10 Years Down The Road

Mandy.S · July 29, 2012

Hey everyone! I am just beginning this journey and I have a lot of thoughts. One of my major concerns is, what is it going to be like 5 or 10 years out. I am really interested in the lap band. On one hand, I'm excited, and on the other, I'm a little scared. All normal feelings I'm sure. Has anyone had long term success yet?

DELETE THIS ACCOUNT! · July 29, 2012

Many have had long term success. Do a little searching past forum posts and you'll people banded 6 years and more with great success.

67jax · July 29, 2012

Hi, I'm beginning the journey too and am just heartened by the the support on this site. Thank you x

Desdemona · July 30, 2012

I'm 4.5 yrs post LB ---I'm a lot older than you --- and I'm a researcher so I can answer your question about 5 and 10 yrs from now.

Mis 73 is right --- lots of success on this board. The other place you should look for outcomes is on Pub Med where you will find the medical research abstracts of all the published studied on obesity and weight loss methods. WLS is the only method with long-term success. It is possible that within 10 yrs -- they will discover another WL method that works as well as WLS but there is no guarantee of that. In addtion, I'd be very worried about any medication method they might find because they often find very serious medical problems with WL medications. According to the reserach, If you get the WLS and follow all the post-op instructions -- you will lose a lot of weight and you are likley to keep at least a large percentage of whatever you lose off. You will feel better both physically and mentally. You will do better in work and in relationships. You will reverse most, or all, of any developing medical problems. If you don't get the surg, it is very likely that you will be considerably heavier than you are now in 10 yrs. It is likely that you will be on medications for weight-related problems. You'll stretch your skin out a lot more. You will be less fertile if you want to get pregnant. If you have a baby in 5 or 10 yrs --that baby is more likely to be born heavier than what is healthy. Babies that are born overweight or children who are overweight by the age of 6 are almost always obese teens and adults. They will be more likely to get very sick at a young age -- have a harder time socially and in school. If you have kids in 5 -10 yrs -- you will have a harder time keeping up with them and you will be less able to help them learn healthy eating habits. As you get older -- you will have a much harder time getting a good night sleep. That will make you tried and depressed. I not only know these things from research ----- I actually lived them -- and I know many other women who have too. Every once in a while I read about some woman who managed to lose a lot of weight and maintain that long-term but I never actually met any woman who did that. All the older women I know were like me. They just yo-yoed or kept right on gaining until we were were all older and sicker.

All I can tell you is --- I have thrown away the meds and I no longer have sleep apnea so I don't sleep with a mask on anymore. In fact, I sleep great. I went from a size 20 to an 8 and it feels great. I'm the oldest one in my office and I look the youngest. I can do things (like walking for miles on the beach or ride a bike) that I haven't done in 25 yrs. I'm still 15lbs overweight but I never gained back anything I lost. Men of all ages, sizes and types smile and open doors for me now. People are friendlier. My bosses now come to me with ideas, opportunities, and offers of promotions because they have a more positive preception of me. They think I'm smarter now even though I have the same brain I had when I was heavy.

I also want to add that you will find some very sad cases on this board from people who have gotten the LB. In some of those cases -- those people didn't do anything wrong. The LB has some risks and sometimes bad things happen even when someone is doing it right. In many cases bad things happen or it doesn't work well because people didn't follow post-operation instructions. That happens a lot. So the bottom line is --- if you get the LB -- you have to follow instructions and even if you do, something still might go wrong. (LB is no different than driving a car. You do take a chance whenever you get behind the wheel but chances are excellent that you will be fine as long as you follow the rules of good driving.) On the other hand -- if you don't get WLS --- you can BET on a LOT going wrong. One good thing about the LB is -- it is reversible if something better is invented --- or if you don't like it --- or something goes wrong.

Hope this helps you on your journey. I thought it over about a yr and a a half before I did it. Keep learning about it and talking to people. You will do what feels right for you. I wish you the very best.

67jax · July 30, 2012

Hi I've had an appointment today, consultation but I'd already pre booked surgery for 28th August. My blood pressure was a little high 130/97. How do I get this down over the next 4 weeks?