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Welcome! It sounds like the lap band would be a good choice for you. Your BMI is not too terribly high and you seem to understand the concept of watching what you eat which you will still need to do...the band will just help you be full on small amounts of food and keep you from overeating. It is safer and less invasive than gastric bypass. For me there was the seminar then a one-on-one consultation with my surgeon where I weighed in, had my insurance submitted, discussed the process leading up to surgery (tests, diet/nutritionist, psych eval, sleep study etc.) and discussed what to expect with the surgery and afterwards. Made my appointments with the in-house psychiatrist and nutritionist and that was about it. My surgeon gave a cost breakdown at the seminar. The cost is different depending on your surgeon and where you live. I am Northern Virginia the cost of living is fairly high here and the surgery is $17,500.00. If your "orientation" is the same as my "consultation", I can tell you that I was charged a $375 non-refundable fee which I paid out of pocket...this is included in the above figure.

The bypass is too drastic for me. Two family members had it done. One changed her life style and eating habits and has done very well. The other didn't and has gained back half of the weight she lost. Thanks for the kind words.

It's cool to see another Tennessean on here. I didn't have a revision, so I'm not sure how the psych eval goes with that, but my Dr got my psych eval before I did. They emailed me saying they had it and a few days later the psych dr called saying he had sent over my eval then the next day, I got the copy of his letter to my surgeons office.

I still can't eat without getting sick. Does anyone else have this problem?

I haven't been able to get on this website for about 3 weeks due to computer issues, and then family illness. Thankfully, that's all taken care of now! It's hard to believe that 2 months ago I had a life-changing, mind-blowing experience with the realization of getting my sleeve. After years of major struggles with the lap-band, and 2 years spent searching for a Doctor who would even consider seeing me, God opened the door for me at Dr. Kaler's office. Dr. Kaler had no hesitation in telling me, "Yes, I can do your revision". I remember sitting in his exam room with tears in my eyes, thinking "Finally, someone who can help me". The sense of relief that this ordeal was finally over was surreal. After years of struggling with the band, the sliming, the sticking, the not being able to eat out in front of anyone other than my DH, my mother's comments of "Oh honey, I just wish there was something that could be done for you", my revision was done in one surgery. The changes that have occurred in my life since have been amazing. No more sticking, no more sliming, eating out with friends, feeling like I'm 15 years younger, the energy, the ability to get out and move, the improved numbers from my bloodwork, actually enjoy life has been such a blessing. As of this morning, I am down 42lbs, and 3 dress sizes. I still struggle with my eyes being WAAAAYY bigger than my sleeve. I suspect this will be a challenge for quite a long time. But it's always surprising to me how much is left on my plate. My DH has enjoyed my leftovers many times and isn't complaining. To have the ability to eat without the expectation that it's going to be a painful experience, has made me realize that I have taken eating for granted. I no longer do that. I know truly enjoy my food, more as a true pleasure, and I'm focusing on making sure that those meals are well worth the effort. I'm learning new recipes, experiencing new foods, and focus on eating whole, healthy, fresh foods. And it's such a great time of the year to do this. With the Farmer's Markets that are open now, my vegetable garden, learning to can and freeze fresh fruits and vegetables, purchasing grass fed beef, free-range chicken, and the most recent addition to our little farm - a Devon pig, who will be filling our freezer this fall, our food quality has increased by leaps and bounds. No more pre-processed food, no more white carbs, a significant reduction in gluten in our lives has made a tremendous difference in not just my, but my DH's life. I never would have made these changes in our life had it not been for the sleeve. I'm eating pretty much anything I want, just in drastically smaller quantities, and the only thing I haven't tried yet is a salad. For some reason, that's the one thing that looms in my mind as the "The Big One". I'm sure it's just in my head that way, but I still see a Salad and think, "One day I'll be able to eat that and really enjoy it", but I haven't tried one yet. I'm not big on restaurant salads, but prefer to buy my own ingredients and make them at home. That way I can control what goes in to it. I will always encourage those who are thinking about getting the lapband toward the sleeve, and I will support those who want a revision by sharing my experience. Just as so many of the folks on this wonderful website have done for me.

This is what the nurse was most likely talking about. I heard about it at the class I had to attend. "RYGP restricts the gastric volume that is capable of storing food, bypassing most of the stomach and all of the duodenum (i.e. the majority of ghrelin-producing tissue). Ghrelin, a recently discovered peptide secreted primarily by the stomach and proximal small intestine and is the only known appetite-stimulating hormone."

