Jodi,

Firstly, I echo many here who state (A) I am sorry other board members aren’t tolerant of your choice (B) and the poor perception the band has.

Secondly, in the almost 10 years of researching bariatric surgery, and over 3 being a band patient and being active in the bariatric community, I can tell you all these surgeries have very successful results, and they all also have very negative results and/or complications. There is no 1 surgery which is without failures and/or complications. If there was, then the bariatric community would switch to that procedure, and everyone would be successful. I’ve known people who have changed their bands to bypass/sleeves; I know bypass & sleeve patients who have either a band on-top of their operation; I’ve known bypass patients who switched to sleeve; I know bypass/sleeve/band patients who had DS, etc.

I feel, like in life, bad folks give the good folks a bad name. All the boards have their detractors,  but if you look closely you’ll find the supports outnumber them. We at “minority" here at the Realize section.  We’re probably one of the “newest" forums. With that said, I feel since we are the minority we’re also the most tolerant and understanding. It seems the folks here don’t really care what TOOL you chose, but the ultimate goal for ALL OF US is getting HEALTHY.

Know you will always have love; understanding and support here.

Good luck!!