Hello all, I am faced with a new decision. I just met with the surgeon who is scheduled to do my lapband on 8/20 and during our conversation she mentioned the possibility of doing a bypass since my BMI is in the high 40's. I'm borderline lapband/bypass. She mentioned that she could do both it''s ultimately my decision but said that since I have more weight to loose I will obviously loose faster with bypass. Both procedures can be done laporascopically which is very nice and I could probably get away with one night hospital stay. I have to let her know soon. Does anyone know someone personally who has had the bypass. I'm not sure what to do. I probably should check of bypass forum. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

It is a personal matter you need to choose for yourself. I started off with a bmi in the mid 40s, and I didn't know what to do either. I chose the lapband since you do loose the weight slowly and because it is only a restrictive process. The bypass is also a malasorbtion process. I also didn't want the new piping of my insides.

Only you can make that decision. It might be worth it to push off your surgery if you are still up in the air.

Look at it this way, why would you want to lose weight so fast? Everyone I know that has had gastric bypass has gained half if not all of their weight back.

With gastric bypass, if you stretch your pouch, there's no shrinking it.

Lapband, if you stretch it you can shrink it

Keep all of that in mind.

By the way my BMI was over 40 and I'm happy with the weight that I've lost so far.

I've had the Lapband since July 2 of this year and I'm doing very well with it. I've heard from a few people that with gastric bypass, the stomach can eventually stretch, causing an ability to eat more food and gain weight. I had a visiting nurse came to my home after my surgery because I had to self inject a blood clot preventitive for a week after surgery. She told me she had a patient who had a bypass and then eventually had the lapband placed because her stomach stretched so much. Gastric bypass is also permanent, totally internally altering, and a riskier surgery. I've not heard of anyone dying from Lapband surgery directly, but I have from gastric bypass. Good luck to you in whatever you decide!

Lisa :tt2:

I've heard that with the bypass you can loose weight faster than with the lap-band. The only thing is that with the bypass, after you loose too much weight you will have extra/loose skin as with the lap-band the weight loss is slower and your skin starts adapting to your body as you loose weight. With the lap-band you have to have fills to have restriction to you will feel full with small amounts of food.

I've had good and bad experiences with the fills because the doctors didn't put in the right amount of cc's to give me a moderate restriction. Sometimes I think it would of been better if I had the bypass.

It's a hard decision, but remember that the lap-band is reversible, removable at anytime.

Good luck to you!!!!! What ever your decision is you've already made the biggest one, having a weight loss surgery.

Let us know what surgery you decide to go for.

You should do more than just check out a bypass forum, you should do lots of research. Deciding between bypass and lapband is a huge decision that took me about 6 weeks of intense research and changing my mind every half hour before I finally decided. There is a LOT to consider with bypass. With lapband too, of course... but bypass (in my opinion) is a much more serious surgery and you should really know what you're getting into no matter which way you go.

Best of luck to you, either way!

P.S. Frazzled, I met my (ex) husband in Old Bridge way back in 1971!

my mom had the bypass surgury done in july 2007...she is now 135 pounds thinner....she hasnt had any complications at all...doing great with it....now my choice was to get banded even knowing her great results..i just got my band 7-17-08...one of the key factors in me getting the band was my age...im still at a child bearing stage and wanted to have the option of being able to handle another possable pregnancy..although with bypass u can also..it just wasnt clear to me that it would be healthy....they have done studies that say with bypass u loose faster ...but after 1-2 years it equals the same as banders...so really it is a self choice....

One other thing to consider is if you want everyone speculating about what you "had done" to lose the weight. Bypass is so fast that anyone in your life will be able to guess, lapband really is slower and steadier and I find there are a lot less questions and attention.

I really appreciate everyones input. I think the thing that got to me at drs. office is that you'll lose alot more in the long run with the bypass. I have heard of a few people having a difficult time losing weight with the band. Has anyone heard of someone being banded and then down the road getting a bypass? Does insurance cover two different WLS's?

I totally understand where you are decision wise. I was 316lbs. when I started the classes at Kaiser to have the Gastric Bypass. During the classes I learned lots about the Bypass that I was not to happy with. I was the only in my group of patients who chose the lapband. I did ton's of research online prior to weigh out the pros and cons of both surgeries. I made my decision based on several factors and here they are:

1) The LapBand is less risky then the Gastric Bypass

2) The LapBand is reversible in the event I have slippage or erosion where the Gastric is not.

