Banded Living is about living life to the fullest, free from the burdens of obesity.  Banded Living is a community started by lap band patients for lap band patients, including:

1. People exploring lap band surgery

2. Those who have had surgery and want to use their tool to get the best results

The Banded Living community is your community whether you have a LAP-BAND® or a REALIZE® band, since all of us have similar experiences and challenges.  However, our journeys are different than the experiences of those who have had other types of weight loss surgery.

Banded Living was started by two lap band patients, Gloria Samuels and Sandi Henderson, who are maintaining a combined weight loss of 340 pounds.  Together they have over nine years of experience as patients and as mentors to others with gastric bands.  Both are maintaining normal, healthy weights.  Gloria and Sandi are passionate about giving back and helping others conquer obesity.  We in Banded Living are not doctors and don't give medical advice; we encourage you to work closely with your doctor just as we have with ours.

We aim to:

1. Educate, advocate for, and support people with lap bands

2. Help people struggling with obesity to learn about lap band surgery and make an informed decision

As patients, and through mentoring others, we've learned that you may have different needs, questions, and challenges depending upon where you are in your own journey.  In order to make it easier to get the information and support you need, when you need it, we have organized the Banded Living community into five stages:

1. Exploring

You are researching lap band surgery and working to answer the question “Is banding for me?” lap band surgery is not a “magic bullet” and it's not for everyone.  The goal of the exploring phase is to make an informed decision “with your eyes wide open.”

2. Preparing

You've decided on a band and you are working with your surgeon and his or her staff to get ready for surgery.

3. Recovering

You've just had surgery.  This stage generally lasts about four to six weeks.  The recovery phase is not about weight loss; it is about healing.

4. Transforming

You are learning how to use the tool to reach your goals.  This is your weight loss stage.

5. Maintaining

You've achieved your goals in terms of weight, health and quality of life.  The final stage of Banded Living is living life to the fullest for the rest of your life.  By this point you've mastered your tool and are maintaining your success.  Now staying on track can be made even easier by being connected with a strong and well-informed community of people who share your personal experience and can provide you with the support you need.

Except as described in this paragraph, Banded Living is not affiliated with the manufacturers of gastric banding devices or any surgical practices. We will accept advertising in order to fund the costs of staying in business. In addition, our founders are paid members of Allergan, Inc.'s LAP-BAND® Patient Executive Council. This Council provides Allergan with insight into the needs of the patient community and uses the experiences of lap-band patients in order to discern effective ways to reach out to existing and prospective patients. We feel that by acting as members of this Council, we can help our community to be better understood and to receive better services and care. Our participation on the Council does not and will not ever influence our decisions about how to run this Site, how to interact with you, or what the needs of our community are.

About the Founders of Banded Living

Sandi Henderson is a highly successful Lap-Band patient and mentor to bariatric surgery patients. Having experienced the life saving benefits of bariatric surgery – a 250 pound weight loss maintained since 2006, she is passionate about sharing the possibilities with all of those fighting to conquer obesity. She has been interviewed, as part of an interview of her surgeon, by the Wall Street Journal regarding the popularity and success of gastric banding. Sandi is using her prior experiences as an entrepreneur to build Banded Living ™, a community for lap band patients by lap band patients. This community supports people exploring weight loss surgery as well as those who have had lap band surgery and are working to optimize their results. Her goals are to educate, advocate for, and support people with lap bands and create awareness to help people struggling with obesity to learn about gastric banding and make an informed decision. Prior to the launch of Banded Living™, Sandi has had a successful 21 year career as the owner and chief operating officer of a computer business. As the COO of a small, woman owned company she has done business with the federal government and other public sector entities, as well as private industry including many of the Fortune 500. She has been featured in magazines such as Diversity Business for her success in a highly competitive market.

Gloria Samuels is a highly successful Lap-Band patient and mentor to bariatric surgery patients. Having experienced the life changing benefits of bariatric surgery – a 90 pound weight loss maintained since 2007, she is passionate about giving back and helping others conquer obesity. Gloria is using her prior exper iences in the corporate world to build Banded Living™, a community, for lap band patients by lap band patients. This community supports people exploring gastric banding and those who have had surgery and are looking to use their lap band to get the best results. Her goals are to: 1)educate, advocate for, and support people with lap bands and 2)create awareness to help people struggling with obesity to learn about gastric banding and make an informed decision. Before launching Banded Living™ Gloria had a successful 26 year career in corporate America. She was an executive and technology officer in some of the world's most respected corporations including Amgen, Pearson PLC, Viacom, PepsiCo and Accenture. Gloria served on the Board of Directors of a public company, and has been the recipient of several industry awards including Computerworld's Premier 100 IT Leaders

The Legal Stuff (our lawyers made us do it …)

DISCLAIMER — The authors of this blog are patients, not medical professionals, and this blog is not in any way intended to constitute medical advice. The authors' experiences and results may not be typical. Always consult a qualified physician familiar with your condition and circumstances before making any medical or weight loss decisions, as these decisions may involve substantial risks. The authors of this site and Banded Living, LLC, disclaim all liability to any person arising from the content of this blog.

Share this Article

Facebook  Twitter