Wow this is what I needed !!! I do t know anyone with sleeve or bypass and hearing first hand for actual sleevers is great . !!! My first initial visit the PA said I should get bypass so she threw me off. I'm going to stick to sleeve it's best for long term not just getting the weight off ... I wanna live healthy Thank you so much for your help .. And I'm going to write on my tummy with a sharpie SLEEVE . Lol

At my surgeons office they advertise that they do RNY, sleeve and banding, but it became clear from the very first seminar that they want to do RNY as the default for everyone. The doctor I saw on my first visit was very candid that they want to do the bypass because all us fatties cannot control ourselves and there is immediate negative feedback for life in the fo of dumping when you get the bypass. She asked me which surgery I wanted and I told her that I was leaning toward the sleeve but was willing to listen to medical reasons if the surgeon disagreed. She said I just needed to decide no later than my surgeon visit just before surgery date. It turned out, of course that I really needed to decide before all the paperwork was submitted to insurance. They called and said the surgeon had approved me for both the bypass and the sleeve. I told them the sleeve. So fast forward to my first appointment with the surgeon the Friday before my scheduled Monday surgery. He hands me the consent to sign and it says--RNY! I said, "you are going to have to get me a new consent for the sleeve". He responds, "oh, you're not having the bypass"? "No", I say, "I am having the sleeve". He then asks me why I don't want to have bypass. I told him that if I can accomplish what I want (100 lb weight loss) with less trauma to my systems, that is what I want. Our bodies work, for the most part, best when left alone. I can accomplish my goal without re-routing my intestines and without malabsorption that goes with it for life. Oh, and I told the surgeon that I was going to take a sharpie and write SLEEVE across my tummy the morning of surgery so he wouldn't forget!

For me it was not having to worry about significant vitamin deficiencies due to the malabsorption from the bypass.

I chose the sleeve for a few reasons. It is less risky and the chance of death is about half that of the bypass. There are much less long term complications that can occur with the sleeve than with the bypass. The whole malabsorbtion issue mentioned by others. With the sleeve you are supposed to be able to eat all foods in moderation. With the bypass if you eat certain foods you will get very sick.

My understanding was that people were primarily not band candidates if the shrink or surgeon believed that they would not be able to make the lifestyle and dietary adjustments required to be successful. (Also, heavy drinkers are not band candidates either) Honestly, you have to work harder with the band than with bypass and we all have to ask ourselves how much work we are willing to do. Beyond that, look at the stats!!! 1 in 300 gastric bypass patients die. While for the band, it is like 1 in 4000 or more.

I was informed that my port flipped during my third or 4th fill I believe. That was 6 months post-op. I have a Realize band. MY surgeon discussed a revision surgery with me and after he pushed the port in and up, he was able to make the fill. Since I had a decent amount of fluid in my band at the time, he suggested that we just leave it and revisit as I progress. At my next couple of fills, he just flipped it and filled my band. Sometimes it takes an additional poke but really, I don't want to be taking time off at this point for a revision. I am lucky that he can still access it I guess. I will have the revision if I need to though. It is a day surgery with local anesthetic but I really hate the hospital! GOOD LUCK!

I was banded on May 12th and my port flipped within the 2nd month. I had my port revision done on Aug. 26 in outpatient surgery. I was in and out. He moved port lower. So far, so good. He was able to remove the Fluid and replaced it during surgery. To keep me on track, he did a refill in three weeks. Alls is good now, I have about 5 cc in my band and actually went back last month to get a small unfill. I'm ready for another tomorrow.....I hope he finds it easy. Best wishes to you.

Mandy, My story is very much like yours. Here is a post i made almost 2 years ago now. Please stay with it. Kelley and Walter Lindstrom are so helpful. I am 21 months post surgery now and slightly below my goal weight. Search for my posts to see my frustrations while going through the approval process. I picked this one as it made me very happy Posted August 4, 2011 - 3:10 PM Congratulations to everyone that was approved. I have Aetna and was denied. the denial was upheld in the first and second level appeal by Aetna. It was so stressful. The final appeal is an independent external review process. This is where the decision goes out to an independent doctor not associated with the insurance company who will decide based upon the information provided if the patient meets the standards published by NIH and other medical groups. Mine did and the decision by Aetna was overturned. The entire process took almost 10 months and was SO stressful. All of my appeals were done with the help of http://www.obesitylaw.com It cost me nothing and Kelley is the BEST !! She called me 2 days before I was going to Disney to tell me the good news. She even offered to give me passes to Disneyland that they use to take out the employees in the office each year. Unfortunately I was going to Disney World in FL so I couldn't use the passes. She was so nice I decided I would tell everyone who was having issues with approval about them. They provide an awesome service to people who could really use help. I believe her husband Walter had both Gastric bypass and a Lapband revision later on. Good Luck to anyone having to deal with Aetna. 1st Lap band seminar: 12/14/2009 Highest weight: 253 Pre-op diet starting weight: 247 Banded: 12/28/2010 : 236 1st fill: 2/8/11 (4.5cc) 2nd fill: 3/15/11 (7cc total) 3rd fill: 4/25/11 (8cc total) 4th fill: 9/30/11 (8.5cc total) 18 months post-op: 175

He has done around 300 now. My Surgeon spent almost a year doing them in Alabama at UNA, also he has done the gastric bypasses in the past as well he is very experience and a good surgeon. As a scrub tech I spent some time in his OR and I know I'm in good hands.

