Jim1967

Hello All,

Long time a member but have been away a long time. I was banded in April 2012 at 488lbs. My lowest weight attained was 170. I have since over the years climbed back up to 328.

Monday, Jan 8th I am scheduled for a conversion to bypass. Removing my band as well as my gallbladder.

Any advice would be appreciated. It's been 10 years. I imagine somethings have changed while some haven't.

I know it's a tool. I know the weight doesn't fall off overnight. The band saved my life. I hope bypass gets me back on track.

Thanks, Jim.

Hello All,

Long time a member but have been away a long time. I was banded in April 2012 at 488lbs. My lowest weight attained was 170. I have since over the years climbed back up to 328.

Monday, Jan 8th I am scheduled for a conversion to bypass. Removing my band as well as my gallbladder.

Any advice would be appreciated. It's been 10 years. I imagine somethings have changed while some haven't.

I know it's a tool. I know the weight doesn't fall off overnight. The band saved my life. I hope bypass gets me back on track.

Thanks, Jim.

Hello all, long-time member who has been away for a while. January 8th I am scheduled for a revision lapband to bypass. The band was successful for years and no doubt saved my life but it has run its course and the weight is going back on and the band is maxed out.

Well surgery was yesterday. Got home about two hours. Gas pains are the worst. Just need to keep moving.

Well surgery was yesterday. Got home about two hours. Gas pains are the worst. Just need to keep moving.

I had the Gastric Banding placed in 2012. I've moved away from where I had the initial surgery to a place that didn't have a doctor comfortable with the banding procedure. I've gone several years without having it adjusted but keeping my weight maintained so I didn't think much of it, I figured it was doing it's job and so was I. I recently had severe abdominal pain after having some lunch, was rushed to the local hospital, which then had to be transferred to a hospital an hour away from home to find a doctor comfortable with the banding procedure. It turns out the band slipped some time ago and completely eroded though my stomach. I had an emergency surgery with 2 surgeons for over 4 hours. They had to remove some of my stomach and a piece of my liver that had attached itself to the scar tissue. I have months of recovery ahead of me now and could have died from this when I thought everything was working fine. If you are considering getting the band please rethink it. If you have the band and haven't been check in a while, PLEASE go the doctor and get a complete check up as soon as possible.

Hello all, long-time member who has been away for a while. January 8th I am scheduled for a revision lapband to bypass. The band was successful for years and no doubt saved my life but it has run its course and the weight is going back on and the band is maxed out.

Jan. 8th!

Quick! Obesity is killing you! You need to drop weight and get your life back. What do you do? Do you exercise four hours a day? Or do you go for weight loss surgery?


Dr. Huizenga of the Biggest Loser and colleagues asked exactly that question – and you can bet what they concluded. The first two articles in this series looked at their research. It compared Biggest Loser methods to bariatric surgery and reported findings on weight loss and other effects.
As it turns out (spoiler alert if you haven’t read the previous articles in this series!), weight loss is faster among Biggest Loser contestants, at least for the first 7 months. And then? Who knows? The gastric bypass patients in the study continued to lose weight through 12 months, while the Biggest Loser contestants…weren’t even tracked. Who knows what they weighed at 12 months and beyond?
The research raises a lot of other questions for me. Here are the ones I would like to ask Dr. Huizenga, with each question followed by an explanation of what I am curious about.
Cost is obviously an important factor for almost everyone. Can you please explain your reasoning in saying a program like the Biggest Loser is more cost-effective than weight loss surgery?
Exercise for four hours a day – cheap, right? In theory, sure. Just join a gym for $60 a month and work out as much as you want. But is it really that simple? Not really, if you’re an average human being.
Take a look at the Biggest Loser contestants’ program. They didn’t just have access to a gym. They had trainers 6 days a week, a room away from real-world worries and temptations, and all the healthy foods they could dream of, not to mention medical care as needed. Value? Well, at a value of $2,500 per week (as listed on the Biggest Loser Resort website), contestants who were on the ranch for 13 weeks received a package valued at $32,500. That doesn’t include any additional support, like contact with trainers after the show was over.
There’s no getting around the fact that weight loss surgery has a big price tag of $5,000 or $10,000 or $25,000. But that’s only if you’re paying out of pocket, and it’s still less than the first 13 weeks of a Biggest Loser style weight loss program. Get some insurance reimbursement, and you could get surgery for free or for a reduced cost. Plus, you don’t need to leave your job for a few months to live at the ranch – another cost in itself.
Why do you believe slowed metabolism is more significant in weight loss surgery patients compared to Biggest Loser contestants?
You found a slowed metabolism in Biggest Loser contestants compared to gastric bypass patients at 7 months. You attributed the slow to contestants losing weight for the show’s finale…but the weight loss surgery patients in your study were also still losing weight at that time?
One of the reasons you promote intense exercise over weight loss surgery is because patients maintain more lean muscle mass and metabolism when they work out…but this didn’t seem to be a huge benefit in your study!
Can you please provide a sample day that includes four hours of daily exercise and that individuals could follow on a long-term basis to lose weight?
Okay, Dr. Huizenga says exercise can come out of television time, but I’m having trouble thinking of a daily schedule that includes four hours of exercise and still lets someone take care of the family and work. Here’s how I see it: wake up at 4:30, work out from 5:00 to 7:00 (thus missing your kids waking up), take kids to school, go to work by 8:30, walk on your lunch hour (that’s your hour 3 of exercise), get off work at 5, pick up kids, run errands, and get home by 6, have dinner at 6:30, work out from 7 to 8 (thus missing family time), put kids to bed, go to bed at 8:30 for a solid 8 hours of sleep. Fun life! (Not!).
Maybe you can drop some of your duties for a few weeks, but for the months or years it takes to hit goal weight? That’s just not realistic. And how much exercise is necessary for maintenance? I guess the study didn’t say…because it didn’t follow the Biggest Loser contestants for more than 7 months.
People aren’t supervised on a daily basis like they are on Biggest Loser. Is it safe to exercise for 4 hours a day, especially when we’re talking about people who may not have this kind of background?
Most people don’t have access to trainers and medical support the way Biggest Loser contestants do. And, people who are 100 or 200 lb. overweight aren’t generally used to exercising for hours a day (let’s face it: except for athletes, most people aren’t). How do they know what to do? How can they prevent injuries? Are there any health risks associated with exercising to the extreme?
How do you explain these health values?
Most of the health values improved with weight loss, but some of the Biggest Loser contestants’ values got worse. Why do you think “bad” LDL cholesterol increased by about 20 percent, and total cholesterol also increased significantly?
What are the long-term results in Biggest Loser contestants?
The show has been airing since 2004, and it has just completed Season 16. You must be in touch with some of these contestants and have the ability to contact others. What are their long-term results? Have they kept the weight off?
There are plenty of studies on long-term effectiveness of weight loss surgery. Most find that bariatric surgery is generally effective for weight control and improvements in health conditions such as diabetes, arthritic pain, and sleep apnea, for example. Many studies conclude that among people who are eligible for weight loss surgery, the ones who get surgery do better than the ones who don’t.
Is it really justified to say exercise is better than weight loss surgery when there is no evidence supporting that?

