Very very scared Now the more i read the more i second guess myself

[tiredepot 0]

:help: :help: :help: Wow i am getting very scared and very doubtful now. The more i read the more scared i get. Whats with the gull bladder removal thing i have been reading? And the stomach erosions wow thats enough to make me change my mind. but i know i have to do this for my future health. Right now i am completely healthy just oveweight. No problems with nothing but weight. I dont know what to think i am paying 17k to have this done. and i dont wanna have new problems from this what happens if your stomach erodes? do you need more surgery? does it fix its self? how do you know if its eroding? PLEASE PLEASE SOMEONE HELP me i have the surgery october 16 so it is fairly close. :help: :help: :help: :help: :help: :help:

[Lots2Luv 0]

Hey tiredepot I am going to be banded 10/9 so I can totally relate. However, I did extensive research and spoke with a couple of specialist in this area enough to where I felt comfortable. Like you I am healthy meaning I don't have any of the illnesses possible for being obese but I am in the category of morbidly obese so as far as the gall bladder thing you wouldn't have to worry(I'm not a Doc just going off of my info) and for the erroding, that's one of the chances that you take with this because you never know if it'll happen to you. It's not like there's something that one does to cause that to happen, you know? So that is one of the risks and I am willing to take that risk with hopes that it won't happen. If it does, what they would do is remove the band- so yeah, more surgery.

[Goannabanda 0]

The risks of complications with this surgery are VERY VERY low. I wouldn't be having this surgery if it were any other way. Plus the lapband surgery has the benefit of being 100% reversible and removable should any complications arise. That's good enough for me.

Stomach erosions happens when the band moves into the stomach for one reason or another. It is extrememly rare. Just four out of 299 patients (1.3%) had an erosion. Stomach erosion is surgically repaired, often with band removal.

Some lapband patients are found to have gall stones during their pre-op testing or during their banding surgery. Gall bladder removal is often done at the same time as the banding to avoid a separate surgery later. It's not routine or a requirement of lapbanding to have your gall bladder removed. It is only done when medically necessary, same as you can't get banded unless it's medically necessary. The same applies to stomach hernia repairs and other similar sugeries you have no doubt read about on the LBT forum.

You must remember that LBT and places like it is where people come for support - usually when they are researching surgery, newly banded, or in times of complications. It's a skewed view of reality - most of the people who are successful and don't have these complications don't need the support - they are out enjoying their new bodies and greatly improved health.

It pays to be aware of what can go wrong, but try to keep a realistic view of the rate of complications. Any surgery has risk, but some everday events like crossing the road or driving our cars has a far greater risk than this surgery. For me, the risks of NOT having this surgery and instead heading for a life of obesity-related disease and pain are far greater than the risks of lapband complications.

The inamed website has very good information about the risks of lapbanding:

http://www.allerganandinamed.com/products/obesity/us/patient/lapband/prodinfo.html

http://www.allerganandinamed.com/products/obesity/us/patient/lapband/risk.html

Good luck in your research and decision making. You will know in your heart of hearts what is right for you. If lapbanding is not right for you now, then maybe at a later date. Only you can decide.

[Alexandra 55]

Goannabanda's post is excellent. I'd just add that rapid weight loss, from any program, can add to a patient's risk of developing gall stones. So whether someone has gallbladder problems prior to surgery or not, the chance is always there that weight loss will result in gallstones. But the slower loss offered by banding minimizes that risk; it's much higher for RNY patients.

[GeezerSue 7]

:help: :help: :help: Wow i am getting very scared and very doubtful now. The more i read the more scared i get. Whats with the gull bladder removal thing i have been reading? And the stomach erosions wow thats enough to make me change my mind. but i know i have to do this for my future health. Right now i am completely healthy just oveweight. No problems with nothing but weight. I dont know what to think i am paying 17k to have this done. and i dont wanna have new problems from this what happens if your stomach erodes? do you need more surgery? does it fix its self? how do you know if its eroding? PLEASE PLEASE SOMEONE HELP me i have the surgery october 16 so it is fairly close. :help: :help: :help: :help: :help: :help:

A few things...

First, if you don't have all the answers you need, there is no law saying you have to have your surgery when scheduled. Learn everything BEFORE you take that step.

Then, if you are 105 pounds overweight, you probably are NOT "completely healthy just oveweight." You may not yet be feeling the damage,but it is mostly likely being done.

