lap band complications?

I don't have the lap band, but a co worker of mine had it done.
I personally think that if a person is serious enough to lose weight to have a surgery, they are serious enough to do it with out the surgery.
My co-worker I don't think was serious enough for either.
She was eating Culver's with in days of having the surgery. She continues to eat the same crap that she ate before the surgery, just in smaller portion sizes.
If you're serious about making a life style change - losing 1-2 lbs a week - you don't need the lap band surgery! You can do it with out that! It's called will power, healthy eating, exercise, and support.
And this is the site to get all of the motivation and support that you could ask for.
Good luck with your choice.
Steph:flowerforyou:

steph i appreciate your feedback. i am not having the surgery just for the weight loss but for the long-term maintenance. i have heard stories similar to your co-workers where people simply don't hold up their end of "the bargain" and therefor the surgery is not a success. i am not worried about that with me. i simply look at the surgery as an additional tool to help me get to my ideal weight and stay there. i once lost all of my extra weight but then gained it all back and then some over time. i do not want that nto happen again.. i believe the surgery will help me tremendously with that as myself and my family all have a pre-dispositopn to becoming fairly round. it is really complications i am concerned about, not whether i "need" the surgery or not. i kind of sense some of these people who are telling me about complications are really just trying to discourage me from having the surgery for whatever reason, as they never seem to go beyond expressing vague second hand stories without any details. i am looking for details if people really have had bad experiences with the procedure.

Are you taking classes in proper eating habits to learn how to re-eat after the surgery? It seems often times one hears when someone goes the weightloss surgery route, any type that they don't take time to learn healthy eating skills and then end up eating too much, bad foods (meaning, unhealthy, non-nutritious foods) then become terribly depressed that the surgery 'didnot work' .

I am NOT saying that's what you're about, merely sharing my corner of the world and what I've read and experienced of ppl out there sharing. One woman shared her doctor promised her he could get her down to a size 4, whaaa? How can that be promised, once the surgery is done it really is up to the patient to modify their behavior and not have the doc magically give a person a certain size to obtain. The woman went into surgery a size 52 (is that a size? Some quite large like that)

She got through her surgery, drains, yadda x 3 and then began eating french fries, wha??? The body must be quite mixed up by that time. She spoke of having to pull over to the side of the road to vomit every few minutes, wow, too intense for me.

Someone mentioned it to once, the thought passed through my head, and went out the other side. I decided I wanted to change my life for me, wanted to do all the hard work myself and be held accountable for it. For some surgery is the right choice, but for me NO it would not have been a good thing, it would have made me feel like a failure, like I was giving up that I could succeed.

I know there are many thoughts on this issue, my words are not meant hurtful but simply what I chose not to do. Sometimes so many complications I couldn't bare to do that to my body. SO many lose 100's on their own through hard work, including planned healthy meals, kick *kitten* workouts daily and a positive upbeat attitude. Ppl that succeed like that let NOONE get in their way of success.

I find it very sad when hearing of someone having a dangerous surgery such as weighloss surgery only to lose 100 lbs in a matter of months by drinking only liquids then within a year have put back on 200 lbs. YIKES, our bodies sure go thru alot, they are amazing but still...seems there is a limit to what they can handle over time.

One last thought and this has stuck in my head and probably always will, it shocked me so much. A woman shared on here that she was sceduled for gastric bypass and she had lost over 100+ lbs on her own while waiting for her surgery date, she had only 30 lbs left to lose. She got called in for her appt. and decided she would go ahead with the surgery!! Whaaaaaaaaa??? 30 lbs to goal and a doctor allows that??? This to me shows that weightloss surgery may have started out in the right mind set by doctors but it seems that if a patient can do the surgery at only 30 lbs over her goal weight there is something seriously WRONG now with the medical community that would allow something crazy like that.

She shared she had waited soooooo long she didn't want to cancel her appt. Hm... I think situations like this make a number of us skeptical about it more. It used to be a doctor would say 100+ plus lbs. would be the least amount a patient had to weight to even be considered, now it seems the limit has gone way down in some areas.:noway:

Merely my thoughts on the matter.

try to get info from those who have had the surgery more than a few months ago for sure. good luck.

Jason,

As I stated in my 1st response (to your original post), lap band surgery is a TOOL to HELP you lose weight. It cannot and will not be your saving grace if you do not follow the program.

