Well the good news is that I am going to get a lapband:clap2:

The weird thing is that the doctor was very doubtful that I would loss weight. He suggested that most patients only lose about 20 - 50 pounds and that most people get frustrated and give up. He suggested gastric bypass. I need to lose about 120 pounds and I feel discouraged. I am a self pay and I don't want to pay thousands of dollars to lose 20 pounds. He also said that there is a high percentage of "failure" with the band. I want to stay positive, but I hate to say this but I am having a bit of a case of "second thoughts". Can anyone share some of their personal experience with me, and give me first hand advice?

Well the good news is that I am going to get a lapband:clap2:

The weird thing is that the doctor was very doubtful that I would loss weight. He suggested that most patients only lose about 20 - 50 pounds and that most people get frustrated and give up. He suggested gastric bypass. I need to lose about 120 pounds and I feel discouraged. I am a self pay and I don't want to pay thousands of dollars to lose 20 pounds. He also said that there is a high percentage of "failure" with the band. I want to stay positive, but I hate to say this but I am having a bit of a case of "second thoughts". Can anyone share some of their personal experience with me, and give me first hand advice?

Who is your doctor?

Hi cookielover. Wow, I am glad I read your post. I have learned a lot in the last 2 years. I use to be 20 lbs over weight. I was a gymnast and was always looking for ways to loose weight. I found a way 10 years

ago by eating "low glycemic foods". It was not that hard once I decided

to try it. The first 5 days were a little hard, but not as hard as other

diets I tried. You get to eat enought food to keep from being hungry,

you just don't eat foods that raise your blood sugar high.

I lost my 20 lbs, and my husband lost 30. My friend lost 50 doing this

2 years ago and all of us have kept the weight off.

Email me and I can explain the details to you. You can do it!!!!

I would love to help you and encourage you. It is easier than you think.

The great thing is that it doesn't cost much to do and you will feel

great.

My email is armsfamily@comcast.net

I am glad that you were successful as well as your hubby and friend. But you have to remember the majority of us on these boards and lost weight before and ended up putting it back on. We want to end the yo-yo effect. And most of us have to lose as much or not more than you,k your husband and friend all put together!

Hi cookielover,

I would be glad to scan the book i recieved from my nutirion classes that give you a post 0pp progression diet. Just private message me and give me your email address. Ohio State University Medical center's 4 week pre-opp program was great i learned how to eat the lapband way

even before I was banded. Good luck with your band.

As has been pointed out to you, our results have not been typical of what your Dr. told you. My SIL was banded the same day I was, and she has passed me by on the weight loss, and I am almost 100 pounds down! It is something you will need that attitude to do in a successful manner, but girl, that "I'll show him" attitude, will let you DO IT!!!! The band is an awesome help in weight loss, and a loss that stays away. We have all dieted, and done Atkins and any number of diets such as suggested above, and most of them work---for awhile, or if you do simply have 20 pounds to lose, but to successfully lose and maintain a loss of over 100 pounds without surgery---is like a 5% success rate! The band is available, the complication rate is very, very low. And the entire surgery can be reversed, or adjusted for any reason. If you are planning to have children, it is not malababsorptive, so your baby gets full benefit of what you eat. If heaven forbid, a patient has a cancer diagnosis, it can be unfilled so you can up your nutritional intake....the adjustable factor as well as the removability of the band made it an easy choice for me. I also took into account, that in the future they may come up with a less invasive weight loss plan, or find the magic pill to cure obesity---and with my intestines and stomach still in place, I am as much of a candidate as I ever was----except I am no longer obese. Banding worked wonderfully for me! I hope you have a great experience as well!!!

Kat

from one cookielover to another banding works. i did it my son did it my wife is doing it tommorrow. i was banded last wed and have lost 9 lbs. my son has lost 12 he was banded on same day. talk to the folks at northwest surgery center they are the experts in seattle wa.. they train other docs on the procedure and are highly respected. we have researched gastric bypass surgery talk about scary. much more invasive much greater chance for malnutrition. with banding stomach is intact so nutrition is properly absorbed. i know its very hard to make a decision. we wish you well.

oh my could u please email the pre op diet to me as well? i am the wife of robie and i havent been banded yet? its aheartlandhome@msn.com

OMG you guys are absolutely bar none the best people in the world! Support support support; I think this website will be a powerful tool to help me on my weight loss journey.

I went out and bought two books from Barnes and Noble yesterday and they seem very helpful...

A cook book dealing with life after WLS

And a book that deals with the ends and outs of the lapband from pre op to post op

Information is power!

OMG you guys are absolutely bar none the best people in the world! Support support support; I think this website will be a powerful tool to help me on my weight loss journey.

I went out and bought two books from Barnes and Noble yesterday and they seem very helpful...

A cook book dealing with life after WLS

And a book that deals with the ends and outs of the lapband from pre op to post op

Information is power!

What are the names of the books if you don't mind sharing?

1. Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Banding Achieving Permanent Weight Loss with Minmally Invasive Surgery by Jessie H. Ahroni

2. recipes for Life After Weight-Loss Surgery Delicious Dishes for Nourishish the New You by Margaret M. Furtado, and Lynette Schultz.

That is just not right for someone who is not banded to tell you that, let alone a doc!!!! The band is a tool, you do have to do your work, too. The band keeps you from overeating and as long as you don't cheat (drinking with your meals, not stopping when you first feel full, etc.), you will lose the weight you want! If you think about it, the majority of LBT loves their bands and there is a reason for that! I wish you the best!

OMG you guys are absolutely bar none the best people in the world! Support support support; I think this website will be a powerful tool to help me on my weight loss journey.

Right On, Sista!! You are absolutely 100% correct about that!! LBT is the place to be!! (Hey, that rhymes!)

<p>Just to let you know your doctor is wrong. i was banded on 3/17/07 and to date i have lost 51 pound with no side effects what so ever. its a change of life. i would do so research on this if i were you. and if you are self pay, he is a thought i went to Monterrey Mexico and had it done with Dr. A. Rodriguez a wonderful doctor with great staff. no complication and its the best thing i have ever done for my self. i need to lose another 40 to 50 pound. good luck let me know if you need more info.</p>

hey cookie, you go girl...thats the way to look at this...prove your doctor wrong and lose it all...and then you get the benefit of your new body.

i'm like you...

a statement like your doctor made would give me all the motivation to lose the weight.

as you can see on this board...there are so many people who lose their weight....

i just try to follow the people who are the "winners" who eat right, exercise etc. and it can be done

good luck i cant wait till your doctor "concedes" he was wrong

You have to be committed to the weight loss, not the doctor. It is a tool, not a miracle. You have to do the head work and change your lifestyle, become more active, chew your food, become conscious of what you are feeding yourself. Get support from other members on the board. Look at the before and after pictures here. I'm only one month out and I'm so happy I made the right descision. My doctor tried to talk me out of it as well. Even in the operating room! I asked him to stop, my mind is made up. It didn't get on these hips over night. I don't expect it to come off that way either.

I agree that you MUST be ciommitted to working your band for the weight to come off in a healthy manner. But I also believe you need to have full confidence in your Dr. Heaven forbid you have some sort of complication, you want to feel safe and secure in his/her treatment of you. If you feel this Dr. would treat you properly even if you do not take his advice concerning the band, and you want to stick with him, then do so. I just encourage you to find someone (him or someone else, either way) that you have faith in their ability, statistics on how many bands they have done, what their complication rate is....find out about your Dr. They DO matter! Your life is going to literally be in their hands. You will have to do the head work yes, but the Dr. is a HUGE factor in this surgery, IMHO.

Kat