Also, if the band is eroding (wearing away at) your stomach tissue, then yes, you need more surgery because the band will KEEP wearing away the tissue unless something is done to make it stop.

Fianlly, there are no guarantees. The band might be exactly what you need. Or it might cause you a heap of problems from Day One. Or it might be just fine for a while and THEN start causing problems. Like the saying goes, "You pays your money and you takes your chances." I know this part first hand, because I paid cash and my band worked just fine for almost a year, but developed problems, regained the lost weight and I eventually had to have my band removed...but not for erosion...and a different surgery done.

ALL the wls options have risks. Some will be more acceptable to you than others. Just know the whole picture BEFORE you have surgery.

[GeezerSue 7]

The risks of complications with this surgery are VERY VERY low.

Except, when you are the person HAVING the complications, that isn't quite as reassuring as one might hope.

I wouldn't be having this surgery if it were any other way. Plus the lapband surgery has the benefit of being 100% reversible and removable should any complications arise. That's good enough for me.

Again, "100% reversible" means you have to undergo a second surgery (and for self-pays, a second set of bills) to have the band removed. You experience that best when you are sitting in the surgeons office and he says something like, "Well, THEORETICALLY, you just take it out...but how well that goes depends on a number of factors including the skill of the surgeon who placed the band, the problems he encountered, what he had to do to overcome those problems and what damage the band has caused in the interim. It isn't a cartoon-like thing where you snip a couple of stitches and it's gone."

Stomach erosions happens when the band moves into the stomach for one reason or another. It is extrememly rare. Just four out of 299 patients (1.3%) had an erosion. Stomach erosion is surgically repaired, often with band removal.

Those are, I believe, Inamed's numbers from the early days...after the original three-year study. But band erosion is generally a later complication, so some of the people who were banded in the early days may just now be experiencing erosion. Some more recently published information indicates a higher rate of erosion. For example:

A Swiss study reported "Band erosion developed in 24 patients (6.8 %)."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?itool=abstractplus&db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=abstractplus&list_uids=15072660

A Swedish study had a harsh verdict. "When questioned according to a standardized protocol 2 years after surgery, every other patient in our series admitted heartburn and acid regurgitation. Regular endoscopic surveillance revealed a prevalence of erosive esophagitis of 44%. After a median follow-up of 7 years, 58% of the patients had been reoperated on, almost always with excision of the banding system and conversion to Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGBP). The reasons for reoperation were esophagitis, band erosion, pouch dilatation, leakage from the balloon, and esophageal dilatation, complications that also have been described in several recent papers in the literature. Our prediction is that LAGB will not stand the test of time."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=12152154&query_hl=8&itool=pubmed_docsum

You must remember that LBT and places like it is where people come for support - usually when they are researching surgery, newly banded, or in times of complications. It's a skewed view of reality - most of the people who are successful and don't have these complications don't need the support - they are out enjoying their new bodies and greatly improved health.

After having spent more than four years on this board and others, I have to disagree. At OH, for example, the board is RIFE with pre-banded people and newly banded people. I compare it to discussing marriage with engaged people and those just back from the honeymoon. They are great resources for discussing the WEDDING, but know almost nothing about being MARRIED.

IN THE PAST, the problem has been that when people having problems have tried to express their concerns or share their very real problems, they were first given a bunch of "have you tried this" responses or were "lectured" about following the rules and were routinely "ganged up on" by those who just don't want to hear it.

The band SURGERY is safer than the other SURGERIES. But surgery takes only a couple of hours. Then it's the rest of your life to deal with. Band complications are DIFFERENT than RnY or DS complications. DS people mostly have to worry about supplements because of the (intended) malabsorption and deal with the bathroom consequences of eating toomany carbs. (Or just stop EATING too many carbs.) RnY people seem to make more ER visits, with strictures and obstructions. Banded people mostly have to worry about esophageal damage and damage to the stomach...although I have a friend whose band was removed because the banding surgeon nicked a nerve and that kept her in constant pain and her two additional surgeries to find the problem couldn't fix anything.

I'm not saying the band is not a good idea. For many, it is. I AM saying that SOME people choose the "least invasive" surgery without even knowing what that means, or mention reversibility as though someone can just reach in and unsnap it or think that "adjustability" means they can turn it on and off and that "all you have to do is go for an adjustment" if you need to lose more weight. That just isn't how it works.

