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Junior member
Posts: 81
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« Reply #1 on: October 25, 2011, 05:57:11 PM » |
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My mother had lap band surgery three years ago. She was out of work for about 8 weeks, as I recall, although she has a physically demanding job (bedside nursing), so a person with a less physical job may be ready to go back sooner. She initially lost about 50 pounds and was able to go completely off her diabetes medications, as her blood sugar was well controlled with the weight loss. However, after about 18 months, she started to have a lot of problems in that the band became very uncomfortable. I don't understand exactly, but she complained of feeling nauseous all the time. She had her doctor remove all the fluid from the band, and while this brought her some relief, she still said it didn't feel right. Also, without fluid in the band, she ended up putting most of the weight back on. The official explanation she got from the surgeon was that the lap band had slipped out of place; the only way to fix it was to do another surgery. She did quite a bit of research and decided rather than having the band replaced, to have it completely removed and to have gastric bypass surgery at the same time as the removal. This was about 6 months ago and she has done very well. She has lost about 40 pounds and says she feels much more comfortable. She also says that if she had known in the beginning what she knows now, she never would have done the lap band surgery at all and would have gone straight for the gastric bypass. Obviously, I'm sure everyone's experiences are different and I have no idea how common this "slippage" issue is. But that was her experience. Hope its helpful! Whatever you decide, good for you for moving in a direction that will make such a positive difference in your life!
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