:help: My first seminar was dissapointing with the nurse really pushing the bypass. After choosing a different surgeon it sounds again like they will be pushing the bypass. I also have three boney skinny friends who have had the bypass and are pushing it for me. I'm feeling the pressure, but my heart still tells me that the Lapband is the safest. Please offer your own opinions of why you chose the band over the bypass. I keep getting tempted to go ahead an get the bypass, my insurance pays for it easier and I'm afraid I'm going to be one of the people who wreck the band with over eating.

This is your decision and only yours. YOU have to live with your choice for thr rest of YOUR life. Dont be swayed if the band is what you, in your heart of hearts, want.

My perspective is the doctors work for me and my health choices are mine. It was with that perspective that I got my PCP to agree to refer me to a surgeon.

They can suggest whatever they want to but if you say "I want the band" theyd better come up with good reasons why you shouldnt get what you want.

Dont be steamrolled into an RNY, the risks out number the benefits. (In my opinion and in my case)

Whatever you choose make it your choice. Good luck.

The thought of rearranging my insides like that, uh huh, no way, I just wouldnt consider it. I wasnt morbidly obese, it just wasnt necessary to do anything so drastic, I'd prefer to remain the weight I was.

Its risky, there's a reasonably high incidence of regain and the fact that the band is always adjustable means you can get it right for YOU.

They dont even do bypass in Australia anymore, its just not an option because they believe the lap band over time has such a better result. Yes you lose weight quickly with a bypass but its not healthy loss, it comes at the risk of nutrition etc. Lapband is slower, but has just as good results 2 years out.

I didn't know that Australia had stopped doing RNY. Wow! I feel like I just got a whole country "on my side"

It's always possible to find someone to tell you what you want to hear or to find someone who's opinions are the same...

I feel like the band is safest long term.

I weigh 350, no co-morbidities, am 5'8", age 37 and sick of letting my addiction to binge eating control my world and keep me this fat.

My greatest fear is that I will end up one of the bandsters with chronic reflux from overeating and end up having to have the band removed as so many do.

It's the smart ones who end up overcoming their food issues and making the band work for them from what I can tell.

Any more opinions on the bypass verses the band?

thanks! Kathy

I am scheduled for the Lap band surgery on 1/31. When the Dr asked me why I wanted the Lap band I told him because of less risk and if RNY was my only choice I would not be sitting in his office. I told my mom today that I am to young to be suffering from all the malabosortion the comes with the RNY surgery. I currently do not have children and I am getting older but I have a couple of years and with the band adjustments can be made to allow a baby to be nurished with RNY why that is more difficult.

These are just some of the reasons why I have choosen the band.

Good Luck, Amelia

Another thing to consider - since being banded I have become addicted to running. Long term to maintain my weight, I will need fill taken out because I wont be able to sustain myself training for say, a half marathon on the amount of food I can consume now. Its OK short term, but not long. If I'd had a bypass, I woudlnt have that choice.

Reasons:

1. Keeping all my parts

2. 4 days off work versus 6 weeks

3. Long Term Maint by getting fills and Unfills.

4. Seeing two of my best friends have the bypass both doing great, except the one that is 4 years post op has gained back about 30% of her weight and she does NOT have the option to just get a fill... her pouch is permanently stretched.

5. Reverisible if needed.

I got the band because I didn't want to have my insides rerouted. I also wanted to be able to eat sweets and drink alcohol if I so choosed. Best of luck with your decision. Either way you will get healthier.

I chose the band for many of the same reasons other's have posted. I didn't like the idea of my digestive system being re-routed. I didn't like the higher mortality rate and complications. I didn't like the idea of malabortion. I liked the idea of having something that was reversable if ever I needed it to be. That could be adjusted as I needed, as long as I needed it to be.

In short, my goal was to become healthier, and the band seemed to give me the best chance for that.

Quite simply, the band made more sense to me. Yeah, I'd probably be long since at goal if I'd had RNY 2.5 years ago instead of the band, but the very worst case if I have a problem with my band, is that I will need to have it removed. Plus, the whole adjustability thing seemed good as well. Especially since I want to have kids in the future. If I have trouble getting in the nutrition that I need, they can just take my fill out and put it back in after the baby is born.

I also didn't know that Australians had quit doing the bypass altogether. That is some interesting information. I knew the band was pretty much the gold standard out there tho.

The number one reason I chose the band was because of the low mortality rate. Number 2 was that it is reversible should major complications arise.

Had the bypass had the exact same safety profile, I would have had it instead. But the bypass has a much, much worse safety profile than the band, both during the operation and afterwards.

There is another option I might have gone with had I known about it at the time of my decision: the vertical sleeve. I just read an article that says it actually has a similar saftey profile as the band. If I ever lose my band I would consider it.

1. Not permanent - reversible if necessary

2. Malabsorption is NOT a good thing (RnY)

3. Likelihood of maintaining a "normal" eating pattern (You don't HAVE to eliminate food groups in order to succeed or even to live)

If I lost my band I can honestly say I would ot do RnY. I think the risk of long term issues is greater.

thank you to all who posted. I needed the confidence. Your opinions were great and honest.

Join this Yahoo group and just lurk for a little while. It will open your eyes big time regarding the RNY.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OSSG-gone_wrong/

I chose the band because it was less invasive and my doctor said that if it didnt work for me, I could always get the band removed and go the bypass route.

My cardiologist would not approve any other gastric surgery. He liked the minimal invasion, removability, and slower weight loss. He felt that the mortality rate was much preferred and rapid wieght loss tends to strip potassium from your body which is critical for you heart. Even though I have the band, I had a few month where the potassium needed replacement with supliments.

I am off four differen Rxs, have lost 75 pounds and my heart couldnt be more happy.

If you think you could ruin your banding process by overeating, you should look at the consequences for overeating with the bypass. It can be fatal.

It was cut and dry for me, buy I think you should listen to your own heart, it usually is right anyway.