Love it Or Hate it?

There are plenty of other exercises you could be doing instead of throwing temper tantrums on line.

I am assuming the 6 year comments were directed at me as I'm the only one that I saw on here that had the band 6 years.  Save those comments for another 5 years, 11 months, and then you will be justified in judging me.

Actually, 6 years was just the first number that came into my mind and there are several people who had the band for a period of time who've mentioned that they suffered long and hard with it not working and didn't get it taken out till much later.

I'm also not juding you, I'm just saying that no one forced you to keep a malfunctioning band for 6 years (or did they?) I go back to my previous statement that if I had any fraction of the problems several people have mentioned for 6 months I'd go ballistic and have the thing taken out.  Being thin isn't worth that level of suffering to me.

In my experience, I love my band! I was probably the most well informed band patient that lived. Ok maybe that was embellished. But I love it! 2+ months out and total loss is 40 lbs. I choose a band for many reasons. I have heard the horror stories about band and RNY just like everyone else. The main reason I decided on a band was I had a friend of the family who was a nurse die from RNY complications. Her death weight was 80 something LBS! I had wanted RNY before I knew that their was bands. Now I'm 20 I refused to have something that I couldn't reverse. I made sure that my family knew that I would rather be heavier then die from my surgery. Maybe that way of thinking will change but I still think it now!
I love what my band has taught me. I know that not only will eating healthy and make smarter decisions will make me feel better it will help the weight come off. Even if I develop complications along the line I will continue to love my band and love that this was MY choice. Everyones experience will be different because everyone is different. You have to remember why your having surgery and see how your band works for YOU! I hope it works for you like it has for most! Good luck and keep us posted!

Ok, here is my take on the lap band from a 5 year perspective...

1. The lap and is a tool ONLY meaning, if you work it -- IT WORKS
2. A lot of people that have complications DO NOT FOLLOW RULES - meaning if they find themselves too tight, with frequent vomiting and reflux they MUST remove saline immediately or risk a band slip or lose their band.
3. A lot of people NEVER change their lifestyle, the lap band requires at least 30-60 minutes per day of some form of exercise.
4. Drinking water and getting at least 60 grams of proteins each day, a lot of bandsters are too tight to even get in the recommended amounts of protein so sometimes they resort to high calorie soft foods that goes down much easier and as a result they DO NOT LOSE WEIGHT.

So when you see people that had the band and ba**** always take it with a grain of salt...loving my band at 5 years out , I went from a size 26 to size 10.

Be careful, please, about judging those of us who had our bands removed... (I had mine almost 6 years, quite an expert myself...)

2. A lot of people that have complications DO NOT FOLLOW RULES - meaning if they find themselves too tight, with frequent vomiting and reflux they MUST remove saline immediately or risk a band slip or lose their band.
  --at 3.2 I was so loose I could eat anything and as much of it as I wanted, at 3.4, I was so tight I couldn't get fluids in.  Finally spent the last year at 2.75 and some days I could eat, some days I couldn't, but it was impossible for me to get the right level.  My band never slipped; my pouch never stretched.

3. A lot of people NEVER change their lifestyle, the lap band requires at least 30-60 minutes per day of some form of exercise.
--I spent months with a personal trainer and going to the gym, logging every bite, etc.  It didn't change the fact that some days I could eat, some days I couldn't, and I never could lose weight.  I also spent a year with a nutritionist and another year following a different weight loss plan to go with my band.  It didn't change the fact that I had band issues.

4. Drinking water and getting at least 60 grams of proteins each day, a lot of bandsters are too tight to even get in the recommended amounts of protein so sometimes they resort to high calorie soft foods that goes down much easier and as a result they DO NOT LOSE WEIGHT.
--Yes, sometimes people give up after years of not being successful.  I could never eat dense protein regardless of my fill level.

I have not bashed the band.  I did lose 85 lbs in 2 years (gained 1/2 back in year 3 then maintained from there).  It kept me from gaining at least, but for me, my quality of life really sucked.  I was just sharing my experience and in no way said that my experience would be anyone else's or if they had a different experience, it was because THEY did something wrong.  I didn't do anything wrong but this option didn't work for me.

A lot of people with bands that revise have no other choice because the band caused complications. Congrats on not having any, but for some of us that had to get the band removed please don't try to imply that we failed it.

I followed every band rule out there, and fought with it for 6 months before I just couldn't tolerate the pain.

I do not regret my time with the band. It did teach me a lot about myself, and food. However, it also taught me that a terrible quality of life is not worth it when there are other options available.

There's a big difference in bashing the band, and giving an honest, open-eyed reality of what band life can be like for some patients.

LOVE IT! I'm almost 2 yrs out and have no regrets. My quality of life is fantastic. I'm a slow loser, but I'm great at maintaining what I have lost. For me this was the best decision I have made. I'm very happy to be a bandster! 

Loved it the 1st 6 months, where I lost most of my weight. Have been hating it and the expense I've put into it ever since.

I could sure see the expenses coming and hated that idea with a passion. When I was throwing up in my sleep, of course all the tests that came after that were out of pocket,  just like all the fills and unflls were.

I am really glad the sleeve was available to me, cause I did not want to gain the weight back. I have been so happy at goal without having to  worry about anymore aftercare.