Living with Diabetes and Lapband

First, I have always felt being pressured into bariatric surgery, and lap band surgery to begin with.  I had gone to my doctor and asked for permission to do Jenny Craig.  He wouldn't give it.  Come to find out the company that ran the business part of his practice owned a Lap-Band practice.  

I ended up firing that doctor and the same visit he fired me.  He has since retired and the Lap-Band company has gone out of business.

The person who coached me through the process no longer has hers.  It's also no longer a modality of choice.

I honestly didn't want to do anything permanent but wanted help dealing with binging issues.

I did lose 60 pounds and it has helped me learn to manage that better, so it's not a complete loss.

I sensed there were some issues with the lap band leading up to the pandemic and I had made an appointment with the surgeon but the appointment got canceled. I was more and more miserable, having trouble eating the correct food and seeing food again a lot.  When I finally saw the surgeon, I didn't like his attitude so went to a different bariatric surgeon, who I recommend -- Colleen Kennedy.

We went through the process to see what was wrong and to revise the band.  We also removed half the fluid from the band, and then a month later the rest of the fluid.

I felt SO much better.  I absolutely do not recommend bariatric surgery.

I ended up deciding against any more surgery, with the idea we will continue to document my attempts at weight loss so we can revisit it in the future.

Frankly, it's not happening.  The lap band is still in my body and I will discuss removing it at the same time we remove any lung nodules.