Hi

I'm trying to make up my mind. I'm trying to decide which is best for me, lap-band or gastric bypass. I'm sure there have been lots of discussions before, but, I'm new to all of this. I have tried to weigh them, but it's not working out for me.

Q1 : Does anyone have any words of wisdom that might help me out? Why do you think one is better than the other?

Q2 : What foods can you absolutely not eat, or eat much of. Also, if you want to include what happens when you eat them.

Q3: What were your complications, if any?

Thanks

Leigh

Leigh, you are here on a Lap Band Board..so of course most of us if not all of us will tell you to go with the Lap Band

I chose the Band over Bypass because there are less risks and complications.

No dumping syndrome, no malabsorption issues, less down time, less healing time, less liquid diet, no re routing of my insides, the list goes on and on. I do not regret my decision one bit

hi i am new here and i am going to have the lapband surgury done i would not have the bi pass done ........ my reason is because my aunt almost did not make it but it was the doctor who did it to her.. she went to a very good doctor in Columbus ohio and he saved her life ....... i would definately go with lapband i am ........ take care wildandfree36

Leigh, please research both as much as you possibly can before you do anything. There is so much to learn -preop and afterwards. This is a Lapband Support Forum, so obviously we're going to vote for the lapband. A Bypass Forum will do the opposite. How much weight are you wanting to lose? Either method requires lifestyle adjustments on your part. Best of luck to you!

#1. I prefer the Lapband because the surgeon didn't have to reroute my intestines. It can be removed if ever needed and my insides would remain intact. Weightloss is slower w/the Lapband which gives me time to adjust to this change - physically and mentally. I am not limited in my food choices.

#2 Breads are difficult because they're doughy and "clog up" inside. Very uncomfortable. I try to avoid breads, pastas, and potatoes because they are empty calories. I try to make healthier food choices than preband. Because I eat less, I want foods to be high Protein. A good band meal is hard protein (lean, moist meat), vegetables, and if room left - carbs.

#3 Complications - none w/ surgery or post-op. If I eat too fast or swallow too big a bite, I "pb" (like baby spitup, but very uncomfortable while trapped in the esophagus). Excessive pbing is to be avoided. It can also be caused from being "filled" too tight. A slight unfill corrects this.

I know you all are going to convince me to do the lap band, thats what i wanted, i have the same post in the gastric bypass forum, i want to see what both of you all have to say, thats exactly what im looking for. I'm trying to talk to as many people as i can to see what problems i could or could not deal with. Thank you for your replies, I welcome more if you got them.

Bypass was never an option for me, due to the possibility of developing a leak and bleeding to death. My doctor even told me he would NOT do a bypass on me for that reason. See, I take blood thinners. Even he told me it was just too risky. I take that to mean that the risks of breaking staple lines, etc is pretty high. Also, there is a Memorial page for all those lost who've had bypass on www.obesityhelp.com and there is NO lapband Memorial page anywhere. That is not to say there have been no deaths related to lapbands, but I think we can still count them using 2 hands. Most of those were not related to the surgery itself, they were related to patients not reporting problems quickly enough and one man that I know of actually had a heart attack, not directly related to the band.

Also, if they come up with that magic cure for obesity, I can simply have them remove my band and return to normal with all parts and pieces intact.

With the band, I can take 2 Flintstone Vitamins a day and eat my veggies and my body is able to get the nourishment it needs. With the bypass, I can take in supplements all day long and still not get the absorption I need to keep my body healthy. Also, there have been patients who have had the bypass that are currently unable to stop their weightloss. There is one woman in the LA area right now (if she's still alive) who is dying due to her inability to stop her loss. I want to be healthy, not die because I lost TOO much weight and wasn't able to absorb vitamins and nutrients.

Also, constant diarrhea just is not appealing to me. I can hardly stand it for a day or two of a virus. Can you imagine the rest of your life? YUKKY. Not to mention the really foul gas that you hear so much about.

