Hi I had the lapband 5 weeks ago. It's early in the game so I can't really judge how it is working. My 20 year old daughter is scheduled for January. Now I'm wondering if I should have her have the sleeve because it seems easier and she has more to lose. Any advise wouldaappreciateappreciatedp

You also don't have to work as hard.

That is just not true.

There is no such thing as an easy, foolproof, risk-free, one-size-fits-all WLS procedure. The dietitian who reviewed Bandwagon and wrote a foreword for Bandwagon Cookery once said at a WLS support group meeting that bandsters have to make lifestyle changes immediately in order to succeed, but that eventually, every WLS patient must make those same changes in order to lose weight and keep the weight off for the rest of their life. It's a pay me now or pay me later thing.

Every WLS patient must fight the eating demons that live in our heads. WLS happens in the abdomen, not the brain.

My daughter is 19 so I am worried about her being cut up so young .

I'm not sure that any obese person needs a full-sized stomach, but I would also be concerned about someone so young having the sleeve. For one thing, 75-80% of her stomach would be lost forever. If she one day decided she'd chosen the wrong surgery, she won't ever get that chunk of stomach back. It'll be gone forever, and she'll have to make the best of what she's got. That's a bitter pill for me to swallow at age 59; I can't imagine how that would feel to some 40 years younger.

My other concern is that 19 is very young to be making a decision like this. I can understand that you don't want your daughter to grow up obese, with all the social and medical problems that can involve, but if I'd been able to have WLS at that age, I don't think I would've been mature enough to handle it. To succeed longterm, she's going to have to make a lot of behavioral and lifestyle changes at a time when she's still growing and maturing. Also, in his book about the gastric sleeve, Dr. Guillermo Alvarez writes candidly about some teenaged patients of his who were sleeved. Some have done well (so far) but some of them have made a mess of their lives because they just could not wrap their minds around so many changes in their bodies so fast. Social and sexual relationships are a big problem for those kids.

My suggestion is that you and your daughter go to see your surgeon together and talk about the options. Then I would leave the room and let her talk to the doctor by herself, and after that (if she gives you permission) you could talk about it with the doctor while she waits for you in the waiting room. At age 19, legally able to vote and serve in the military, your daughter is in some respects an adult in charge of her own body, but you will always be her mother, and if I were you, I'd want to hang onto her a little bit tighter as she goes through this life-changing process.

I was banded for almost 5 years and have been sleeved for 5 months. I have posted several times recently about my experience, so you might want to check out these threads on the band vs sleeve debate.

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/topic/163124-help-guys-band-or-sleeve-im-scheduled-for-band-feb1/

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/topic/162501-conveting-from-band-to-sleeve-has-anyone-at-or-near-goal-weight-done-this/