As surgery day gets closer the few people that know are really insistant that I go for bypass because "you'll lose so much more weight" they tell me. I feel as if they don't respect my decision and from what I understand in the long run both end up with about the same weight loss results.

Can anyone shed some light on this for me???

YOU LOOSE SO MUCH MORE WEIGHT faster BUT THE END RESULT WILL BE THE SAME, JUST NOT SO QUICK. ITS NOT EVEN HEALTHY TO LOOSE WEIGHT THAT FAST. DONE FORGET THE BYPASS HAS A MUCH MORE MORTALITY RATE, MORE COMPLICATIONS (DIARRHEA, GAS, DEATH, DEHYDRATION, MALNUTRITION) AND IT IS HARD TO REVERSE (VERY)

CAROL I AGREE WITH YOU THE BAND IS A MUCH SAFER AND LESS INVASIVE PROCEDURE, THE COMPLICATIONS ARE NOT AS HARSH EITHER WITH THE BAND, AND THE BAND IS REVERSIBLE IF COMPLICATIONS ARISE, THE BYPASS IS NOT. YOU STICK WITH YOUR DECISION LOTS2LUV, YOU ARE DOING THIS FOR YOU AND NOT THEM DO THIS THE HEALTHIEST WAY AND STICK YOUR DECISION TO HAVE A BAND. GOOD LUCK ! XXX

As surgery day gets closer the few people that know are really insistant that I go for bypass because "you'll lose so much more weight" they tell me. I feel as if they don't respect my decision and from what I understand in the long run both end up with about the same weight loss results.

Can anyone shed some light on this for me???

Stick with your decision....don't let anyone talk you out of it. I have a very good friend who had bypass in April. I never understood her decision since she only had about 80 lbs to lose, but I never tried to talk her out of it. I decided to do the band (banded 8/16) after several years of thought. She couldn't understand why I would choose to do the band over bypass. She kept telling me that the band has so many more complications and it's not permenant. I chose the band because it's NOT permenant, and because the complications were totally fixable whereas the complications with bypass can be fatal. To each his/her own.....do what YOU want to do.

My oldest son had a neighbor who died about 3 months post-op from complications of bypass. That was the deal breaker for me.

Thanks to all of you for sharing. Like Sugarplum said I'm doing this for me not for them and I have to live with my own decision. I feel this is what's best for me and I'm going for it!

8) I was encouraged by the seeming success of the mother of a close friend, who had RnY 2 1/2 years ago....she "lost so much weight" dropping nearly 100# the first year....Now, she has regained all but about 25# of that....I'm still on the slow slow slow downward move....I'm doing fine....what is SHE going to do???

Jack,

She'll get the lapband she should have gotten in the first place.

For me after a lot of research, bypass was not even an option and lap band was the only way I would go for weight loss surgery. I want to keep my stomach constructed the way it was made.

I am an Rn who has worked with clients who have had major complications after a gastric bypass. I knew that I did not want this for myself. When I heard about the Lap Band, I knew it was THE right thing for me to do!

Ironically, after jumping through all the hoops, going to the required classes and getting approval for the surgery from my insurance, I learned that I have a medical condition that is a contraindication to being banded.

However, I am still a candidate for the bypass. :heh: Yes, I had a second opinion. Both surgeons, and also my primary physician have recomended that I have the roux-en-y. (It's not their anatomy that will be rearranged.)

I am back to square one. What I have done - for now - is to join Weight Watchers for the umteenth time. I am trying my hardest. I've decided that I'll re-address the bypass issue in the Spring if I'm not doing well at my weight loss.

Bandster at heart,

Linda:think

I don't know if anyone else had this experience, but when I was in the hospital the nurses kept comparing my lap band with the gatric bypass. My pain wasn't as great. I would be able to eat real food sooner, etc. Who cares? My pain was still my pain! My hunger was still real. I felt dis-counted at every turn. It's like telling a patient who only has 1 breast removed that there a lot luckier than the patient in the other room who had a complete masectomy. The topper happened when it was time for the take home directions and I had to sign a paper stating that I understood that I would only be able to eat 1/2 cup for the rest of my life and that I understood that my weight loss would only be 1 to 2 pounds a week AND then the nurse added, "You would have lost more weight with a bypass!" It made me so angry that I started to cry. When it's all said and done, I made my decision and I didn't need some nurse adding her 2 cents worth!

I don't know if anyone else had this experience, but when I was in the hospital the nurses kept comparing my lap band with the gatric bypass. My pain wasn't as great. I would be able to eat real food sooner, etc. Who cares? My pain was still my pain! My hunger was still real. I felt dis-counted at every turn. It's like telling a patient who only has 1 breast removed that there a lot luckier than the patient in the other room who had a complete masectomy. The topper happened when it was time for the take home directions and I had to sign a paper stating that I understood that I would only be able to eat 1/2 cup for the rest of my life and that I understood that my weight loss would only be 1 to 2 pounds a week AND then the nurse added, "You would have lost more weight with a bypass!" It made me so angry that I started to cry. When it's all said and done, I made my decision and I didn't need some nurse adding her 2 cents worth!

It's a big decision and shouldn't be taken lightly, but over all. I think that science will show that the lap band is the safest way to long term weight loss. (Until they come up with some new procedure).