Any long term bandsters >5 years? >10 years?

[4myfamily3 0]

Hello, I'm new here. Let me start by saying what a great and helpful sight this is- you all seem so knowledgeable and friendly.

I am seriously considering getting the LB. My insurance covers it as long as my GP refers me. I am going to talk to my general practitioner next week who has been wanting me to lose weight for, oh, about twenty years now.

Here are my concerns and questions with the lap band. I see a lot of people who have been banded and seem happy with the short term results, but most have not been banded very long, and I was wondering why that was. So is there anyone here who has been banded for over 5 years or longer?

I've been doing A LOT of online research on this and to be honest, I've been reading a lot of horror stories about erosion, slippage, and worse. I've also heard that many people have trouble with things getting "stuck" and that it is quite painful, and something called "slime" or "sliming"? Some people even claim that they day they had their bands finally removed was the best day of their life-- oh the joy to eat a crunchy carrot again!

I am attracted to the LB surgery because the thought of having 80% of my stomach removed is just too intimidating, but after reading about the high level of maintenance and lack of bandsters beyond 5 years makes me a little scared.

If any of you have any insight on this, I would very much appreciate it. Thanks in advance!

[cheryl2586 3,053]

I have been banded 4 years and a few months. I have had no issues. Although there are risks with any surgery this one is reversible that is why I chose the lapband so that if anything happens I can get it out.

[2muchfun 8,927]

Many of the old-timers left when this new site went up in November. There were some glitches that angered some, then, due to no wall between the WLS techniques, some other WLS forum members wandered here and posted some nasty threads. It was enough to drive some very well informed and seasoned banders to leave.

The glitches and wall have all been fixed and hopefully many of the seasoned banders may come back but it's still a little too soon.

tmf