I had lap band surgery in January of 2009 and lost 100 lbs by my first year. Then I lost my way. It wasn't strictly that I was eating badly or even making bad decisions. I began dating, I had job stress, I started working out less. I did have an issue of an "obstruction" - meaning I didn't chew a piece of meat enough times and it got stuck. I wasn't able to keep fluids down and then had to have all the saline removed from my band and needed to start all over with putting in a few ccs at a time. It was a pain, but that was the worst issue I've had. I have been "over" filled a couple of times too, but it's hit or miss. Everyone is different. People feel different restrictions with different amounts and different people have more tolerance for certain foods.

My younger sister and mother both had gastric bypass earlier in 2009. My mom has not had an issues whatsoever. However, my sister has had 2 surgeries due to problems with her esophagus. Lap band MAY be the slower approach (although I've met some people on this site who have been extremely motivated!) but it's also much safer than gastric bypass.

I too haven't told just "anyone" about my surgery. There are a lot of people that seem to think bariatric surgery is a cop out or an easy out. It's not. True, we all know someone or have heard of someone who had the surgery and continues to make bad decisions (fried foods, breads, etc.) but NOT everyone is like that. For every 1 lazy, quick fix person, there are TONS others who are taking this seriously and making the necessary lifestyle changes. Yeah, it can suck that you will not be able to eat like you once did. But after awhile, you don't even miss it! You can find other things to fill up --or even substitutions for your favorite foods.

The biggest thing is that you ARE indeed acknowledging that this IS a lifestyle change. You KNOW that you will have to put in the effort to be successful. You are ready for this! And you WILL succeed...you have the right mindset and attitude! And you do have your lap band support system here on MFP to help you through your journey.

Hey, I don't have any valuable feedback to give you but to say I wish you luck! I belive you can meet your goal and think this is a terrific sight to help encourage you on the way. I am confident you will make the right choice for you. You are doing great already! Good fo ryou for doing something about your weight!!

Lap band is better than a full by pass. I've seen too many patients in the ICU who have lost bowel function. When it gets "bypassed" it no longer works. When you need to get it working again, too bad. I've seen necrosis of tissue. I've seen death. These are all 20 years or so post surgery. Maybe they have improved on the surgery since the earlier ones. It was enough to scare me into never doing anything like that.

i tend to disagree about not offering the lap band unless lifestyle modification fails, because the lap band really won't work without lifestyle modification anyway. you can still eat junk if you so desire, only in smaller portions.

My point wasn't that I think people are pathetic and want to see them make the lifestyle change. Every surgery has risk and I don't think patients should be put at risk when they haven't exhausted other options (I didn't take an oath like Drs but I still believe in do no harm!). Also, when I said 'failed at lifestyle modification', I didn't mean ate loads of junk food when they should have been eating healthily. There are actually a good proportion of people out there who struggle to lose weight even when they restrict calories successfully... especially if they have lost and regained weight in the past. That is what I would call failure of lifestyle modification.

Hi. I'm new on this site, but wanted to give it a try. I had the lap band surgery a year ago. It took 3 months to get it filled to where it was working successfully. After that I lost over 60 pounds in the next 6 months. Then, I had a set back and regained all of it. I injured my hip falling on the ice, so I couldn't work out and had a lot of stress happen all at once: death of a brother, fighting in the family, worries about keeping my job due to budget cuts, and medical conditions. I have a hypo thyroid which makes losing weight a challenge. This too was off the limit this spring and I was getting too tired all the time and starting to get depressed. I also had a breast cancer scare, which thankfully just turned out to be a cyst.

Last month I finally made an appointment with the Bariatric Surgeon, who is awesome by the way. He added some fluid to the band which was too lose. I hadn't seen him in a year as I felt guilty. Now I have 6.5 cc's of Saline in the band and it is working beautifully again. I had my Thyroid checked and the dose readjusted. I've lost 15 pounds since then and am back on track. I have more energy and am looking forward to each day.

My suggestion to anyone thinking about having this surgery is to make sure it is right for you. Can you stick to the restrictions? Will you commit to keeping in touch with the doctor whether things are going well or not? It is a slower, but healthier alternative to the Rouh-N-Y procedure but takes more dedication and determination to see it succeed as there isn't the dumping that occurs with that process.

I have run into others with severe complications that have had them worked out in the end, but haven't seen many myself. Most of the problems I've seen, other than what I listed was in regards to what I eat. I find I can't eat anything too dry as it won't go down. I have to be careful about who I eat with. If I eat with people that I get in a heated discussion with at the table, I forget to chew properly. When I get blocked, I find my chest hurts. I usually drink water to loosen it and throw up what ever I ate in order to clear the block and prevent further problems. I don't go back to eating. I wait until I am hungry again and then I have a small snack.