I know it may be wrong of me but this is the R&R board. I have been hearing more and more stories of people just barely over 200 or under 200 getting lapband...do you think this is normal or needed etc. Let me know YOUR opinion.

The results are private in the poll...feel free to be truthful.

Voicing your opinion is allowed too.

And I am talking people completely healthy and average height or more.

Edited June 29, 200818 yr by Froggi

Great post, Indio. Froggi, it seems to me that you are trying to be elitist about fat. But obese is obese and morbidly obese is morbidly obese and these categories encompass a great many people who all want to be slim, attractive and healthy. Who gives you the right to determine who gets to qualify for surgery and a better life. Your comments on this thread display you as immature and jealous. Every overweight man or woman who wants this surgery should have a right to have it, even if it means for some that they must pay for it themselves.

I paid for my own surgery and I sure am glad that my surgeon wasn't as judgemental as Froggi seems to be. The surgery changed my life. I went from 200lbs - I am 5'6" and had no co-morbities except for vanity - to 143 in one year and I looked great. I also learned how to change my eating habits for healthier ones while practicing portion control. The band is great for portion control but it is up to us to do the rest of the work.

So this thread makes me immature and jealous? Okay then. Also I am not judgemental at all. Because my surgeon doesn't do surgery on lower weight people has NOTHING to do with me. Yes, I started this thread...based on a conversation my mother and I had. It doesn't mean I am against lower weight people getting surgery. I never said I was against it, nor will I ever be against it. And people asking questions or having opinions doesn't make them immature or jealous or judgemental. You don't know a person just from a thread.

"If you were at my seminar though my surgeon would have asked you to leave and said you wern't qualified for surgery." Froggi

God, I said I was done with this thread. Froggi, according to your later posts, she WOULD be qualified for the surgery. Your surgeon would not ask her to walk out. Get over it! Some people may not look that overweight to YOU, but they have the comorbidities that make them qualify, even for your surgeon.

I meant if they just had a bmi of 35-40 with less than 2 comorbids of if they were below 35 bmi. People make mistakes. Get over it. I never said that someone didn't LOOK like they needed surgery, or that someone didn't look overweight ENOUGH to me. Everyone is is fat is fat. Everyone who is overweight may it be 30 lbs or 300 lbs is overweight. If she has the comorbids good for her. I was saying what my surgeon requires...and if I made a mistake and said hers wrong...I am human.

Great post, Indio. Froggi, it seems to me that you are trying to be elitist about fat. But obese is obese and morbidly obese is morbidly obese and these categories encompass a great many people who all want to be slim, attractive and healthy. Who gives you the right to determine who gets to qualify for surgery and a better life. Your comments on this thread display you as immature and jealous. Every overweight man or woman who wants this surgery should have a right to have it, even if it means for some that they must pay for it themselves.

I paid for my own surgery and I sure am glad that my surgeon wasn't as judgemental as Froggi seems to be. The surgery changed my life. I went from 200lbs - I am 5'6" and had no co-morbities except for vanity - to 143 in one year and I looked great. I also learned how to change my eating habits for healthier ones while practicing portion control. The band is great for portion control but it is up to us to do the rest of the work.

as eloquent and to the point as always green... but i dont think it's just this thread...

as eloquent and to the point as always green... but i dont think it's just this thread...

Don't like what I say ignore me. Simple as that.

I think it's so insane that one little post upset so many as it wasn't intended to.

First of all I commend a doctor who doesn't take anyone's money to do this surgery. It shows he has some scruples. It's not only doctors who have strict criteria it's the insurance companies that are dictating who gets this surgery and it's very common for an insurance company to expect you to have a BMI of 40 or have a BMI of 35+ with multiple comorbs. Mine did and I'm sure there are plenty others.

I met that criteria without a problem. I admit there was information I was lacking before getting the lap band and it didn't work out for me as planned. Mistake made. Lap banding may not seem as drastic or invasive as RNY etc... but it's still surgery and there are still many risks and there are still chances it may not work or eventually you'll have complications and have to have it removed anyway, possibly struggle with weight gain again and consider revision surgery.

I feel bad for self pay people also because I can't imagine what happens when you have complications and have to pay for that down the road.

Anyway it was a simple poll posted by Froggi and possibly made people think about what they were doing especially with such low BMIs. Maybe a bit of work on learning to love ourselves at a heavier weight is more important and constantly struggling to be a certain size dictated by our society and shoved in our faces constantly. And having surgery for that purpose might be a bit extreme even if it is only a lap band. Just a thought Nancy.:smile:

Maybe a bit of work on learning to love ourselves at a heavier weight is more important and constantly struggling to be a certain size dictated by our society and shoved in our faces constantly. And having surgery for that purpose might be a bit extreme even if it is only a lap band. Just a thought Nancy.:smile:

Are you serious? Those sizes that are "shoved in our faces" are done so for a reason - because they are healthy!! When you are slimmer your chances of living longer and healthier increase considerably. Why would you love yourself at a weight that puts you at a higher risk for so many illnesses further down the line?

Why would you not have a simple surgery to avoid getting morbidly obese so that when you are 30 or 40 or 50 you've not lived decades carrying an additional 50 or 100 pounds and your body is damaged in whatever ways as a result. Why would you not be proactive about getting a healthier life to avoid having to endure daily treatment for diabetes or go through major coronary surgery or some other ongoing obesity related treatment, for example? I know thats where I was headed preband......

