Newbie!

[Delightful521 15]

Hello everyone, I am so glad that I found this site. I was banded 3/13/13 and so far I'm feeling awesome! I am so happy that a place like this exists and I hope to get to know all of you very well.

A little about me. I am 29 years old and I live in Texas. I currently work in childcare and I hold a degree in Sociology and am working on a Master's Degree in Social Work.

I have read many post here about complications post op, luckily I have been doing very well, so well in fact its almost like the band isn't there. The one thing that I am struggling with are the negative comments and horror stories that everyone insist on telling me about the band. I know several people who have had the band and have either had it removed or not been successful with their band. I was wondering, how do you all deal with people that insist on being negative about your choice to have the band and how do you keep the fears that you have in check when it comes to the subject of band rejection and slippage (which I know are not very common issues)?

Thanks!

Venita

[DELETE THIS ACCOUNT! 12,703]

Hello and welcome!

When I deal with people speaking ignorance, I try to enlighten them with facts. For instance, only 5% of Lap Band complications resulting in removal are by no fault of the patient. The rest are the patient failure, not the band failure, because the patient wasn't doing what they were supposed to do.

Unfortunately, the fact those that are howling loudest and most often are the ones that are having problems (usually self induced ones). What you don't see is all the happy, healthy people who've been successful with their band because they're too busy enjoying their lives to be bothered posting all over the internet.

Hang in there and don't let the poorly informed naysayers get you down

[Delightful521 15]

Thank you Missy. I try not to let it bother me but I've been a ball of nerves with this whole process. I know in my heart that I made the right decision for ME but I get a lot of the "why didn't you just get the sleeve" comments....obviously they've never heard of "dumping" lol

[2012 359]

Missy is right on target, misery loves company and people usually don't shout from the roof tops (although I might when I hit my goal ) about success, only the bad things. And remember each person is different and you may never have a problem so don't overwhelm yourself with all the horror stories and listen to what your body tells you and go to your doctor if you think something is wrong. In the beginning, I was a bit of a hypochondriac as every little thing I experienced I was contacting my NUT or doctor and now that I've learned more, I'm much more at ease.

[DELETE THIS ACCOUNT! 12,703]

Thank you Missy. I try not to let it bother me but I've been a ball of nerves with this whole process. I know in my heart that I made the right decision for ME but I get a lot of the "why didn't you just get the sleeve" comments....obviously they've never heard of "dumping" lol

You know, when I got my band 14 months ago, I had 2 friends getting Gastric Bypass within a month of me. For months I heard how stupid I was for not getting Bypass like them and how even the Sleeve would be better than the Band. I heard how I wouldn't lose as much as they would and I'd still be fat.

Fast forward to today... one of the Bypass friends has only lost 60 pounds, and that was all in the first couple months and she's slowly gaining it back. The other Bypass friend only lost 30 pounds. I, with my Band that they bashed and told me I was stupid to get, have lost almost 200 pounds.

Needless to say, no one tells me I was "stupid" to get the Band anymore

[Delightful521 15]

Thank you Lap Band Master. So far I feel so great its almost too good to be true! I was banded Wednesday and I haven't had in nausea and I've been able to keep everything I eat down. My goal at the moment is to surround myself with nothing but positive people that will support me on my new journey. I could fill a page with all the negative things that I'm told....from slippage to "you won't lose all the weight you want to lose with the band". I am really glad to have found this site and I plan on being a very active member on the board. Thank you guys in advance for the support and advice.

[MonicaD. 18]

Hello Delightful521... If you believe that you selected the right procedure, then you have. We know that you selected the least invasive surgery. Just because they failed doesn't mean you are going to fail. Actually the fact that you are so worried about the possibility of failure will probably help you succeed even more. Ignore the negativity. Keep your faith and you will be successful. Good Luck!

[Delightful521 15]

Missy, you just answered one of the most annoying comments that I get. My goal, like yours, is to lose over 200lbs with the band. I have had sooooooooooo many people tell me that I should have gotten the sleeve or bypass because I wouldn't lose the weight that I wanted with only the lap band. I KNOW that I can and will be successful because I am motivated and ready to change my life for the better. I am so happy to see that you have lost so much weight with the band and now i know it is possible.

[DELETE THIS ACCOUNT! 12,703]

Missy, you just answered one of the most annoying comments that I get. My goal, like yours, is to lose over 200lbs with the band. I have had sooooooooooo many people tell me that I should have gotten the sleeve or bypass because I wouldn't lose the weight that I wanted with only the lap band. I KNOW that I can and will be successful because I am motivated and ready to change my life for the better. I am so happy to see that you have lost so much weight with the band and now i know it is possible.

Oh there's other like me on here, too! Floridays and Cazzy both lost over 200 pounds each and both are at their goal weights! There's a lot of people on here who've lost way over 100 or even 200 pounds.

I'm still about 60 pounds from my goal weight but I know I'll get there eventually... and so will you!

[Delightful521 15]

Thank you Monica!

[♥LovetheNewMe♥ 1,216]

Delightful, you will find the negative people every where including on this site. I feel we have a choice and I chose to succeed and I did. You can lose the weight it is slow but it is possible, never give up and your victory is proving all the negative people wrong.

[2muchfun 8,927]

Thank you Missy. I try not to let it bother me but I've been a ball of nerves with this whole process. I know in my heart that I made the right decision for ME but I get a lot of the "why didn't you just get the sleeve" comments....obviously they've never heard of "dumping" lol

No one in my circles know anything about the different WLS methods but if someone was aware and asked me, I think I would say that I've thought a lot about my choices and I'm leaving the vertical sleeve choice as my ace in the hole. If the band fails me, I still have the option of the sleeve where if I would have went with the sleeve or bypass, I would have no other choices.

With the band, I can eat the same foods I ate before WLS, only now I won't eat as much.

tmf

[wladyt1 5]

I got banded 2/25/13 and it's been nothing but an up hill journey. I'm so thankful to have people around me to push me and also encourage me to do my best. At this point in my life I really don't care what people think or say...I've learned that what God has for me is for me. To be honest some people will say and do anything to try to steal your joy! I know this was the best thing that I could have ever done to make me BETTER!!!... I'm also so happy that I was able to find a site that can support me during my transformation. I tell people that I'm a butterfly that is coming out of her cocoon!! The bottom line is keep your head up and most of all keep the faith!!!

Good Luck!!!

[harmanm 17]

Not everyone who has complications is negative. I just had my band removed and I don't negatively impact any upcoming banders. I had my success but then had complications which I knew was a possibility. To the person who said its mostly the banders fault, I take that offensive. I did everything right with my band and still got to this point. So I guess I'm just part of the 5% or that's not correct. But I wish you all the luck with your band!

[DELETE THIS ACCOUNT! 12,703]

Not everyone who has complications is negative. I just had my band removed and I don't negatively impact any upcoming banders. I had my success but then had complications which I knew was a possibility. To the person who said its mostly the banders fault, I take that offensive. I did everything right with my band and still got to this point. So I guess I'm just part of the 5% or that's not correct. But I wish you all the luck with your band!

I stated the 5%, and take it offensively if you must, but I don't know you or your story so obviously it wasn't aimed at you.

And it is correct, by the way. There are numerous clinical studies that support that percentage.

"Major complications requiring re-operation occurred in 106 (5.9%) patients."- http://www.obesitylapbandsurgery.com/statmain.html

"About one in 20 patients had the band removed during the study period. (5%)"- http://www.futurity.org/health-medicine/weight-stays-off-long-after-lap-band-surgery/

You can't argue statistics based on facts.