tljohan

I have just started my new weight loss journey. Like many others, I have a history of failed diets and temporary weight loss. Several years ago, I managed to lose 70 lbs in one year using traditional methods such as exercising 6 days a week, eating one small meal a day and taking prescription diet pills. I ended up looking great except for the hair thinning, heart palpations and tachycardia and the loss of 3 teeth and gum disease. Starvation is not a good plan so I started eating 3 meals again. I only kept it off for a short while and within a year it was all back plus 30 lbs more. I now weigh more than I ever imagined I could ever weigh. I am pre-diabetic, borderline hypertension, borderline hyperlipidemia, have probable sleep apnea, osteoarthritis and severe GERD. I am way overdue for a lifestyle change but I need help.
I had a consultation with a weight management doctor last week. He recommended bariatric surgery right off the bat. He suggested I have the gastric sleeve procedure. My insurance will not pay for it so he then recommended gastric bypass surgery or gastric banding. My insurance will pay for either one. He told me that he felt that the Lap-Band is a waste of time and that most of his patients end up having it removed. He recommended that I have the gastric bypass surgery. He has a stellar reputation as a bariatric surgeon. BUT.....
Here is the problem: I do not want any part of my body cut off or re-routed. I do not want my intestines altered in any way as I have enough trouble with them as it is. I do not want my digestive system altered and suffer the effects of mal-absorption. Before I had the consultation with a bariatric surgeon, I had already decided I wanted the Lap-Band to use as a tool to help me lose the weight in a healthy way. So, why are some doctors now saying that it is a waste of time??? Is it really true? What to do now?
I am more confused and frustrated as ever.

Good points on both sides, but, 2muchfun nailed it when he says that the band requires much attention and rules must be followed, else you become a statistic on the negative side. Here’s a great example:
Let’s say a successful gastric by-pass or a sleeve patient is years out with no complications, everything has healed, they are losing weight, happy as can be, then the food head games come back and they slip into old eating habits, which is very easy to do. The long term repercussion is that they will stretch their pouch and the weight starts coming back on and life goes on. When this occurs with banded patients, we not only gain weight, but, the stretched pouch will cause band slippage or worse. Not to mention the other complications that can occur to our esophagus.
In all honesty, before getting the band, I was in denial of the rules. With all the research that I did before surgery, in my mind, I had found the equivalent to the fountain of youth for weight loss and regardless of what I read I was determined that this was “the magic” that was going to do it for me. The “band rules reality” kicked in for me after my head hunger woke up from its nap and I ignored the most critical band rule of eating slow, small bites and chewing well. Had I continued without a checkup my stretched pouch would have evolved and I would have ended up with slippage and possible band removal.
Another consideration is the amount of weight you need to lose and how active you will be with exercise. LapBand weight loss is much slower than other WL surgeries and will eventually come to a halt at which point it is all up to you, then you really realize how the band is only a tool.
Future band patients really need to understand what they are getting themselves into before proceeding! With that said, in most cases, we fail the band, the band doesn’t fail us. My advice for those considering the band – do your research, but also, attend lapband support groups, talk to bandsters and better yet, get to know someone successfully traveling the band journey. The band saved my life and am grateful for it! Jake

Just wanted to say thanks for all the feedback regarding my post. I definitely think I need a second opinion. Not sure how I am going to proceed even after the second opinion, but I will keep you posted

You keep your stomach? Uh, better check those X-Rays Marie? And malabsorption is a possibility even though it's a remote one, just like slips and erosions are rare.
Do you have fillings? Ever have any kind of mesh implant? How about if your organs fail, no heart valves or stints for you? ACL reconstructions? No cadaver ligaments and no plates or screws for broken bones? How about silicone? Tattoos? Piercings? Total knee and hip replacemenets? This infatuation with not having a foreign object in one's body is so silly it's laughable. Virtually no one escapes this world without some kind of foreign body on or in our bodies.
But the fear of having 85% of a major body organ cut out is understandable.imo There's no turning back after 85% extraction. And I believe that some people need this form(sleeve) of WLS simply because they can't control their eating habits. Likewise for the band. But there's a % of patients who are in control and only need a little help with curbing their appetite to make it over that hump. That's where the band comes in.
tmf

Just wanted to say thanks for all the feedback regarding my post. I definitely think I need a second opinion. Not sure how I am going to proceed even after the second opinion, but I will keep you posted

What a waste of time for a surgeon to have to pay all that pesky post-op attention to his patients rather than going right back into the OR where there's more money to be made and the patients don't talk back. I have had probably a dozen interactions with my surgeon in this first year and I'm grateful that he seems to be as committed to the followup band appointments (assessing for fills, etc.) as getting into his scrubs. For the right kind of doctor, being a lapband surgeon provides a nice variety of patient interaction along with the actual surgical activity, but this isn't for every one. We all know surgeons who have no people skills; lapband is not the right field for them. I personally feel the importance of the followup is key to the whole thing -- having the surgeon available as-needed and on your team. They all perform well in the OR, I'm sure -- it's not brain surgery, it's laparoscopic.
Good luck to you. I love, love, love my band! If something ever happened and it had to come out I'd go through it all again. I'm glad to have my whole stomach.

Find a doctor who supports the type of surgery YOU intend to get. If they are not on board they are not the right doctor to band you.

Maybe a waste of his time. But not mine. Thrilled with my decision.

I have just started my new weight loss journey. Like many others, I have a history of failed diets and temporary weight loss. Several years ago, I managed to lose 70 lbs in one year using traditional methods such as exercising 6 days a week, eating one small meal a day and taking prescription diet pills. I ended up looking great except for the hair thinning, heart palpations and tachycardia and the loss of 3 teeth and gum disease. Starvation is not a good plan so I started eating 3 meals again. I only kept it off for a short while and within a year it was all back plus 30 lbs more. I now weigh more than I ever imagined I could ever weigh. I am pre-diabetic, borderline hypertension, borderline hyperlipidemia, have probable sleep apnea, osteoarthritis and severe GERD. I am way overdue for a lifestyle change but I need help.
I had a consultation with a weight management doctor last week. He recommended bariatric surgery right off the bat. He suggested I have the gastric sleeve procedure. My insurance will not pay for it so he then recommended gastric bypass surgery or gastric banding. My insurance will pay for either one. He told me that he felt that the Lap-Band is a waste of time and that most of his patients end up having it removed. He recommended that I have the gastric bypass surgery. He has a stellar reputation as a bariatric surgeon. BUT.....
Here is the problem: I do not want any part of my body cut off or re-routed. I do not want my intestines altered in any way as I have enough trouble with them as it is. I do not want my digestive system altered and suffer the effects of mal-absorption. Before I had the consultation with a bariatric surgeon, I had already decided I wanted the Lap-Band to use as a tool to help me lose the weight in a healthy way. So, why are some doctors now saying that it is a waste of time??? Is it really true? What to do now?
I am more confused and frustrated as ever.