new and seeking advice re removal

marrakesh · 01-13-2007, 07:07 PM

Hi all,

I've been lurking for a while and wanted to finally de-lurk and ask for some help.

I've been banded nearly 3 years and have lost 25-35 kg /55-77 lbs(depends on several factors!). My surgeon wanted me to lose at least 50kg /110 lbs (ie, 2/3rds of my excess weight), so I am a way off.

The problem is that I've had some quite ghastly psychological problems which I think are related to the band. Facing a few situations over the last 18 months and not having food to fall back on resulted in me having a horrible depressive episode/nervous breakdown late in 2005. I've spent all of 2006 seeing a psychologist and my doctor regularly and I finally feel like I'm back on track.

And now I think I really want my band removed. I feel deprived, short-changed and generally annoyed. I haven't brought this up with my dr or psychologist yet (it's Summer here in Australia, everyone's on holiday, including me!) but I wanted to seek opinions from people who've been there done that.

I guess my biggest question is - if I get the band removed, can I revert to eating anything easily? Does the band area have scarring that essentially means I'll have restriction anyway?

It's not like I want to eat everything in sight. I want to have a salad sandwich for lunch, be able to have dinner with friends and not have to worry when nothing on the menu looks band-friendly, etc. And we all know that the junk slides down really easily!

I've written a heap here and it's only the tip of the iceberg, really, but I won't bore you all with that! I'm also going to be away from computer access for a few days (how will I survive??) so if you are kind enough to respond, please don't feel I'm ignoring you.

I look forward to any insights you have!
marrakesh.

taninoz · 01-13-2007, 08:20 PM

Hi marrakesh im am in australia and just want to let you know i think i can understand i have had my band on for 6 years and have had no problems but in my head i have had to do a lot to stop me hating the band and i am now on lexapro to relax me which is helping me to accept my band i havent told this to anyone but i have wanted my band out since it was put in as i feel so restricted so i have had all my fill out to give me a break and it has been the best thing i could have done the fill was removed when i had my gallbladder out in may and i know i need to fill but i dont want to feel restricted i am now being supper positive and looking at the weight i have lost its only 20 kg but its weight i would not have got off myself i still want to lose 15 kgs more but am not going to worry about it it has been the best thing i have done i have just got to stop thinking that its the band making me feel the way i do it just a way of me blaming it so now im trying to embrace it and not think about it and all i can say its helping im glad i didnt have it removed as i know i would have put all the weight on and some and that would have depressed me even more so maybe if you get some of your fill out and see if that helps how you feel and it is your choice as its your body i dont know if this has helped but you are not alone we all feel differently towards our band:)
tanyaxx

Carlene · 01-13-2007, 08:31 PM

If you have your band removed you will be able to eat everything and anything - just as you did before you were banded. You will most likely regain the weight you have lost, but it's your choice. Would you rather eat, or would you rather be a normal, and healthy, weight?

supergenius818 · 01-14-2007, 12:03 AM

I think that is why Sharon Osbourne is having her band removed. She wants to be able to eat again. So I would say you aren't the only one. One of the advantages of the band is that you can change your mind.

It is a pro-con situation. Do you remember how you felt when you were 50-70 lbs heavier? Are you willing to go down that road again?

And to me, saying I had a nervous breakdown because I haven't been able to turn to food is almost like an alcoholic saying they had a nervous breakdown because they couldn't turn to alcohol.

You are in a tough spot. Good luck.

**Alexandra** · 01-14-2007, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by supergenius818

And to me, saying I had a nervous breakdown because I haven't been able to turn to food is almost like an alcoholic saying they had a nervous breakdown because they couldn't turn to alcohol.

This is a very wise observation. When I feel frustrated that I can't turn to food, I try to remember that this is a MOMENTARY frustration. If I weren't banded, the result would be the CONSTANT frustration and sadness and anger that drove me to seek surgery in the first place. I never want to go back there.

Momentary frustrations can be dealt with in many different ways, and the trick is finding out what ELSE can comfort us. Food is not the only comfort mechanism humans respond to. Seek out yours.

**Jack** · 01-14-2007, 11:15 PM

If I returned to my pre-Band eating habits I would die. Period. Literally.

As it is, I'm quite satisfied trading those oink-fests and pasta-creamJumbocrispy~doubleglazedchocoChip~extrasauce&morecheese bag o'burgerheart~killers for these:

1) NO insulin shots!
2) Markedly less medications;
3) No CPAP;
4) No continuing bleeding retinas;
5) No high BP;
6) Being able to wear clothing that doesn't start with 'XXXX';
7) Becoming a 'non-invisible' person that clerks in stores will now deign to offer help;
8) Not being the largest person in the room every where I go;
9) Not being at the '84 times more likely to die' due to multiple co-morbidities all resulting from stuffing my face as a full-time hobby;
10) Entertaining notions I may even be capable of driving myself across the country to visit my grandchildren without a chaperone to ship my carcass back should I fall over in a lather at the VIP line at Bubba's Stuff It Shack;

When I get the munchies for my old favorite gutbombs, I go slip into the size 58 sweat shorts I saved for such an occassion....and somehow my fascination with greasePie with fudgeDelightsauce somehow slips away....

