Hello other Canadian!
To keep a very long story kind of short:
I got the lapband in 2006. I would have preferred another procedure, I was on waiting lists for WLS that would have been covered by the gov’t, as I was considered morbidly obese, but those lists were years long. I would have preferred something other than the lapband, Roux-en-y was up there on the list. I wanted to go to Mexico, as it was cheaper there. I compromised with my parents, they were worried about everything, so I ended up going to Ontario for the lapband at a clinic there. (had been living in SK at the time) It was pretty smooth for the first year or so.
Then I starting with the ‘productive burps’ ie: burping up what had just went down. I was often aspirating into my lungs at night when trying to sleep, so always had to be propped up so i was inclined. I had fills and unfills constantly. This wasn’t easy, because I had moved, and the nearest person to do this was a 4 hour drive away. Eventually I was bringing up my food constantly. But I was losing weight… oh that glorious weight loss. I couldn’t tell anyone or do anything about it, or they’ll take it out and I’ll gain everything back. I put up with this for way too long. I was sustaining myself on ice cold milk and Haagen Dazs because it was the only thing that soothed my aching stomach. (I’m talking a minimum of 4L of milk and a couple pints of ice cream a day, not sure how much of it was actually kept down though). I lost 140-ish pounds but was sick an miserable. At one point I had a permanent IV to get fluids in for a week, because no one at the hospital in my town knew what to do with me. (“She’s got some kind of band on her stomach, probably got it in Mexico” I heard one of the nurses whisper when I was there)
I contacted my surgeon, told him of all my problems and after a barium swallow at my local hospital (then mailed to him), he asked me to come to back to Ontario so he could have a look and probably adjust the position of my band. I did so, and he ended up replacing it with a new one.
Anyways, after that, I gained back some weight and stabilized in the 160’s for quite a while. Was still having problems with eating, but not nearly as bad. Still getting fills and defills all the time. Gained back up into the 180’s and again stayed there for a very long time.
I decided I was ok with this weight, but not with all the excess skin. I would feel so much better with my body if I didn’t have to wear compression garments all the time to hold all my flesh in to fit into my clothes. Soooo… saved up all my money, borrowed some, and went to Mexico for some very extensive skin removal. That was 3 years ago. I am and was very happy with the results (13lbs of skin/fat removed and 3L liposuctioned). I knew I should have tried to get down to my ultimate goal weight, but it wasn’t happening, I was doing very well at work with the commissions I was saving, and I was able to take the 6 weeks off for recovery. I’ve stayed in the 180’s-190s since then. Prior to the plastic surgery, I had to have all the liquid in my band removed, and no one has touched it since. I still have discomfort if I eat too fast, can throw anything up on command if I wanted to… but its still in there. I’m sure it’s helping in a way, if nothing else, causing me to eat slower. I can eat a normal person amount, it just takes a long time.
About a year ago I decided I wanted to give weight loss a real shot again. If I once again end up all saggy and baggy, whatever… I’ll save up again and get another renovation. I’ve done some silly things since then, including a master cleanse and a few rounds of HCG. Then a couple months ago, a bodybuilder friend mentioned keto in passing, I started googling it, and was like “Yup, gotta try this”. I’d done Atkins before with some success, but I don’t think I’ve ever stuck with anything as long as I have now with keto, and definitely never without “cheating”.
That’s my still very long, but still very condensed experience! Could I have lost the weight without the band? I’ll never know. I’d tried everything at that time, and I was only going upward. I felt like I had missed out on my teens, and most of my twenties, I didn’t want to do that anymore. I certainly didn’t know about keto back then, nor would I have had the kind of online support/available information that I have now. Back then the best I could do was Atkins, but I couldn’t stick with it. Maybe it’s just cause I’m older and wiser now, but I am sticking with this to get my to the finish line!
. I’ll be at a year on 07/22 and I’m 80 pounds down.