Sorry folks.  SUCCESSFUL VBG'er here Most of the time you find me over in the Photo Department working away on the before and  after photos. Maybe the VBG  has been refined in later years or I just had a fantastic surgeon. Either way I have lost nearly 135 pounds since 2001  and am still slowly losing. I had no complications and as of last month when I had an EGD my staple line and band are in perfect condition.  My gastroenterologist was amazed and said if he had not seen my surgery date he would have said mine was very recent Truth is, you can have a bad surgery and your band and staples will not last. If you feel this is happening then go back and have it checked.  If your surgeon will not do anything and you KNOW you are not eating around your tool then find another surgeon.  Don't wait.    Truth is, you can learn to eat around your surgery. Our surgeries are just a tool. You can take care of it and it will be there and work successfully for you. If you begin to have a problem with it just go for a checkup. Again, don't wait.  If you abuse your tool then it will not last.  There is another post on a different thread made by a new member ,Lisa that says it all so well.  She, like myself, is 6+ years post-op. Gwen E Photo Team Leader

Hi Cathy I had a revision from VBG/87 to Lapband/06 and am thrilled with my success to date.   Best wishes,

I had the VBG back in 1987, in Toronto with Dr. Dietel.  I went from 260 lbs. down to 113 lbs. and with a lot of work was able to maintain for a few years afterwards.  But alas by 2006, I was weighing in at 251 lbs.   I still would get pain if I ate too much but would then go and throw it up and be ready to eat more.  I felt like a big fat failure!   I definitely had stretched out my pouch though luckily I never experienced any  other problems. Anyways I finally went to a consult with a surgeon who does Lapband surgery that my family doctor told me about.  I brought in all my medical notes pertaining to my VBG and after going for some tests my doctor told me I was an excellent candidate.  He also made me realize that I wasn't to blame for my staples separating because over the years it was shown that the success rate was low for those with VBG.  The surgery is no longer performed at all in Canada (as far as I know) because the staples separating was very common after the first year or two. Anyways I am now almost 18 mths. since being banded and I am feeling great!  Down from 251 day of surgery to 133 now and only 8 lbs. left to reach my goal of 125.  The reason I went with lapband which cost me $16,000 was because I knew the aftercare included fills to help me keep restriction.  Another bonus is that since being banded I cannot vomit at the drop of a hat which is great.  Mind you the odd time I get major pain from eating too much or something I can't digest I would love to throw up but since I can't it keeps me from getting back into unhealthy eating patterns. I hope that the surgeons have altered the VBG procedure so those having it now are more successful and you are also fortunate because back when I had mine 20 yrs. ago there was no support out there, you were basically on your own. Best wishes,  

Hi zappre, I too had VBG back in 1987.  It was at St. Joseph's Hospital in Toronto and my surgeon was Dr. M. Dietel.  I went from 260 down to 113 and with work was able to maintain it for a few short years.  Did Dr. Dietel do yours as well?  Best wishes with your upcoming ds.

I had the VBG 3 years ago and it was the only procedure available to me at the time because I had weird anatomy that would make the rny unsafe...I went from 360 down to 231 and then crept back up to 270.  It's been rough, but I feel 100% better than I did when i was 360.  It's rough because I thought this was it for me and I would make my goal of under 200 which I never did.  I cannot eat anything of substance to keep me full.  I just feel uncomfortable and sick and then I vomit.  I wish I would have known how this would go, but I didn't.  I didn't even know I had the VBG until after my surgery was already done.  It wasn't until my surgeon saw my anatomy that he determined the vbg was the only option.  I am grateful for my surgery.  I just wish I was able to get where I wanted to be...a healthy weight.  It's not easy to watch all my rny friends reach their goals and I struggle every day.  if you have advice for foods to eat that keep me full and don't make me vomit then I would greatly appreciate it.  Things I can't eat...any kind of meat including certain fish like salmon.  Things I can eat...anything that goes down easily...junk basically except for things like yogurt which doesn't keep me full at all.