What made you choose the Lap Band as opposed to gastric bypass?

Greatly because I wasn't comfortable with having my intestines re-routed. I've known many people who have had major problems after by pass surgery. But then they weren't compliant with their diets.

There is no way on God's green earth (as my mother would've said) that I would let them cut up and sew closed my stomach, leaving it inside to produce acid in a closed system, and to cut out part of my small intestines and reroute them. Period. I know it works miracles for some people. I was fat but healthy; I just couldn't see my way clear to letting someone do that to me.

I want something I have some control over (fill level) and can remove if needed. I'm almost 1 year out and love my band, have no issues, and would fight tooth and nail to keep it.

Respectfully, (and I know there are bypassers on here I respect and wouldn't want to offend) my husband worked as an RN in a GI lab for years and a large portion of the patients were bypass patients...stomach issues, etc. I know the band can cause GERD and acid reflux so I don't want to pretend it is worry free...but what he saw were bypass patients. NOT band patients.

HOWEVER....the lap band is not for everyone, just as bypass was not for me but helps many many people regain health and vitality.

I suggest reading reading reading, going to a seminar or two or three, really looking at yourself and how you eat and what you need, and then deciding. Fortunately, there are several viable options out there.

I never actually considered wls and only had heard of the gastric bypass from some weight loss shows I have seen. In January '08 I spoke with my pcp about my weight and he brought up the lapband as an option to lose weight. He gave me a referral to the surgeon. I held onto the referral for about a month while I did some research on the lapband. By the end of February '08 I started the process of getting the lapband.

After being on diet after diet and losing and gaining back hundreds of pounds my decision was based on what I could personally live with. I wasn't comfortable with bypass or the sleeve because of the anatomical changes that seemed far drastic than the band. It took me a long time to decide on WLS as the right choice because I knew when I put my mind to it, I could lose the weight and get back in the "normal" BMI range. The problem is, it didn't last long. I could never stay at any particular weight for any length of time. The physical deprivation after a period of time and the powerlessness I felt when I was gaining and couldn't stop myself was more than I was willing to bear.

The band for me seemed like the best choice because it would physically help me control the amount I was eating if I could control the type of food I was choosing to consume. I was willing to do my part. The lap band to me personally seemed the least drastic to me and the only one I was willing to consider.

Like Restless, I was fat but healthy and I just wouldnt have ever considered something as drastic as a bypass.

But - at the time, I totally believed the band was worry and risk free and that the only real thing to be wary of was the 1 to 2% chance of slippage and erosion. I still would have done it.

There's also the fact that a lot of the early pioneers of the band are Australian and my surgeon is a partner in Prof. O'Brien's practice. I felt I was in good hands, and really, its all that's easily available in Australia at present time, bypass is very very uncommon and sleeves havent taken off quite yet.

We also have quite a markedly different approach to it in Australia, its much more a tool to gently reduce portion sizes, the aim in terms of diet, restriction etc is all a lot more moderate and it just didnt seem so extreme a surgery to me as its proven to be for a lot of people here.

I've always been fat, but when I developed GERD a couple years ago, I started gaining a lot of weight. The only thing that controlled it was eating bread and crackers. Constantly. I went through every test in the book and at the end they gave me some drugs, which only reduced the feeling of having a heart attack, but do nothing for the constant burning and pressure and tell me they can't do anything else, including GERD surgery.

Finally, after my last attack, each of which lasts for several weeks, and now being on 4 times the normal dose of meds, my GP suggested the band. Losing weight might help the GERD (even though it was causing me to gain tons) and the band can help or do away with GERD. I had a 3 in 4 chance of some level of success.

I would not have chosen reassignment surgery, as none of them would help GERD. I was also against having any of my internal organs chopped up and moved about. I read other people who were freaked out by the idea of having some foreign object inserted and would prefer to have some version of the other non-reversable procedure. If this doesn't work, then I can have it reversed and I don't really have any other options.

I did do all the research and education to find out about the band, which is something I'd have never considered in my life. I had to pay for it myself, as WLS is excluded from our health plan, no matter the diagnosis. I had the surgery a week ago, so I won't know if it has worked for up to several months, but here's hoping.

Because I like having hair and teeth.

I chose the lapband because I didn't like the idea of my insides being removed. And I liked the adjustability of the band.

Having said that, if the band didn't work, I would go for the sleeve.

I suggest reading reading reading, going to a seminar or two or three, really looking at yourself and how you eat and what you need, and then deciding. Fortunately, there are several viable options out there.

Absolutely Correct! :confused:

Some of you know that I had the lap band, it failed and almost killed me in the process, it was removed and I had a Gastric Bypass, which has worked very well for me.

I won't rehash any of that here; I don’t want to hijack the thread.

In light of my experiences, though, some of you might be interested in my thought processes when choosing my WLS, when I ended up with the band the first time around.

When I had my band installed, it had only been available in the US for about 18 months. I had read about it, I had heard about success with it in Europe, and it seemed like a good procedure. There was not much I could find out about the Track record, mainly because there WAS no track record here in the US. There were some Web Sites that had info on it, so of course I looked at those. There were also some yahoo groups that focused on the Band.

At the time of my decision, there were only three options that I looked at: The Band, the Bypass, and the Fobi Pouch. The Fobi looked pretty good, but it was only being done by one Doctor (Dr. Fobi...whooda thunk? :thumbup:) in one location, which coincidently, was about 30 minutes from my home. I didn't like the Fobi, mainly for those reasons: one Doctor, one Location, Small population of Patients.

I considered the Gastric Bypass, but like many people, it seemed too extreme for me. I parroted the same reasons for rejecting the Bypass that a lot of people do: it's too "invasive". The band is "removable/reversible", and the Band is "Adjustable". Those all seemed like pretty good features to me, so I was inclined to pursue it.

I was pretty set on the Lap Band after the research I did, and at the time I thought that my research had been pretty thorough. A COUPLE of Drs I spoke with suggested that I wait a while, until the Band had more of a track record here in the States. Several other Doctors I spoke with (I DID speak to quite a few...) really pushed the Bypass, because it DID have a very proven track record over nearly 50 years.

But, I couldn’t get past the idea of everything being re-routed inside of me.

So, I had the Band, and the rest is history.