Which Band Do You Think Is Best?

Thread Starter  

I Am Due To Have Surgery On May 27th. My Doctor Lets You Decide Which One You'd Rather. So, I Would Like To Know Which One Did You Choose? And Why?

I have no idea what band I have. I keep meaning to ask the Dr. lol I go tomorrow maybe I'll remember! I think mine hold 5cc's? I have 1 cc in now

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Banded on: 08-13-2004
264 / 198/ 150
Current fill: I'M EMPTY!

I thought that was determined by the size of your stomach or something? I have the Inamed 9.75cm 4cc capacity.

I have a 9.75. I did'nt know you could choose and would not have known if I could.:)

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Sallyjo
Dr. Felix Speigel
Houston, Texas
Banded April 25

I have the Vanguard (VG) with 4cc right now. My doc said that he can't say for sure which band will work best for the patient until he gets in there. It depends on your anatomy (stomach size, stomach thickness, amount of fat surrounding the stomach etc.). Wow, you have a tough decision to make if you have to choose for yourself. I wish you the best with your decision.

I have an Inamed 10 cm with 4cc's capacity.

Dr said my stomach had a lot of fat on it so I needed the longer length.

I've got 1.2ccs in there and it's a skosh too much.....

Like the others I thought the Dr decided once s/he got in there.....

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Karen

Banded June 23, 2005
1.5cc in a 4cc band
Dr. Cirangle/Dr. Taller (Laparoscopic Associates of San Francisco)
298 (292 day of op)/183/160 5'7" BMI 47/28/25

I've got a 9.75cm, 4cc band. I've been happy. I dont know for sure that there's any real hard data or proof of the advantages of one band over another in terms of problems such as erosion etc. So I'd always choose a 4cc band becuase it's quicker and easier to get to optimum restriction - although I'd be realistic that my doctor may need to place the larger band if my stomach was bigger, fatter, more muscular or whatever.

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Jacqui

I would choose the 10cm band because it's only slightly bigger than the 9.75 ... just in case you do have a fattier stomach it has a bit less of a chance of being too tight from the outset. I would avoid the VG band because of the possibility of taking a much longer time to get to optimal restriction. There is no scientific data at this point that tells us that the VG band results in fewer complications, even though you will probably see speculation along those lines.

I know there are at least six types of different bands but I think the LAGB/Inamed-Bioenterics is the most popular in the USA (FDA approved).
I've got a AMI Soft Gastric Band (surgery in Europe) - holds 10cc and I currently have 7cc in it. I think this type of band is somewhat difficult to hit the perfect optimum restriction from one patient to the other and doctor may have to do several fills before reaching your «sweet spot» which means that loosing weight is a very slow proccess (which is not so bad because it allows your body and skin the time to calmly and continuously adjust to your new self).

niki

My surgeon uses the VG and the 10cm. I asked him during my consultation which I would get and he said he thought the VG, but it would depend on what he saw once he got in. Come to find out I actually got the 10cm. I thought that was bittersweet. Here are my reasons (these are just my peronal reasoning/opinions, not anything backed by medical evidence).

I wanted the VG because I liked the large "pillows". My logic tells me that the VG would have less likelihood of erosion. My rationale is like this: take two hotdogs. Tie a string around one, and a piece of ribbon around the other. Then tighten the string and the ribbon the same amount. Because the ribbon has more surface area, it may "dent" the hotdog, but the string is always going to "cut" the hotdog first because it has less surface area. Tie a string and a ribbon around different hotdogs and starting blowing the hotdogs up. Again, the string is going to cut first. Granted our organs aren't hotdogs, but for analogy's sake... This reasoning tells me that the VG band & its "pillow" construction should have either fewer cases of erosion, or longer duration in place prior to the onset of erosion. Again -- that's just my reasoning something out, it means nothing in the real world. :) I did NOT like the VG for the same reason - the "pillows". When I watched one get filled, I noticed there were crevices/pinches between the pillows, and as much as I thought the larger surfaec area would help ward off erosion, I also felt these crevices could be an area for potential problems, esp. depending on the natural thickness of someone's organ.

I did not want the VG band because higher capacity = longer to fill. I've since learned that my surgeon is pretty agressive with his fills, and the first VG fill is typically 4 - 5 cc with a full cc on follow-ups, as appropriate, and less as you start to feel restriction. I guess in hindsight, this shouldn't have been as much of a concern as it was.

I hear it said a lot on messageboards that the 4cc bands can be adjusted any more accurately than larger capacities, but I personally don't believe it. 4cc is 4cc... and once the VG is filled to 6cc it has the same 4cc of play as a smaller band. Adding 6.5cc to a larger band or .5 cc to a smaller one still gives you 3.5cc of room to play with.

If I'd had my druthers I probably would have picked the VG band, but I did not. I trusted my surgeon with my life, so I'll certainly trust him to know which band is best for me. :)

My doctor was telling me that the pillows can sometimes cause problems during fills. In some cases, the saline gets trapped in one or more of the pillows so they don't know exactly how much is really there when they extract and then fill. His opinion was that they were a little more tempermental when doing fills. I have no earthly idea of that is correct. It's just what he told me.

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Dr. Spiegel, Houston TX, 6/13/06
Starting over after EGD; many problems with fills
Fill 2.0 12/31/07

Mine is a 9.75 I read it on my chart. When I get a fill they hand me my chart, so I pass the time by reading it.

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Mary B. The Woodlands, Texas H219/S207/C146/G130
Banded on 03/14/2006 by Dr. Richard Collier




:cat:"In Loving Memory of Mouse"

Are you getting banded in Mexico? If so, some of the Dr.'s give you the choice of brands (e.g. Inamed or Swedish, etc.) Otherwise, I didn't have a choice as to the band size. My Dr. said he wouldn't know that until he got in there and would make the decision on the best size.

I have the Inamed 11cm. (it is not the VG).

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Barbara
Banded August 11, 2005
11cm. Inamed Band
7.5cc fill
Total # of fills: 2

"Noting tastes as good as being skinny feels."

Am I the only one alarmed that your Dr. is letting YOU choose? My Dr. has each of the sizes layed out and decides which one better fits the anatomy of your stomach. I wouldn't know what the heck to pick if he would have told me it was my choice.
It just sounds strange to me?

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BANDED NOV 9, 2005
Dr. Spivak, Houston, TX
size 26/28 before
size 10 now :)
365/329/172
highest/surgery/current

That was my first thought as well. My doctor wouldn't even think to ask me which one I would rather have. I'm not the surgeon nor would I want that responsibility.