OK, so I am a 25 year old female from NY and am in the begining stages of this whole process. I am still undecided as to which weight loss surgery I will pursue, gastric or lap-band. I am looking for any advice anyone can offer me! Thanx!:thumbdown:

hey mrusso

honestly i can tell you how i feel but you would benefit more looking up both surgeries and weigh out the risk yourself. but if you wanna know what others think well here ya go this is how i feel about surgeries. i was banded and i love it when i started my research 4 years ago i looked at the risks of surgery yes the bypass and band pretty much does the same except with the bypass you lose faster but have the risk of having more excess skin after weight is loss because your skin elasticity can not keep up to re form to the new you. but with banding yes you lose weight slower but you have a better chance of not having as much excess skin because with the slower weight loss your skin elasticity can re form better to the new you after the weight is lost. with the bypass you have a higher death rate during surgery. then you do with the band. If you get bypass and something goes wrong its not reversible with the band if something goes wrong its reversible . with the bypass you have a higher risk of stretching the new stomach pouch with the band you dont. with the bypass 9 outta 10 people gain the weight back. with the band you dont. but there is so much more i could go on and on. but research it and do what your heart tells you. I love my band and i recommend it to anyone who wants to research wls. good luck

Ok. You are going to get a pretty one eyed opinion from most people on a banding board about banding, and the same can be said for an RNY board. People have a tendency to think that their surgery is "the surgery" and will spout myth and BS to win you over.

Facts are, no surgery is going to do all the work for you.

If you are going to have excess skin, you are going to have it no matter what weight loss method you use. The rate you lose at has nothing to do with it (I lost 190 in 17 month, and only my stomach needed work) Only age, genetics, duration of obesity and distribution of the fat will determine if you will have loose skin or not.

You can lose as fast with a band as you can with RNY, a sleeve or DS. It is up to you to do the work to get there though.

And there are potential issues with banding. The threat of erosion, slips and sometimes the band just isn't a good fit with some people's lifestyles.

I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but I don;t believe in putting down one thing to make another look better, if you know what I mean.

You will have to work no matter what surgery you chose, and there are possible complications with any surgery.

Hey there I am pretty new to the site as well, I am also in the begining stages but I have made up my mind to go with the lap band surgery i just think that the results will be much better in the future for me, and from what I have seen with people who have had bypass, they have sucess but recovery is longer and the problems they have in the future with excess skin exc seems worse.

I am going on friday for my Upper GI and then I will meet with my Dr to schedule my surgery!! I think that being young the lap band is defintly the way to go!!

Good luck and welcome! I personally am too scared for bypass. i know the weight loss is more drastic, but I also wouldn't mind a slower loss so I don't end up with loose skin. Let us know what you decide.