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My befriend didn't want me to go through with my gastric bypass, which I had 12/27 and I'm already down 6lbs! Anyway...I was surprised that she wasn't one of my biggest supporters..it actually hurt my feelings. You have to want this for you and only you! Iv

Hey all I still haven't gotten banded but here is the problem after my last post I changed docs and had to start over again. Never change docs if your in the kaiser program no matter how bad your doctor is. Well I am back on the trail and now kaiser wants to do the gastric bypass sleeve. Saying the lap band will only lose 10-20% of your weight. LIES!! I know for a fact that's not true I got a few friends who have been banded and lost 200lbs. The problem is my weight loss has slowed and now I am starting to have problems with health from being overweight. Thus causing a major problem. I am really thinking of saying screw it and go to Mexico. But I am scared if I do that kaiser will not honor what they did in Mexico. I also just found out I haven't met with my surgeon. The guy I was in contact with isn't even the surgeon he's just a N.P. Any help on getting kaiser to work would help or should I just go to Mexico and do it?

Hello all I live in OC Cali and I am 38 and Banded. Wed the 3rd of June was my big day. So far I have been very uncomfortable with all the gas and now diareah and I still havent had food since monday. Just on starvation alone I have lost weight about 16 lbs, I have felt better but I cant wait to see the new me again. Well I have studied for two years on the pro's and con's of both lap and bypass and realized that Im still learning, it's not an easy road but a journey Im looking forward too running. :blushing:

Honestly I'm kind of shocked at what you weren't told! Good grief! Your surgeon needs a refresher. I was told NO Water 15 min before, never during, and none 15 min after eating. It can wash food through more quickly and "bypass" the band(in which case, why bother getting banded if you're just going to wash the food through it?) and it CAN stretch the pouch, eating and drinking at the same time. So I say you need to really try to STOP THAT! LOL One poster here said her doctor told her "If you continue drinking and eating the band will fail. Period" That scared her straight. Where did you get your surgery? Maybe you can go to another seminar there? Sounds like the one you attended skipped a lot of stuff that you need to know!

well, whats happening to me is also rare, according to my doc, and in his opinion i shouldv gotten the bypass, my surgery was 4 years ago, for the 1st 2 years it was all good, i lost 85 ponds, and then problems began to develop, with my esophogus, every night before i went to sleep i would throw up, and it didnt matter if i ate late or not, drank late or not, i always had the feeling that somehin is stuck in my chest, and i had to throw up, to atleast sleep at night, this went on for a while, close to a year. I understood that it wasnt normal, and i had to tell my doc. Doctor said that i have a lazy esophogus,and its tired of pushing, the only solution was to empty out the band and let my esophogus rest. it rested for about 3 months, ive gained 20 pounds,and since then in the span of maybe 8 months, i have regular monthly fills, very little ones, cause im scared to go back to the throwing up state, so instead of loosing, i just keep gaining, i gained 40 pounds now. very scary, dont know what to do

Here's what put my mind at ease. You need to ask yourself how healthy you are right now (besides the obesity). If you're a relatively healthy person, then your chances of dieing on the table are very very slim...keep in mind this is an 'outpatient procedure' at many hospitals. Yes, things happen, but the mortality rate mainly involves those that were already 'dieing' and unhealthy and took the risk. The docs I picked here are known for taking on the cases that the other hospitals won't do (I had three Centers of Excellence here to pick from) like revisions, the super obese, etc., so their mortality rate was a little higher, but all their deaths were people that were already very ill. Now all that said, I was so excited to get my band, but anyone who tells you they weren't at least a little nervous is crazy...it's normal to get 'cold feet'. Hang in there; you'll do great! -BG