My mother was banded at 5 foot 1 with less than 70 pounds to lose and has lost it all in just over a year. She is almost 60 years old now and the quality of her life has increased SO much because she can actually be active.

I'm glad I live in Australia where they are starting to think about the lapband as a tool for helping to avoid the massive burden obesity related health problems put on the public health system. In the long run, being proactive about combating obesity is going to free up hospital beds and tax payers funds for other medical issues/needs. I see that a brilliant thing for this country as a whole.

Don't like what I say ignore me. Simple as that.

just agreeing and stating an opinion... the ignore works both ways.

I'm glad I live in Australia where they are starting to think about the lapband as a tool for helping to avoid the massive burden obesity related health problems put on the public health system. In the long run, being proactive about combating obesity is going to free up hospital beds and tax payers funds for other medical issues/needs. I see that a brilliant thing for this country as a whole.

She - i wish the US was as medically progressive with the band as Aus is. yes, i was HUGE (5'9" 402) when banded, i wish i would have known about it when i was 200-300 pounds. i would have begged and borrowed to have been able to pay for it - insurance coverage or not.

I am just so glad that people DONT have to get to be super morbidly obese in this country (Australia) before they can be banded.

Losing weight is fantastic, and does so much for your health. But sometimes being MO, SMO or even overwight will do damage that cannot be undone.

I say let anyone who is comitted to banding be banded. Avoid becoming obese in the first place.

All I'm saying is thin does not necessarily equal healthy and fat does not necessarily equal unhealthy. It depends on the individual person. Someone is making an awful lot of money on our struggles to acquire thinness.

Yep, and not everyone who smokes all ther lives die of cancer.

No one is saying every thin person is healthy. But the fact is, if you are morbidly obese, you are far more likely to be struck with obesity related conditions. People at a healthy weight are more likely to be, well, healthy.

Yes, what Chickie said. If you re-read my post, I said that by being overweight/obese, you are in a higher risk category for obesity related illnesses. I know that thin people aren't always healthy, but your odds of experiencing weight related illnesses are increased if your body has to deal with carrying any excess weight.

That's the beauty of a forum like this we all come here with differing opinions and experiences. Those that are still considering surgery can get the good, the great, the bad and the ugly.

In my experience genetics plays a big part in one's lifespan. I've had many relatives that smoked for many years and have gotten cancer and died from that cancer at a very young age, like my mother, age 51. My husband's father also died due to cigarette smoking at an even earlier age, 46. My little sister has smoked for over 30 years and also was diagnosed with cancer 3 years ago as well as my husband's older sister who smoked for over 30 years and was diagnosed one year ago. All of these people have been or are of "average weight".

My relatives that did not smoke but by today's standards would have been considered obese lived into their late 80s or 90s which seems to me to be a much longer life than that of my mother who died at 51 and left 5 children. The women normally put on weight once they hit menopause and they didn't have the pressure then to be thin as we do now.

I know my mother used smoking to curb her "appetite" as did a lot of women in that era. So did I for a few years and once I quit and had children did put weight back on. To me extra weight wasn't worth the damage I knew smoking did to me and would do to my children.

So even though I cannot with with good intentions recommend illegal drugs for weight loss, cigarette smoking for weight loss I also cannot recommend with good intentions lap band surgery as it wasn't worth the cost and aggravation I've been put through. It is my opinion because of my own experiences. It's just one girl's opinion.

I've also heard a theory that the attitude people have about themselves can affect their health. If one hates oneself due to their appearance, size for example, it could be detrimental to their health. So there's still a lot we need to learn about obesity, body and mind before we just accept WLS as our only option especially if you have a low BMI to begin with. Nanook:smile:

I am all for accepting ones body for whatever shape or size it is. It's healthy to have a positive body image. But you should never confuse a healthy body image for a healthy body.

The two are very different.

And if I am not wrong, you are trying to say that being MO is healthier than smoking?

I would have thought they both are pretty hard on the body, and both have a plethora of negative health implications. I am not a doctor, but nether are considered healthy.

And if I am not wrong, you are trying to say that being MO is healthier than smoking?

Thats what I thought Nanook was saying too, but I thought it was just way too out there to actually be what she was saying!

I agree Chickie, wanting to lose weight and not likeing the way you look at a certain weight does not mean you have an unhealthy self image. You can KNOW that you're a good person, that your values are solid, that you're raising good kids, you're talented at x, y and z, and still think you look terrible. Liking the way you look is not the only aspect to self image.

Not everyone has to buy into the size zero deal, which is not really healthy either. But seriously, maybe its me and my own self image but I just really dont get how someone can look at themselves at a BMI of 40 or 45 or 50 and really LIKE the way they look. That doesnt equate with thinking "I'm a fat worthless slob who doesnt deserve to be loved by anyone", that's just objective, shit my arse is HUGE, I cant wear anything I like, I look unhealthy and could look SO much better.

If you ask me (which probably isnt a good idea, lol), people with healthy self image are the ones that finally take charge and try to DO something about their weight (even if its not easy or particularly successful, they keep trying), and ones with poor self image are often the ones that dont really believe deep down that they deserve any better than to be fat and die young - they make token efforts, give up at the first opportunity or make no effort at all.

Gross gross generalisation of course *ducks for cover*.