I am ashamed of myself..After sitting in the hospital for hours with an IV in me ready for my Gastric sleeve, I backed out of the surgery..Sitting there waiting for someone to remove part of me forever got me thinking that I did not really think this whole procedure through.. I realized Im simply not mentally ready for it. Perhaps if they rolled me right in and took me to the OR I would have done it, but sitting there for 4 hours left me way too much time to think stuff over..

Perhaps I will regret my decision perhaps I will revisit the surgery, but I want to explore a few more options as of right now. Yeah Im overweight, but Im healthy for now and just couldnt bring myself to pull the trigger..I have been crying all morning and afternoon and am ashamed of myself cause once again I quit myself. But it just didnt FEEL right...

Yeah, I'm not buying that God made my stomach thing either.

If you object to WLS, that's fine. Totally your right.

But dude, that's a lame argument.

I went through the same mental agony (big time) about modifying the "original design" of my body. It's a big reason I chose sleeve over RNY (somehow I could justify it easier in my mind to not do the radical rerouting with RNY???). The way I found peace with my decision to go ahead is that my God was ok with me taking advantage of this awesome medical procedure now available that would enable me to dramatically improve my health and lifestyle for the rest of my life. For me, to be able to fulfill my spiritual purpose on this earth requires that my body and mind be healthy, and if I needed "artificial" help to do that, then so be it.

Are you clear in your mind why you only want to lose 40 pounds?

Another point you might want to think about--although there are many people who are living successfully with the LapBand, please make sure you do your exhaustive research about it vs. sleeve. There are growing numbers of people who are finding it necessary to revise their LapBands to the sleeve or RNY.

Keep talking here and you will find your answer. . .

I also was considering the lap band originally. The thing that made me back out the most was the whole "permanency" of the whole process...I just could not bring myself to go through with it. Im going back to him next week to discuss what happened and discuss the band as an option that psychologically might help me better.

I think i rushed the process and when it was time to pay the piper, I got cold feet..I need to be 100% on board mentally to do something like this, I was 50% on board..I need to know for myself that:

A-I absolutely can not do it on my own.

B- surgery is my only option..

Edited January 13, 201511 yr by JerseyJules

Everything happens for a reason...don't sweat it. Rethink your decision...only you can make the decision

You might want to ask yourself this--the lapband is major surgery too. Why would you want to do ANY type of WLS only "temporarily?" Why would it make you feel better if you could remove the lapband? The only reason people do that is if there are complications with it and they are medically forced to.

You might want to ask yourself this--the lapband is major surgery too. Why would you want to do ANY type of WLS only "temporarily?" Why would it make you feel better if you could remove the lapband? The only reason people do that is if there are complications with it and they are medically forced to.

But the lap band can be reversed if your not dealing with it well. The sleeve is a one and done deal. There is no going back if you have complications. Im just so afraid about the sleeve option for me where I think I would feel more comfortable just knowing I can go back if I choose to. Also I would assume the complications for the lap band are far less worse than the complications from the sleeve. Im guess temporary was a bad choice of words, but "reversible" is what I should have said.

You're definitely not ready. You made the right choice.

You're definitely not ready. You made the right choice.

I completely agree..

@@Lipstick Lady, Agreed.

@@JerseyJules, the complications with the Band are indeed great; they just don't work which is why so many surgeons simply won't do them anymore. Who would want to have WLS and not lose weight? Nobody.

I think you definitely made the right choice in backing out and you don't have to justify that choice with anyone but the person who stares back at you in the mirror. We're all here to support each other and if you do end up changing your mind, you're entitled to do so and we will be here to support you.

@@Lipstick Lady, Agreed.

@@JerseyJules, the complications with the Band are indeed great; they just don't work which is why so many surgeons simply won't do them anymore. Who would want to have WLS and not lose weight? Nobody.

I think you definitely made the right choice in backing out and you don't have to justify that choice with anyone but the person who stares back at you in the mirror. We're all here to support each other and if you do end up changing your mind, you're entitled to do so and we will be here to support you.

I have to disagree that the bands dont work. Just like the sleeve they are only a tool. If you combine a tool with your other tools they will work together. WLS regardless of type is only as successful with compliance. Right now I want to work on compliance so if and when I decide on WLS its only another tool added and not a literal shock to my system..

@@JerseyJules, thanks for the education but LapBands do in fact have a high failure rate that is unrelated to compliance.

FYI: Being compliant with nutritional guidelines will not prevent a LapBand from slipping; eroding, breaking; adhering to one's liver; port site infections......shall I go on? None of the things I listed have anything to do with someone not eating Protein dense meals as required following WLS. They are just very common complications of having a device that's capable of migrating even when you vomit.

Also, I don't need the education about LapBands because I researched them for over two years; more people than not have complications from them. How do I know? I'm a registered nurse at a tertiary hospital that's also a Bariatric Center of Excellence and I work in PACU. Every single day that I work I have no less than one patient having a band revision surgery, or band removal due to infection, failure, or erosion. Every single day.

I'm not here to debate with you, I am here to support you and others; and if you were so sold on a LapBand (enough to educate me on it), then you'd be post-op right now.

It is ok to be unsure. You did the right thing backing out and once again..........you owe no one but yourself an explanation and the benefit of more education and research. We all owe that to ourselves. You're the one who will have to live with your choice, not any of us. Good luck to you on your weight loss journey. I sincerely mean that.

Just to add: the military will no longer perform lap band surgery. Their reasons are the complications outweighed the benefits in far too many patients to justify. There were a number of patients in my orientation class there to have their bands converted to sleeves or bypass...which from my understanding is automatically approved with or without complications (on base).

I'm not trying to convince you from not getting the band...just sharing.

Edited January 14, 201511 yr by ProjectMe

I had my sleeve done through Kaiser Permanents and they don't do lapbands anymore because of the complications their patients have had. Your body is eventually going to reject any foreign material you put in it and I personally don't want to have surgery twice. You're not a failure. You're a very strong person for being able to recognize you weren't ready.

**** Please do not turn this into an anti band discussion. Everyone has been kind, respectful and civil so far, but this is not heading down a road BP supports.

We support ALL WLS procedures. It's an individual choice. @@Alex Brecher, the founder of this site, has had great success with the band. This is NOT a WLS debate.

If you have any concerns about my statement, please check our community guidelines. Thank you. ****

Edited January 14, 201511 yr by LipstickLady

No shame, I think you did the right thing. This is a big freaking deal, a fact that not everyone seems to "get" but you do.

I think a younger person has at least a chance of losing weight without surgery (I couldn't but I believe it's possible)

If I couldn't do surgery, or had a regain after I would try:

1 intermittent fasting like 5:2

2 uber low carb

3 check into one of those behavior modification fat farms

I would combine any of the above with high intensity interval training (Google it)

I basically had to do the above (except the fat farm) post sleeve anyway to get to a normal BMI and maintain.

Best of luck to you and don't be down on yourself.