I recently posted an article titled “The Biggest Loser:” Irresponsible Weight Loss Surgery Comments? . We received many fantastic comments from our concerned members. I've decided to follow up our article with an Open Letter to Dr. Robert Huizenga or Dr. H as he's known on the show. The letter will also be sent to the shows producers and staff members.


Dear Dr. Huizenga,
I am the founder of BariatricPal, the world’s largest online community for weight loss surgery patients and potential patients.
I am writing to you today regarding your role as an expert on “The Biggest Loser.” I am asking you to please stop publicly portraying weight loss surgery in a negative light without any explanation. Most recently, during the Season 16 Finale, you stated that losing weight using methods used on the show were far healthier than turning to weight loss surgery. The implication was that bariatric surgery is under no circumstances the best choice for individuals struggling with obesity.
I am asking you to stop making comments like this. You and “The Biggest Loser” have a significant amount of influence on America. The season finale attracted 5.4 million live viewers, with untold millions watching the show at a later time. Given that one-third of American adults are obese, it is almost certain that many viewers have obesity.
“The Biggest Loser” reaches out to this audience throughout the show. Contestants, trainers, and health experts like yourself directly address viewers who need to lose weight, offering encouragement and tips. As you know, positive gestures like this can motivate people to change their lives.
Unfortunately, the derogatory comments about bariatric surgery can have just as much impact, but in a negative way. Your statement at the Season 16 finale of “The Biggest Loser” and similar ones make weight loss surgery sound like a shameful, dangerous, and ineffective choice in all cases, with no further explanation.
According to the Weight-Control Information Network (WIN), 4% of men and 8% of women in the U.S. have extreme obesity (BMI over 40). That translates to about 20 million American adults who are potentially eligible for weight loss surgery. This figure does not include the approximately 60 million Americans whose BMIs are between 30 and 40, and who might be eligible for surgery due to the existence of a co-morbidity.
Not all of these individuals are eligible for and interested in weight loss surgery, but many are. BariatricPal alone, for example, has a quarter-million members who are weight loss surgery patients or who are considering surgery.
For weight loss surgery patients, your comments can be hurtful. Weight loss surgery is not the “easy way out.” It is a tool to help control food intake. Eligibility criteria include a requirement that patients be committed to the strict dietary changes necessary to lose weight after bariatric surgery. I and millions of other weight loss surgery patients who have successfully used weight loss surgery as a tool against obesity worked hard to get where we are today. We do not deserve for you and your colleagues to suggest that we have cheated to lose weight.
Comments that groundlessly condemn weight loss surgery can harm potential patients just as much if not more. Eligible candidates might decide not to get the surgery in part because of your position. First, your comments can lead to a feeling of shame for even considering bariatric surgery to fight obesity. This is unjust, since the post-surgery diet is strict and requires a lifetime of attention, just as “The Biggest Loser” contestants must modify their own diets for the rest of their lives to maintain weight loss.
Secondly, your comments on the show seem to imply weight loss surgery does not work. While there are patients who do not respond to surgery, and complications are always a threat, the scientific literature overwhelmingly agrees that weight loss surgery is a viable option for the treatment of morbid obesity.
Furthermore, the scientific community largely agrees that weight loss surgery can improve health and metabolic parameters. To varying degrees, methods such as gastric bypass, adjustable gastric band, and gastric sleeve have been linked to improvements in diabetes and other obesity-related conditions, such as hypertension, sleep apnea, and dyslipidemia. The UK’s healthcare system, known as the National Health System or NHS, is so convinced of bariatric surgery’s effectiveness, safety, and cost savings potential it covers bariatric surgery procedures.
Unconditionally stating that weight loss surgery is the wrong choice is particularly unfair given that “The Biggest Loser” contestants do not always achieve or maintain their goal weights. An article on Today.com, which is owned by NBC, looked at initial, finale, and current weights of selected contestants from the first 11 seasons of the show. Of the 56 contestants they highlighted, 20 were within 10 pounds of their finale weights, and 8 had gained back at least 40 pounds since the finale.
These results are impressive but not perfect. And, “The Biggest Loser” is not for everyone. So far, only hundreds of individuals have been lucky enough to have the opportunity to lose weight on the show. For a few others, losing weight at one of the Biggest Loser resorts is an option – but not a practical one for most people. At $3,000 per week, it could take $50,000 or $100,000 or more to reach goal weight, not including time out from work and life.
Weight loss surgery may be the only practical choice for people who have work and family obligations, and who live within a budget. People struggling with obesity do not choose weight loss surgery because they think it will be easy. They choose it because they have no other choice. Nothing else has worked for them. For me and hundreds of thousands of other weight loss surgery patients, it worked.
Because of this, I ask you again to please stop publicly attacking weight loss surgery without explanation. You and I and everyone else who is connected to obesity knows what a terrible disease it is. We should join forces in fighting it. Let’s work together to get the greatest possible number of people healthy, and not work against each other with derogatory and divisive comments.
Thank you for all of your hard work and commitment to fighting obesity. You have established yourself as one of the most influential health experts in obesity, and I hope you will use your voice in a positive way. Thank you for considering this.
Sincerely,
Alex Brecher
Founder, BariatricPal