[gonnabethin 10]

Now i am getting very scared and very doubtful now. The more i read the more scared i get. Whats with the gull bladder removal thing i have been reading? And the stomach erosions wow thats enough to make me change my mind. but i know i have to do this for my future health. Right now i am completely healthy just oveweight. No problems with nothing but weight.

I had the same thoughts!! This board is a scary place. I dont regret getting banded for one second. Remember the positives are not here to the extent of the negatives. The people here are or have had problems and need support- this is a skewed sampling. Slow and easy and no gallbladder problems. The fast drop increases chances of gallbladder issues. Read ONLY the supportive and positive posts!! There are TONS who have had NO problems. Infact the majority!!

[GeezerSue 7]

I had the same thoughts!! This board is a scary place. I dont regret getting banded for one second. Remember the positives are not here to the extent of the negatives. The people here are or have had problems and need support- this is a skewed sampling. Slow and easy and no gallbladder problems. The fast drop increases chances of gallbladder issues. Read ONLY the supportive and positive posts!! There are TONS who have had NO problems. Infact the majority!!

This kind of makes my point. Positive thinkers HERE have had erosion. But reading only positive posts is really going into the process in denial...AND it prevents people from seeking alternatives when they ARE having problems.

If 100 people sit in a seminar on banding and hear that x% of people will suffer complications, almost every single one of them is SURE that they will be in the OTHER group; that is denial. But, of course, that is not how it works; and that is reality.

I hope the rest of your journey is as smooth as your 12 days of being banded have been.

[gonnabethin 10]

=GeezerSue;306652] But reading only positive posts is really going into the process in denial...AND it prevents people from seeking alternatives when they ARE having problems.

No denial here. There IS the chance of erosion, slippage and complications those however precentage wise these are less than stroke, heart attack, congestive heart failure if you do nothing. When you are in the process of changing your life, making the decision to get a band or bypass it doesnt help to seed your thoughts with the constant barrage of the "i wish I'd never gotten my band" threads. For the newbie, you do have to block some degree of that or you would never get a band. Complications dont happen to everyone, but they are an acknowledged risk. I dont think anyone would say they werent. I certainly wasnt, so I clarified my short post.

[ldonvez 0]

I am just starting to do my research on lap band surgery. I have been overweight since I was 15 and have tried every diet on this earth. I have about 45 pounds to lose and want to keep it off instead of the yo yoing I've done for the last 30 years. Any words of encouragement that this would be the right decision for me? I was bulimic for several years back in the 80's and no longer binge and purge but have problems knowing when I'm satiated until an hour later when I feel full and miserable.

Thanks,

[Sunta 5]

I just want to point out that the Swedish study posted is from two and a half years ago. Certainly not recent by any means given how quickly banding protocalls can change.

[cashley 0]

I didn't visit this board prior to surgery and also spend $17,000 of my very own money... I wish I would have researched other surgeries. I was under the impression that I wasn't heavy enough for the others. I don't like the day to day life with the band. It's tricky, some days complicated, and annoying. I like reading here but wished I was better informed prior to the surgery.

I'm not saying it's bad, it's just not the choice I would have made had I known... I'm happy I've lost but not happy with the daily struggle not to just eat mushies or worry about the acid, or the constant hic-ups.. I guess i am saying it's kind of bad, but that's just my opinion.

[GeezerSue 7]

I just want to point out that the Swedish study posted is from two and a half years ago. Certainly not recent by any means given how quickly banding protocalls can change.

I know...but I think the Inamed report is several years older...from the FDA study period.

[Heavenlyhands 0]

Ok

Iam trying to decide on the Band or RNY, this sounds like possibly some of you would go the other way if you had it to do over again........

Any feed back would be appreciated

Thanks

Christina

[lisah25 3]

Ok

Iam trying to decide on the Band or RNY, this sounds like possibly some of you would go the other way if you had it to do over again........

Any feed back would be appreciated

Thanks

Christina

One thing I did that helped back when we were deciding for DH(banded 2 years ago) and for my own decisions. was spend time on both Lap-Band boards like this one, and support boards for other surgeries. So that I could see what complications patients from all were dealing with. And what I thought I could live with.

I think you can find patients from all WLS who had bad problems, and regret doing it. Just as you'll find those who LOVE what they had done.