Would you do it all over again?

[steve425c 0]

This has been the greatest thing for me I have tried many time to only gain it all back and more every time. I am not hungry physically, now mentally soetime you are but you cant eat so I LOVE IT. So yes I would do it again. Now you do have to work with it. I am working out with weights now and am not losing like I was now but I still think it is doing me good.

banded 10/26/05

Start wt 325

goal wt 205

[Paulax 8]

Pre op here.

I too have searched and searched for long time bandsters. Have found stories around 5 years, but none more than. One of my first questions on this board was this very topic.

One thing that keeps me feeling good about my decision, which I intend to go through with, is my surgeon telling me that the band is made of the same material that EVERY other internal implant is made of, he mentioned heart pacemakers adn now I am curious about knee and hip replacements. If I needed a new hip, I wouldn't worry too much about how long it will hold up, I would just get it for the relief it could get me. I have a cousin who had a hip replacement around my age, 40something. Without it she'd be in a wheelchair and in a lot of pain.

I too reaaaaaaaaaally appreciate your honesty. I wonder too, if I am going to regret it in some way. I still believe it is a better route than RNY or permanent cutting and rerouting of intestine. I HAVE a friend who had gastric bypass probably 20 some years ago. She constantly suffers in many ways, but still says she would do it all over again.

Anyway, we all react differently, so it is expected that we all will have differing experiences.

hugs to all

awsome post

[MelvaD 0]

Thanks to who have posted. This really helps. I guess I am just a little bit anious and nervous about the whole thing.

MelvaD

[weebleswabble 0]

ONE OF THE REASONS YOU WON'T FIND MANY LONG TIME BANDERS IS BECAUSE ITS STILL FAIRLY NEW. IT WASN'T AN OPTION FOR MANY UNTIL ABOUT 5 YEARS AGO. I GUESS THAT MAKES US PIONEERS? KINDA SCARY,, BUT I HAVE FAITH IN MY DECISION AND HOPE TO MAKE THE BAND WORK FOR ME! GOOD LUCK ALL:clap2:

[Wheetsin 714]

I'm too soon in to my band to give a worthwhile answer, but I know two sisters who were banded about 5 years ago, they were pioneer patients who travelled from MO to MN to be part of the release studies. Since we don't have a lot of long-term bandsters here, I thought this info might help.

Sister 1: about 5'1, 380# pre-op. Currently 86 pounds, wearing a baggy size 0. Her band has been slipped for over a year, which is what has caused the extreme weight loss an inability to swallow much more than her own saliva, she knows this, knows she should go to the doctor (and has, once), but refuses to let them remove or repair the band because she's afraid of gaining the weight back. She admits her complications are largely self-caused. I asked her the week before I got banded if she would do it again and she said, "Without a doubt, I wouldn't think twice. Even though I'm having problems, it can be undone. Problems with other surgeries cannot."

Sister 2: about 5'2, 370 ore-op. She has had not had complications with her band. She crrently weighs 120 and wears a sz 8 comfortably, She has gained about 10# from her lowest weight because (per her own admission) she has slacked off and let more sweets into her diet, and has not been keeping up with her exervise as much as she should. I did not talk to her before my banding, but my mother spoke with her 3 days after my operation. She did not know I was getting banded. Her first comment was, "Oh my god, I'm so excited for her. I hope she doesn't regret doing it, I know i don't!"

FWIW.

[cindygirl32 0]

I was just asked the other day if I would do it all over agin, I said yes! I realy havent had any problems. It took me 4 fills to get tothe point of being restricted. I can only eat a few bites, and I am full. I am seeing the weight go away and I am very happy. Hope you feel the same way.

[Banded14yr 2]

I also wonder about having to have the band removed due to erosion or just not knowing what will happen in a few years due to the lack of information of long term banded patients. With that being said, at least it can be removed if there are problems! If you have bypass, it's permanent. If you stretch out your pouch (it happens alot) with bypass surgery, you can't just go in and get it tightened again. You're permanentally stretched, so you've gone through major surgery and will most likely gain the weight back anyway.

We don't really know what the long term affect of the band is. But I do feel good in knowing that it can be removed if problems do occur later on.

[AliDiane 0]

I love my band. I was banded on January 12, 2005. I agree with many of the other posts -- losing weight is still hard even with the band. But the band is a big help! I am rarely hungry and many of my food cravings have lessened. I have tons of energy and I feel great. I am losing weight slowly but I am okay with that. I think the band is a great weight loss tool. There are possible problems and complications with any surgery and life is full of risks. I weighed the risks vs. benefits of the band prior to surgery and decided to give the band a try. I am so glad I did.

[marys 2]

This is primarily for Strawarts (and myself!) I had a lower bmi too - i think 33 and i've lost about 7lbs (it keeps going up and down a lb or two) so i feel your frustration. Two of the four of us who had surgery the same day have lost 30-40lbs and two of us have lost the 7lbs. Of course, everyone is different, etc. (blah blah - smile) and they say don't compare but i really thought i would have 20 off by now.