Up until 2006, I had only really heard about gastric bypass. My ex-SIL had GB in 2001 and went from 232lbs to 93lbs. She looked horrible and became anorexic! I also was not too keen on having part of my stomach cut out and my intestines re-routed... not to mention that once you have the surgery, you are stuck with it. I was definitely NOT a fan of GB! In the Fall of 2006, I stumbled upon an article in a magazine at my PCP's office about the LAP-BAND®®®. As I was reading the article, it was like the heavens opened up and the angels began to sing. I did some more research on the internet and decided to attend a seminar at a facility 45 minutes away. When I went to the seminar, I KNEW that the LAP-BAND®®® was for me. I weighed 306lbs, but was fortunate to only have high blood pressure caused by kidney disease and none of the other usual co-morbidities (high cholesterol, diabetes, sleep apnea, etc.) The surgeon told me that I was a perfect candidate for the procedure. All I needed to do was to check with my insurance company to see what was covered. Long story short, my employer did not purchase the WLS rider policy. Therefore, WLS was excluded. My hopes were dashed! Towards the end of March 2009 (weighing 325lbs), I called my mother to see how her kidney dr appt went. She had a kidney transplant in 2004. Her dr told her that she had to do something about her weight or she wouldn't be around this time next year and suggested she look into the LAP-BAND®®®. I jokingly said to her that if she got the LAP-BAND®®®, I would never speak to her again and then proceeded to tell her about going to that seminar and all the info I had on the LAP-BAND®®®. Three days later and having been recently diagnosed w/ diabetes and high cholesterol, I went to visit my folks and they offered to help me pay for the LB surgery if I would go on the WLS journey w/ my mother. I, of course, jumped at the chance. My parents and I went to 3 seminars before I decided on being banded by Dr. Curry in Cincinnati, OH (2.5 hours away). He offered the best self-pay price with the best aftercare. My mother ended up having GB surgery (11/23/09) at OSU Hospital b/c it was determined that she was not a good candidate for the band. I was banded on 6-8-09 and haven't regretted it for a single moment. I have lost 75+ pounds in just over 10 months. I could NEVER have lost this weight without my band! On a side note, my best friend ended up being banded by Dr. Curry 3 weeks after I was banded. Collectively, we have lost a total of 77lbs + 85lbs + 69lbs = 231LBS :thumbup:

I would tell your PCP that you appreciate her advice but that the final decision on whether to have band or bypass should be *yours*...not hers. Control freak doctors are a PiTA. .

Welcome! People usually start by going to a complimentary seminar given by a local surgery group. If it sounds like you want to continue, then you make an appointment to see people at the office and they will guide you on how to deal with your insurance co. and how to proceed with the other hoops you need to jump through. Some ins. co. need a 6month supervised diet before they will approve you. (I was self pay so I was able to skip that). The band is a neat tool for weight loss and perfect for someone young like you. It doesn't involve any malabsorbtion like the bypass sort of surgery and that is important for your health if you want to have children some day. Not only does it curb your hunger, but it keeps you from consuming too much at one sitting. Sure, people can get the band and still be fat. But, they usually are the ones who stop going in for fills and "eat around" their band by choosing soft slider foods instead of normal density foods. Good luck to you on your journey to good health!

I am having my bypass on 12/31 the best way to start a New year. I am so excited but scared at the same time. Good Luck will be thinking about you

Sorry my RNY was on July 2, 2013. My hubby's failed revision was in Sept of 2013

Banded 3/19/2012 this summer had to get all fluid taken out. Lost total of 40 lbs, gained back 30 recently. Dr wanted to do revision, bc of stomach coming up over band. Insurance wouldn't pay for new wls so, I said to keep my band. I'm all good now, it went back down with unfill and liquid diet. I go next week for another fill(3rd since unfilled), right now I still have no restriction. With my Dr hating the band now, and not doing them anymore, I feel so isolated. Started local support group this week, but no one has had the band. I feel like I'm on my own. Could anyone give me an encouraging lapband story?

Hi there @@kmt1973 -- there is a group of very successful banders who post on a thread called Banders #7. With so many different surgeries represented here on Bariatric Pal, Banders are somewhat of a minority so I always look there first. And I try to avoid the negative band talk from those who have had revisions. I'm sorry you had to go through all of that and hope that you're on track now -- sounds like the unfill and now refill process is going well. I think some doctors are annoyed at all the followup that a band requires. Most surgeons would rather be in the OR than discussing the finer points of appetite. There are a couple of links in my signature below which really helped me a lot -- the O'Brien Eight Golden Rules of Lapband on videos and the Dr. Simpson link. Best wishes to you!

My surgeon requires all his patients to take either a prescription PPI or an over the counter acid reducer for life. I haven't had a single instance of acid reflux or heartburn and I'm almost six months out from gastric bypass surgery.

My thoughts are that you need a new surgeon. If you have reflux, DO NOT get the sleeve. It will likely make it a lot worse. I was able to choose between bypass and sleeve because my A1c was less than 7 and because I don't have any form of reflux, so I chose the sleeve. My husband has GERD and a higher A1c and was advised that bypass is really his only option. Sometimes those that never had reflux get it with the sleeve and have to revise to a bypass to resolve it. And while the sleeve has less risk, the bypass does give about an extra 10% of weight loss. So definitely find a new surgeon.

My doctor mentioned having the bypass and the band done at the SAME time; not getting the band after the bypass had failed. He said it greatly increased the long-term success rate of both surgeries.