Instead of the band.

I was discussing with dh my idea of getting the free lap band surgury done at the Government hospital by a surgeon I trust to do a good job placing the band, but would prefer my after care at one of the Private hospitals. Well the one I want to look into is advertising the Balloon and the band. Dh is trying to convince me to get the balloon. I'm sure I will gain the weight back once it is taking out (can only have 6 months). Dh thinks I should at least try it out and if, God Forbid, I were to gain it back get the band THEN.

Ok guys what do you think?

Well, one question would be how much do you have to lose? I'm almost 6 months out from surgery and I'm not even half way to goal yet. But my main concern with the balloon would be maintenance. If you're like me, you've lost weight many times before and it comes right back on. For me, I feel like the band is my first real chance to lose weight and keep it off.

You're doing a good thing by researching all of the possibilities. Good luck with your decision!

I have 120lbs to lose. Dh disagrees...he thinks that's too much. He is also saying that I can loose some the first 6 months...take it out and loose more in another 6 months. I heard the adg is like 30lbs in 6 months. I also worry about maintance. I'm afraisd of it coming back with a vingence!. Dh doesnt like the idea of something in me for the rest of my life. He also likes the fact that the balloon doesnt require surgury.

I think there's a reason why most insurers don't cover the balloon anymore. Does your husband have some inside knowledge, or is he just thinking the balloon would be less invasive/harmful to you?

The balloon is relatively new I believe, I'm not sure it's ever been covered by insurance yet?

Either way, I think most of the people who get the band are able to lose weight, at least for a time, we just can't stick with it long enough to get it all off (at least in my case) and we can't maintain by ourselves what we do off.

I can understand why your hubby is worried, because surgery is surgery even if the band is less invasive than the other ones. I think you need to maybe sit down and explain to him that you appreciate that he's worried but you need to do what's best for you and you are the person who knows that best.

Let us know where your mind goes with this.

Sleepyjean, I don't think the balloon is done in the States.

Sara, he really doesn't 'get it'. I told him that I was worried I would gain it back. He said, after 6 months you will have had behavior modificatuion and will learn the right way to eat. I told him knowing the right way will not stop me from overeating but having a band in place will. He said, "well then you really do have a problem". And he wasn't being mean or funny, he just honestly doesn't get it.

BTW his overeating is worse than mine but he is in a serious state of denial.

I had my pre-op psych eval Monday & he told me of some research that's come out recently.

Every organ in your body communicates with the brain. If you lose more then 1.5-2 pounds per week for a period of 3-6 months, the organs start sending neuro-peptides to the brain saying that you're starving (even if you have 100s of pounds in body fat that you'd like your body to eat).

So even if you're on a good, nutritious, low-cal diet & your bmi is still obese+ ... even with all of that, if you lose 2+ pounds per week for more then 3 months, your brain is going to go into panic mode & start telling you to eat, eat, eat... until you're back to pre-diet weight + 10 pounds. That's the brain getting back to status quo + a buffer for the next starvation period. (Weight Watchers has known this forever, but now the medical community agrees, lol.)

So a balloon that makes you eat significantly less for 6 months & is then removed? Ouch!

I'm rethinking my goals... I had of course planned on doing more then 2 pounds a week. But now it really seems to make sense to go slowly, and explains why other surgeries / diets don't work long term. We've been fighting our body's survival instinct.

Maybe this time I can work WITH my bod instead of against it.

Good luck with your decision!

Janet, that makes perfectly good sense to me. I read this to dh and he disagrees. He thinks that you may gain some back but not all. He is very opionated even (especially) when he is wrong.

i feel for you! trying to convince your dh of your own experience and the experience of millions of others even when we all know he's prob wrong! i'm not saying that you COULDN'T possibly keep the weight off, but there's a 95% chance against it. i think he's probably scared of the surgery part and perhaps you can take him with you to the docs office and have a discussion about repeated significant weightloss and the effect that has on your body. we're not meant to thrive when we repeatedly gain and loose say 30+% of your body mass. yes, you'll probably survive. but with a messed up metabolism and possibly heart, diabetic and other issues. but try to let him know that you want to address this for the long term and not as a trial measure like the countless diets (and even gastric balloon). i'm sure you've tried, but good luck!

