To remove the band or not??? PLEASE HELP!

vampyrekiss · November 17, 2008

I've been banded for 2 years. For the past year or so, I've had a lot of problems with my band - PBing, getting stuck, sliming, and worse of all - not being able to eat anything for the first 3-4 hours EVERY day. I couldn't even drink Water for a few hours! Have you ever been stuck on WATER???

Healthy foods seem to always get stuck: chicken, fish, veggies, fruits. I work out 3-4 times a week at Curves, limit my calories to 1100-1200 a day and still didn't lose weight!

Sooo....I went to my surgeon last week about this. After telling him all my complaints, and reviewing my workout schedule and what I was eating, it was concluded that perhaps the band just isn't for me. He unfilled the 1cc I had left in my band (I was filled last July with 1.25cc) and gave me a few options: 1) remove the band; 2) replace the band with a newer version that is not supposed to get stuck as much; 3) replace the band with the new Realize band; or 4) convert to RNY. I went with option #1, and am currently scheduled for surgery on Friday, December 5th.

HOWEVER....I've been having my doubts. WHY? Well since being unfilled I've been able to do EVERYTHING I complained about!!! I've been eating Breakfast every day since being unfilled: 1 cup of Cereal with 1/2 cup of milk; NOTHING has gotten stuck. NOTHING. I've had really dry chicken and NO sauce; I've had a whole wheat bun; I even had sushi with rice tonight for the first time in years, and NOTHING has gotten stuck. And best of all - I've lost 4 pounds since going to the doctor's office on Tuesday! I am SOOOOOOO happy with this unfill that it is making me think twice about having it removed.

Right now I'm worried that all is well NOW, but what about 2 months from now; 6 months; 1 year? How long will this feeling last as far as being unfilled and not having any problems???? Unfortunately, I don't have time to think it over. My husband lost his job and we lose our insurance after the first of the year. BCBS has already approved me for the surgery. I'm worried if I don't do it now, I won't have insurance, or the insurance I will have won't cover it.

I've learned a lot by having the band: mainly about nutrition and portion sizes, so I'm confident that the weight won't come back, but I'm worried that I'll regret NOT getting it removed in the future should I run into problems, and then I won't have insurance to cover it!

How did you feel after the band was removed - how painful was it compared to when you got it? How are you doing without the band as far as keeping the weight off????

These are my questions. I hope some of you out there can give me some words of wisdom :rolleyes:

starrgirrl · November 17, 2008

Hi Vampyrekiss-

Sending lots of prayers to your situation. Did your doctor do a floroscopy to see if your band is properly situated? If things have resolved with the unfill, you may be able to keep it.

I had my band removed in July due to a slip, and I've gained back most of my weight. It's been challenging. What I'm really missing is the "full" signal that I received from the band (even will little fill). So now I'm back to managing my food intake the old fashioned way.

It may be that you or your husband will find another job after the first of the year that will give you even better health insurance.

Whatever decision you make, affirm that it is the best one for you... Attune to your guidance and knowing. :smile2:

Nanook · November 17, 2008

Hi Vamp....,

First sorry to hear your husband lost his job and I hope things can turn around for the both of you soon!

I think there are a couple of types of people on the band. At least three. There are those that get the band and complain that at 9 cc's that they have no restriction and can eat whatever they want even bread.< /p>

Then there are the types like me and possibly you where just having the band in place without a fill gives you restriction and it's really tricky to get to a "happy place" with the band. I ended up having mine removed because I ate around the band and gained weight instead of losing because I couldn't eat anything else. But then I started getting acid reflux issues which seemed to be band related and they removed it in the beginning of October of this year. I still have those issues just not as frequently.

Then there are those who appear to live with the band and do what the band was intended to do and lose the weight and don't seem to have all the other issues and they are the lucky ones.

Now I was only banded for about 14 months but I did notice after it was removed that my stomach had shrunk enough to not eat as much as I had before banding. I can't eat those large plates of food or two. I have more of a sense of fullness now that I hadn't had in a long time. I don't know how long it will last but I have lost some of the weight that I gained after getting banded so it's not all bad. I'm hoping to try to eat healthy and listen to my body about fullness and I should be ok.

Also the pain was not as bad as the original surgery but I had the same amount of incisions. The port removal is the sorest part but honestly that wasn't too bad either and I didn't have those bad gas pains that you get when you get the surgery. You still have to be careful about lifting etc...but without having any major complications I healed rather quickly.

Anyway just sharing my situation with you as everyone is different but I was glad to get rid of the band because of the fact that it wasn't working the way it was intended to and I'm feel much better now. So good luck to you and I wish you and your family well, Nancy.:smile2: