Insurance requires a 6 month weight trial prior to approving surgery. I began in April and through diet modifications alone (no exercise) I have lost almost 50 pounds. The nutrition classes and support group meetings have provided me with tools that I haven't used in the past. Now that it is getting a bit cooler it will be easier for me to start including exercise into the mix to hopefully lose weight more rapidly.

I have to attend one more nutritional meeting in Oct. If I maintain the weight loss that I have so far, I will have lost 60 pounds possibly more. That is over 1/3 of the weight needed to reach my goal weight in just 6 months. I am beginning to question whether or not I should proceed with weight loss surgery. In one more year it is conceivable that I could lose it all, not have the risks associated with surgery, not have the difficult adjustments and possible issues after surgery, won't have to take all of the specific Vitamins etc for the rest of my life.

When I started this I learned that I would need the bypass due to GERD. That was ok. I was prepared to do whatever it took to lose the weight. I didn't expect to be so successful at sticking to the recommendations for eating.

At this point I really do not know what I should do. Did any of you experience what I think is very good weight loss after beginning the journey? If you are here, I'm assuming you went on with the surgery. Are you happy with that decision or do you still wonder if you could have done it on your own? Do you think I'm fooling myself to even consider being able to proceed without having surgery?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

The only times I regret getting this surgery is when I can't binge anymore... that tells me I did the right thing, because it's the whole reason I got it in the first place. If I had that constant accountability on my own, I'd be ok. But I don't.

Only you can decide if it's right for you. Congratulations on your weight loss--you're doing awesome! I'm sure you'll be great no matter what you decide!!

PS I think you're asking a biased audience. We've all had surgery already. You need to balance out your questioning to those who decided not to get it ultimately.

If this is the first time that you have lost a significant amount of weight and your diet is going well then maybe you could just give that a chance first and see how it goes.

Like others here I am a typical 'yo-yo' dieter. I would diet, lose all the excess weight but then put it back on, with even more. In my 20s I would gain and lose around 10 - 30lb. In my 30s it was 40 - 50lb. In my 40s, 60 - 80 lb, in my 50s, 80 - 120lb.

In fact I am an 'expert' dieter - able to get to a healthy BMI each time, but can never maintain it!

So here I am in my 60s, with Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure etc, and had got to 150lb over my healthy weight at one point. I can't face doing it all again - I have damaged my health too much already. So sleeve surgery is the last resort for me. I know it's still going to be hard work but hopefully it will make it harder for me to regain as much as before. I'm highly motivated because if I don't keep the weight off this time my life is going to be a lot shorter. Being older really concentrates the mind - I won't have too many years left otherwise and I'm enjoying life too much to let that happen!

I wish you luck with whatever you decide.

I lost 50 pounds pre-surgery and was given the option by my surgeon to either have the gastric bypass as scheduled or continue to try to lose weight on my own. I chose to go ahead with the surgery and have not regretted that decision. My weight post-surgery has been slow but steady. In the six months following surgery, I have lost an additional 50 pounds. Presently I am 15 pounds from my goal. As was previously said, there have been times when I might have binged but my pouch has prevented that. I am lucky in that I can eat anything, just in much smaller amounts. I am religious about exercising every day and eating healthy. Like is good!

If you are not a yoyo dieter and if you have learned new habits that you are comfortable with, then I think waiting is a good option. You can always have the surgery later. Medical advances are made that might change how the surgery is performed. Personally, I have great hopes for the studies on how gut bacteria can cause obesity. In a couple more years, you may just have to drink a potion for a few days to change your gut bacteria and successfully lose and then maintain a lower weight.

Surgery is expensive, hard, and risky. Yes, it's less expensive, less hard, and less risky than staying morbidly obese, but if you can get there and maintain without surgery, then go for it. And if you find you can't, surgery or whatever option is available then will be waiting for you.

I knew I couldn't lose weight without surgery. I had spent several years in weight watchers, hired a personal trainer, and tried hypnosis. Surgery was a life saver for me. But I would never have risked it if I could have taken the weight off another way.