With the band, I am in charge of my own destiny. As long as I make good choices food-wise and I follow the rules of using the band, my life is only enhanced. The complications with the band are still very minor compared to those with the bypass. Slippage requires re-operation in some cases, but even this pales in comparison to suddenly developing a hemorrage because of a broken staple line in a bypass. In most cases, a slippage isn't even an emergency. it is a nuisance and it is worriesome mentally, but in most all cases an unfill will buy you time to decide if you want to be re-banded or have your band removed. Erosion, the worst of all complications with the band, only happens in about 1-3% of cases and even that does not require any emergency situations.

With the band, I can slowly lose my weight in a healthy fashion. This allows my mind to keep up with my body and doesn't put me in the situation of having lost 100lbs almost overnight and trying to adjust mentally to that. It also gives my skin a chance to catch up, although most all people who have 100lbs or more to lose or are over a certain age WILL have excess skin. Our skin is just not that resilient.

I could go on and on, but I am one who can tell you that even presented with a complication; I would still do this surgery once a year if that was what was required, rather than put myself in jeopardy by seeking a bypass. that is just me.

Many many people do have bypasses and I will have to admit that with laporoscopic procedures they are much less risky than in days past, but the statistics are still very high that even if I don't die, I will wind up in the ICU for possibly weeks on end and have my body in jeopardy of developing all sorts of additional problems.

For only an 18 month window of opportunity? I don't think so!!

This is a very personal choice and you will have to weigh the pros and cons and choose what is best for you. Whatever that choice is, I wish you the very best!

My wife had the bypass, and has had great results, she's lost over 270 lbs. She told me that if the band were available when she had surgery that is what she would have chosen.

When "She Who Must Be Obeyed" speaks, I listen!

I was all signed up for the bypass and was four days away from surgery when I began to panic and I just could not go through with it. I was afraid of dying or of ending up in the ICU, which many people do. I also was worried about the malabsorbtion with the bypass. I take medicines and I was wondering how much, if any, of the medicine would be absorbed. Nobody could answer that question. Then there was the problem of not being able to absorb Vitamin B12 and Calcium.

Also, I went to a support group of bypass patients and out of about 12 women, only one of them looked thin and healthy. The woman next to me said she had had the surgery 11 months before and was just beginning to feel well enough to go to meetings. Many of the women had a greyish skin color and almost all of them had skin hanging in unattractive ways. I didn't want to look like that. I since have met bypass patients who look healthy, but that was just my experience in that one group. It shook me up.

So I decided to have the LapBand for all the reasons Leatha mentioned and I never felt anxious about the surgery at all.

I can't eat any kind of bread and I can't eat fresh fruit with skins. There are other foods that I choose not to eat because they hamper my weight loss.

I hope this helps. It is a difficult decision.

Nancy

Leigh,

Can't add much more to what has already been. My decision was made on the risk factors and the idea that my body uses my systems to process the foods I eat and the lack of dependancy on drugs and suppliments for the rest of my life.

Ryan....When "She Who Must Be Obeyed" speaks, I listen!

I see your a member of that club too eh... My membership# is 348829478<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

u are very welcome i even talked to my doctor today he said he would advise his patients to have the lapband and not the bipass done the bipass is dangerous.. i know there is some people who have had success with it but i feel for myself it is to dangerous after seeing my aunt suffer like she did..but I Thank God for the doctor in columbus .......Rochelle

The band was always my only choice. The bypass was NEVER an option, quicker weight loss or not. The simplicity of the band is what it's all about to me. Good Luck

Well i think everyone gave great info, and I agree and go with them. I havent been banded yet and I have looked in the Bypass but relized i wasnt ready for a "inside body makeover" I love my insides i dont want to lose them hehe also i chose the Lap-Band because I will lose weight slower, there is no chance of gastric juice leakage, its reversable, adjustable.. and most important to me anyway I will be able to have children. Good Luck with your reserch and let us know what road you will be taking!

I just read a really cool article in Rebook about ways to make up your mind. They took a twist on the old "Pros and Cons" list.

Make a regular list of pros and cons, but give each item a value of 1 through 10 according to how important that one item is to you. For example, for the "Pro Band" side you'll write 1) Completely reversible. I would personally give that a value of 10. Then you'll probably write under the "Pro Bypass" list 1) Faster weightloss. I might give that an 8.

When you're done making the entire list, add up all the numbers to see which side weighs more.