Hi Ashley and welcome! My heart goes out to you. I started this journey over 400 pounds too so I know first hand how crappy life can be when you're morbidly obese. My biggest piece of advice is to research it thoroughly. Having Lap-Band or any other WLS will require you to change your eating habits to healthy ones for a lifetime. A lot of people even greatly benefit from counseling to help them overcome the mental aspect we've had so long with over-eating. I am copy/pasting a bit I just replied to on another thread to explain how and why I got the Lap-Band surgery: I knew I had to do something. I watched my kids' grandmother die when she was only 55 years old. She was a morbidly obese chain smoker who died of congestive heart failure. I too was a morbidly obese chain smoker and her death terrified me because I knew if I didn't make drastic changes, that would one day be me. I quit smoking over a year ago and then started getting serious about researching WLS. I also happen to have Multiple Sclerosis. I can't cure the MS, but I figured I could take a lot better care of the rest of me so I'd at least have a fighting chance against this crappy disease. Having MS is bad enough, the last thing I needed was to have a bunch of obesity related (preventable) illnesses like Diabetes and high blood pressure, too. Originally I was scheduled for Gastric Bypass, but at the last minute, I canceled. I just couldn't justify rerouting perfectly healthy organs irreversibly without first trying something far less drastic and reversible. So, I started researching Lap-Band and I knew it was the one for me. I had surgery 6 1/2 months ago and have lost 122 pounds so far. I can't begin to tell you how much losing this weight has drastically improved my quality of life. I still have a lot to lose but I know I'll eventually get there. For me, getting the Lap-Band was the best decision I've ever made for myself.

:rolleyes2:I am almost four week post op after a Gastric Bypass, can anyone tell me if the Contraceptive Mini Pill is effective or would i have to change to another method, many thanks.

When you have the bypass do you have a drin and when is it taken out and does it hart when they do.

I have a lot more planning for my surgery today. I have so much inspiration and ideas from Lapbandtalk.com members. My friend Sue is just so awsome. She knows how scared I am because I'm doing this by myself. :cry She's gonna take care of me after my surgery and she is so dear to my heart. She had the bypass surgery last year. My other friend Andrea is so awsome too, she is having the same surgery with Dr. Liu and said she'll take me to the appointment. I can't thank the Rogers enough. I met them yesterday when I had my appointment fiasco-- What a sweet kind mother and daughter:love: . I wish my mom was so here for me like that Well.....gotta jet Desi

Just curious...are you considering other options? I'm not going to try to talk you into it. It's a very personal thing. The one thing I know for sure is that I love it. I haven't been sick like most of my bypass friends but I also have another friend who has the band and she has been sick. Best of luck to you!

Hello! I am a 40 yr old female from Cape Cod Mass. I have been overweight forever, but in the past few years I reached my highest peak @ 255lbs. In January of this year I looked into bariatric weight loss thru BI in Boston. They have a comprehensive and long program, which I completed in about 3-4 months and was told I would be a good candiate for surgery. I waited a few more months, as I was trying to decide what was best for me. Once I decided to go forward, I had to pick GBP or Lap Band. Since I was not a diebetic and on medications for health problems and the gbp seemed so severe, I opted for Lap Band surgery. My date was set for Monday 8/30/10. The week prior I did a partial liquid diet using mostly the unjury protein drinks. They taste good and filled me up. It was easier than I thought and I lost 10 lbs prior to surgery, just as my doctor wanted. I was super exicted and nervous but my surgeon is renowned in thie field and I was confident. Unfortunatley for me things did not go as planned. As I woke up in recovery, a nurse who did not seem to know about bariatrics, handed me 2 containers of liquid percocet and some water, telling me to drink it all down. I did as I was told, only to be hit with such pain in my chest, I thought I was dying. I could not breathe, I vomited, I was sweating and very upset. Nothing s/b given orally so soon after surgery and I will never know if that caused what happened next or not, but it was a long road for me. As a mom with a 6 yr old who was due to start first grade, I was happy to have my surgery scheduled before her school started, knowing I would be in the hospital for just one night. Well, for me it turned into a long 6 days! On day 3 my Dr stuck a needle in the band and took out all the water (15 cc) trying to loosen things up. 4 days after surgery I still could not keep 15 cc of water down and he decided to go back in and pop 2 stiches to loosen me up. This is called a revision and he said he had only see this happen in 2 patients prior to me...and he has done this since the surgery came about. I had to go backunder general anthesia and into the OR again. By the next day I was drinking some water and by Sunday afternoon I was finally released. I am 2 weeks out from my 2nd surgery and down a total of 30 lbs. I had my 2 week follow up with my doc and he says I am doing better than most. I am back to walking 3 miles a day (which I had started the month prior to surgery). My main issues now are with constipation and all that fun stuff.. Some days I don't want to get out of bed. I am cranky as I miss food. I loved to eat and it is harder than I expected to go without. On Saturday I tried on some jeans than are a size 20 (I was in 24/26) and they were a bit loose. This was exciting but only temporarily lifted my spirits. I still feel a bit off...not sure why exactly but trying to move ahead and getting stronger. I am on stage 4 diet...some solids, and so far, so good. This is my first time on a blog, and I am anxious to read other people's stories as well as chronicle my own. Thanks for reading:))

