K here is my problems....this whole thing is such a a tough decision. I mean on the one hand the band would be good because it's a tool that will teach me how to eat better and not as much. But I have to work extra hard to get the weight off :cry(already been doing that my whole life) and it will take YRS for me to lose all the 100+ lbs I gotta lose and there is no guarantee that it will all come off. :faint:Now the bypass scares me, but the weight would come off the first yr(I'm not a VERY patient person) I've also seen all the health risks that come from that surgery and that makes me nervous, plus the hubby is totally against the bypass. :phanvan It makes me nervous that they bypass the stomach where as the band just puts a band around your stomach. :faint:Dont get me wrong I have no problem exercising it's just the time to exercise is the problem, I have a full time job, a husband and a teenager that needs to be driven to this class and that event for school etc, money for a gym is also a problem, and like I said before I am not a patient person when it comes to losing weight. I know I didnt gain it in an day and I wont lose it in a day, but when you bust your a** for a month and then step on a scale just to find out that you've gained 3 lbs..it's ALOT UPSETTING!!! Today it just seems like to make this kind of decision is harder than just staying fat. I mean it's a total life change and my insurance will cover either surgery so I dont want to choose the wrong one and insurance pay for nothing. :angry I have very stubborn fat that refuses to leave me on it's own. :cry:think

Has anyone else felt this way when you were in your research and decision making stage, because right now I feel like I'm tearing myself apart trying to decide which would be the best way for me to go on this losing weight battle!! ???? :think I know I want this weight off and I know I eat right to an extent, but I still gain no matter what I eat....IT'S TOTALLY FRUSTRATING!!! Sorry just having a really bad day here!!!

Any input would be GREATLY appreciated!!!

blessings

Hi Thin~

You will know in your heart what choice is right for you. I was torn between the two also. I chose the LB and I am very thankful for it. I have been banded for 7 months (wow that went fast) and I am a slow loser, but I feel great. It is not easy for me, but the pounds are coming off with a lot of hard work and making the right food choices. Do your research, browse around here (great info and great support), you will make the right decision for you.

You deserve to be healthy and happy!

It took me a lot of time to decide the lapband was the right choice. Also I had to save the money 'cause in my country bariatrick surgeries are not covered by insurance. This gave me the time to think about it, and with my doctor came to what was best for me.

I was banded in 2006, and i do not regret my decision. i feel great and look great. it was hard at first there are some any things you need to get used to, but it will be the same with the bypass, also you will need to exercise with the bypass too.

Is not the same for all people, and I learned that in this forum, people lose the wight at their own rhythm.

Maybe you should talk to your doctor and find out what is best for you. I really recommend the lapband, I was scared and not sure if it will work, but also understand that is not the solution to everybody.

Staying fat is not the right choice, just think for all the health risks.

I hope you make the right choice, that one that makes you feel good!!!

I am so sorry that your having such a hard time deciding. I agree, that you will know in your heart which is best for you. No body says that the decision needs to be made today, when you decide and know, you know. Then go for it!

Good luck in your decision!!

Brandy

Making a decision to have WL surgery is a difficult one. However, the fact that you are even considering it means that you are probably seriously overweight. That is not a condition that you should chose to just stay with. The lapband may not be right for you or it maybe perfect. What ever you decide don't let fear be the driving reason for your decision. Do what is best for your health. If at all possible go to a lapband and a gastric bypass support group and talk with the people their. Maybe that could help give you insight into which procedure would be best for you. Did your primary care physican recommend one or the other? Hope this helps. Don't give up your fight to regain your health!

Hopefully you post that on a bypass forum too so you can get both sides of the story. This forum I think would mostly be bias.

For me, I wanted RNY, but everyone in my fam is against it, has been for years. Last year I put my foot down, I'm doing it with or without them. While researching, I found the Lap-Band. It was so much less invasive, it's reversible if ever I needed it out, and it's not as dangerous (re: malnutrition).

Big bonus-- all my fam was on board with the band.

So I got the band.

I'm not the perfect bandster, I didn't make this a diet.. I still eat whatever I want, just very little of it. Right now, I'm so restricted I have very limited things I can even eat. I don't think about food like I use to (that's a big one for me). But there are bad days, and somehow chocolates go down with no problems.. hrmph. And I admit I'm lazy, I don't exercise near like I should, or most people around here say they do.. but I am still losing steadily. I have had days where I said "I should have just done RNY, I'd be skinny by now".. but then it passes, and I'm excited that I've come this far. Last week I hit the 250's.. first time in my life since I started doing diets I ever went past 260's. Woohoo. And it's all thanks to the band, I have no will power for dieting.

