Ladies what helped you to make up your mind to go with the lapband procedures vs. gastric bypass or the gastric sleeve?

I will be honest, at the seminar I went to they seem to be in favor of the sleeve and they didn’t do a good job of “selling” the lapband procedure. I am really drawn to the lapband b/c of the long term accountability. I have known a few people who got gastric and slowly gained back a lot of weight. The Dr. made the point that the idea is to pick the best one that works for you and your lifestyle and not say let me try the lap band and if that doesn’t work I can do another (because there can be significant scar tissue in any procedure which would make a second surgery difficult). She also added that lapband is "this much help" as she held her index and thumb finger about 1 or 2 inches apart.

What reason/s did you have to get the lapband (where ever you are on your journey)? When you went to the seminar what if any vibe did they give you about the options available to you? Thanks!

THANK YOU for all of your insight ladies. It has been very, very helpful!! :laugh:

Well I just got a call from the Dr.'s office. My consult is 11/19/08 and I will meet with the nutritionist the same day. I think the woman was shocked that I didn't jump at the soonest date possible but my schedule is very hectic and I have to travel for business the next day so it works b/c I get that day to travel so I will not have to use my own sick or vacation time.

Great! Good luck!

As my knees started going bad and my bp went out of control I was steered toward RNY and I really did not know anything about Lap Band surgery. This was about 4 years ago and the other options such as the sleeve and other surgeries were never discussed. I just couldn't bring myself to have such drastic surgery. My doctors kept trying to convince me that the band was not suitable for me because of my diabetes and my high BMI.

I continued doing research on the internet and found evidence from Europe, Australia and the Philipines that showed that the Lap Band can be just as effictive as GBP in aleviating the co-morbities of HBP, diabetes and sleep apenea. The lapBand is just much less invasive and you don't have the problem of malabsorption. The weight loss is much slower which should help with the elasticity of the skin.

I don't know anyone else who has had the band, so that's why this site has helped me so much on my journey toward the band.

Edited October 15, 200817 yr by TravelLady48

As my knees started going bad and my bp went out of control I was steered toward RNY and I really did not know anything about Lap Band surgery. This was about 4 years ago and the other options such as the sleeve and other surgeries were never discussed. I just couldn't bring myself to have such drastic surgery. My doctors kept trying to convince me that the band was not suitable for me because of my diabetes and my high BMI.

I continued doing research on the internet and found evidence from Europe, Australia and the Philipines that showed that the Lap Band can be just as effictive as GBP in aleviating the co-morbities of HBP, diabetes and sleep apenea. The lapBand is just much less invasive and you don't have the problem of malabsorption. The weight loss is much slower which should help with the elasticity of the skin.

I don't know anyone else who has had the band, so that's why this site has helped me so much on my journey toward the band.

Thank you!!! Yeah my PCP mentioned gastric to me I told her I didnt like that idea and asked her about the band she said b/c of weight I should consider gastric. Shortly thereafter she had a patient, 30 years old Mom of 3 who died from gastric. So when I mentioned the lapband this time she said good! I also do not know anyone with the land so this site has been vey, very helpful!

Hey Ladies,

I chose the Band because the surgery is less invasive (though they do bypass laparascopically, the re-routing of my digestive tract scared me), and because the weight loss is slower and mostly still up to me!

My personality is such that I'm a bit of a control freak - I don't like not having options...with the band I have options. I can have it tightened when I'm not losing fast enough, and I can have it loosened when I reach my goal. The recovery time is faster, and I'll have much fewer challenges with malabsorption (if any at all).

My biggest issue? Really a non-issue - I'll have to switch to chewable vitamins!:wink2: I'm hoping there are Vitamins available that can duplicate what I'm taking now and I won't have to chew for days to get the dosages I want.

I'm looking forward to being banded - hopefully soon!:laugh:

with me being in the medical field i see patients come in that had the bypass very ugly ( feeding bags), gain greentothe intest i mean its either gonna work for you or against you, you wont know until you had it, after looking into the band its reversable less invasive less side effects and the weight comes off slow (for me very slow i mean malassess slow..lol) but al least it the healthy way.

I am glad that you didn't let your doctor bully you into getting a certain surgery. I just don't think doctors should do that. To me, they should work with me to find out what is best for me, not what is best for their pocket books. I know that not all doctors do that, but I'm just saying...

I chose the lap band simply because I was scared of the GB. I didn't see how mutilating myself to lose weight and opening myself up to a lot of future complications which was sure to include malnutrition was going to help me become healthier. I also witnessed my mother die from pancreatic cancer. I'm sure Dr. Brina can vouch for me when I say that you really, Really, REALLY DO NOT want to start fishing around with the human digetive system more than you need to. I did research and found that here in America the gold standard is the GB. I went to several seminars and can honestly tell you I felt "steered" towards one of the more radical procedures. In other countries, England/Australia the gold standard is the lap band. I think that our culture wants the quick fix, and I'm sure some of us are old enough to have learned that...simply? They ain't no such thing!

I also have a son I want to be around for. My husband and I also want to have another child, and I thought that this would be the best way to set an example for my son -- I had other health conditions that prevented me from really losing weight as I got older, but I like that I will be able to prepare meals and eat the same meals as my family while showing my son that healthful eating and exercise is the best way to maintain your health.

As an aside? I've also seen people close to me that have had the GB. They do not look healthy at all. The circles under the eyes, the ashen looking skin, and - some of them are REALLY worried about what they've done to themselves. Many will not admit it, but at least 3 of the 7 I know, have told me they wished they'd had more patience and did a little more research.

You also need to know YOURSELF. Do you have a personality which will allow you to be happy about the decision you made and not worry, or as Dr. Brina put it, HOPE. There's a lot of HOPING in GB. Hoping you won't be the one with constant nausea, hoping you won' t be the one with teh brittle bones, hoping you won't have dumping syndrome. Hoping you will be able to have all the plastic surgery you will need. I don't have that kind of personality. I'd be worried every day of my life about "what if?"

The people I know just "wanted the weight off," and were so psyched about losing and going down sizes that they ddin't stop to consider that the vomitting, the PB'ing and the weakness, and the "oh I just forgot my Vitamin today," could last forever. Well. Now they are "skinny" and fearful.

In addition I have spoken to doctors not in the WLS business who aren't pro GB either. My therapist says he has a pt. who is depressed b/c he is so miserable about having had GB even though he's been at goal. He "feels" unhealthy.

I know I went on for awhile, but I just wanted to give you an idea of soome things you should consider before deciding on which WLS to have. As you may have guessed -- I'm anti-GB UNLESS your health issues are such that either you do it and have a shot at life, or you don't do it, and certainly have your road paved to the grave.

Thank you, Dr. Brina for your insight. I always appreciate an outside medical opinion b/c you will be hard pressed to find a dr. who will be entirely (I feel) honest with you about all the things that could happen and which are likely to happen to you once you have GB. I'm not saying they aren't ethical, :sad_smile: but I think we can all see how it may be against their best interest to scare you out of a surgery that they are presenting at the best for losing weight quickly.