It helps to hear that others have gone through some of the same hoops. I spoke to the director of our HR Health plan group today and she agrees that this a unique situation. She suggested I appeal it. The company health board will meet in Dec. and she thinks it is a good time to bring this to their attention. I asked her how they handled other employees that have had gastric bypass or Lapband. I also asked for a written copy of the requirements.

Hello. I am 48 and plan to have the ESG done. Compare to the Mini Gasric Bypass could someone give me some info on diet. On my understanding the diet is easier with ESG as I can eat quite everything but on small doses. CORRECT? THANKS

Why is that some people feel so compelled to dish out advice in regards to weight loss- especially those who don't personally struggle with it themselves?? I am not hiding the fact that I intend to have lap-band surgery and overall people have been positive and supportive so I can't complain. But there are those few.... Today a woman next to me at my hairdressers mentioned her mother and sister had gastric bypass and I chirped up and informed them that I'm having lap-band as soon and as fast as these pre-op months will go...(the alternative would be for me to NOT mention this and basically lie to everyone when weight starts coming off and that won't work for me.) Anyway, my new hairdresser (who is excellent at highlights!) looks at me and gawks. She then asks me why I would consider something so extreme and had I tried losing the weight naturally? WTH??? I smiled politely and told her "Yes, of course I have and I have yoyo'd for years and I'm actually quite excited about the surgery (Thank you very much!) but she continued... She went on to tell me every horror story she could think of (all 3 of which were gastric bypass stories which she was confusing with lap band) and I ended up explaining the process and that both surgeries were actually pretty common now and much safer than they were 20 years ago. etc. Anyway she was not happy until she had given me the name of her holistic doctor who she swears for 175 an hour can cure me of obesity. I love my highlights, but jeez! Anybody else deal with this?? Secondly, my sister (who is a size 1, models for a living, and who has never had any weight issues) insists that "only the strong survive" and that I "just need to ask the universe to give me the body that I want, to envision it" LMAO. She watches The Secret a little too much. I would love to know how others on here deal with friendly and not so friendly unsolicited advice.

With over 100 lbs to lose you could qualify for OHIP paid for Gastric Bypass surg. (done laproscopically) OHIP will pay for you to travel to Michigan BARIX clinics they are a good clinic, I know from experience because I took my good friend there. The wait time for a OHIP approved CDN Doc is years just to get the consult and then you wait another year or two for the surg. Get your family doctor on board, do you have any other co-morbidities? Diabetes, heart problems, High blood pressure, bad knees or back? These all count towards you getting easier approval. Lapband is expensive $18k in Toronto, and you have to go back many, many times for adjustment fills. JMHO

