Serious Problems

I really and truly wish someone would have been "mean" enough to warn me about all the things that could go wrong. I don't mean this in a snarky way. I am sure I would have taken offense at the time because I thought I did my research and was making the correct decision, but to tell the truth, there just wasn't that much to research back when I had my surgery.  I honestly wish there would have been someone who would have been able to tell me what I was getting into.

I just received an email from a woman I've known since 2003. In it, she asks me if there is ANY other recourse other than band removal for referred left shoulder pain. She says that she has to go out to her car during her lunch hour and simply cry because it hurts her so incredibly badly. Then she has to try to pull herself together and go back into work. Every single day. She got her band in 2004, had it replaced in 2005, and has had the left shoulder pain get increasingly worse. I've witnessed it time and time again, so it's not as if I'm trying to simply be mean or demean anyones' choices. It's just really good to be aware of what can happen so you can make a reasoned and informed decision.

I wish that when I share my experience, as awful as it was, people wouldn't react as if I'm insulting them. I truly mean well. I'm just honest about it and don't sugarcoat the truth.

Tphillipslaw....

I'm pretty sure it's not the case according to Allergan's sister company, Covidien:

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/1189828-post18.html

This is a quote from Dr. Pleatman. I'm not a Pleatman fan by any stretch, but he repeats a very good point:

~~Today I was chatting with the company rep from Covidien, who partners with Allergan, makers of LAP-BAND®. Even she said that they are predicting that the LAP-BAND® will soon be obsolete!

Mark Pleatman MD~~

Jewles,
I truly do not mean to offend but;

I know I am still newly banded, but really, if you think about and read what people are saying, and read between the lines, it all comes down to what is BEST FOR YOU and the quality of your Dr. Some people are allergic to strawberries, nuts gluten. Some people cant handle a band. Its not their fault and you wont know till you have the suregery. That's just a part of the unknown.  

I researched my Dr. I went to several Dr's in my area and made the best choice for me out of those Dr's and some of those Dr's. I would not touch with a ten foot pole. 

I know that I may have complications and I guess I made a mistake reading this post and responding to it but I feel strongly right now, that this was the best decision for me and I just HATE to see people scaring off others from getting the surgery. Either you do well or you don't. If you don't and are unfortunate enough to have problems, you should not blame the band. Things like this happen. Could be the Dr, could be someone not following instructions and causing a sli*****t telling your dr everything when you have a fill and being too tight which leads to vomiting which causes a slip could be a crappy band placement. Could be anything!

And by the way,my first fill did NOT go well. I was waaaay too tight and spent a night in alot of pain and not being able to drink and had a bruise the size of a golf ball around my port so I KNOW that things can go wrong. I went into this with my eyes wide open not with rose colored glasses thank you very much.

 
~~Either you do well or you don't. If you don't and are unfortunate enough to have problems, you should not blame the band.~~

Riiiight, all those with bands just did stupid things and caused their own band intolerance, esophageal spasms/damage, and all the other standard and typical complications.

Noooooo, it couldn't possibly be the band.   Spoken like a true newbie.  Let's chat again in 2-3 years.  We'll see how you feel then.

They have been trying to get the band right for 40 years now, did you know that?  First it was the mesh band, then the molina band, then the non adjustable band, then the small adjustable band, now the mega band.  The band makers are close to throwing in the towel, why do you suppose that is?

I blame the band 100%.  Not a doubt in my mind.  My body rejected nothing, I was the model bandster.  For you to suggest otherwise is extremely insensitive and unrealistic.  1 in 4 have to have their bands removed, yet people don't have nearly the same complications with a sleeve and they do have better weight loss.  Why is it people are better off with sleeves?  Are they more compliant?  Or is it that they don't have a rubber band around their stomachs causing nothing but problems?

Again, we'll chat in a couple of years.

I truly am sorry that you have had issues with the band and I wasn't saying that your body rejected or that its ALL their fault if thngs happen. (Stuff happens, and there is no way to determine how you are going to react with a foreign object in your body is all I was saying, and some of the problems I have read that people have on here are from not following the "rules" from excessive vomiting because they are too tight etc.)

But really? Why do all of the people that have had revisions keep posting here and trying to scare people away. If posters do their research and choose the band, that is their choice. As it was my choice after reading the good, bad and ugly of the band problems that my Dr told me about. I asked about the rejection rate, the removal rate and decided on the band anyway.

I am so glad I am hardly ever on this message board anymore and frankly its because of all then negativity directed toward the band. So, keep up the posting about how the band is horrible and the band causes problems. Guess what! NO SURGERY IS 100% SAFE.

Best of luck to all. No more posting on this board for me.


 

You probably won't see this message because you're too sensitive to listen to the truth, but it's not "scaring people away" to give accounts of what CAN AND DOES happen every day.  I'd rather go into a surgery knowing full well what I might be setting myself up for than to just blindly trust that everything's going to be fine and dandy.

I can't understand the people who claim honesty is equal to nastiness. It's ridiculous! If someone says, "Hey, watch out, you're going to step into that bear trap!" are they being nasty or are they trying to help you stay healthy? Maybe they've stepped in that bear trap and hurt themselves and feel a need to help others avoid it.


Also, it's the internet... take what you need and ignore the rest. Nothing like cutting off your nose to spite your face!  

i saw the same post earlier and started to respond and finally decided it wasn't worth the effort.

Apparently I like pounding my head against walls! I dunno! 

 
nahh.. the pre ops usually listen.  post ops...  we just support them in any way possible.  

Wow - I went away for a couple days and see we have a deactivated member.  I'm still going to respond.  I was a model band patient as well.  Look at my posting history if you'd like.  When I was throwing up I was not "breaking the rules" - my body was so inflamed that nothing could go down, it could only come up.  I was completely unfilled - so really I don't call that rule breaking at all, I had no choice in the matter, it is just what happened. 

The deactivated member also asked why people who have had revisions still come to this board - this is a VERY simple answer "Knowledge is Power" - the more you know about what you are getting into the better. 

I really do want everyone that has a band to be successful and have no complications.  No question about it at all, I want everyone to win this obesity war.  I just know that not everyone will be due to the high complication rate with the band.  I'm not trying to be mean or insensitive, just informative.  I think it is totally fair to do that on a LB board even though I no longer have a LB. 

If you are still reading this even though you have deactivated - I wish you the best of luck.