Just curious why you all chose the band? I did for the price and I did not want to die in surgery. My date is April 11.

I picked the band because of the success rate and the fact that the procedure is simple and it is reversible.

If I had to do it again I would. I was self-pay and have no regrets at all.

Tom, Toronto

Banded July 6 06

Wt. Loss: 156 lbs

I chose it because it doesn't permanently re-route my intestines or remove parts of my stomach. It's the only WLS surgery that is reversible

It simply seemed like the most logical starting point. If the Lap Band didn't work for me, I'd then consider the Sleeve next, however I love my band and it's working beautifully for me.

I was self pay. I was 62 years old. I had no insurance at all. The opportunity of doing the lapband came in to my lap. I almost gad the gastric bypass 2 year before that and then I found out that my boss{ at the time} removed any and all bariatric coverage.

I only had abut 100lbs to lose. I am very happy with my choice.

I wasn't given the option of the sleeve back then. Even today, in Australia, the lapband is still the most performed WLS. It is covered by the majority of insurance companies (with simple qualifying criteria) and aftercare attracts a rebate from the government health care scheme.

I had sleeve envy for such a long time, esp when I found that until I got to restriction with the band, I had to work hard to lose. BUT I lost all my excess weight plus some. And knowing it works for me, when I recently had issues and they thought it might be erosion, I actually said if my band had to be removed, I wanted another band instead of revising to a different type of weight loss surgery.

Because the band works for me. I like that almost 4 years later, they fixed a leak, and put more fill in, and bam, I'm back on track. I love that!

I did not have a choice of the sleeve when I was banded. Honestly, not sure what I would do. I will say that the fear of leaks and stricture is a big fear for me.

Gastric bypass IS reversible, though rarely done. Sleeve is not at all reversible, as they completely remove the portion of the stomach that is cut away. Part of what I did not like about bypass is that many people have a gain after the "honeymoon" period where if they haven't truly changed their eating habits--weight can begin to creep back on.

With my band, I eat to my satisfied point, and I am done. Portion control was my biggest issue. I did not want to drastically change the foods I eat, and I haven't. So far (4+ years out) I feel as though I have created a lifestyle I can live with forever. The changes I've made are not so drastic from my "old" life that miss the old me.

I've been maintaining this weight with ease for over two years now with hardly a bump in the road. When I did post a little gain, I went in for a slight fill, cut back on food and soy sauce, and lost it quickly.

cut back on food and soy sauce, and lost it quickly.

You must have been eating a lot of soy sauce!

I wasn't given the option of the sleeve back then. Even today, in Australia, the lapband is still the most performed WLS. It is covered by the majority of insurance companies (with simple qualifying criteria) and aftercare attracts a rebate from the government health care scheme.

Same here.

Also although the sleeve seems to be a good option I still think I would be quite hesitant to revise to one . The surgical and post surgical risks and complications sound so scary compared to a band. If something went wrong with my band I would be hoping that they could replace it. If they couldn't then I would probably go for a sleeve but I imagine it would take a lot of work to convince my DH that it was an option.

You must have been eating a lot of soy sauce!

It was soy and wasabi almonds. I was having them everyday. I am very sensitive to soy, but not salt, go figure. Just a tiny bit of soy is 2-3 pounds or Water retention. Eat it daily and it appears to be a gain. :/ After I eat soy, it is about 2 or 3 days before I get rid of it.

So, what I thought was a 5 pound gain was actually a 2 pound gain once I quit the soy and wasabi almonds.

I remember when I went in for my first post-op appt. I was seated next to three people. One was a woman who had come in to check out the available options for WLS, one was a woman who had WLS (sleeve) when it first became available and then the third, a young girl who was getting sleeve in two weeks. The girl kept blabbering on and on about how she chose the sleeve because "it works fast!" and how she didn't want to take her time to lose weight, she wanted it gone NOW. The other woman who already had surgery was telling everyone how she lost a lot of weight, and how she could keep drinking and partying her butt off, which naturally, made the young girl VERY happy. When they got called back, the other woman asked me what I had, and I told her lapband, and how I would much rather lose the weight slowly but surely (sometimes I question this, lol), and that the girl seemed to be taking the easy way out, and the other woman seemed downright insane, lol.