My surgeon's response to this question: Sleeve stretching is known with time. The sleeve will never ever stretch out to the original size though. But the larger the original sleeve (larger bougie used in surgery) and if funds of the stomach is left behind you will have a tendency to stretch out your sleeve. Nowadays most surgeons use bougies between 32-36 which reduces this risk. The surgical technique is important to make sure the sleeve is done correctly and removing the part of the stomach called funds (which also reduces the Ghrelin hormone). Now, patients with sleeves will notice that the restriction is amazing at the first few weeks at that is mainly due to the swollen tissue of the stomach because of the recent surgery. It is not your real capacity. As the swollen tissues comes down your stomach will have more "space" to hold food but still a fraction of what you used to eat prior to surgery. The etiology of the bypass patient who regains weight is or stretches the pouch is quite different since RNY patients have an anastomosis that will distend with time along with the small intestine that will enlarge in diameter giving more capacity to the patient. Since the sleeve lacks all these issues you just need to focus on healthy food and make the most of the weight loss specially the first 12 to 18 months. And here is the vid he shot on this subject back in January: So, yes like the previous poster, you will be able to eat a 'normal' sized meal eventually. However, your sleeve should never stretch the point it was before. Nor will it stretch like an RNY pouch, requiring revision like stomaphyx or other techniques. For the record, Dr Alvarez typically uses a loose 32 French Bougie. With this size I have incredible restriction at 8 weeks but my sleeve is not so small as to be intolerant or particularly picky. Recovery has been really easy for me.

Hi Everyone. My name is Cindy and I am waiting for my primary insurance to send their denial letter so my surgery can be scheduled. My primary insurance will not pay, but my secondary insurance will pay. Plus secondary insurance does not do pre-authorization letters. So, as soon as the denial letter is received from the primary insurance we can schedule my surgery. My surgeon said it will most likely be mid-May. I have thought of myself as being overweight most of my life. Looking back on it, I was a twig when I graduated from high school. It's just that those who were around me were so petite. I had one successful pregnancy 30 years ago and was never able to lose the excess weight I gained then. Over the years I have tried every diet, sensible and fad, that I could find with varying results. But every time I lost weight on a "diet" I would put it back on and then some when the "diet" was over or I got sick of it. Over the last 3-5 years my weight has been steadily creeping up and I am so tired of being tired and out of breath all the time. I want to be able to do things with my grand-children but I am not able to do much of anything for more than a few minutes at a time before I need to rest. I am winded just walking up one flight of stairs to our bedroom so I avoid having to up and down as much as possible. I started my surgical weight loss journey about 5 months ago. It took longer for me to decide this was really what I needed to do than it has to do all the prerequisite visits, tests, and screenings. I really wanted to get the gastric sleeve but it is excluded by my insurance, so I will be getting the by-pass instead. The reason I wanted the sleeve was to avoid the malabsorbsion (sp?) and to be able to continue taking my anti-inflammatories for my osteo-arthritis. However, I have made peace with having the bypass and having to make the commitment to be really careful to get the proper nutrients and supplements to keep my healthy; because that is what this is all about anyway. I want my life back. I am sick of living a half life. In February I joined a gym and hired a personal trainer. I have not lost any weight, though my body composition has improved, I have more lean and less fat than I did when I started exercising. The best thing about doing this is that I have found something that I love to do. I can't believe I would ever say that I love going to the gym and working out with a trainer. It is fantastic and I am really looking forward to the improvements I will see after I begin working out again after I am healed from the surgery. I am sure the that the walking that I will be doing during the healing process will get me ready for even more intense work outs than I have been able to do to this point. My husband had this same surgery 14 1/2 years ago. He never had the kind of support that is available today and is amazed at the amount of pre-surgical preparation and information that I am getting. He lost about 80 pounds when he had his surgery and over the years had put some of it back on. But since I have started my journey he has been using the things that I have been learning and has lost nearly 15 pounds since December. He is nearing his lowest post-surgical weight. I think he is even more excited about me having this surgery than I am. He is being very supportive. When I told my family back in January that I was considering having surgery they were all very supportive. My best friend, who is more like a sister than merely a friend, decided that it was time for her to have bariatric surgery as well. She had not heard of the gastric sleeve before, so as soon as I told her about it she started researching it for herself. Last month she flew to Mexico and had it done. When I talked with her several days ago she had lost a total of 29 pounds (including the pre-surgery weight loss). Anyway, I feel like I have a great support system in place. And I am SOOOO ready to make this change in my life and to make it a permanent change. It's funny, I have never felt so certain about, or committed to, any of my previous weight loss attempts. This is my year for change.

