My doctor says that gastric banding is a waste of time.

[funky_monkey800 247]

Wow..this was a great read.

I was self pay....there for I did hours of research, talked to many doctors, nurses, people with bands, sleeves and bypasses.....in the end when it came down to it, as a self pay all of the surgeries were very close in cost.

I chose the band....so far I am happy with the results. Am I where I need to be? Nope.....but I also didn't get fat over night.

Each surgery is going to be a tool which is going to require self control and discipline....it's not magic.

After reading this I am quite happy with the doc I chose. Not only does the cost of everything include a year of follow up of fills, un fills, or if anything goes wrong with the band it's covered. And he likes to stay on schedule of seeing me every month for the first year. I love that he has spent so much time going over everything with me and he does all my fills. It makes me feel more confident in my choice when the doctor doesn't try and rush me off, but takes time to answer all my questions.

I have not had any problems with my band.

I am quite happy with my choice.

As this will be your choice...

We can all find the negative or positive in anything if we look for it!

Go with what you feel will work best for you. No one knows your body better than you!

Good luck with what ever you choose!

[Sharpie 3,306]

I find the whole foreign body argument ridiculous. so, my husband with his artificial knees and heart valve is doomed? just do your research and do what you feel is best for you. I had my lapband 2 years ago and have not had one bit of problem. I did not want to lose most of my stomach in case I need it for a serious illness such as Cancer. I did not want my intestines re-routed either. If my lapband fails I will hopefully have another option that I feel comfortable with.

[Band2Sleeve2015 5]

I have had a band for 2 years and lost weight as expected. Unfortunately for me.. I had a prolapse. I got the flu so bad and was throwing up so hard my band prolapsed. I am opting for the sleeve and will have it on 2-24-15. The only reason I'm not doing full bypass is that my husbands first wife died after her surgery. ( before anyone jumps on a band wagon, let me say her death could have been prevented. She was not going for her Vitamin B shots. This caused here to have a deficiency, which in turn lead to a massive heart attack) she had reached her goal and my guess is that she thought she was doing okay.. Just goes to show how important follow up visits are. Anyway, needless to say my husband is scared to death for me to have surgery.. However, I'm scared not to as obesity is a killer within itself. Good luck to you and I will share my revision experience when I can. ????

[Band2Sleeve2015 5]

She was 41 years old and it was ruled by the coroner to be a Vitamin B deficiency that caused her heart attack. So this was not an opinion, it was a fact.

[Want2surf 22]

I had a band put in 2/07. I lost 95 pounds over 18 months with the band, which wasn't too bad considering I had it done in Mexico and had zero aftercare. I learned how to take care of myself and eat via the bander sites. I never knew there was anything weird about my band during the first few years because I was losing weight and assumed I was throwing up a lot because I was eating the wrong things.

As time went on I kept losing and eventually dropped 15 pounds below my goal. That wasn't good because I worked in a very physical job and I had gotten too small to do my job effectively. I tried eating so many different foods, eating slowly, eating standing up, eating and walking, exercising then eating, drinking hot tea before eating and various relaxation techniques. I never had more than 1cc put into the band and when I reached my goal I had 1/2 cc taken out. Kaiser started providing care for banders, although they didn't have true bariatric care in my area at that time. I saw a GP, she sent me for an upper GI and they said my stomach was completely occluded at the band site. No Fluid passed through. They unfilled the band and said I had been banded with a band that was too tight.

It won't make sense if you haven't had a band but eating and drinking, for me, is so hit and miss. Even with the band unfilled I throw up A LOT. Sometimes I can't get Water to go through and I can never get Protein shakes to go through. Monday I can eat 1/2 a tuna sandwich but Tuesday if I try to eat the same thing it will sit in my pouch for hours without passing through. I learned that popcorn goes through always. It seems to be a texture thing. So do certain chips and crackers. So I started eating things I knew would go through. This seemed to relax the band and I would immediately chase these snack foods with Water because I'm perpetually dehydrated because I can't drink. Sometimes I can eat a small salad or a little bit of chicken but not often. The result is I gained back over 40 pounds because I was eating Snacks. I retired and didn't replace all the work activity with exercise at home. I'm not getting proper nutrition so I don't feel like doing anything. After retiring I went to the Biggest Loser Resort a year and a half ago and lost the 40 pounds but after falling off the exercise wagon I'm up 20 pounds again. It's crazy I can't eat but I'm gaining weight. I bought a Vitamix and I'm constantly experimenting with healthy stuff, vegan stuff, you name it. It's all wasted money because it rarely passes through and I'm back to popcorn and cheetos. If you're wondering what I mean by "won't go through"...the food sits in the pouch for hours. You can feel a constant discomfort from it. If you go to sleep the food sometimes comes up and you wake up aspirating. After years of experience I can tell what is going through immediately, what might go through with time and what isn't going through and probably won't.

Kaiser now has a bariatric center in my area. I saw a surgeon, had another upper GI and some X-rays. The surgeon confirmed that the band is and always has been too tight, even when unfilled. They're going to do a band to sleeve conversion. I'm so relieved. My eating has been so abnormal for 8 years! I thought about just getting the band out but I'm worried about gaining all the weight back. I finished my Options Classes and now have to do the psyche evaluation and an MD appointment and I'm ready to go!

I did lose weight with the band but it wasn't through healthy eating...it was via near starvation. My new surgeon said my experience is quite common.

Edited February 19, 2015 by Want2surf