I had my seminar, and got pretty much approved for the surgery through insurance, i scheduled my consultation, where i will do my official weigh in for insurance. I was 260 just last week, and my eating habits haven't even changed, but i'm loosing weight i've lost 6 pounds this week and i know i will just gain it right back but i getter gain it back before my freaking consultation!!! i'm right on the edge of 40 BMI but i should be able to get approved with 35 or above because i have PCOS. any advice or thoughts?

oh thats really cool though beth, i'm so glad you got approved! i go tomorrow for my consultation i'm so nervous and excited i feel like i'm going crrraaaaazzzzy :purplebananna:!!! that three pounds was hell and definitely the hardest three pounds to gain of my life. I'm really hoping that this doctor considers PCOS a comorbidity i've heard it go either way. so we'll see i'll keep you guys posted! thank you so much for all your support.

oh thats really cool though beth, i'm so glad you got approved! i go tomorrow for my consultation i'm so nervous and excited i feel like i'm going crrraaaaazzzzy :purplebananna:!!! that three pounds was hell and definitely the hardest three pounds to gain of my life. I'm really hoping that this doctor considers PCOS a comorbidity i've heard it go either way. so we'll see i'll keep you guys posted! thank you so much for all your support.

I always thought PCOS was a co-morbidity, but if it's iffy, I hope for you it works in your favor. Good luck!

okay so i had my consultation! and i am approved with my weight and everything i measured at exactly 40.0 bmi haha! butttt now i have another choice, my doctor says that Gastric Bypass would be better for me. but in the end it is my choice, so now i'm really contemplating just getting gastric. what do you guys think?

WHY do these doctors do this, except that it pays more???

Okay, I'm not going to try to talk you into or out of anything, but I will offer up what I thought of when doing my own research.

The band is less invasive, and it certainly is not permanant re-routing of your insides. With the band, you can still eat healthy and well, but with gastric you are essentially being malnourished into weightloss.

For me it was a no brainer. Even IF the band failed me at some point, I would likely go with the sleeve. Granted, it's a permanent change, but it's not re-routing your intestines and removing all but just what you need to live.

That's my take on it. Will you lose weight faster with gastric? It's possible, yes. Not always certain, but possible. However, if that's all you're looking at (and I don't know that you are, it's simply hypothetical), then maybe you need to continue researching. We all have to look at the overall quality of life more than just the numbers on the scale.

Thank you so much beth, i totally agree with you on a lot of aspects. i'm just nervous either way and i definitely need to do a little more research until i feel positive about on or the other. one of the big things is that the longest a lapband has been put in is a little less than 20 years and it was eroded and stuff and i'm only 19 that means i got at least 60 years on this band, and no doctor know what if my band can last that long. and i can tell you i don't want to be getting this surgery every 20 years.

Thank you so much beth, i totally agree with you on a lot of aspects. i'm just nervous either way and i definitely need to do a little more research until i feel positive about on or the other. one of the big things is that the longest a lapband has been put in is a little less than 20 years and it was eroded and stuff and i'm only 19 that means i got at least 60 years on this band, and no doctor know what if my band can last that long. and i can tell you i don't want to be getting this surgery every 20 years.

That's true, the band doesn't have a long history yet. Just realize that the issues with the first bands that people were having have been rectified with newer models. We don't know how long that means they will last, but the medical community has paid attention and fixed many of the issues the band had.

With gastric bypass, they take out all the small intestine you don't "need" without killing you. Seriously. I don't want to be malnourished to health, and not only because of the obvious discrepancy. :thumbup:

okay so i had my consultation! and i am approved with my weight and everything i measured at exactly 40.0 bmi haha! butttt now i have another choice, my doctor says that Gastric Bypass would be better for me. but in the end it is my choice, so now i'm really contemplating just getting gastric. what do you guys think?

Does your insurance cover the sleeve? The sleeve reduces the size of your stomach; however leaves the pylori, so you don't have malabsorption.

When I went to my WLS Seminar, the surgeon presented all 3 options - band, sleeve and RNY. He said that if he were in the position of having to have WLS he would definitely go with the sleeve -- it was the "newest bad boy on the block."

I have done a lot of reserach and inasmuch as I am self-pay regardless of my decision, I have chosen to go with the sleeve. My surgery date is 6/12/09.

If you read the threads on the forum under Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy you can get alot of information ... there are several very knowledgable peoople who have had the sleeve - either virgin sleevers or band to sleeve revision.

If you are not 100% sure about which surgery you want, don't proceed until you are.

Good luck.

For some reason Kaiser was pushing the gastric bypass. I had already made up my mind to have the band. Gastric Bypass comes with the possibility of lots of complications. Many people who have gastric gain the weight back too. My thoughts are try the band the weight may come off slower but you are also learning how to eat and manage your weight at the same time which is equally as important as loosing. Gastric is much more invasive and is not reversible. At a BMI of 40 it seems to me it just isn't necessary to do something so drastic. Just my opinion.