Outch on the cost! I have pretty decent insurance thru the hospital so mine is only going to be 850 US. It's funny how people walk this world in denial isn't it? Type 2 diabetics are the only diabetics that can be "cured". Gastric bypass is the only known procedure that works for type 2 diabetics. Well I am in the waiting on approval process of my journey. Im getting more and more anxious as the days slip by. My psych eval doc took way longer to get pw in so my 1 month vacation time is fast approaching and my insurance company is just receiving my paperwork. We will see how it all goes I guess . How about you? Are you close to surgery date?

I am not in your situation, however I did consider briefly, Gastric Bypass. I say briefly because I really feel it is a personal decision. I have struggled with losing and gaining the same 100lbs. over and over again probably 8 times in the last 20 yrs. Never able to maintain longer than about 2 months. I know what I am supposed to do, I just can't maintain. (I was also a candidate for Bypass) The only health issues I had going into this (blessing) was severe Osteoarthritis, and borderline HTN. All which is managed when I lose the weight. When I researched the lifestyle changes and recovery....The band took it, hands down! AND....if need be, it can be adjusted OR removed. Speak honestly with your surgeon and do your own research. Good luck on your decision!:scared2:

I honestly think you are worrying too much, don't let your worries ruin such a fabulous vacation! I am green with envy. The best thing you can do is listen closely to your pouch. When you are full, stop. Try your best to select mostly good choices but don't be afraid to indulge either. You are going to be very very busy and I am certain you will burn more than you think. Oh, and get the idea out of your head that your surgery will stop being effective at the 1 year mark. It is your tool for life. I am nearly 16 months post op bypass and still losing albeit slowly. Your pouch will work restricting your intake for life. It is up to you to put good choices into it. Given how vigilant you are, I don't think you are going to have a problem. Have an absolute blast on your vacation. Have I said I am green with envy? Oh, make sure you drink tons of Water. That is the hardest part of travel period.

why do you blame the band when you are not compliant. eating chocolates isn't on any diet plan i know of. i had my surgery also in may. may 29th i have lost 44 lbs. i am just now getting to the green zone. i still need small fills to achieve this but i knew, you knew, anybody that has wt. loss surgery knows ,you can't eat whatever you want and lose wt. even with the sleeve. you still have a stomach, you still absorb calories. and the only way the sleeve will work is if you are compliant to a diet plan. ppl that have the sleeve and gastric bypass will run into the same problems as ppl that have lapbands. yes you may lose weight but after a year you will be facing the same thing you are facing right now. eating fresh wholesome food and not eating foods high in calories. if you don't learn this lesson wls, any of them will be unsuccessful for you.

My surgeon allows them. He urged me to consider sleeve vs bypass for this reason. He did say to take with food.

the bariatric program I use says NO NSAIDS forever, for both sleeve and bypass. but my surgeon told me explicitly that they are fine for me. I also have other health care conditions to manage, and the longer I can get by with occasional Advil, the longer I can avoid stronger harsher medications.

Gastric bypass is the #1 choice for resolution of diabetes. Many patients have normal glucose levels within days of gastric bypass. Other types of bariatric surgery, like the band, can also improve diabetes, but that usually is the result of the weight loss, not the surgery itself. I have no idea if the bypass can reverse or stop the calcification in your pancreas - you need to talk to your doctor about that. One other thing (for now) to keep in mind is that with the band, weight loss may not start until months after surgery, when you've gotten enough fill in your band to help it do its job of reducing hunger and creating early and prolonged satiety. For that reason, if I were in your position, I would strongly consider a different surgical procedure. I loved my band, and it did wonders for my diabetes in the long run, but the benefit only persisted as long as I made good food choices and exercised. I can't help you with your support group questions because I'm not even sure where Brownsville and McAllen are. Are they in Texas? There are 2 ways you could research support groups in your area. One is to go to the Texas forum here on LBT and post a question about it there. The other is to call the hospital nearest to you and ask if they have or know of any WLS support groups in your area.