Paulo

From one seminars I have a handout that indicates RNY has the effect of retarding hormonal hunger. Have you noticed this effect?

That is exactly what reversibility meant to me as well. I doubt that anyone thinks the benefits of a lap band would continue if it was removed.

At first I had the anxiety over the digestive tract being re-arranged, and was also persuaded by the reversibility of the band. But I have been shopping my surgeon and going to the seminars. After listening to them I am concluded that reversibility is a less desirable feature. The crowds always asks about reversibility and surgeons inevitably respond by discouraging that sort of thing with lectures about the lifelong commitment and how reversing even a lap band can lead to complications. I no longer feel that either option of the band or a bypass is clearly preferable. But after listening to the seminars I am going to discount reversibility in my decision. There are still a lot of factors for me to consider. Both options have their drawbacks. You know what else I realized. The insurance told me to go to at least one seminar as part of becoming educated about bariatric surgery, even though you can get all this information on line. And while the doctors play along with the “education” line by making you take a test over the material, the seminar is really a sales presentation. It is an infomercial! They go on and on about how wonderful they feel about their work and then talk up the risks of not having surgery, because everyone has that anxiety over the digestive tract being re-arranged. It made me I realize that the seminar is not primarily educational rather it is persuasive communication. The experience is just like listening to someone sell insurance or time shares.

Just curious. Since there is more than one form of bariatric surgery, and this group is about the lap band, why did people here choose the lap bad over the other types available?

I found this note of relevance on a bariatric surgery web site: Dramatic weight loss in a patient will affect all interpersonal relationships, but the marital relationship is one of the most significant. In fact, a very high percentage of WLS patients get divorced within the first two years after weight loss surgery. The patient generally becomes more outgoing and socially involved as weight loss progresses - in some cases this creates a crisis in confidence for the spouse, and in other cases the patient desires to leave the marriage. We do not have a solution to this problem, except to strongly encourage patients and their loved ones to consider the upcoming stress before surgery. The marriage appears likely to survive in most cases where the patient was of normal weight at the time of marriage; however, if the marriage is not a strong one, the couple should engage in marriage counseling before the weight loss surgery. Other interpersonal relationships can experience unexpected changes as well. More than one mother or child of a patient has expressed regret over the loss of “the person they knew.” San Antonio Bariatric Surgery - New Dimensions Weight Loss Surgery - Side Effects

I have to lose 10% and keep it off for 12 months :tongue2: This is more difficult than I realized. I managed to lose 32 pounds (embarassingly, that is only slightly more than 10%) over a period of six months and now have some anxiety about gaining some of it back. I am going to try to lose another 5 pounds at least, to have some space for back sliding.

Well, you sound quite successful! Sad thing is, in my case it is not the favorite food or the feeling of being food that I am missing. Rather I want to eat for emotional reasons ... like stress, or boredom. I have a requirement to lose 30 lbs and have been down to 5 left a couple of times in the past six months. But I tend to slide back on a binge once a week. Other than that I'd say I am 90% compliant with the program. I am concerned that the lap band may not be effective for me if I do not overcome that relationship with food. After all, there are plenty of things one can slide past a lap band if you have a mind to it. I think that is the main thing for me to over come .. so any advice on how to tackle that one? Thanks, Paulo

With respect to the carbonated beverages, I went to diet drinks to avoid the corn syrup and then to Perrier to avoid the sodium. After banding it be OK to continue to drink Water before meals, I wonder. I understand why not drink water with meals or shortly thereafter. But prior to meals, would not water just slide through and leave you small stomach empty, unaffected?

I'm new here. I am 42, Pretty much half way through a year long period of adjusting habits prior to banding. Prior to banding, what did you fellows do to prepare for the changing relationship with food? Thanks, Paulo