Dear Friends,

I am trying to deceide between Lap Band and Lap RNY. May you please tell me what brought you to the Lap Band choice? I am 260lbs with three small children 3,5 and 7. I have BCMS HMO insurance. Any help you may offer would be great.

Thank you

Hello Motherofthree! :welcomeB: to LBT. If you scroll down to the bottom of this page you will find several thread links where others have asked this same question. It's probably been asked hundreds of times here, there are many more threads out there. If you are interested, the serch function on the blue toolbar is a great feature, I almost always click to go to advanced search and then I choose to search thread titles only and then put in what words I'm looking for.

I write this not to demean your question, but to show you that there are loads of responses on here about it and in addition to those you may get from your thread, you may want to see what others have written about it in the past.

For me it was the fact that I didn't want my insides rearranged. I did not want to not be able to eat anything I want to. With RNY you are limited by the surgery itself and many people have real problems with cramping and "dumping" when they consume foods with sugar in them or alcohol. I am not a big drinker, but if I want an occasional Vodka Tonic (double lime) I do not want to "pay" for it with an hour in the bathroom. If I want a bite of cake, I don't want to be in pain from it.

I like the fact that five years from now I could still get adjustments if I want to "tweak" my weight loss. With RNY in five years, I'd likely be starting to regain my weight and then what could I do? I already would have had feet of intestine taken out. My option? A band! (Or a sleeve gastrectomy.)

I liked the idea that it was reversible. One of my co-workers had the bypass 20 years ago and is having major problems now...I realize that it's a lot better now, but I think this surgery is much easier...also, post-op you are back up and running quickly.

I started out at 274 lbs and my family doctor said I was borderline for the RNY but he preferred the lap band.

Whatever your choice, it is life changing.

Good Luck on your journey!

I am set to be banded on Monday, and the only option for me was the band. I had no desire to spend longer time in the hospital than I had to. I did not want someone to cut up my insides and rearrange things. I liked the idea that the lap band was the most minimally invasive procedure I could do with a shorter recovery time so I could go back to work.

I've answered this many times, many ways...... but the short version.

MAINTENENCE! the ongoing fills (when needed) are the magic... I've been up and down the scale so many times, I know that if I had the RNY I would eventually have a regain. I doubt I will need another fill maybe NEVER, but if I do... I can... Other reasons that make my top 10.

1. Surgery on Thursday, back to work the following Monday

2. All my inards are in tact

3. Down the road, if needed I could get a total unfil, and then start the process again.

4. Reversible.. any general surgeon can remove the band.

5. I absorb the nutrients from the food I eat (RNY is a malabsorbative procedure) and even though you can easily start a regain, you will never absorb the nutrients.

6. I am horrible about taking vitimins.. w the RNY you must be religious in your Bariatric Vitimins and most get VitB shots.

7. I have two friends who had the RNY... both are fighting Regains...... one more severe than the other, and both have the RNY "look".

8. The RNY scared me.

9. Ports do not scare me as they have been used for a long time, the band is just a different application. (my grandma had a port for pain meds)

10. If and when I need a revision or replacement.. I will say BRING ON THE NEW and IMPROVED VERSION!

Well, my cousin had RNY in November of 2006, I had Lap Band January of 2007, I've lost more weight than she has. I eat what I want, she has to pick & chose very carefully (she gets dumping a lot). She is anemic, I'm not, she feels that she still can eat too much - I can go in for a fill, she can't.

She also has to take shots for B-12, I don't. She has had a few kidney stones which is one of the side effects you can get with RNY, I have not had this. The list can go on and on.

I also wanted RNY in the beginning, but my DH was so set against it, I opted for Lap-band, and I'm glad now I did. I have no regrets with my decision, my cousin on the other hand does.

i decided on the lap band and not the rny because it seemed less invasive and percentage of complications was much less. i like the fact that i will always have the "crutch" to lean on if i start to gain back any of my weight. also if for some unknown reason i would become ill they are able to take all the fill out and if necessary remove the band, if you have the rny once it is done, it is done. also with the lap band you don't have to take supplements, because with the lap band it is not malabsorptive. i had the lap band done 7 weeks ago and i feel wonderful, i do not regret it for one minute. i went to have my first fill yesterday and they did not do it because i was still tight, they are going to try again in two weeks. i had blue cross and blue shield and they paid for all but $700.00 of my entire surgery and program. best of luck to you.

The biggest reason is that I am the mom of three little girls under 4..I needed the least invasive procedure that would allow for maximum movement in the shortest time.

Also, I had no interest in having my intestines cut and moved...oh, and I really liked the idea of adjustments...we are not all the same person and this seems to make this wls fit for your body and weight loss style.

Best of luck in your decision.

Rain