Hi everyone , after ten years of on on again off again troubles with my band I have finally made the decision to have it removed. It seems I?ve never had entered period of time without severe blockages even with soft foods , following the guidelines for chewing etc . I could eat a food on one occasion. And be fine qnd the very tone be blocked with the same thing. Being blocked with foods like oats etc . This has been an ongoing issue where I?d be ok for a good hike and the issue would return . I also had a very significant slip which required surgical repair several years back.

in a few weeks I?m booked to have the band out but it seems the vast majority of information I read is either from those who had revision surgery or others who said they regained the weight . I did lose weight over the years but it?s been up and down.
I am wondering are there people who have managed to keep weight down after having the band removed without revisional surgery. Also I?m extremely nervous about this surgery for some reason . I think the length of time the bands been in there and my horrible experience with it . Also reading lots of story?s about stomachs being cut during the removal procedure .
my dr and I have agreed that we will review where I?m at down the track re revision options ie sleeve or bypass but I?m hoping to gain a realistic perspective on people experiences and what my odds are if I?m following a healthy diet am I still going to regain weight simply because I?m with out the band . And also re the surgery . Thanks

if keeping your weight off pre band didn?t work why do you think keeping your weight off post band will work?

I'm in a very similar situation. First time I've logged on in many years. Got my band almost 14 years ago. Went from 350 to 180. Tooj all my fill out about 6 years ago because I was having bad reflux. I slowly crept back up to 285. Last June I started keto and about 4 months ago I started incorporating intermittent fasting. Weight 207 this morning. Trying to get to 190. I don't regret getting the band, but I'm certainly not the proponent I was years ago.

I didn't think I had issues with the band until I wrote everything down that I missed because of it... I missed conversations and experiences because I was throwing up in the bathroom, or trying to hide the fact that I just threw up by "spitting it into a napkin"... my thoughts were overrun with thoughts of "This sucks, I feel so uncomfortable" etc. if I didn't have a cup of steaming hot broth every morning, I wouldn't eat for the day. when I traveled, I couldn't eat (swelling), when it was that time of the month, I couldn't eat (swelling, PMS... you know, the lovely stuff)... I was not living my best life. Originally, I was happy, lost a ton of weight, but I really didn't tackle what my root issues with food were... I would eat less, but would still eat the types of food that did nothing for me, consume slider foods and found ways to go around my band initially... After 80 pounds of regain and a buttload of shame going back to my surgeon, he ran tests and found that the upper part of my stomach had stretched... my surgeon couldn't tell me why or how I just knew that because the band was useless, I had to get it removed.

I had 2 options, remove the band and go at it by myself or go for a revision (one that I had to pay for out of pocket because insurance was a no go)

I chose the latter. I needed surgical intervention and had my "Come to Jesus moment" knowing I needed more than my weak disciplined motivation could take me. I didn't want to have to go under again, so I did what I needed to do to undergo both procedures (removal and revision) at once.

I needed something to make me ill if I consumed... Sugar is my weakness- I needed to kill that want with the fear of dumping syndrome. This is why the RnY was the best option for me.

I was petrified, crying on the table and knew this was for good. Thankfully, I had the sweetest nurse who held my hand and assured me I was in good hands. 10, 9, 8 and I was out, holding the hand of a stranger.

I did not have any issues at all during my surgery and recovery with the exception of where my port was located. I would get sharp pains as my body was healing.

Best of luck to you and wishing you the best

Be super careful with that fill. I had done that a few times over the years I had my band and each time as the days went by I ended up having to have saline taken out because I wasn't able to swallow my own spit never mind water or eat anything.

With being "newly" filled I would stick to soft stuff like cottage cheese, shaved deli ham, yogurt, etc. Trust me if the fill was good even yogurt will fill you up fast.

Oh and I wouldn't do the sleeve after having a band due to the increase of GERD. If by chance you end up having issues with the band believe it or not insurance companies will pay for a revision due to medical necessities. Only way they wouldn't is if they don't cover WLS at all.

Good Luck.

Thanks ladygodiva1228. As of yesterday I went back to the gastroenterologist. He sent me to a nutritionist a couple of weeks ago and she gave me some info and talked about the gastric sleeve. But that's not an option since I have no co-morbidities and was self pay with my lapband due to the same.

However, at my appointment yesterday I thought I couldn't go any further with fills in my band since when I saw him about horrendous acid reflux I was at 2 mL (?****ep wanting to say cc's. Oh well. Any way he told me, no your band should go up to no more than 10. I was shocked! I'm like I thought it was maxed out at 2!!! So I thought to myself I've went almost 5 months, done gained almost 40lbs, stressing and having erratic high blood pressure every time I set foot in any doctor's office because my weight has went up and I could have just got more of a fill!!!??

Well he asked if I wanted to go up to 3 or a half. I went the full three. Well couldn't feel any restriction before leaving the office (drinking water). Well, I continued my day, started my first meal prep for me and the hubby so that took a lot of time and didn't get around to eating until late. Well let me tell you, I found out real quick that I finally had restriction! Had 2 bites of a hot dog and was miserable the whole night and at 8am this morning still is while trying to drink hot coffee to make it go down or whatever it decides. I slimed all night (sorry bedside garbage can). I puked a little hot dog at time but mostly slimed my way to the dawn hours. Didn't chew well and probably didn't need a hotdog anyway.

So I hope that this is the start to restriction and getting me to slow down with my food. But was a huge reminder.

Go back in 2 weeks and hope to have had some progress moving back down the scale.