this is my first post here but i started looking at the lap band about 2 years ago. i know most of you are glad you did it, but i just wonder if its really worth it for me. i know it takes a lot of hard work to actually lose the weight even with the band but....i just cant help but thinking that if i have to put so much work into it, wouldnt i lose it on my own with that much work?????? i guess my real question is...how much is the band and how much is you??? and possibly, how much is mental???

for example, i know that atkins really works for me, but every year i manage to fall off it for a few months, gain half the weight back, and then i start over. its a vicious cycle but at least its cheap and painless!! i cant even imagine if i paid thousands of dollars, went through the surgery, the pain and risks associated with it, likely pain afterwards with the pbing and stuff, possible complications, etc and THEN screwed myself up b/c of lack of discipline!!! that would REALLY suck. god, if i feel like a failure now, i cant fathom the feeling i would have if i actually had WLS and failed!!!!

anyway, i hope you can make sense of this post and offer any insight and opinions.

thanks

eve

I agree with Nancy and Babs. Weight has never been an issue for me until after the birth of my 3 sons. Not only did the extra 90 lbs affect me, but I, too, became controlled by food. Maybe it was the stress of raising 3 kids, becoming a stay @ home mom, and as time went on, a schudule of sports that would make anyone eat Micky D's every night. I started to feel comforted by eating and things began revolving around what kind of "eats" will there be next. I have lost and gained, lost and gained, gained. I decided that the band was the way for me to go. I was having a terrible time feeling full. Now, I feel full after a small amount of eating. I don't care what type of "eats" are around anymore and I can eat anything i want as long as it is small amounts. I can now control my appetite, it doesn't control me. I have longed to feel full after eating a normal size portion and now I do. I am so liberated now it is wonderful. I had to quit smoking 2 months prior to my doctor banding me or he wouldn't have done it. The day he told me that I stopped smoking. It's been almost 5 months with out the ciggs but that is how I knew I was ready to get banded. I looked forward to the last time I will lose those extra pounds and never put them on again. I would do this again in a heartbeat. If you do decide to get banded, be sure you have mentally prepared yourself to give food up as your comfort blanket. Remember, you can have anything that agrees with your band, only everything in moderation. Good luck.

Eve-

I started at 280-so I know how the yo-yo thing goes. I was down to 220 about 3 years ago, just by watching my calories and walking. This was all also Dr. supervised as I was on 800 cals. Which as we all no is nothing in a day. SO he was very careful at watching me for malnourishment, the plus there is I worked at the clinic he practiced in. Anyway-In Dec my Hubby had the surgery on the 8-He has Sleep apnea-really bad-I wear ear plugs to bed!! Anway-he does get fustrated because weight lost is slower then RNY-but much safer. WE have a brother-in-law who did the RNY-and frankly he looks awful-because he lost so fast. I got my band on 12/28-and I am down 27 pounds and going. I love the band. I get full way, way faster then ever before in my life and You know it. There is no over eating when it come to the band, because you throw up (PB). ANd sorry-but I hate throwing up, so you are more careful about not taking that last bite, even though you are stuffed.

I hope it help! I would do it again in a heart beat-the only medical problem I had was border line insulin resistance. I wanted to nip it in the butt as my mother just had a kidney transplant (8/04) due to complications with obesity, Diabetes and High B/P!!

thanks again for the advice.

i am still nervous about this decision but what do you guys suggest i do next?? make an appt with a doctor or what? i am not too worried about insurance bc, if this will help me, i am willing to pay myself (of course insurance would be nice).

i will tell you that the reason i started thinking about getting banded again was bc of my mother saying that she is probably going to get bypass surgery and our doctor supports it. i told her to look into the lap band and i wanted to get some solid information to support it. she thinks they are going to convince her to do the bypass. where can i point her to weigh her options??? (she has a lot of weight to lose and i am worried about the mortality rate with the bypass).

thanks

eve

I would either see a Dr. that specializes in Bariatrics or see a surgeon who does and has done the lap band procedure. I had been seen a Dr. that only deals with weight lost for the 4 years prior to deciding surgery was the way to go. I am personally against having my inners chopped up and rerouted, but to each their own.

My mother is also actually considering the lap band as she had a kidney transplant in August and can't keep the weight off and we don't want to ruin the kidney she just got from my nephew as she is feeling really good. Her Doc suggested RNY-but she is set like me and doesn't like the cutting up part and ? him on the lap band. He didn't know much about it, but said he was willing to go to bat for her-if it is something she thought would help control her weight. My mother told him that myself and DH had just had it done in Dec. She can not have surgery for a year after the transplant-unless it is neccessary-health risk. Which I would think with her history weight would be a health risk, but she has to deal with medicare-so God only knows what they think is health risk. Being obese isn't a health problem in the eyes of many insurance companies. Mine excluded-they were wonderful.

Good Luck with what ever you decide!!!

Hi Eve,

If you are interested in getting insurance to cover your surgery, the place to start is with your primary care physician. He needs to diagnose you as being Morbidly Obese (charming, I know) and get that diagnosis into your medical record. From there you would go see a surgeon specializing in bariatric surgery. (For help finding a doctor, visit www.inamed.com.)

So a lot depends on whether you're a self-pay or want insurance to cover you. Good luck!!

id love to be able to pick my own doctor which is a real pain with insurance. my mother however has personal choice i think so she can go wherever.

i live outside philadelphia and i was considering going to dr christine ren in ny (2 hours away) with my mother. it seems like she has a lot of experience in lap band vs a lot of the other doctors who focus more on the bypass. i think id feel safer with her, especially for my mom who has really high blood pressure and a lot more weight to lose. ill run it by her and maybe make an appointment.

thanks

eve