I just had to have my band removed because of a pretty significant slip. I had it for a couple of years. I did have the option of having it replaced but I opted for removal because of the generally unhealthy feeling I had even when it was in the proper place. Reflux, vomiting, heartburn, constipation, all these things just became part of my life. I also felt I could easily eat bad foods and not so easily eat good foods, like fruits and veggies and lean meats. Is is just me or do others feel that way? I don't want to badmouth the band because I know it helps people but I just wonder if I failed or if it failed. I don't know.

I'm new to all of this. I haven't had surgery yet, my doctor just referred me to weight loss clinic and I'm trying to do my homework and weigh the pro's, con's and risk factors of both the gastric bypass or the band surgery. i'm really tired of the weight and health problems my weight is causing, and I want to know which one will be more conducive to me losing the weight and keeping it off and being healthy. I am already a very active person, and have changed my eating habits drastically and etc... couldn't take weight off with meridia( weight loss medicine). I can't add much to the conversation, but I am great at listening and I have a thirst for knowledge and information, good and bad.

Marmalela: Please go to www.or-live.com and you can watch both surgeries take place and I would make a decision on this. You can see the differerences in risk and the differences in what it does to your body during surgery. I highly suggest taking this step. It is a real eye opener.

Good luck with your decision!! My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Health1st,

I have only been to one support group here in Vegas and that was at Mountain View Hospital (they hold a support group one night per month). At that time, there were about 35-40 people at the support group, but only 3 of us were lapband patients. Since the band produces slower results, you already feel inferior saying that you've lost your 20 lbs. when everyone else is standing up saying they've lost 55-125 lbs.

Most of the meeting was listening to one woman complain about all the men who ask her out now (no joke). When someone else would change the subject and get back on track, she would once again bring up some delivery guy who told her that her husband better "watch out". It was sickening but comical. I ALMOST felt sorry for her. That's the only time I went to a support group for lapband or regular bypass. I know there are a few other doctors here who hold support groups but I don't know when.

Good luck.

Tricia H

Mom of 4

...IMHO the MGB is superior to the band. I read it is the only WLS that affects the grhelin hormone and that is major in keeping your weight off long term...