If you have a satiety disorder (excess hunger not related to emotions, but physical, excess hunger) which I suspect most of us do to some degree or other, then of course you will gain the weight back when the balloon is removed, because the hunger will return...

It is unreasonable to expect a physically hungry person to be able to ignore that EAT signal indefinitely. The band really helps to turn that EAT signal waaay down. As long as you are able to keep the band and the level of restriction you need, your hunger will be managed and the weight will come off.

The balloon is relatively new I believe

For some reason, I was thinking it was an older technology. I must've been thinking of something else.. Hm....

Sleepyjean, I don't think the balloon is done in the States.

Sara, he really doesn't 'get it'. I told him that I was worried I would gain it back. He said, after 6 months you will have had behavior modificatuion and will learn the right way to eat. I told him knowing the right way will not stop me from overeating but having a band in place will. He said, "well then you really do have a problem". And he wasn't being mean or funny, he just honestly doesn't get it.

BTW his overeating is worse than mine but he is in a serious state of denial.

He honestly thinks you can re-learn a lifetime of bad habits in 6 mos? I think it would be a miracle to learn proper eating habits after a year or two.

Besides - the balloon works by keeping your stomach inflated big. When the balloon is gone, there is all that empty space in there that is used to being full...all the time. That would want to be full...all the time. I looked at that HARD for a while - but decided against it as a short-term solution to a long-term problem.

Sorry DH is not being supportive. I just told my husband "I am getting this done". I then went on to explain that I needed to do it - for me - and I was hoping for his support - but I was going to do it, no matter what.

Good luck!

There is at least one Mexican physician who is using the balloon, and you hear about it in Europe -- but it is only good for that temporary weight loss AND there have been deaths related to it when the stomach ruptured.

It is actually more dangerous to have your tubes tied by lap surgery that it is to have a band placed by lap surgery.

The most important factor in success with the lapband is EDUCATION beginning before the sugery (and composed of the CORRECT facts, based on being a bandster, not a GBP patient) and having a great SUPPORT system after the surgery --- composed of lap band surgery patients, run or sponsored by a medical professional.

Also, you must have yourself checked out, pre-surgically if possible, for the pre-diabetic Metabolic Syndrome (high insulin-resistant syndrome), and for a low-producing thyroid. I have both conditions.

Got to get your spouse to a lapband seminar so he can ask questions.

People live with artificial heart valves, blood vessel stents, artificial hip joints, implanted lenses, and replacement parts of all kinds ---- never mind breast implants. :eek:

I have never had any sort of sensation at all from band or from the port (only from the incisions during the first weeks). I have my port on the midline, several inches above my waist. You can't see it and can't feel it unless you know what to feel for.

There

Lets look at it this way. I have had my band over a year and last night I overate and by over eat I mean half a peice of fish and threw up harshly. Relearning how to eat after 27 years of eating the way I did had still not happened for me. If I were to have the band out I would balloon back up to over 300 I'm sure of it. It is not about learning how to eat right. You know how to eat right now. It is the control you have over your eating. You need to make this decision for yourself and when your husband has to have a bariatric surgery for himself he can choose what he wants. Don't do something to your body you aren't comfortable with. Stand your ground!

I would have to agree with the above ."get your man to the Drs or Lapband semminar" My husband has alway been thin.Alway thought he knew all the answers about weight...which can be very hurtful at times.However once he came along to my appointment the Dr had explain the whole weight /and dieting bulldust and has since been more supportive and sympathitic to those whom are chubby like me....or I should say was.The band is wonderful and so much better when your man understands.....with his support you might even find the balloon will work for a time...the lapband long term.Just like our parents our husbands are not always right just some of the time.

Good luck he must love you loads to have an opinion.

I don't know if this would do anything to convince you one way or the other, but my dr. has told me that a lot of people find the balloon extremely uncomfortable and want it removed, whereas the lapband doesn't cause this discomfort. I can't explain what he means when he says the balloon is extremely "uncomfortable" as I never really considered it, as it is kind of like taking diet pills for 6 mo., then going off them, and as we all know gaining back the weight we have lost or more.

Maybe you could do some further research on both in order to make up your mind. I hope this helps you.