I'm scheduled for my lap band surgery on October 5th. I actually backed out of gastric bypass in June. I am wondering if its normal to be back and forth between the 2 surgeries. Im so confused. I feel like I want the band for the right reason, and I want the gastric bypass for the wrong reasons. I love the fact that with the bypass the weight just flies off, but I know that the risks are greater. I know that with the band, it will be a lot of work on my part. Please, someone tell me its normal to feel up in the air. :blushing:

It's very normal to be a little up in the air, though, if you're doubting this WLS as well, you may want to take some time to really decide what you want before you go through with it. It seems like you're looking for the "easy" surgery, which doesn't exist, honestly.

I can't say I considered any other type of WLS besides the band; and honestly it isn't as hard as it seems. You eat right, you exercise, you drink your water, and the scale usually cooperates.

While with gastric many say the weight does fly off, you still have to follow the same principles: eat right, drink your water, and exercise. It's not going to just come off without hard effort on your part.

You didn't put all of your weight on overnight and it's not going to come off overnight, no matter what type of surgery you choose. Gastric still requires work on your part as well. All of the surgeries are tools, not quick fixes.

I'm sure it's very normal to flip flop feelings about these surgeries. They're both sort of scary because they're life changing operations that could have life changing complications.

I can honestly say I would never do anything but the Lap Band surgery. The gastric bypass just scares the bajeezus out of me but my husband had it last December and has lost 140ish pounds. But he isn't watching what he eats and not working out as much as he should and has stalled in the 370s for about 4 months now. So the bypass isn't a miracle surgery either.

You have to be willing to work with both of them. The bypass will just yield results faster for a shorter amount of time. I know he's frustrated as all heck for the weight to be stalled like it is this soon.

Just my two cents.

Edited September 9, 201015 yr by rockstar
Grammar police!

i was only interested in the lapband. you certainly can lose weight quickly with the lapband i have seen many that do. i lost weight pretty damn quickly before surgery as well, losing 56 lbs. in 3.5 months. i'm 3.5 weeks post op and down 75 total. at this point, as much as i have enjoyed losing weight and am looking forward to losing the rest am starting to really see a lot of loose skin which is really unattractive. of course my primary purpose for losing weight is health, and i am already so much healthier it is mind-boggling to me, but looking better is certainly a part of it. i've got 47 lbs. to go to goal and even though i haven't even had my first fill yet i am feeling that losing the last 47 lbs slower than i lost the first 75 makes a lot of sense to me. i don't know how much you have to lose, but to me losing it too fast can almost be a bad thing...i will probably lose it faster than that, but right now i feel like i would be happy to lose 2 lbs. per week for the next 24 weeks to get to my goal. i got my band as much for long-term maintenance as i did for weight-loss.

Thank you guys. I really needed the input. I feel peaceful about my decision to have the band. I guess I was just looking at my close friend who had the surgery in June and feeling a bit envious of her weight lose with the gastric bypass. I know that it will take me a bit longer, but I feel like the band is the right way. Slow and steady wins the race. LOL.