I want to be able to control my food intake. There's too much hypocrisy here on the subject of "taking control of food." None of us have been able to do so till they strapped our stomachs partially shut.

Let's all go back to my "Why are you Fat" thread. Each of us is/was morbidly obese for different reasons. Mine happens to be obsession. I'm a slave to food, no different than my husband being a slave to the tobacco company. I do what food tells me to do when it tells me to. Sure, some days I'm stronger than food, but food keeps me awake at night and hypnotizes me to my core. So to me, food isn't only evil, it's F-ing evil.

And who said me or my bypass friend hang onto what some Weight Watcher's counselor believes? It's just some hearsay, you know, LBT conversation being passed on for people to hear what was said by one WW counselor at one WW meeting.

My passion fired up when I was accused of scaring people. When I say, "all of my friends are eroding" maybe that was too strong, but the fact that SIX of my personal friends have eroded and undergone band removal, that's a pretty hefty number that warrants worry and concern for my own band. And one person was left with a colostomy bag. She almost died. She was in a coma. I consider that one too many, don't you? And anyone looking for potential band related complications has the right to know.

I'm still not against the band. In a perfect world, where my insurance would cover the procedure and provide me with local aftercare, I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat. For the moment I will not look any further into a bypass operation, but I'm fickle and could change my mind one day.

People, read more carefully and learn that your own story of morbid obesity is unique and individual. The fact that some people have permanently changed their eating habits is remarkable and rare. If it weren't so rare, we'd have a whole board full of people at goal weight. We don't. We have countless people struggling to lose, people gaining, people making bad choices, ad infinitum.

A sincere big congratulations to those of you who have permanently said goodbye to bad habits. That's a dream come true in my world, and I envy you.

[DeLarla 22]

Superdaddy, we were writing at the same time, so I didn't see your post till after I posted. Thanks, that was a good tail end. I'm done now.

[Teresita 0]

I wonder if they have Overeaters anonymous around here

I went to an OA meeting one time. Being fat is no fun. I'm tired of it. I wanna get off this ride.

[SuperDaddy! 1]

Lisa-

We all appreciate your honesty and candid personality around here. Keep it up. I think you hit the nail on the head: Addiction. That's my issue. I'm a food addict. I used to drive out of my way to stop at a fast food place on the way home before dinner. I love to eat alone...and in secret. It took me surgery to admit that it is an addiction as powerful as any other. But you CAN beat it...and none of us are gonna' let you give up, girl. We're all in the same boat!

Thanks for sharing.

Jon

[GeezerSue 7]

Be kind enough if you will to let me know how lap banding "rearranged your innards". Did they do anything to your intestines? Nope they didn't. They merely put a band around you stomach and inserted a port to fill though. They didn't arrange a single thing at the time of your lap banding. If you had further surgery they may have re-arranged your innards a great deal, but they didn't when they banded you.

I am painfully aware of how the band is implanted. And, I didn't say "intestines," I said "innards." My definition of MY innards includes my esophagus...which has been "rearranged" by the band. I have esophageal dysmotility secondary to the band and I have esophageal dilatation secondary to the band. From my perspective, them thar's some "rearranged innards."

You are correct that nothing was rearranged at the time of banding. Erosion--unintentional "slicing and dicing"--doesn't occur at the time of banding either.

So while you might be safe in asserting that the implantation of the band does not include any INTENTIONAL "slicing and dicing" or "rearranging" of the patient's internal organs, there are enough cases of erosion and esophageal problems that you might not want to bet the farm on the premise that banding doesn't rearrange anything...unless you say that "banding doesn't INTENTIONALLY rearrange anything."

[Dody 0]

I am right now having to put off the banding process because of an erosion in my esophagus and a peptic ulcer. These things happen, and they had nothing to do with a band. I misunderstood your interpretation of "innards" because that is not how I look at the esophagus. It is not touched during the surgery, but I surely understand how you could have problems either related or unrelated to the banding with your esophagus. Lord knows I do. I still believe for ME the band is the safest way to go right now. You've apparently been through a really rough time and I sympathize with you. You're incredibly strong to have endured all you have, but I am suffering esophageal problems badly and I have no band to blame for it.

Sorry if "innards" was a major bone of contention. I admire the fact that you were dedicated to your weight loss and I so wish the band had worked for you. Erosion is caused at a later date (after the band is placed) and must be a horrible thing to endure. No one seems to know the reason for it, and I surely don't claim too.