Can't be "the only surgery...". Since the MGB or Gastric Sleeve is merely the "top half" (the stomach part) of the Duodenal Switch surgery, then the DS would also have the same effects.

~~~~~~~

The DS is often done in stages for the SMO who are not up to the massive surgery. They do the "top half," removing most of the stomach, and then wait a year. By then, the patient usually has lost enough to be able to survive the rest of the surgery.

My only concern with the Gastric Sleeve is that once the stomach starts stretching out again, it would be just like the regain with the RnY...since the only thing going on with that surgery is restriction. (That is to say, MY stomach is smaller than it was...not as small as for the sleeve, but smaller than original and I can eat a ton of food. If it were not for the malabsorption, I'd be regaining already and I'm less than a year post-op.)

I wasn't aware that there were seven years of positive follow-up on the procedure. If there ARE that many years, it would seem that more insurance companies would cover it as the follow-up care would be so much less expensive than the band.

Edited: I thought people were calling the sleeve a MGB...not so. I know nothing about the MGB except that it could not possibly be the only surgery that impacts ghrelin levels and that I wouldn't have it. This info is about the sleeve.

GeezerSue,

At some of the meetings I went to, I spoke with one lady who had the MGB over 6 years ago and still looks fantastic. She hasn't gained anything back. I also spoke with a lady whose mother-in-law had it 7 years ago and is still doing wonderful. In fact, she's 70 something and is still going strong and she has energy. There was a man from Michigan there whose mother, father, and a sibling had the surgery, all several years ago and they are still doing awesome. Honestly, the only negative that I heard were some people had a bad reaction to the drain the first 24 hours in the hospital. One lady's lungs started to collapse because she wasn't taking deep enough breaths, but once they took the draining tube out, everything was fine. I am not trying to push this surgery. I think everybody needs to research everything and talk to at least 20 people who have had the procedure for "personal" information. In fact, my doctor requires you to have spoken to at least ten patients as part of your pre-op ritual. As far as complications with the procedure, nobody I've talked to has had any complications from the surgery. They are all off diabetic medications, blood pressure meds, and asthma meds. I only posted this to show that in spite of your efforts, the band still isn't for everyone. My body doesn't react well to the foreign object inside me.

Tricia H

Tricia...

Do I read your sig line correctly? Dr. Rutledge is going to perform a MGB on you in order to lose 32 pounds????

I am extremely surprised. I don't know of doctor who would even do lap band surgery for a person 32 pounds overweight, let alone any type of bypass.

I am also curious as to why insurance will not pay. Do they consider this an experimental procedure?

Carlene...my bad...it looks like SEVERAL insurances cover it. Mine (BC-CA-PPO) doesn't yet list it as a covered procedure.

http://obesityhelp.com/forums/VSG/action,replies/board_id,5463/topic_id,3114010/cat_id,5063/a,messageboard/

Edited: this info/link are about VERTICAL GASTRIC SLEEVE, NOT the MINI BYPASS.

Can someone tell me what exactly MGB and the difference between it and the other surgeries? Also, if you know of any good website for info, that would be appreciated.

Thanks

Carlene,

I haven't posted in a very long time and just haven't changed my signature. I have gained back 20 lbs. of the 31 I lost. And, you are right, normally doctors wouldn't do any weight loss surgery on a person with my BMI; however, I have health concerns that qualify me. The only reason my doctor would even consider doing my MGB is because I already have the band and I am having it removed. Another good thing about MGB is that the doctor bypasses only as much intestines as he thinks needs to be done. For instance, my neighbor had 6 feet of intestines bypassed, whereas her daughter had 8 feet. My guess is he would only bypass 4 feet on me (or fewer). My signatue also only had my goal weight with the band. That would still leave me overweight. I should weigh in the 110's and need to lose 70-80 lbs. to be at my ideal weight and not 32. I can understand how you would be concerned over a doctor performing surgery for a person only needing to lose 32 lbs. I hope I answered your question.

Tricia H

I should weigh in the 110's and need to lose 70-80 lbs. to be at my ideal weight and not 32.

In the 110s...WOW! How tall are you? My goal is about 116 and I am not quite 5 feet tall. I have about 10 pounds to go.

I'm 5'2" but small framed. Actually, I felt the healthiest when I weighed around 130, but even at that weight I still need to lose 60 lbs.

Congratulations on your weight loss by the way! In your avatar, you look amazing!!

Tricia H

Hey Sue, I was about to write the same thing about the grhelin Hormone!

My sister in law had a MGB done. She had her band removed, and the MGB done in the same surgery. What concerned me is that she had ulcerations in her esophogus related to the band, and he still did the surgery. I was concerned because when I looked at it, some websites list it as the old loop bypass which was discontinued years ago due to the introduction of intestinal enzymes into the stomach due to the way the intestines are looped. I have now heard (from my SIL and further in the post I have linked to) that the attachment is at a different location, which helps to aleviate alot of this. (Here is a link to a post on OH's MGB board) http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/mini_gastric_bypass/action,replies/board_id,5496/topic_id,3047808/cat_id,5096/a,messageboard/

My sister in law had only about 40 pounds more to lose and I was shocked that she went that route instead of the sleeve, honestly, but I respect her decision. I still stick by DS or bust.

To each their own. Just be sure to RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH. And please don't do all your research on http://www.clos.net/ something about the info-mercial like quality of his website doesn't sit well with me. I just don't know or seem to find alot of follow up on this surgery. I mean, enough for me to form an opinion.

If you want to get a fair and balanced view, you will have to go beyond the salesman. I don't like the fact that you cannot view his message board unless you are a patient of his either. How are you suppose to get a unskewed view of what life is really like? There are very few websites/boards/forums related to MGB. Wouldn't Rutledge want his perspective buyers to see how great his prior patients are doing? I could see not letting one post, but he won't let you see it at all.

Rachele,

Actually, you don't have to be a patient to sign up for his online message board. All you have to do is get a Yahoo account and sign up there. That's what I did when I was looking into this surgery and was able to register when I wasn't a patient. Actually, I'm still not a patient of his. The only thing I know for sure is that my band is coming out. As far as anything else, I am leaning towards the MGB, but haven't made a final decision yet. I am still talking to people about it, but most everything I have heard has been encouraging and the bad that I've heard had nothing to do with the surgery or complications from that. Unfortunately, the band wasn't a good route for me and that has left me looking for an alternative.

Tricia H

Yea, my body wasn't band friendly either!

OK, thanks for the info on Rutledge's board. I'll go check it out. I like to be as educated as I can on all the surgeries. I do have a yahoo sign in I think.

I wish you wild success, no matter which route you take!

OKAY...I got confused. I thought folks were calling the sleeve a "MGB."

I lknow NOTHING about the MGB...the stuff I wrote was in refence to the sleeve...aka "the top half of the DS."

Sorry.

Sorry, I haven't been on here for a while. I am not trying to push or sway anyone into getting an MGB. I only want people to know it's available. It is completely reversible and have even spoken to one person who had to have a complete reversal after one year due to being malnourished. Out of the many people I have talked to, she is the only one I could find who had complications and it wasn't until she was over a year out of surgery that she developed complications. She went solo for a couple of years and then after more research together with Dr. Rutledge, they agreed to perform another MGB, but this time only bypassed 3 feet. She's doing extremely well now.

The MGB does use the Billroth II type connection, but it is NOT the old loop. In fact, the new stomach is vertical and not a pouch up at the top of the stomach near the esophagus. They have found that there's less acid reflux this way and a lot less complications overall. Whatever any of you decide, just do your research and when you think you've done enough, do more. I have been researching this for 6 months and have only ever found TWO reports that were negative. One of them was from a competing doctor here in Vegas and the other was a Japanese report that referred to a surgery that is not an MGB, but they called it that. I had to read a 100+ page manual, informing myself of the MGB and alternatives. I then had to write a 15 page paper, explaining what I learned to even be considered for the surgery. If you print he manual and take to a doctor, most will be impressed at the amount of information in there. It is not pushing the MGB, it is informing of all the pros and cons of every surgery out there, as well as non surgical alternatives.

Best wishes and good luck to all of you,

Tricia H.