Questions on lapband

[sushee]

1.On most sites ive read its generally a 2 night hospital stay...how long where you in there for?

I was in overnight. I had my op at 2.30pm, was out like a light until about 11pm, but by the next day I was well enough to leave. I got home and stayed in bed for a good two days though. Those first three days are the most painful and you can barely eat anything, so you'd be feeling pretty weak as well. You won't be able to look after your little ones in those first few days.

2. Sites say you normally are given a few doses of morphine for pain....are you really in that much pain afterwards?

I only had oral pain relief once I left the hospital, and that was more than enough. I stoped all pain meds by day 3. The pain you experience is manageable, definitely not extreme by any stretch of the imagination. After 3 days, you start to feel 80% better. In a week, you're almost 100% back to normal, except for where your port is. That remains tender for a month or so, but doesn't really affect your ability to pick your kids up, or exercise.

3. Sites say the band is filled.....how do they fill it?

The band is attached via a tubing to a 'port' that is placed just under your skin on your tummy. To fill the band, they inject a small needle through your skin into the 'port' and push through some saline. This saline travels to the band and fills it. The port cannot be seen as it's under the skin, but you can feel it. And if you lose a lot of weight, you can see where it is because it sticks out of your tummy a bit. I can see it now - it looks like a lump on my belly.

4. We dont have PHI cos we simply couldnt afford it, sites never give a price.....how much does it cost?

Self-pay it's about $8000 - $14000 depending on which Dr you use (mine charges $14000 for self pay). I've even heard of some Dr's charging as little as $6000, but I would pay more for someone with sufficient experience. Personally, if you can wait, I would suggest taking out PHI and waiting the one year to qualify, because with PHI, I only paid $1900 for my op. Even if I paid PHI premiums for the next 5 years, it would still work out less than paying up-front for the surgery.

5. Have you had any complications?

Not me personally. And I expect that it's because I used a very experienced Dr, and I followed the band rules. Slippage rates for the lapband in Australia is only around 1%, and erosion even less, and it's probably because most lapbanders treat the band with some amount of respect, and don't abuse it.

6. What was the hardest thing about getting it done?

The op. Seriously! It was inconvenient for me, since I had a small child. But seeing how I was on my feet and exercising within 3 days, it wasn't that much of a hardship.

7. Is it really worth getting it done?

Yes. For me, definitely. Yes, I exercise, yes, I make good food choices. Yes I lost weight by ensuring I ate less calories than I expended. And yes, all the band does is make sure I eat less and am not hungry despite eating so much less, but that was exactly what I needed it to do!

I can't eat more than a cup full of food per meal, often less. I can't eat a whole pizza even if I wanted to. I am not hungry between meals, and I don't crave many foods now. In fact I don't think I crave much at all anymore. THAT has been amazing, after years and years of over-eating.

BUT that is just physical hunger. There is also 'head hunger' which is what makes you reach for a bar of chocolate simply because you feel like it, and not because you're hunrgy. I've had to learn the difference between 'hunger' and 'craving'. I've had to learn the difference between pushing my plate away when I'm 'satisfied' compared to when I'm 'full'.

The band will not stop you from eating chocolates, or having a milkshake, or chowing down on a bag of chips or eating ice-cream. All these foods (plus a lot of the stuff that's bad for you) are 'slider' foods that will slide past your band without you ever feeling full from them. If you don't think you can get a grip over your 'head hunger' no weight loss surgery will be able to help you. You need to conquer that on your own.

The bandster rule is that all meals are to be hard protein, a small serve of carbs and a small serve of veg. Plus lots of water. Trust me, when you achieve restriction (you're filled to the 'perfect' amount), a meal like that will keep you full for 3-4 hours easily. BUT what you put in your mouth is STILL up to you, so you still have to ensure that you eat right and not eat badly.

But even after all I've said, I will admit to this: I don't think I would have lost this much weight without the band. Hunger was my enemy, and the band killed my enemy. It gave me the advantage I needed to make the changes to my life I have always wanted to change. If I didn't have the band, I would still be battling my physcial hunger, and it was something I've never been able to defeat on my own.

8. Any other info or advice you can share?

The band will help you lose weight as long as you eat well and don't sabotage yourself by eating 'slider' foods. It will, by virtue of you doing nothing else but eating less, assist you in losing approx 60% of your excess weight. That is to say, if you have 40kgs to lose, doing nothing but having the lapband and eating well will mean that in 2 years, you will lose about 25kg. That's about a kilo a MONTH. Very, very slow weight loss indeed. So lapbanding, if you only eat well and don't wish to exercise, is not a quick fix by any means. It's a slow way to lose weight. That can be very de-motivating, if you're expecting to simply get banded and for the weight to fall off. It doesn't happen that way.

The stats say this: 85% of lapbanders, if they follow the lapband rules (non caloric drinks only, and meals that consist of protein, carb and veg, and NO snacking) will lose 60% of their excess weight over the course of two years. That's all it does - and while being 25kgs lighter is still better than nothing, you have to be realistic about how much the band contributes to your total weight loss in the scheme of things.

To lose ALL of your excess weight, the first thing you have to accept is that you will have to exercise regularly for the rest of your life. I lost 100%+ of my excess weight in less than 8 months because I worked at it, very hard. I cycle 40kms 3 times a week.

I am a lapband success story because I have a lapband, I follow the band rules and I exercise regularly. It was all these things in combination that saw me lose the weight. Not having even one of those things would have probably meant that I would have lost this much weight.

HTH you, K. Please feel free to ask any more questions. I won't sugarcoat it, I'll definitely be honest with you. I do wish I'd done this sooner, personally. That's my only regret. But I won't say that it's for everybody, and you have to be prepared for your life to change.

But if you are prepared, this surgery is a godsend. It was to me.