Hi all I have had all my appointments and will be seeing the dr for follow up on all my test results next wk thursday. After that I see the surgeon and schedule my surgery. I am now confused, but I do want the band, but been thinking about gastric a lot lateley I even had a dream about it last night. I really don't want gastric becuase of the higher risks and the re routing of my insides. The physcologist and dietician both mad me a lilttle upset when I saw them they both had there comments saying that I should have the gastric and that the surgeon is going to tell me the same thing and blah blah blah. So now I am just confused and scared now that what if the band doesn't work for me. How did you all know it would work for you if you loved food so much? Another thing with te gastric I have too many friends that has had it and are now gaining there weight back and that's another thing I don't like about gastric as well. I mean was it easy with the band to eat better and diet please someone help me I feel like tearing up a lilttle cause im tired of being fat and I wanna have success. Please give me some advice what should I do?

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Hey there! I have dealt with a lot of the same feelings going back and forth about which is a better option. It seems to me that the band is much safer and produces the same if not better long term results. I think that you have to "follow the peace" think about each option and do what you feel more peaceful about. What is right for you may not be right for your neighbor. Good luck and keep me posted! I am hoping to be banded in late September/early October.:tongue2:

I just have heard that the band doesn't work for everyone, but im sure everybody here is in the same boat as me. We all love food and know what needs to be done, but my thing is im hoping the band will help me to follow a diet plan as without the band I cannot stick wit the diets. I just don't understand is it the band that helps you stick to your diet plan? What makes you not cheat and eat thing you shuouldn't what do you eat with the band is it a strict diet or what?

Mind you, I am not banded yet, but I know from reading on here and what my doc and nutritionist have told me, you can definately eat around the band. Things like chips, cookies, candy, etc will slip right thru. If you are a big sweets eater, or a big junk food eater, maybe its not right for you. If, like me, you tend to eat too much at one sitting, a huge piece of meat, plus all the sides, then want more in just a little while, then the band may be just what you need to help get your eating under control. I am of the mindset that the band will only help those that help themselves! Like I said before, I am not even banded yet, so take my thoughts with a grain of salt! I have researched both GB and LB to the nth degree though, and I think the band is the better of the two for me. It all comes down to you and your particular struggles!Good luck with your decision! Jodi

"I just don't understand is it the band that helps you stick to your diet plan? What makes you not cheat and eat thing you shuouldn't what do you eat with the band is it a strict diet or what? "

The band is not magic, it will not magically make you not want junk food anymore. It simply makes you full on less food. The fact that you can still eat the foods you once loved(well most of them anyways) is a double edged sword. Yay.. I can eat sweets without 'dumping syndrome' .. but then again.. Boo.. I can eat sweets without dumping syndrome! . I love my band, don't get me wrong. I feel more in control than I ever have. I do look at food differently now. I look at it in terms of what it can offer me.. Protein? I'll take it. No nutritional value? I am usually strong enough to pass. It's still alot of work making healthy choices every day, but I couldn't have gotten to this place without my band. Good luck with whichiver surgery you choose.

Yes so now I see if you eat a lot of sweets and junk then the band won't work. Me I eat too much at a sitting I can finish my plate and want more later. I eat sweets, but not like I love to eat food. I mostly eat my 3 meals a day, but they can be big meals and I need to make them smaller, but it's hard. Sweets I crave for those every now and then I can pass on them sometimes.