Hello again. Best of luck to all the ladies and gents having surgery tomorrow and in the near future. I am continuing to do research on the gastric bypass and I see my surgeon for the first time next Monday. I am excited and nervous at the same time. I have been thinking of some questions to ask him and really pondering if this is the right decision. Even though my surgery will not be to the end of August or first of September I am nervous already. Over the last day or two I have been having second thoughts thanks to my non- support group which includes my partner, family, and several close friends. One of these friends happens to be a nurse in the OR. All she could talk about was the long term risks involved and how I was not heavy enough to have the surgery. She praise the lap band all night and said that's what I should consider because I do not need to lose 100 lbs. Bypass is only for those people she said. I know there are risks to all surgeries so now I am totally confused. Unfortunately none of the individuals mentioned above want me to have the surgery. They believe I do not need it and if I want to get WLS it needs to be the lap band. I have not heard great things about this procedure. My doctor does not even do it anymore thanks to all the complications involved over time with it. The only friend who is my supporter thus far is my best friend who had the bypass surgery almost two weeks ago. So far she is doing great and her doctor is also my doctor. Everyone other than her is now making me second guess my decision. All believe I will regret the decision over time as I get older and I begin to possibly have complications from my insides. Any advice u guys can give me would be greatly appreciated.

Well I have not had the surgery and can tell you as far as the lap band is concerned a lot of doctors are not doing them as much because of the complications involved if you look online here you will see soooooooo many people being revised...and most of them being revised to the sleeve..I have people I know that had gastric bypass and from what I know there is more malabsorption involve.. good luck on what you decide....the question you need to ask yourself is do you think you can do this on your own if so give yourself a year to lose the weight...Good luck

Hi greatwhite,

I would say that Gastric Bypass is a little extreme if you are not grossly overweight. I did not see your weight on your profile so I don't know how much you weigh and how much you need to lose, but here is a good rule of thumb, the Lap Band does about 40 - 60 pounds of excess weight, the Gastric Sleeve does about 76 - 100 pounds of excess weight, and the Gastric Bypass is supposed to go beyond the 100 pound mark of the excess. For myself, although the Lap Band is reversible and the less risky option, it wasn't going to get my close to my weight loss goal of 145 lbs to lose. I didn't want to do the bypass just yet as that is the most extreme option, and can lead to mal-absorption and deficiencies in your body, since you are eliminating the stomach from your body essentially. The only thing with the bypass is you COULD technically reverse it if you had an emergency, though I am not sure if there is a time limit on the reversal and if things will go back to normal afterwards, but they leave your stomach inside you after they bypass it so it is still there. The Gastric Sleeve they remove a portion of your stomach and that is gone forever, so it is irreversible. Another question for you is have you seen a behavioral psychologist yet? If you are having heavy doubts, first they may not clear you for surgery if you are using insurance or if the doctor requires psychological clearance pre-op. Second, they may be able to hash out other ways for you to lose weight or help control the triggers that cause you to overeat or eat unhealthy things. I would say if you are not facing any major health risks right now to slow things down and maybe try talking with a nutritionist about a medically approved diet to see if that helps too. I know significant others may not want you to do the surgery, but in the end that is your decision and you know will know best for what you need to do to lose the weight. But remember too, weight loss surgery is step one, it is not a cure all and you still need to work hard at it. I have seen people in my doctor's office that have actually GAINED weight a few months post-surgery, just because they didn't stick to the diets that were given to them, not to mention other risk factors came up by not sticking to the diets. Whatever your decision is in the end I wish you the best of luck!!