50 people surveyed said....

Nov 29, 2009

Just because I got tired of compiling data, I took the first eligible 50. Hey- Don't judge, I've got Christmas shopping to do.

50 people responded to my survey and there are some interesting results.

One things that really stood out was that 98% off all the people who responded whom have or had the lap-band got stuck, vomited, PB'd or brought food back. What ever you want to call it, it happens to almost all of us at one time or another. It is not unusual.

24% of the all surveyed said they sought medical help for dehydration. The moral here is that you must get in your liquids. Not getting in your liquids leads to dehydration which clamps down the band and won't allow you to take in more fluids. So if you are that tight, please go get a slight unfil before you become a statistic.

15% had a secondary surgery to repair the port, the tubing or the band itself. I am one of those who has had a repair. It was very unexpected. I had a tilted port that they couldn't access. Not even under fluro and some major manipulation. I have the pictures to tell that story. Boy am I glad I got the repair though. Doing great now!!!!

8 of those surveyed had to have their gall bladder taken out due to the bands weight loss and 1 had a hernia repair.

1 of those lucky patients elected to have a new low profile port installed- coincidentally, while having the hernia repaired.

18 of those that responded had revisions to another surgery for a variety of reasons some very serious and life threatening and others because they just couldn't or didn't know how to work their band. But 5 would have kept the band if they had a choice in the matter. Those 5 all sounded like their bands had to be removed due to slippage or erosion and were very sad about the situation. We should have more compassion for our fallen comrades.

Of all those who still have their bands, 68% were VERY satisfied, 15% somewhat satisfied, 3% were dissatisfied and 12% were completely unequivocally not happy with their band. Many of those 12 percent said they were dissatisfied because the weight loss was slow, they couldn't handle the restriction and didn't like the stuck/pb/vomiting aspect.

21% of the Lap- Banders surveyed that still have their band said they probably would have went with a different surgery. That's 1 in 5....  While this number is high, I peeked at the Survey the main board started in response to this. I think despite which surgery there is always a grass is greener outlook for a huge number of the WLS patients.

The great news is that no matter which surgery you choose, according to the statistics, you will most likely lose at least one co-morbidity.

Just take your time and choose the one that will most likely match your lifestyle. What complications to your life are you going to be able to handle because 100% of all WLS have their own problems to deal with? There isn't a single surgery cure all  for weight loss or we'd all be lined up to have that one.

Be Happy, Be Healthy!
Tiff

P.S. I also wanted to mention a huge thank you to all those who repsponded but were so new out I didn't feel it fair to compile their data. It's not that you don't count. It just that given some time who knows how your opinions will change, if there will be complications or if you'll just keep loving and rocking the band as you are! Keep it up!!!!

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