I met with the surgeon on 1/11/08 to jump through my last hoop, before getting approval with insurance. She felt that the bypass surgery would benefit me more than the band. And since I didnt have any other health conditions, other than the weight that there was no reason to not do the bypass. She said she would do what ever surgery I wanted, but felt that I would have a better outcome with the bypass. I plan to attened an information mtg about the bypass and than make my decision. Has this ever happened to any of you and what choice did you make??

CONFUSED:eek:

My doc recommended bypass as well. I told him what my weight loss goal was. Based on statistics he said I wouldn't achieve that with the lap-band that I needed the bypass.

The bypass wasn't an option for me because I really wanted to leave my insides intact :smile:

I have surpassed what he said I could achieve w/ the band and I plan to make it to my goal.

I wish you the absolute best in making your decision. Only you can know what is best for you :myscared:

wombat

Just to add, my surgeon said "I can make your lose wieght with GB, with the lapband you are the one who will make you lose wieght."

I told that to a friend of mine who's son is a surgeon and she said, "surgeons are all control freaks. Do what you think will work best for you." But what I heard and now believe is the part of the equation that differentiates the two is the individual's ability to give dieting and exercise one last final go.

If you are exhausted and want to give over control to someone else GB is good. If you are so heavy that you are disabled and cannot move well, GB is a good choice. If you have other complications that you NEED to have addressed by losing weight quickly GB is a good choice.

But you are young and your BMI isn't in the 50's. (mine was.) You should be able to hit the diet hard--and for the last time--And yes it's a diet, like you have to be mindful of how you eat, but it is forever so it's a change in framing the "how you eat" question, so it's not a diet...(I hope that's not really unclear)

I'm guessing you can exercise, again the BMI is lowish and you are 33. You may need to take it slowly at first but...

You have young kids and that consideration for Lapband should be the lower mortaility rate, not a 45 minute commute.

So with that said, I'm not biased against GB, but it can be really wrong for some people and lapband can be really right. :smile:

I wanted to share my experience with you, I have not had my band placed yet but I have had major abdomial surgery before. I had 2 tumors wrapped around my pancreas and had a surgery called a Whipple. I had to have a large part of my intestines removed so this is pretty comparable to GB. The pain and recovery where horrible. I was in the hospital for 21 days. I had a G-tube which was probably the worst part. I can't describe to you the emense pain that is invovled with a surgery of this magnitutde. If you have small kids I strongly urge you to think long and hard about having a major abdominal surgery, the recovery time is a long and very rocky painful road.

With The lap band there is no cutting of the stomach or intestines therefore the recovery is minimal. This is the only reason I would ever consider going under the knife again, believe me when I tell you I would take fat any day for the rest of my life than put myself through a surgery where they had to cut any part of my digestive system. unless you are 400+lbs and can't get out of bed I would seriously consider the band as the way to go. Thanks for listening(PS. that is the short version)

Hi there,

When I was initially looking at having bariatric surgery, I logged on to bulletin boards, for both gastric bypass and lap-band, and read the threads that had to do with complications & side effects. I wanted to get a realistic idea of what I was signing up for.

Reading literature that describes possible complications is one thing, but reading people's personal stories, and the suffering they have endured really sticked home with me. That is why I chose the lap-band. I have two small girls, ages five and three, and I needed to be there for them, have a fast recovery, and not risk my life having bariatric surgery.

I hope this helps somewhat and I wish you luck in your decision. :-)

I wanted to share my experience with you, I have not had my band placed yet but I have had major abdomial surgery before. I had 2 tumors wrapped around my pancreas and had a surgery called a Whipple. I had to have a large part of my intestines removed so this is pretty comparable to GB. The pain and recovery where horrible. I was in the hospital for 21 days. I had a G-tube which was probably the worst part. I can't describe to you the emense pain that is invovled with a surgery of this magnitutde. If you have small kids I strongly urge you to think long and hard about having a major abdominal surgery, the recovery time is a long and very rocky painful road.

With The lap band there is no cutting of the stomach or intestines therefore the recovery is minimal. This is the only reason I would ever consider going under the knife again, believe me when I tell you I would take fat any day for the rest of my life than put myself through a surgery where they had to cut any part of my digestive system. unless you are 400+lbs and can't get out of bed I would seriously consider the band as the way to go. Thanks for listening(PS. that is the short version)

Gena, I just wanted to pass along some (((hugs))) to you. My mom had pancreatic cancer as well.

you only have 98lbs to lose! And no health problems. I was in a similiar boat as you. I figured I would go with the lapband because it's reversable and if it didn't work for me than I could always get bypass sometime down the road. Once the bypass is done, that's it!

You are also very young like me, I was afraid that in 50 year I could seriously regret rearranging my insides. We don't know the effects of it that long term yet. This is not exaggerating either, almost all the bypassers I know have gained back some or all of their weight. They cannot get a fill to help get them on the right track either.

I spoke to my doctor at length about it. The stats for bipass vs. band are exactly the same 3 years post op. Bandsters lose 60% and bipass losses 90%, however at 3 year post op both surgeries equal 60% of weight loss due to the relapse and stretched pouches the bipass patients typically get. With the band you just have to be patient because the weight loss is much slower. Good luck with your decision. I am very pleased that I chose the band.

bert99, thanks for the hugs, they are much appriciated!

My mom died of Colon cancer, at the age of 42 and we have had to have colonoscopies every two years since I was 28. When the weight loss surgery became a reality to me, once I did the research, I decided, like others here, that to have my insides rearranged, and to pretty much tie off my large intestine, I would rather be fat. if that was the only option open to me. With the colon cancer history, to not have the large intestine in use, I felt that would open me up for cancer concerns.

I made the choice for the band after the research showed that the complications were less and the success rate was high and it was going to be non invasive.

If your doc is sticking to this, see if you can see another doctor.