Has anyone else been told this?

[MaybeBanding26 5]

my doctor explained to me that with the RNY you will lose about 50-75% of your excess weight, whereas with the band you will only lose about 40-60%. but these are all generalities and he has seen people both excel and fail with both surgeries. he said that for someone with a bmi as high as mine, he generally thinks the RNY is the better choice but he isnt pressuring me or anything. besides, i met a woman at the seminar who had a bmi of about 60 and she is in her 60s and in 1.5 years she's lost about 135 lbs. it works if you work it.

[sandi2004 2]

I have just gotten started in this whole thing.I have at least 6 months of dieting supervised by a doctor before the insurance will ok anything. I started out with the seminar where they discussed banding, sleeve, rou- en-y and gb. I decided to go for the banding and made my first appointment. Then I was told that at my size, 330 and 5'2" with a bmi of 60 that with banding you onlly lose about 100 lbs and since that would leave me still classified as morbidely obese he wouldnt do it.(this was his assistant) then he tells me that its a bad choice for me and that I need the rou-en-y procedure. was anyone else told that you wouldnt lose over 100lbs with banding?

I wasn't told that I would only lose 100 pounds, but I was told that with ALL of the weight Ineeded to lose a gastric byass would probably be the better choice for me. I was pretty adamant that I wanted a band and my doctor clearly went over all of the pluses and minuses of all of the surgeries in my first pre-op visit and told me, if knowing that I would need to change my lifestyle immediately I still wanted a band that he would support my decision. You can read my story of how I lost 250 pounds with a band if you think it would help you. You can find it at Sandi's Banded Living — My Lapband Weight Loss Success Story

If you like, please PM me or email me directly.I know you have lots of information to process right now and I'd be willing to try to help you sort through it all.

Good luck on your journey.

[NurseShay 24]

I really researched the LAP-BAND® & realize band and my opinion is if you know you're a person with initiative & you have at least a little will power id choose the band over irreversible surgery. That's a final option! At least with the band you are left with choices if its not working for you. The band does require will power, effort & work on the behalf of the patient. On the lapband websites you do see those 40-60% excess weight loss stats but that's because that's the average. Some ppl lose it all and even surpass their goal weight while others yoyo as if the band isn't even there. Not in the least to undermind those peoples struggles who have little success with the band but you can't argue that lowering you kcal intake & increasing your kcal burning with excercise ultimately will equal weight loss. But some people are asking the band to do what it can't do which is do it for them. Some of us just need more help than others. I can tell you- from being a nurse- doctors, therapists & the like are just people with specific education. That doesn't mean we aren't prone to judge or be bias. We are taught in school how to predict & assess people by every streotype from their education level, gender, religion, race & yes even weight. This is how we are able to treat people individually according to their needs because as we all on this forum are aware- one size does not fit all. So a lot of times when doctors are making suggestions like such its because they're assuming unless you have some thyroid condition and you have a high BMI that you're more than just obese- you lack self control. I have a BMI of 51 so trust me I know that's not always the case. But it is their job to encourage you into the treatment that best suits your needs. And a lot of times its a test of commitment when a MD has you lose X amount of weight before banding you. Because for all intents & purpose the pre-op testing that clears you- saying your body & heart is fit to endure the procedure is all it medically takes to wheel you into the OR. But when you have a doctor that doesn't believe in you the only way to get what you want is to be persistant or better yet find a doctor that empathsizes. Although from some of the fail stories on here its clear some people give these doctors reason to believe that some of us lack the commitment to make this tool work. Its a catch 22! I think if you're someone who's issue is walking away from the table the band will work for you because of the Portion Control element. But if you're a grazer or emotional eater who eats mini bags of junk food all day & refuses to excercise then it probably won't work for you and you should look into other wls options. Just keep in mind that its your body, your time & money so it is ultimately your decision.

Edited April 6, 2010 by Sashay02

[bella71 0]

I think that the success of the Lap Band depends more on your eating habits than what your starting BMI is. If you are a "snacker" or a "grazer", then you will have limited success, because it is very easy to cheat the band when you graze on slider foods throughout the day. Even with restriction, you won't lose the weight.

On the other hand, if you are a big eater whose main problem is with portion size, then the Lap Band is made for you. It goes to the heart of the problem, and helps you control the portions. With GB and RNY, the procedure does a lot of the work for you through restriction and malabsorption, which I think is why surgeons tend to recommend those procedures for people with a whole lot to lose.

The bottom line is, you really have to do some soul searching and know yourself before you choose what kind of WLS to get.

[sandi2004 2]

I think that the success of the LAP-BAND® depends more on your eating habits than what your starting BMI is. If you are a "snacker" or a "grazer", then you will have limited success, because it is very easy to cheat the band when you graze on slider foods throughout the day. Even with restriction, you won't lose the weight.

On the other hand, if you are a big eater whose main problem is with portion size, then the LAP-BAND® is made for you. It goes to the heart of the problem, and helps you control the portions. With GB and RNY, the procedure does a lot of the work for you through restriction and malabsorption, which I think is why surgeons tend to recommend those procedures for people with a whole lot to lose.