Have you talked to the doctor about getting an unfill like they do if there is a problem or i believe if someone wants or gets pregnant. That way you'll still have the band but you could eat more, etc. I'm so new I don't want to give you wrong information but I'm sorry that your unhappy and maybe that would help open you up more so you could enjoy some food again. I feel your pain but hope it will work for both of us - good luck - mary

[freebit 0]

I would do it all over again, but I wouldn't recommend it to someone else unless they were willing to give up parts of their old life. Its kinda like joining the marines. A significant portion of a person's old life is altered over the months after surgery. Life has changed alot since the band was installed. The band has a way of enforcing its absolute control with much pain and discomfort. Both of those are very powerful behaviour modifiers. It never sleeps, it never gets tired, it never lets you cheat, it never lets you go off your plan even for one meal. Fortunately, the importance of food in my life has greatly diminished. In fact I no longer even try to feel full. Funny, I never really knew just how much of a friend food was until I lost that friend.

[StrawartS 2]

Mary, thanks for your kind words. I think freebit's post really describes my feelings better.

[The band] never sleeps, it never gets tired, it never lets you cheat, it never lets you go off your plan even for one meal...Funny, I never really knew just how much of a friend food was until I lost that friend.

I don't need an unfill, I just hate that my new eating habits have to be so boring to comply with the band. The spiel I was given was that the band makes you full faster, so you can eat everything you did before, just in smaller quantities. That has not been my experience. To sum up, my complaints are:

1. Uncomfortable "full" feeling, not pleasurable like before;

2. Strict rules very similar to Atkins diet (why did I pay $15K to go on a diet??);

3. Carefully timing Water drinking and eating so as not to dehydrate OR not to wash out the pouch too soon (I usually end up drinking only about 30 oz. of Water a day);

4. The fickleness of the band - one day I can eat a whole chicken breast, the next day I have excrutiating pain and PB over two bites.

5. Protein shakes in the morning - they have an awful aftertaste and make me nauseated, so I eat my lunch at 10 to make my stomach feel better...then I screw up my meal count for the rest of the day.

6. I don't think it matters how tight your fill is, once that pouch is empty, my stomach is growling again...and this is about every 3 hours for me.

Ugh...I could go on, but I hate to beat a dead banded horse. The band is not the appetite suppressant I was led to believe it would be.

[freebit 0]

Strawart, I agree with everthing you said. It is all true. I have felt all of those things that you list. Every one of them.

Atkins is better. However, with Atkins, it is possbile to cheat and go off the wagon for a day or a week. In the end Atkins is just a diet. Even tho the band can be removed, it is more or less permanent, it really permanently removes many choices from your behaviour via severe pain and discomfort if you screw up. The words "unyielding taskmaster" come to mind. As far as being hungry, if you are hungry, then eat. Dont worry bout the weight loss. If your band is tight enough then you will lose weight and not be so hungry. Dont stress over the Water timing issue. I never did. Drink if you are thirsty, even during meals. If you screw it up, your band will let you know and bend you to its will. Screw meal counts, they are for the birds. Eat when you are hungry. Stop eating before the band takes over and makes you PB. The band will teach you when to stop. Pain is a very effective teacher.

The genius of the band, and the evilness of the band, is that it makes you lose weight by making every eating experience miserable. Eating becomes like going to the dentist and I hate the dentist. Like I said, if food is your close friend, then you will be getting new friends, like you will be getting new clothes...LOL. As time passes, you lose weight, and you will get better at living with the band, and things may get better. They did for me.

Before I got the band I made a deal with myself. I was either going to lose all of my weight or die trying. As it turns out I am actually healthier. Ironic in a way. Actually, my goal is to have a stomach that is flat like the chick in Ultraviolet. I'll need more surgery, I know.

The other option is another severe surgery to remove the band, maybe paying another $15k-ish and being in the same boat you were in before. You have traveled down the "bandless" road before, and like me, you know exactly where it ends. I hope this helps.

256lbs - 203lbs in 4.7 months.

[StrawartS 2]

Freebit, that is the most honesty I have ever heard about the band. I am so glad that someone is validating my complaining instead of saying how much they adore their band.

Letting go of food as a pleasurable experience is hard. In my culture, food is love. I'm an emotional eater, but not in the way so many people on this board describe. I eat when I'm happy and around people I love, not when I'm depressed. So I'm basically complaining about the fact that I have an easy life and am always happy...therefore always eating. Oh, woe is me.

Thanks for your comments. It feels so much better to be understood.

[Wheetsin 714]

I've just been banded a week but I will say this -- going into this, I had no idea how much a PB would hurt. When I asked my medical staff, they said "pressure" in your chest. What I read on the internet described "golf ball stuck feeling." Nothing ever described "like nails being raked down your spine", which is pretty much what the pain with my PB felt like. Had I really known that's what "pressure" would feel like, would I have still done it? Probably. I certainly don't regret my decision.

I enjoy your posts, they're a good dose of reality and are helping me get a different idea of what to expect, and what I might really be in store for.

[Penni60 45]

I had my band for 18 months. When I had it I was happy and at a place where I could work with it. At the end of having the band I was NOT happy and wondering why I had it done in the first place. The band was doing it's job but I was fighting the head demons. Then I found out I had eroded and all of a sudden I wanted my band.

I learned the lessons too late that fighting the head demons will be a life long issue whether banded or not.

Would I have the surgery again? Maybe!

I am doing Nutrisystem right now and that seems to be working and it is alot less expensive than another surgery. So I will just struggle along with the diet for now.

I have found that I did miss eating certain foods while banded. I must admit that it is nice to be able to go into a restaurant and eat anything on the menu I want without worrying if I will PB. It also makes me more accountable with the PORTIONS I eat now as opposed to when I was banded. I actually have to do the work of the band now.