In your case, you'd need 4 columns. Band Pros, Band Cons, Bypass Pros, Bypass Cons.

Does that make any sense?

I'm curious as to what you come up with. Good luck making your decision (but get the Band, get the Band... this coming from someone who has had nothing but complications.)

Greg, I'd tell you my membership number but first I gotta ask the wife if it's okay.

Well I'm still deciding, the things i like about bypass are that most people are a lot less hungry than bandsters, from reading in both forums some of you guys say things as if you are still struggling with dieting, exactly the things I say when I'm cutting back, and I'm not banded. Most bypass people are not struggling with hunger issues or wanting to eat more, some of them could careless if they ever eat. That is attractive to me personally because I don't want to get caught up in that I want to eat more, but just can't, I need for my hunger to go away somewhat. There is a hormone (ghrelin) that makes people think that its time to eat, when you get bypass the hormone decreases significantly, with banding it does not, you are just as hungry as you were before. The hormone is the reason bypass people are so successful, if they fail and gain weight back, it is a serious psychological problem. I'm sure most of you already know that about the ghrelin. The weight loss coming off fast is not a positive for bypass, I want to be healthy, I could careless about looking good. I would like for it to come off slow. Which brings me to another negative for bypass, I'm nervous about being under nourished. I'm not worried about dying, I don't know why, I'm just not, complications maybe, but not death. The statistics are about 1 and 600 for death, and usually the patient dies because they are 500 and + 600lbs, or blood clots and of course leaks. Now for banding, the thought of a foreign object in my body weirds me out more than being cut, sounds strange, I know, but really. I definitely don't like the idea of being rearranged either. Banding would be a lot better for nutrition, for slower weight loss. Can you see how confused I am? One last thought is that I absolutely love bread, salad and fries (I know that with either I can't eat much anyway, but still), these are my favorite things in the whole world. I don't know if I could handle the possibility of not ever eating them again, not ever eating a sandwich, oh my gosh, just kill me now. I know with bypass most people have no problems with those foods. I don't know, I was soooo all about lap-band and now I just don't know. Thank you for your comments and listening. I'm not sure what to do, and until I'm overwhelmed with one or the other, I'm just going to waste time I guess, stick a carrot in my mouth and shut up.

Sorry about my run-on sentences

Thanks again,

Leigh

you are just as hungry as you were before.

Leigh, first I want to say that Leatha wrote what I would have said, word for word, before I had a chance to. So for my response just go back and read hers again.

But I will add this: it is categorically UNTRUE that with proper restriction we are just as hungry as we were before. Sure, there are periods where hunger sets in with a vengeance, most commonly right after surgery and before the first fill when we're still healing and still on liquids. But that is temporary.

With proper restriction, and given time to learn how our bodies talk to us, we learn that the feeling we get after a small amount of food is, in fact, the feeling of being full and satisfied. And that feeling lasts for a long time, thanks to our little band of silicone.

Getting to that point can be frustrating and slow, and not always easy. For some they have good restriction right out of surgery and lose weight from the start, while for others it can take three or more fills before the sweet spot is found. But that's the beauty of the band--if it's not right, it can be adjusted! You certainly can't say that about an RNY.

Probably one of the biggest challenges for bandsters is accepting the new "enough" both physically and mentally. I remember many dinners where two chicken wings were all I could eat and I just couldn't believe I was done. The first few times, "done" feels a little like being cheated out of the meal you want to have so badly, but then the weight starts to come off and you realize, hey, I am eating LESS and that's why I'm losing weight! Take another look at those chicken wings. Hmmm, too much crap and not enough good meat. Try instead some braised chicken with vegetables. How much will fill me up? Three or four heaping tablespoons. Really! And no, I'm not hungry, not for hours.

Getting over the need to have salad, bread, and fries in mass quantity will be a huge challenge for you either way. But I have seen nothing anywhere that indicates that RNY people are able to eat any substantially larger amount than are bandsters. There's no reason you won't be able to have salad, bread, and fries in time. You will probably have discovered a whole new way of life by then.

And to answer your last question, the only thing I have had trouble with consistently is scrambled eggs. I can eat bread, but it takes up so much room I can't eat anything else. Just about anything goes as long as it's eaten with enough caution.