Lynda

I want to thank everyone for your honest comments. All have given me "food" for thought. After many years of yo-yo dieting I essentially gave up 15-20 years ago. No real attempts to lose between then and now. Of course I "knew" what I should be eating but never did it. I looked into WLS several times during those years but didn't reach the point where I knew I HAD to do something until this year. My success so far has really surprised me and made me think that maybe I could reach my goals without WLS. But today, I proved to myself that I'm not past the stress eating that has always been my downfall. One of those days where I wanted and did eat everything that wasn't nailed down. Sure my choices were far healthier than I've ever eaten, but I did eat much more than I should have. One of my main reasons for pursuing the WLS was to have a tool that would give me a fast and unpleasant reminder that I was making a mistake. I know I need that tool to help me reach my goals and to regain my life.

Meeting with surgeon Thursday to talk about this and to see about getting EGD and/or upper GI to check GERD and hiatal hernia.

Surgery is a big decision! For 14 years I have been talking about having wls. But I would start a diet doing great then life kicks in,get distracted and then realize I'm back plus some from where I started in weight. My ex husband motivated me unfortunately it took him dying of a massive heart attack at 45 to get me to the its now or never point. Ask yourself if you could not focus solely on you weigh loss life happened, would you be able to keep losing/maintain or would you possibly can it all back? This is Your life you will know when you are mentally ready to change your life. Getting the band has saved my life. 4 months out and next month I get rid of my blood pressure pills and insulin pump. Only you know what to do!!!

I visited my surgeon today. When I was weighed, I had lost another 4 pounds and said "good". As his nurse asked me why I was there I didn't mention anything about my weight loss so far or thinking that I might not need the surgery any longer. I only wanted to see about having the GERD checked to see about qualifying for the sleeve instead of the bypass. As she finished entering all my information, she said "Wait a minute. You've lost 52 pounds since you started the trial?!? What are you doing?" I told her I was just reducing carbs and fat and increasing Protein. She was incredulous. When my dr, came in he said he had been monitoring my weight loss during my trial and was very impressed. He called me a rock star for what I have done. Said that it was like 1 in a million people who could have done that. We continued talking about how I was doing and why I was there. Since my GERD has changed he does want to do an upper GI to see what may be going on. If everything looks OK with that and I continue to maintain this weight loss he doesn't think I need to have surgery. He brought that up, not me. He wants me to continue the trial. After the GI series I go back to see him to talk about it all. I think that I will ask him about doing lap band in Dec. That will give me all of Oct. and Nov. to see how I do. Lap band instead of either of the other options because it is less invasive and is reversible. Additionally, my insurance will not cover WLS after this year. If I have the band and discover that I need something more or that there are issues, I believe insurance will take care of that as it will not be "new". This group doesn't normally perform the lap band any more because of long term issues that have arisen. But I'm thinking it might be the best option for me. After reading everything that you all have written, I think I still need the extra tool to keep me straight. Still lots to think about and look into.

This group doesn't normally perform the lap band any more because of long term issues that have arisen.

That comment bothers me. I would not my lap band surgery done by a group who feels that way--hearing my doctor say something to that effect would scare me off. My doctor recommended the lap band as being the safest procedure, and the one he would recommend given the circumstances based on my age, health, weight and other factors. If a doctor is having long term issues with a procedure, why would you want to use him? Think about it--why would he say this unless he was having a large number of problems? Or, is it due to his not having several years of experience; what is he basing this on?

Lap band patients require substantial follow up care to ensure any reasonable expectation of success. My "group" has three APRNs and two experienced surgeons in their bariatric practice. They are also a circle of excellence, which is also a requirement for many insurance companies. If a doctor retires, there is another one to handle emergencies. They also have four or five offices in the Connecticut area. I have my choice of three experienced APRNs to handle my follow up needs--be it fills, advice on nutrition, etc. Make sure that this "group" will be there for YOU one, two or five years down the road. You can read many horror stories on this board where folks are seeing inexperienced or clueless RNs for followups, with bad results, or folks who's doctors are no longer doing bariatric procedures, leaving their patients in a lurch for followup care. Always shop for the BEST provider you can find, especially for lap band surgery. I'm now on Medicare, and I still get calls from their office to come in for follow ups--and Medicare doesn't pay for follow up surgery related follow up office visits. They have me come in because they care, and because they are professionals who place their clients ahead of the almighty dollar.

