I am considering was and am weighing my options between the band and RNY. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks

Sorry WLS.

I started my journey thinking I wanted the lapband. About 4 months after working with a nutritionist (insurance required a 6 month supervised diet), I had my first consultation with my surgeon. The surgeon told me that the risks and benefits of sleeve or bypass were much better than the lapband. Because of my GERD, he ordered an upper endoscopy. When I went for my 5th appointment with the nutritionist, I told her about what the surgeon had said. She then told me that a lot of her patients were failed lapband and that they were trying to qualify for a revision to the sleeve or bypass. Then the endoscopy showed I had the beginning of Barrett's Esophagus. Since only a bypass stops the progression of BE, that's why I chose bypass.

Molly

I had the band, it sucked and tried to kill me, I kicked it out . I love my RNY even though I'm the unlucky minority that dumps all the damn time.

Okay, to elaborate...I had issues from early on with my band being somewhat spastic...if I was stressed out, my allergies were flared up, I had PMS, ETC, it would be so tight I could only sip liquids for days...I kept very little fluid in my band to try to counter act this...but I did lose weight! Eventually, I got sick, sick to the point I couldn't tolerate fluids and was dehydrated had to have several liters of IV fluids and everything removed from my band...after that the band and I never hot along well. If they tried to put anything in my band at all I would have episode where I couldn't eat. I worked closely with my doc...whenever could find a good spot for me. About 2.5 years in I developed severe reflux, to the point I was waking up at night refluxing out my nose. Let me tell ya, that is hell. Then I got to where I was having issues drinking again. My band had slipped, my stomach was prolapsed up, I had to have urgent surgery to remove it. I had decided to revise to RNY but had so much damage my doc was unable to do the revision and I was sent home to heal (I had a partial erosion as well). Six months later I had my RNY and physically it's been so much easier. I feel fabulous and I can eat anything (apples, celery, chicken!!! Yay!!!). For me, RNY is the right choice.

I had the band and never had a problem even up to the moment the doctor found it had slipped. Because I am a diabetic the doctor felt the RnY would be better as it doesn't digest sugars or fats. I wish that I would have had the bypass to have avoided two surgeries, but the research on the failure rate wasn't as extensive four years ago as it is now.

Also keep in mind this is an RNY board...we're biased

From what I have heard about the band were not good things at all, it makes you sick, puts you in the hospital and slips and not to mention altering it with fills... I dont know much about it but I wouldn't considerate it at all!!!! My doctor said I would need Rny because of my acid reflux and high risk of diabetes so I'm going with it! God luck to you on choosing what's best for you!

My bariatric doctor said that for every one band they were putting on they were taking two off due to complications. RNY is the standard, it has been around for decades. I have absolutely no complications, I couldn't be happier with my decision.

My doctor felt the band could cause complications. I also decided against the sleeve because of acid reflux and because if the lack of long term data on permanent weight loss due to its

Long term data due to its relatively new standing. Too many unknowns. I have known people who've had success with all three options, although I see a lot of people getting band revisions. Many drs don't even offer the band....no matter what, it's a personal decision.

hi i want on friday for my consult.. i was aming in the direstion of the lapband but the surgeon told my the band is a nono for me because of my acid reflux. she said the bypass is best for me.. so i been doing my research on the the bypass . and i think am going with it.. my ins reqiures 6 mos of weigh in . so probably around june 2014 i will be having my sugery....

I had originally planned on the band but my surgeon recommended the bypass for me. I went to the pro's opinion.

I know myself well enough to know if there was a way to cheat I would fond it and feel horrible later , So based on my BMI amd my past history I chose RNY, The right tool for the right job!!

I work well with a regiment so between the restrictions on intake and fat,calories,carbs coupled with the surgery and the great job my team did of helping me break my bad habits. this is a winning combo to a healthy life long change

In my opinion the surgery what ever one chooses is worthless if you are not ready and willing to make the changes in your life that will lead to health and happiness.

RJ change

Surgeons have been performing RnY for more than 30 years. It is, by far, the most researched, tested and proven option there is. It is widely regarded as the gold standard of bariatric surgery. It is the most effective treatment currently known to medical science for obesity, type 2 diabetes and more than 30 comorbidities associated with obesity. Minor complication rate (usually defined as those not requiring re-hospitalization) is about 15%, major complication rate is about 4% and mortality has been steadily dropping with improvements in surgical techniques and is currently less than one-tenth of one percent.

There is no doubt that there are many lap-band success stories. But the fact that lab band surgeries have been steadily declining, first in Europe and now in the U.S., is well documented. Most recently by Allergan's very recent decision to sell their lap-band unit because of declining sales. When I had my surgery just over two years ago, all five surgeons in the group my surgeon is a part of had stopped performing lab-band surgeries. This article from the 2012 annual meeting of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery offers some insight into the decline of lap-band surgeries - http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/767489 .

Hello! I had the band and like a couple of other folks I didn't have complications until it slipped so it was worthless because I could not get any fills (the band had turned to it's side). So my options were to remove it or see if my insurance would approve me for a revision to the bypass. After a couple of tests (Upper GI, EGD) then there was enough proof for the insurance to see it was not in place. Thankfully they approved it on the first request.

I had by band to bypass surgery on 11/25/13. The procedure took a little longer than expected because there was a lot of scar tissue when they were removing the band. I felt like I had been run over ten times but now 6 days passed and I feel tons better!!

I look forward to seeing everyone's posts in this forum, best wishes to all.