I had my surgical consult today and it has set my mind spinning! I have a high BMI of 55. My surgeon, though absolutely willing to move forward with lap band for me, strongly suggests I consider Sleeve or Bypass. He feels I may be disappointed with my weight loss results with the band. I have been reading posts on these boards for a few months now and I have seen very few people with a starting BMI/weight as high as mine (weight is 354). My surgeons office recommends an ideal weight of 155 for me (I'm 5'7) where as I would be happy with 175. The largest results in my research I have seen with the band were in the 100lbs range. Though this is amazing that would put me at 250. I guess what is really discouraging me is all the posts on here within the last few weeks regarding failing bands and low weight loss. If I am going to have surgery I want it to give me the tool that I need to assist me.

I need some inspiration from those who started with high BMI's please.

The great thing is I can start the process of the supervised diet and psych eval without making my final decision so I have some more time for research on both. I will be attending support groups for those who have gone through Band and Bipass surgery to hear their stories as well.

Thanks!

W

My BMI was 68.7 and look how much weight i lost with a lapband and there are plenty of others too. The success of the lapband , like all weight loss surgery is down to your determination to make it work, even a sleeve or bypass will fail if u dont continue to work with them. Bypass and sleeve may be quicker solutions but some of us did it just as quick, and not having your internal plumbing rerouted was a big deciding factor for me. There are people who had a bypass and still end up with a lapband, and there are lapbanders who end up with bypasses and sleeves. personally i think its individual choice as nothing is a 100% guaranteed success.

good luck with whatever you decide.

My bmi was at 62 and it's now at 48.6 in just a little over six months. 81 pounds lost as of this morning.

There are so many on the forums that had a high bmi and have done amazingly with the band.

Provided there are no complications through no fault of your own and you follow the rules the band works to get that bmi down.

I started at 49.49 on Aug 6 and now I'm 38.86 in this short time frame.

Best wishes

I started out at 332 BMI of 57. My doctor wanted me to lose 10 percent body weight before surgery . Due to an unresolved blood clot my surgery was delayed and I ended up losing 50 pounds. I've lost 70 pounds since surgery. My nurse practitioner recommended that I see an oncologist about my thyroid because I'm losing weight slowly. My food plan I really hate to call it a diet is very conservative and I exercise 7 days a week. Back to your original question I'm currently around 212. My doctor didn't do the sleeve so my choices are lap band and bypass. It was recommended that I do bypass because I had so much to lose but I really was not hip on that surgery. Not sure whether I would have done sleeve if it was available my doctor does now do it though. I guess my main comments to you would be to lose the weight you want with the band you're going to have to be really dedicated. To me that would mean being really conservative in your food habits and not drinking alcohol. Admittedly I'm not a drinker so that's not a problem for me. Alcohol is nothing but calories there's no redeeming value to it. I'm not going to debate red wine that's not really a valid argument when someone has 200 pounds to lose. And I'm not trying to be mean spirited because I was in the same boat.

Not to belabor the point but I would also plan that exercise will become a major part of your life. A lot of people on this site say that the weight just fell off and they didn't have to do any exercise; but I think that sends the wrong message. As mentioned above I exercise everyday when I say everyday I mean every day. Though I am meeting with an oncologist in January and maybe we'll find a hormone reason for my slow weight loss.