My group has had excellent success with the lap band procedure. My doctor suggested gastric banding for me, based on my needs; yet strongly suggested VSG for my wife, based on her needs. We've both been very successful and extremely happy with the results, and with the follow up care.

Edited September 19, 201411 yr by labwalker

Please think twice on going for lapband. Stay on diet and exercise instead if you must. Why borrow trouble and take a chance of more surgeries.

With all due respect to those who have had lapband and have found success, it's long term viability is being questioned. Here is a recent article and conclusion:

http://www.soard.org/article/S1550-7289(14)00141-5/abstract

"Conclusion

Morbid obesity is a chronic disease that can be resolved with bariatric surgery. One of the treatment options is the LAGB, which in the short term shows good results in terms of EWL and co-morbidity reduction. In the long term, however, EWL and co-morbidity reduction are disappointing, and the LAGB does not seem to live up to expectations. Besides the decrease in EWL over time, the number of reoperations required is alarming. In total, less than a quarter of patients still had a functioning band after a mean 14 years of follow-up."

Also WLS is not about losing weight. We can do that on our own. It is about having a tool to keep most of it off. The tools are restriction, hormonal changes and new habits we build while going thru the losing phase. From my own experience I would recommend that you still strongly consider it as the best chance of a lasting treatment. Notice I did not say cure. There is no cure. I am at goal but I still have the disease of obesity if not the symptoms. Similarly I have been treated for another disease, breast cancer. I am not cured. There is no cure. But I had a tumor surgically removed, chemo, and radiation. I did not wait for it to get worse before getting treatment. When there are successful treatments for a disease, you must weigh the benefits vs risks and decide what is the best way to keep the disease from escalating. I did that for breast cancer when I opted for chemo since I was a borderline case. It may have damaged my heart slightly but I wanted to nuke that cancer. In the same way I wanted the best treatment for my morbid and eventually deadly obesity.

That was my thought process but you need to do the same risk benefit analysis for your own case. For me I am glad I did this in my 40s and didn't wait till I had comorbidities. My 50s and beyond will be great!

playlikeworldchamps you should try to live up to your moniker? You're playing with biased and retreaded old studies. Even though it's dated 2014, it's a study of patients from 11-19 years ago when the band was initially developed. You sleevers keep bringing this same study up time and again. What is it with you? Knock it off.

This is a forum that is supposed to support all WLS techniques. Your post is violating the code of the forum. Support, not denigrate!!

I doubt you even understand that a study of patients from 19 years ago using old bands and old surgical techniques and a very small sampling of 201 patients isn't worth ****! I can pull up a half dozen recent studies showing just the opposite of your silly study. Here's one: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23235396

Here's an article from a very successful surgeon:

http://www.weightymatters.ca/2012/01/guest-post-surgeon-chris-cobourn.html

So, you see, your own personal opinion doesn't hold up to scrutiny. It's just your opinion based on faulty evidence and facts. 3200 recent patients vs. your 201 patients from nearly 20 years ago?

Edited September 19, 201411 yr by 2muchfun

I would caution against thinking of the band as a "starter" WLS. If you want the band because that is the surgery that you want, that is one thing.

Getting a band because you now feel, based on your recent weight loss, that you need a less serious procedure than a sleeve or bypass, on the other hand, is not a good way to choose. Yes it is sometimes possible to revise later, but some insurances won't cover more than one WLS per lifetime, not to mention the additional risks of more surgery, etc etc.

Just my opinion.

The sleeve is not just weight loss it’s also metabolic. If you don’t know the difference I suggest doing some homework. In short, the answer to your question is get the surgery.

Well, we all can play up risks...

http://gastricbypasskills.blogspot.com/2013/02/think-gastric-sleeve-is-safe-think-again.html

and find articles to support any surgery, pro or con... if you can't find a good doctor with an established record, who you trust, I suggest hibernating.

Vabeachlady, you might be in the 2% of people who can keep it off.

If you think you can, go for it. Honestly, if you could keep it off you wouldn't need or want the surgery.

Good luck with your decision.

Well, we all can play up risks...

http://gastricbypasskills.blogspot.com/2013/02/think-gastric-sleeve-is-safe-think-again.html

and find articles to support any surgery, pro or con... if you can't find a good doctor with an established record, who you trust, I suggest hibernating.

I'm sorry but the guy behind the link you posted sounds deranged.