The bottom line is, you really have to do some soul searching and know yourself before you choose what kind of WLS to get.

I think that oit's not so much about who you ar enow, and what you eat now, but more about what you are committing to going forward. going into the procedure at 424 lbs I made a committment to myself that this was it, I was changing my life and was going to use th band to help me achieve it. Then I was open to, and willing to, follow "the rules of the band" Just for your information, at 18 - 24 months out the results for th eband and the bypass become identical. Remember that bypass patients lose their weight quickly and, if they don't use the first 12 months to change their eating habits they will start gaining weight at that point. With a band we have to change our eating habits from day one if we are to lose weight at all. So we have to make life style changes immediately, are learning what they are and what works for us immediately, so at that 1 year to year mark we are frequently the better educated, with the healthier food choices, as the bypass patients are first beginning to really come to grips with what is necessary to keep the weight off.

Bottom line, both procedures have advantages and disadvantages, but weight loss is identical int he long term which is what you should be looking at.

[eriadne 6]

My surgeon also said my BMI (currently around 52) was toward the high side of where he recommends bypass over banding. He said that in his experience, people with a BMI over 55 have to work very hard to succeed, whereas with the RNY it's pretty much guaranteed you'll lose a significant amount of weight. I believe his cutoff point was 53, which has me a bit nervous since I've been gaining the last few weeks despite my best efforts.

I'd much rather have a band and commit to exercise (something I want to do anyway) than have an RNY -- if I was to have irreversible gastric surgery, I'd probably go for a sleeve. Unfortunately my insurance company (Aetna) considers sleeves experimental still.

I just got my approval letter from insurance and am waiting to schedule my surgery. Hopefully I can lose some between now and surgery or at least stop gaining so my surgeon doesn't start having second thoughts!

[sandi2004 2]

My surgeon also said my BMI (currently around 52) was toward the high side of where he recommends bypass over banding. He said that in his experience, people with a BMI over 55 have to work very hard to succeed, whereas with the RNY it's pretty much guaranteed you'll lose a significant amount of weight. I believe his cutoff point was 53, which has me a bit nervous since I've been gaining the last few weeks despite my best efforts.

I'd much rather have a band and commit to exercise (something I want to do anyway) than have an RNY -- if I was to have irreversible gastric surgery, I'd probably go for a sleeve. Unfortunately my insurance company (Aetna) considers sleeves experimental still.

I just got my approval letter from insurance and am waiting to schedule my surgery. Hopefully I can lose some between now and surgery or at least stop gaining so my surgeon doesn't start having second thoughts!

There are many parts to your statement that I would like to reply to..

1. My BMI was 68 when I had lap abnd surgery and I have done very well

2. Committing to exercise is NOT going to get the weight off- it will take a committment to a lifestyle change- a change in your food choices as well as portion sizes, giving up snacking, not drinking with meals, AND exercise.

Please be aware that you are the main component here- not exercise.

3. A band will require you to see your sureon regularly, at least every 4-6 weeks for the first year or two. For me it was for the first 3 years.

4. You have to be ready to be patient with your weight loss since it will be slower than with bypass.

I chose the band because I felt I could and would (and thank heavens did) committ to everything and it was the best choice I ever made.

I wanted to make sure you go in with eyes wide open though.

If you would like to read some more of my story go to my blog at Sandi's Banded Living — My Lapband Weight Loss Success Story

Let em know what you think.

Best of luck to you. all of us high BMI bandsters are here to support you!

[ms.rhonda 4]

Two days before my surgery at my pre-op visit I asked my Dr. if I was making the right choice by being banded rather than gastric by-pass or gastric sleeve since I had around 200 lbs to lose. He told me that the gastric band is far better and that you can lose any amount of weight you want to lose as long as you remember that it is a tool for weight loss and that it will come off slow. On the plus side of it being slow, less chance for extra skin!

[tlasane 0]

Hey,

I had a similar experience, at my first consultation. I was told that I should get the GS because of my BMI being over 50. I told my surgeon that I felt more comfortable with the lap-band, and that was the surgery I would prefer. He stated that I would lose weight with the Lap-

Band versus the GS. The past few days I have been researching GS, and I still think that with hardwork, I will be just as successful with the Lap-Band. Maybe we can help each other out.

Tenesha

[wanna.b.healthy 1]

Hi - Man, sorry you've had such an experience. I also have a high BMI and my doc says I am a perfect candidate. I want to my first support meeting (pre-op) last and there was a guy who had lost 174 lbs in 18 months. He was very focused and strict on himself, but he proves you CAN lose more than 100 lbs. with the band. (He still had 25-45 lbs to go to reach his goal weight and said he's been pretty stable with his weight for 6 month -- not losing, not gaining. He says his doc is happy with his weight now so he may adjust his goal weight. He's not disappointed to not lose anymore since he has been stable for 6 months -- first time in his life that he hasn't started gaining again.) I sure plan to lose more than 100. I wonder if you have other docs in the area that ONLY do the band? That may be someone more willing to work with you.