Why did you chose this kind of surgery?

I'm not sure if my insurance covers it yet but busy on researching on which surgery I want.

Thank you for sharing your reasons....

~Kelly

(Richardson, Tx)

1. Least invasive WLS

2. Surgery on Thursday and I was back to work the following Monday.

3. If I get complacent down the road and start getting sloppy with my eating I can GET A FILL and have restriction again

4. If my health requires it.. (pregnancy, need to go on steriods, etc.. ) I can have a complete unfill and then resume when the condition ends.

5. Very low complication rate. (these boards often draw the negative and isn't a true estimate of the ENTIRE lap band community.. most are out living their lives and not focusing on their weight)

6. If necessary band can be removed and in a lot of cases converted to a new band...

7. INSURANCE APPROVED ME!

Well, gastric bypass scared the hell out of me. I did not want to be opened up like that! This is laproscopic, easy, and succesfull. You control how restricted you want to be, and it is completely reversable. You may lose quicker with bypass, but I think this is much safer. Good luck.

Even if bypass was safe, and I don't believe it is (personal opinion) within about five years the intestinal tissue removed to stop you from absorbing food (read Vitamins, Calcium, etc.) begins to regrow to compensate for what was removed. So, you start gaining weight again and you are back to diet and exercise alone.

Freaky thing is... even though intestinal tissue begins to regrow it will only absorb calories, not vitamins and minerals. That NEVER comes back. So you get 5 years of easy free dieting and a lifetime of not absorbing what your body requires to continue functioning.

The value here is?? What?

Look at who is typically getting revision surgery. The majority are NOT band to bypass, they are bypass to band.

I liked the fact that this surgery was relatively non-invasive and that the band itself is adjustible to the point of being reversible. This means that if I ever find myself in the position of requiring the use of my entire stomach I can get a defill.

Furthermore, I had this surgery done recently, at the advanced age of 57 in fact, and found it to be wonderfully easy to recover from.

Why NOT Lapband?

There's my excuse!

I jest :fish:

I liked the idea of slower weight loss(I'm a closet bandster so it's not so obvious with slower weight loss), no cutting of my intestines, lower cost, lower complication rate, control over fills, etc. I didn't qualify for GB anyway and would have had to gain to qualify-but I didn't want it anyway. Best of luck in your decision.