And those instances grow ever less frequent as I accumulate ever more reasons that demonstrate 'Life as a Normo' is a whole lot easier and a whole lot more fun, than as a BMI 47.5.......

good luck to us all on the Journey....

Turner24 · 01-15-2007, 12:45 PM

I have to agree w/Jack. It comes down to the fact that you have to decide "Are you worth it?" That helps me realize I didn't deserve how I treated myself and my body w/junk and fattening foods. I wll never go back, because I am realizing for the 1st time.........I am worth it:clap2:

Turner24

mapp33 · 01-15-2007, 01:03 PM

I loved my band, but my doctor didn't listen to me, and I got very sick and had to have it removed Saturday. I am so sad, don't know what to do now, he hasn't even called me. So if you are not sick take some of the fluid out and keep going. It is about lifestyle change and embracing the change.

good luck
MP

marrakesh · 01-19-2007, 01:12 AM

Thanks everyone for your words of wisdom. I have spent the last year under the care of a psychologist and I have a much better idea of why I eat/ate junk now - and as someone mentioned, it's about caring about myself. I'm still thinking, though, and will of course need to talk it over with my various doctors. I just really wish I'd met my psychologist before the band. She's been fabulous and I've learnt more about myself and why I eat/how not to eat than I have with the band making me feel socially awkward.... Oh well, I'll have to see how things go. Thanks again, everyone, you're all wonderful.

chubbola · 01-20-2007, 08:50 PM

[quote=supergenius818;365519]I think that is why Sharon Osbourne is having her band removed. She wants to be able to eat again. So I would say you aren't the only one. One of the advantages of the band is that you can change your mind.

i didn't know sharon had the LAP-BAND^®!!!!! i thought she had GBP!!! wow-learn something new every day!

kedasmom · 01-24-2007, 06:59 PM

Dear Marrakesh Before you do anything, you talk to your psychologist! Tell her how you are feeling. If you have your food issues under control I wouldn't think you would feel deprived because you can't have more. It takes along time to overcome problems, then add weight issues. . .a real bag of worms! Talk to your Doctor and psychologist.

Marimaru · 01-25-2007, 02:47 PM

I have been on anti depressants for just about a year now, and they helped alot with the depression I was in. There was alot going on at the time, and I didn't really have a coping mechanism. I've been in counceling almost as long as I've been on Wellbutrin, and she's helping me with coping mechanisms. I also spent alot of time looking at my past and finding out why I am the way I am. The help she has given me has been invaluable, but at the same time, I don't think I would have lost this weight without the band, even with her help. Beyond using food to cope with stress, it was also a habit. If I was bored, I went for the fridge, no matter how I was feeling.

My recommendation would be to get a complete unfill and see how you fill. In most people an empty band isn't all that restricting. In a few months, re-evaluate your situation. Are you happier, or are you frustrated that you are gaining weight (if you are), do you feel more in control, or less, etc.

Having the band has been hard sometimes for me, I got angry the other night and went to the grocery store, picked up a few things and didn't eat any of it when I got home, except for the dinner I'd already planned on making before I got angry. 3 years ago, I would have ate the dinner, and I would have probably bought a jar of frosting and some cookie dough and eaten a large portion of that, instead of having a pretty low cal cheesecake snack that is still in the fridge. That, in and of itself, is a pretty damn good feeling to me. 3 years ago, I felt out of control. 2 1/2 years ago when my mom told me she would pay for me to be banded, I burst into tears because I felt such relief that I would have some help with this.

I'm rambling, but I guess my main point is to think about how you felt before banding, and how you feel now, and how you feel after a few months or so of having no feel (in essence, not being banded, without the surgery).

kbattal · 01-28-2007, 06:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by supergenius818

I think that is why Sharon Osbourne is having her band removed. She wants to be able to eat again. So I would say you aren't the only one. One of the advantages of the band is that you can change your mind.

I think you are misinformed. She had the band 10 years, and decided to remove because it performed its duties.

Copied from

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/01102006/36...tric-band.html

Rock matriarch Sharon Osbourne is to undergo an operation to remove the restrictive gastric band in her stomach which helped her lose weight.
The band, which was fitted in 1996, has reached the end of its ten-year lifespan and will be removed before the wife of Black Sabbath rocker Ozzy celebrates Christmas with her family.
Gastric surgery helped The X Factor judge slim down after a lifelong battle with her weight - although the 53-year-old admits she will still need the support of therapy to avoid falling back into her bulimic ways.
She says, "I'm going to have to do it and I'm going to have to go and see a therapist."

chubbola · 01-28-2007, 09:41 AM

[quote=kbattal;377574]I think you are misinformed. She had the band 10 years, and decided to remove because it performed its duties.

The band, which was fitted in 1996, has reached the end of its ten-year lifespan and will be removed before the wife of Black Sabbath rocker Ozzy celebrates Christmas with her family.

ten year life span? am i missing something here??? i was under the impression that the band is a life long tool...

lizrbit · 01-28-2007, 11:00 AM

yeah i'm confused in a big way too. Anyone have any information about this? im going to ask my surgeon about this to. I am certain he said "LIFE".
maybe the early bands were made of different materials?