Yeah... whoever said that there was a 90 - 95% failure rate was VERY biased against the VBG procedure.  The way it was described to me is a lot how the previous gentleman described it: VBG is restrictive, only. That means that while you will be eating CONSIDERABLY less, the majority of the weightloss is going to rest on your ability to exercise regularly, and eat healthily. Pretty much, this tool lets you live like a "normal" person... but with a smaller tummy!

hi, i know you asked mark for advice, but i would like to asked, have you been doing alot of excersize?   alot of my weight lose i know is from going to the gym 4x a week, i do spinning classes 2x a week, kickboxing 2x aweek and inbetween i do the treadmil.  i went from a size 32 to a size 16 in 7months.   if you have any questions please feel free to asked me, my e-mail is [email protected]

I actually had VBG twice - the first one wasn't vertical, but basically the same.  The first time my staple line came open, and the second time, like you, I didn't bother to check what went wrong.  I had the surgeries done in different towns by different doctors - I just knew I wasn't having it done again, so what did it matter why it didn't work!  My last one was done in the mid 80's.  I never lost more than 20 lbs from either surgery, but I still have some issues with the band and/or staple line.  It all depends on what I eat, how fast I eat, what I've had to drink while I eat . . . but I still really can't eat a serving size of 'regular' people.  Why do you think it's the band?  I sometimes think that my staple line has 'fused' or scarred closed like it was supposed to, or something like that.  Maybe the 19lbs is a result of the detox helping your system and has nothing to do with the surgery?

Hi Mark, I am glad you are doing well with your vbg. I had the same surgery 15 months. I have only lost 70 pounds. I am a vegetarian. I was wondering if you could please tell me what you are exactly doing to have lost so much weight because my doctor told me I would loose around 100 pounds with this surgery. At the time of sugery I weighed 300 pounds. I am feeling a little discouraged. Please help me. Thank you,

I have had no complaints either Mark... best decision I have ever made. Take care, Melanie