3) The LapBand is a day in the hospital versus 3-5 with the Gastric Bypass. (I was outpatient per my request)

4) The LapBand allows you to lose the weight gradually so that your body can adapt to the changes versus the Gastric Bypass which is such a dramatic change to your body that people often have other problems due to the rapid weight loss.

5) The LapBand can always be removed and your stomach can return to normal.

6) Ultimately I can exercise, eat healthier and I dont feel deprived like some of my Gastric Bypass friends do because they dump when they eat sugary foods.

7) The recovery period with the Lapband is extremely quicker then with the Gastric Bypass. I had my surgery on Thursday and was back at work on Tuesday.

Do your research online and read the testimonials on both procedures then determine what you think will work for you. My BMI was I think like 48% when I started taking the class.

Start Classes/Day of Surgery/Current/Goal#1/Goal#2

316lbs. / 292lbs. / 243lbs. / 250lbs. (made it) / 200lbs.

Please do intense research. With lap band they place a band around your stomach. With bypass they cut your intestines and re-route them. There are foods you will never be able to eat again. You will have to take vitamin supplements for the rest of your life because your stomach will no longer absorb vital nutrients from the food you eat.

I'm not trying to be dramatic. I seriously considered bypass surgery and I know of many people who got through it just fine with no complications and they did lose a lot of weight. I also know of several who had very serious complications. And I know of several who lost lots of weight and then gained it back.

There are lots of pros and cons with lap band too. I just wouldn't want anyone to go into bypass surgery without really understanding the short term and long term differences between the two procedures. I don't think any responsible doctor would let you go through it without understanding that, either. It is far too important of a decision to make just from our comments on a message board (although it is very helpful to hear everyone's experiences and thoughts too, don't get me wrong!)

Go to www.bariatriceating.com. It has a message board that lots of gastric bypasser post to. I have found it extremely helpful and informational.

My vote is for a sleeve. No intestinal rerouting, no malabsorption, no maintenance, no follow up care, fewest long term risks and complications of bands or bypass, better and faster weight loss than with banding, Ghrelin (hunger causing hormone) is removed so most who are sleeved do not experience hungar.

Safest WLS type around, EWL is around 80% vs. banding that is 50-70%. No stomach stretching, fewer food cravings than with banding or bypass due to no Ghrelin.

Hello,

I have a twin brother who had the gastric bypass about 2 years ago. Yes, he has put on some of his weight back on, but not alot. My fear, over the years, he will continue to gain weight.

I have chose the lapband for myself. Less risk and easy to manage. I scar easily and tend to get adhesions, so the gastric bypass surgery would be way to risky for me.

Good luck!!

You can always change your mind with a band, & have it removed. Most people with by-pass, that I know wish they could have had band. The Doctor that did my blood work, is now a band man. He told me to have by-pass surgery. I told him no way. People that have had weight loss surgery will make mistakes. The band is more forgiving. Yesterday I got results of blood works everything was great. I have gotten by-pass results with my band. Banded 1/15/08. Pre-op I was 55.2 BMI at a Morbidly Obese weight of 352.5 pounds of torture. I now weigh under 225 pounds & a BMI of about 36. I have not had a fill yet. Losing my ass in Vegas & Loving it! I wish you the best of Luck. Hasta Pronto, George:thumbup::thumbup:

One thing to keep in mind about the band is that part of the reason the estimated weight loss for the band is lower than the bypass is that you do still absorb everything you eat, whereas with the bypass you don't. You can still eat a small volume of food that is calorie and fat laden and/or drink high calorie liquids (that aren't stopped by the band) and you will still "get" all those calories.

Basically, the band (to a greater extent than the bypass in my opinion) is really just a tool to help a new lifestyle of diet and exercise work, not to do the work of dieting and exercising for you. Bypass, because of the malabsorption issue is less like this, however I have heard that over time, the stomach stretches and the body gets used to malabsorption and that's why the weight regain happens. With the band, if you're going to be successful you have to make a total lifestyle change, which I think will be the key in keeping the weight off permanently. If you are unable to make that change, though, the band might not work for you.

Also, something to read about bypass is "dumping syndrome". I never considered bypass at all (for various reasons of safety, pregnancy, permanence etc) but if I had, I think that this would have been the deal breaker for me.

Hope that helps