It's not appetizing to me at all anymore...I don't crave it, I don't want it ... looking at LARGE quantities of sugary substances make me sick to my stomach!!! So, I'm "good"
For Halloween, I bought McDonald treat coupons for the kiddies... a win/win all around, IMO

I think I may have my band removed. It is failing me.....

I think I may have my band removed. It is failing me.....

I think I may have my band removed. It is failing me.....

So true....
Just like the time Tom Selleck went on her show to promote a movie and she attacked him about his association with the NRA. She found an open window to allow herself to inject her political beliefs. Check out the youtube video.

I think I may have my band removed. It is failing me.....

Link still works. Rosie isn't saying much...

So true....
Just like the time Tom Selleck went on her show to promote a movie and she attacked him about his association with the NRA. She found an open window to allow herself to inject her political beliefs. Check out the youtube video.

Her comments weren't really about the surgery, she was just using the occasion to take a pot-shot at a Republican. People like her inject their political views into every miniscule aspect of their day. Then they turn around and call everyone else "mean-spirited."
If she were speaking about, oh say...Michael Moore choosing the lap-band procedure, she would not have said what she did.
It's sickening.

Come on people...we really have to support each other and not bash each other. Just yesterday, I had a wonderful conversation with a colleague in my office who works in IT. He upgraded my computer and when he set me up with the new one, he commented on my photos. I have a couple before and after ones on my desktop that I keep there for when I want to post them with a thread.
At first I was embarrased that he saw them, and then perturbed that he mentioned it. Then he asked how much I lost and I though oh gosh, what nerve to ask something so personal. Then I took a good look at the guy and realized the reason for his interest. I asked him which surgery he had and he told me the sleeve. He also said he had dropped 230 lbs. in just over a year. Well....then I told him I was banded and what my stats were and before you knew it, we were like two old friends and talking about challenges, successes, excess skin, all of it. I congratulated him on his loss and he just said to me, 'you are lookin' real good girl'. I'm probably twice his age but a compliment is a compliment and it was really nice to hear it.
It didn't matter that we had different WLS, all that mattered was that we were both successful and so very happy with our outcomes. Why can't we do that here on this site? Let's stop the nonsense, OK?

Wow, fantastic! Way to go!

We should note we are discussing that a liberal mouth (i.e. Rosie, The View) criticizing a republican presedential candidate. What were we expecting? Perhaps we should get Rush Limbaugh to speak up on how Rosie sucks and lap bands are cool.

I think I may have my band removed. It is failing me.....

I think I may have my band removed. It is failing me.....

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
Rosie gets paid a whole lot of money to give hers on national television every day. So that's what she does.
Besides, the show is called "The View" after all....