Hi, I agree with the others--dont stay fat, there are so many risk factors involved in that--perhaps not now because youth may be on your side--that will not always be the case and those risk factors will definitely be in your future if you dont do something about it NOW! neither procedure is a magic answer--simply a tool--you MUST change your lifestyle if you want to be successful. start with a 10 minute walk, then do 20 min, then 30 you will be surprised how much better you will feel. dont sell yourself short, you are worth it and your teenager needs you around.....whatever decision you make will be the best one for YOU I am sure. Take care and good luck.

I am having lap band in less than 2 weeks, i am currently on the liquid diet, as my hubby is scarfing down freshly steamed tamales......but I know what those taste like and nothing tastes as good as feeling good about me!!!

Thin dolphin,

I was recently feeling the same way as you. I went to the extreme of having dreams of what it was like living the afterlife.

I choose the lapband. My surgeon does all procedures but he as well recommended the lapband.

I am married, have 2 children I care for. My husband travels 90% of the time on business, so I consider myself as living like a single mother most of the time Monday thru Friday. I live in a city where traffic is mostly horrid. By the time I handle driving to the childcare, cooking, paying bills, etc it can sometimes be 8:00PM.....Guess what....that was my excuse...so I started to schedule exercising on my lunch or simply making the time...

I have found that the family can sacrifice 2 or 3 times a week if it is going to give me not only sanity but better my health to prevent from everyone's life being disrupted later on with obesity complications.

I have found that they are even supportive now and schedule around my needs.

I have a work buddy who is a real single parent...and she takes her daughter to cheerleading, or other activities ...what she does is while at the game or at the activity place she finds a way to get herself moving and walk a mile or so while there!

I purchased some books on both RNY and lapband. People's stories and experiences and the scientific evidence available is what lead me to choose lapband.

I am in search of a tool that can help me for life, and I believe I have finally found it!

Well....I cannot honestly say I have worked extra hard to get my 100+ pounds off over the last year and a half. I have exercised, in moderation----some times more than others, like now, winter is hard, I prefer being outdoors. I did join Curves, but it is not expensive, I have never belonged to an expensive gym.

I too am married, and I have grown children, I provide day care for my 3 year old granddaughter, I went back to taking care of her within a week of being banded. I have a large extended family, I stay busy with. We work cattle, I buck hay bales....very busy! The band has allowed me to continue my normal life, and as the weight dropped off, life has become much simpler, and easier too!!!

I had several reasons I chose banding over RNY. I am a cancer survivor---so with that history, I am at a higher risk for recurrance. With the band, I can keep my nutrition up. I honestly was afraid of the malnourishment part of RNY. That and the permanence of it. If for some reason I ever needed the band out I could do it! If they discover some magic pill to burn fat--I can take it and be fine, my insides are not cut and re routed.

I do not diet. I eat as I always ate, with a stronger tendency towards health. I try to live today in a manner of how I want to live the rest of my life. The band keeps me from overeating, without consequence. I would have lost weight without exercise, but as it come off, I had a want to DO things! I want to buy clothes, I want to go play with the kids---it is an amazing change!

It might take a year and a half to have gotten this weight off----but I am in Misses size clothes, I can run, I can sit cross legged on the floor! I can eat cake and ice cream with my grandbabies on their birthdays with dumping, and without wanting to eat the entire cake!

Banding was a good choice for me. It felt the safest route. Safer in my personal situation that RNY, and without a doubt safer than remaining morbidly obese---which is where I started---and I am now only overweight, headed for NORMAL!!!!!!!!

Good Luck in your decision, research is key!!!

Kat

OOPPS!!! I can eat cake and ice cream on my grandbabies birthdays withOUT dumping---or wanting to eat the entire cake!

Amazing difference of one little 3 letter word!!!!

Kat

Maybe I should just stay fat!!!

Hate to say it...but maybe you should.

But...just as soon as you've had enough and can say you SHOULDN'T be fat....then make the call...get the band....and over the course of the next few years you will get rid of all that baggage...on your body and in your life.

Good luck and keep us posted.

I think if you tend to be impatient about the weight loss ( but what obese person isn't) then you should ask the surgeon that would do the surgery about his policy on "fills" with the lapband.

Some Dr's wait six weeks to start fills, some start sooner. Some Dr's will wait 8 weeks between fills, some do them sooner if you are hungry.

If your Dr. is too conservative with fills, you MIGHT lose much slower.

However, I think if you continue to lose slowly, but continuously, you'll be satisified. I am.

Part of this band process requires some effort on your part especially in the beginning. It really helps to follow the pre and post op diet as your Dr. tells you and to get your Protein and Water in.

As your motivation starts to dwindle the fills will get you back on track as you'll feel fuller.

I struggled a little with this decision as I also am impatient, but I just did not want a surgery that was so invasive, that my insides were completely changed so I went with the lapband.

I'm only one month post op, but so far I do not regret my decision.

Good Luck whatever you decide!