Ok thanks in advance for reading what probably is going to be a long post :biggrin:

I have been working on getting a band for a while. I have had some set backs with insurance but I think I am finally on my way. The first place I started was very supportive of getting banded and told me I would lose about 70 pounds. At the time I was 5'2 and about 230 pounds. I was happy with that. I knew it would be slow but that is what I wanted. I know that a lot of my problem is portion control so I thought the band was good for me. Everything was due to be sent to insurance and I got a call from the surgeon saying he finally wanted to meet me. I went in to see him and he refused to do the surgery due to severe asthma and a prior history of a spontaneous PE. I started a new program a few weeks ago and they tried to talk me out of the band. They said there were lots of complications with band slippage and problems with the port flipping over.. I expressed that I was scared of weight regain just like what happens when I dieted. They told be that most people with the band regain most of their weight and end up getting the bypass anyways. I was shocked. I always thought that this was the reverse. So I almost changed my mind, but decided on the band still. Now here are my reasons for wanting the band. I am being honest here. I knew that I could cheat and still eat some bad food from time to time but knew I would have to be careful. The thought of never touching fatty food or sweets scared me. I also wanted to lose the weight slow so people would not notice as much.

I meet with the new surgeon on Friday and am real excited...until early evens. So today I was talking to the gastric bypass surgeon where I work. He also tried to steer me away from the band. He claimed the average weight loss for the band was 40 pounds and that he no longer does them due to complications. Same as stated earlier. He told me most overweight people have a permanent weight problem and really need a permanent fix, meaning the gastric bypass. He said most banders go back to eating all the wrong foods just like dieting and gain the weight back. I agree with the fact that a food addiction is a food addiction and I probably will also cheat. Now I am scared I am making the wrong choice. I want to do this the correct way. Is it true that with a gastric bypass you can never eat any sugar or any fatty foods again. I just dont think I could do that. Any advise would be great and be honest. Maybe I need the bypass to keep me in line.

Being successful with the band depends on each individual's level of commitment and ability to really make a lifestyle change. For this reason I feel surgeons prefer the GB that isn't as dependent upon patients commitment level, it is a sure thing that patients will lose weight with GB due to the malabsorption factor. Both procedures have complication statistics that you can and should research. There is always a risk of weight re-gain with any WLS procedure.

I recommend you research the sleeve.

Wow! I can't believe how much negativity you got about the band. My surgeon almost does NO GBP anymore and said that long term results are about the same. Though w/ GBP you lose faster. I know someone who had GBP 5 years ago and eats whatever she wants. However she started at 500 lbs. and never "worked her program". At first she suffered from dumping, due to the sweets and fats, but now never has an issue. That being said, she has lost less than 100 pounds in 5years. They told her no soda (Just like bandees) and she drank it the day she got home. She re-introduced EVERYTHING and tolerates it all. You will be hard-pressed on this site to find people against the band. I am only 1 month out, but am pleased overall. I would see a few surgeons. I think that the surgeon has a right to be concerned about other health issues, but I had tons of tests before he would operate.'

Good Luck!

Bottom line this whole thing is a crap shoot...It's either going to work or it's not... If your going to have complications, your going to have them. This goes for any of the weight loss procedures. You have to go with what you are comfortable with. I personally would rather have something that can be removed if I have problems, then something that can't. A slipped band and a flipped port can be fixed... I may be wrong but unattaching body parts and moving them can't be reattached like it never happened. But I didn't go to med school so I can be completely wrong.

I have been around people that have had gastric bypass and they are eating and drinking all the things that supposedly would make them sick if they did. It may have bothered them in the beginning, but after time it was all tolerable, and they gained weight back. Maybe not all of it but some. Same thing can happen with the band. Look how many people post that it didn't work. But it seems everyone knows somebody either directly or indirectly that can tell you a gastric bypass horror story or worse...I would rather only lose 40 pounds and have to try something else, then to go through some of the stories I have heard. I don't want my port to flip either.

How come some people are so successful at just dieting like weight watchers or nutri system... I think it was just their time and they did it. They keep it off because they are happier being thin and realized why they over eat. Probably they had a lot of good stuff going on in their lives, the weight was just holding them back from being even happier then they already were. Their lives changed for the better. Some others lose all the weight, keep it off for awhile and then gain it back. As far as I am concerned they never really got happy, their lives still sucked. They thought their lives sucked because they were overweight... Being overweight was a result of their sucky life... not the other way around. Something is still making them miserable so they start eating again.

I think if you get your head around your problem, all of them can work. Maybe with the band you have more time to figure out why you over eat since it's slower... At least while you are figuring it out, your band could be helping a little at a time.

Please don't think this band thing is easy... It's not. I't is frustrating, annoying, confusing and it causes pain in the beginning... but it is also a great tool that is working for a lot of people. I truly hope I don't have problems, because I love my little artificial body part and this is the first time since my twenties that I feel like I am going to be healthy and thin. I absolutely love it...so does my husband and my son who also have them.

So again, bottom line just like everything else in your life, it's going to work or it's not. There are only two ways it will turn out you will succeed or you will fail and have to try try again. If you think about it everything we do in our lives have two options!

Go with what you want, don't let anyone talk you out of it. Its your body, its your life.

