athena36

Hey everyone! I just wanted to introduce myself and ask a few questions. I'm 36 years old and a lifelong dieter - I've tried everything atkins, weight watchers (6x +), nutrisystem, etc....have always lost but also have always regained my weight back. About 5 years ago I considered WLS and then chickened out and vouched to do it myself and I did lose 50 lbs only to regain it again. I KNOW for certain I need this tool to finally get down to a "normal" weight. I have a lower back injury and severe sciatica that is only aggravated with my excess weight and most recently I have some nasty acid reflux when I lay down at night. I've been reading stories on this site for some inspiration....OK here are my questions 1. What made you decide lapband over gastric bypass? To me I would think less invasive surgery, no re-routing of intestines, less hospital stay, and no need for lifelong meds after surgery. However, I get nervous when I read about band erosion or things getting "stuck" if they eat something and didn't chew it well enough. 2. Also my doctor gave me a packet of information that basically says that on average you can expect to lose about 33% of your excess weight in the first year (by following the program properly) with the lapband, in comparison, to about 77% with the gastric bypass. This is a HUGE difference to me. I am overweight and need to lose @ 110 lbs....33% in one year is only about 36-40 lbs. Was this percentage (33%) true in your case? When comparined the two stats, I tend to wonder if I'm going to make this huge change which is the right choice.....I would like to reiterate I really want the band...but 33-40 lbs just isn't going to get me to where I need to be. Thanks and hope to hear from some of you!

Never heard of the plication part of it...I'll have to ask my doc about it at my appt next week...maybe someone in the support group meeting I have to go to on Thursday will mention something about it. I'm not looking to lose all the weight I've gained over the years in one quick swoop - I WANT to do the work but need the proper tool to help me get there. Maybe I misunderstood with the 33% - maybe that's just the first year and again she did say it was an average...but then somewhere I else I had read that 1 in 4 who get the lapband have it taken out. Congrats to all of you who have had successful weight loss journeys! This decision to have a "tool" took me several years to come to...so I just want to make sure I research ALL of my options and take the course best for me.

Thanks you both for your information. I definately have a sweet tooth - always have....but I eat too much, too fast - I feel like a hoover vacuum cleaner sometimes! I'm in month 2 of a required 6 month program for WLS and I don't have to make a decision about which surgery until the last month. I want the surgery that is less severe, but worry about band erosion, slippage etc....and also about their percentage of 33% (I guess it's just an average).