Question

December 30, 2003

I READ IN MAGAZINE THAT IF YOU HAVE HAD PREVIOUIS ADOMINAL SURGREY THAT YOU WOULD NOT BE A GOOD CANIDATE FOR THE LAP BAND. I HAVE HAD 2 C-SECTIONS . IS THIS ME?

(PLEASE SAY NO!!!! )

kellymoos · December 30, 2003

NO!!! I had a c-section in June of 2002 and had the surgery in August of 2003:)

Alexandra · December 30, 2003

Hi Jayla,

I think that sort of disclaimer is a very broad-stroke one. Only your surgeon can decide whether you are a good candidate for lap-banding. Certainly there are people who have had a whole lot of abdominal (stomach) surgery who might be excluded, but I don't think c-sections fall into that category.

Audrey · December 30, 2003

Hi there,

Your right... this is NOT the case.... my friend Fiona has had a C Section & a previous open surgery to remove her gall bladder... She had her band fitted at the end of September & has lost 67 pounds!

They thought there might be some scar tissue to get round from her gall bladder removal... (the scar is about 10 inches down the front of her stomach)... but they had no problems at all.

I agree with Alexandra.... you should be fine!

Audrey

GeezerSue · December 30, 2003

Two previous abdominal surgeries here...c-section and hysterectomy.

So know you know where the expression "Believe half of what you read and nothing of what you hear," comes from.

Sue

~c~ · December 30, 2003

I've had two c-sections as well...no problem.

Kiwigirl · December 30, 2003

In 1994 I had double mastectomies. My surgeon actually used the scar areas when fitting my band so I would have minimal new scar areas. There was never any question that other surgeries might be a problem.

Ginger2120 · December 31, 2003

I had an open gastric bypass attempt a year before my band was placed. I have a scar from my belly button all the way up to the bottom of my breast bone. My surgeon said there was quite a bit of scar tissue to work through, but other than that I was a textbook case for putting the band in.

kellymoos · December 31, 2003

Ginger, just wondering why you didn't get the gastric bypass surgery done?

Ginger2120 · December 31, 2003

Well, my reason for not having the bypass is a weird one. When I met with my surgeon he told me I wouldn't have no problem having the surgery done because I was only 25 and in excellent health. I didn't have to do any pre-op testing other than the normal blood tests and EKG, and when I went in the day of surgery they openend me up and found out that my intestines were backwards! Aparently it's something that happened when I was still in my mothers womb that they didn't rotate completley so there in the wrong place! All of my other organs are in the correct place accept for me appendix. Those kind of float freely wherever they want, so I certainly hope they never burst because they wouldn't know where to find it!

It was a heartbreaking thing to wake up from surgery and find out I have a 12" incision but I was still going to be fat. So I went to therapy aand then found my band surgeon and a year and a month after the first surgery I had my band placed! If I would have known about the band first I never would have went through the bypass procedure, but then I also wouldn't know I was a freak on the inside!