Now if your surgeon diced or sliced anything during your banding I would really be looking to that surgeon for answers. I know I had my gall bladder removed and was told afterward "I put a nick in your liver but I fixed it with durabond". That made me feel really good to know my liver was glued back together. Fortunately, I never had any repercussions from it, but nonetheless I wasn't very happy with the surgeon and have never returned to her for anything else.

I wish you, and everyone here, no matter what their personal choice is the very best of luck with your surgery.

[DeLarla 22]

Jon, thanks for that post. That's exactly my problem - addiction, in many different forms. I've been to hundreds (literally) of Overeaters Anonymous meetings which used to be part of my regular life till I moved to Vegas. OA meetings in California are great places for support and help with food addictions. I was able to attend a different amazing meeting every night, but then I moved to Vegas. Vegas meetings are few and far between, and they never really got off the ground like in California; probably because Vegas has so many GA, AA, NA, CA, DA (Gamblers, Narcotics, Alcoholics, Cocaine, Debtors, etc.) So OA meetings are small and completely different here. In California, the meetings are actually focused on food addictions, but the meetings here are just sessions where people vent about their day without ever correlating the issues to food. It's a shame, I'd love a good OA meeting here.

So thanks for making me NOT give up. I'm gonna keep on keeping on.

Sue, you aren't the first person who I've heard about "oops, nicked ya." Not funny at all. One girl had her stomach accidentally cut during band surgery, then her surgeon fixed the cut and put the band OVER the cut! She ended up in really bad shape and had her band removed by a US surgeon. She even knew something went wrong in surgery, but the doc said everything went fine; the "oops nick" didn't even reflect in the Operating Report.

[GeezerSue 7]

Sue, you aren't the first person who I've heard about "oops, nicked ya." Not funny at all. One girl had her stomach accidentally cut during band surgery, then her surgeon fixed the cut and put the band OVER the cut! She ended up in really bad shape and had her band removed by a US surgeon. She even knew something went wrong in surgery, but the doc said everything went fine; the "oops nick" didn't even reflect in the Operating Report.

Nah Lisa...my bandng surgery went perfectly. And, partially because the band was "installed" so well, it came out in no time. I think I'm just one of those people who, sooner or later, was going to have an esophageal reaction just because the band is there.

[johnnyreno 1]

im sorry, yours didnt work. you seem to be mentally bashing your self because of that. and you dont deserve it. so try to get over it and focussing positive will help you in the long run, the positive reports far out weigh the negative. i know a lot of people who have noticed people only go to the internet when the have problems and if they are doing well they go on with life and lose weight and you dont hear from them much. simply because life is good and all is working well with the lap band that they have. i know this is true simply because this is my case. but bugging off the hook only makes it worse on you and others that surround you. and i know you wouldnt want that.! right i just dont want to see you run off people with bombardment of negativie vibes. and remember you can do this you can do this,

[Guest myband]

Sometimes it is very hard to write a post so people dont take you out of context or read more into your words than they should.

Delarla, I think means w/loss surgery sucks, because its such a darn pest that this is what we resort to, to loose weight. It does suck and is a constant learning tool and we have to get our head around food to make our little tool work. I wish I had what it takes to loose weight, but I have never been able to get my brains into gear,soooooooo thank goodness I have a little tool to help me.

Some people who have given up smoking cannot ever have as much as a puff or they will be on them again.

food is evil - take it in the context Delarla meant. Food is an evil thought to me, damn nuisance that I think of it all the time. Thank goodness I have my band....

Good post Delalar.

[buttercup74 0]

I know I am not a regular here but I do want to say, there have been times I hate my band and I am not fond of it now, I need a port replacement BUT...I have lost about 60 pounds that I never would have lost w/out the band. I wanted the bypass first and my surgeon pushed the band so that is what I got. I have met lots of people who have had both surgeries and are doing great. And there are some that are doing not so great on both sides.. I have an infection we can't seem to get rid of.....but I am 60 pound lighter and I can walk without my cane and breath so much easier...I talk with nurses all day there are several who would endorse the bypass because some people who are obese need a quick and dramatic weight loss to survive. Everyone is different. I am proud of all of you because you are empowering yourselves with information and that is the ONLY way to make this decision. Baron Patrick (((HUGS))) to you!!! I have faith in you and It ain't over cause you haven't said it is!!!!!