I have stepped down from my soap box now.

Edited November 12, 200916 yr by DanBar

I have an aunt that had GB and she eat pretty much whatever she wants. But she had sooooo many problems. Yes, she lost the weight, but now she is gaining back slowing.

I decided to go with the band because i wanted to take ownership of my weightloss. I know I have to work with the band. I know I am in control of my destiny. And yes, with all WLS there can be complications. However, with the band, it can simply be reversed, removed...bypass is not! That was my other biggest deciding factor.

You can succeed or fail on either. Bypass is a guaranteed, larger weight loss, but long term you can gain it back. I was told by 2 different surgeons that the band is a better tool for long term maintenance. They are 2 very different surgeries and I think you have a lot more thinking and research to do. Good luck to you in whatever you decide.

Thank you so much for all of your support and help. I was so afraid I was making a mistake by wanting the band! I know that going into my appointment on Friday I will ask a lot of questions but in the end my heart is still going to be settled on the band. Thanks again.

I was banded 1/7/2009 that is 10 months ago and I have lost 78 lbs. I started at 292 and today I weigh 214. My desicion to be banded although I was told the weight lost would be slow was because I knew it could be reversed and I liked the idea of having to start off slowing and work my way up on restriction. I thank God everyday that I made this decison. I was banded with the idea in my head that it was my tool. Just like a hammer. You use the tool to fix or you leave it alone it's your choice. I use my tool, I work out 3-4 days a week non stop since my post OP. I have my days that I am not a perfect eater too but that is part of the process. I have seen people both banded and gastric that have gained and those that have kept it off because they work at it. There is no magic solution to weight lost and that is what I have to remind myself every single day. This weight loss journey will continue for ever because I still have my struggles with wanting to eat.

Thanks Aries! I will always have a food addiction. I want the band to be a tool to help me as well!

the prior posts all make great points

HOWEVER you need to consider the surgeons you are talking to .... You go to a Ford Dealer , you come out with a Ford. right? be honest with yourself what your needs are and do your homework. This is all life altering.

Good Luck!

Good luck with whatever you decide. It's your body.

This was also shocking to me as my surgeon, who performs bypass and bands really prefers the band for long term healthy weight loss, as does my nutritionist. Find a surgeon who has a great track record and few problems. Mine has performed something like 1000 of these and ONLY ONCE did a patient need to have it removed and do bypass instead and that was bc she couldn't get to a sweet spot, either she couldn't eat at all or she ate as much as she wanted. But that's 1/1000.

I was so excited when I learned about lap band because it sounded like the tool I needed. I was not the person to sit down and eat a half gallon of ice cream or a whole bag of chips, but let me load up my plate as a meal and I could do some damage and left to my own to make meal choice decisions and I made BAD ones. I figured at least with this when I made those decisions I would do LESS DAMAGE.

For me, bypass was out.. too many health risks and I was a very healthy fat person, I was not willing to risk everything else. The band makes you eat less. That's all I wanted and I couldn't be happier with my decision at this point. In the past I was so prone to overeat that I defeated myself from the get go... now it's so much easier to turn down food or just get a taste.

Find a doc that is good at the band and you might get a better answer... sounds like this guy just isn't a good lab band surgeon.

Bottom line this whole thing is a crap shoot...It's either going to work or it's not... If your going to have complications, your going to have them. This goes for any of the weight loss procedures. You have to go with what you are comfortable with. I personally would rather have something that can be removed if I have problems, then something that can't. A slipped band and a flipped port can be fixed... I may be wrong but unattaching body parts and moving them can't be reattached like it never happened. But I didn't go to med school so I can be completely wrong.

I have been around people that have had gastric bypass and they are eating and drinking all the things that supposedly would make them sick if they did. It may have bothered them in the beginning, but after time it was all tolerable, and they gained weight back. Maybe not all of it but some. Same thing can happen with the band. Look how many people post that it didn't work. But it seems everyone knows somebody either directly or indirectly that can tell you a gastric bypass horror story or worse...I would rather only lose 40 pounds and have to try something else, then to go through some of the stories I have heard. I don't want my port to flip either.

How come some people are so successful at just dieting like weight watchers or nutri system... I think it was just their time and they did it. They keep it off because they are happier being thin and realized why they over eat. Probably they had a lot of good stuff going on in their lives, the weight was just holding them back from being even happier then they already were. Their lives changed for the better. Some others lose all the weight, keep it off for awhile and then gain it back. As far as I am concerned they never really got happy, their lives still sucked. They thought their lives sucked because they were overweight... Being overweight was a result of their sucky life... not the other way around. Something is still making them miserable so they start eating again.

I think if you get your head around your problem, all of them can work. Maybe with the band you have more time to figure out why you over eat since it's slower... At least while you are figuring it out, your band could be helping a little at a time.

Please don't think this band thing is easy... It's not. I't is frustrating, annoying, confusing and it causes pain in the beginning... but it is also a great tool that is working for a lot of people. I truly hope I don't have problems, because I love my little artificial body part and this is the first time since my twenties that I feel like I am going to be healthy and thin. I absolutely love it...so does my husband and my son who also have them.

So again, bottom line just like everything else in your life, it's going to work or it's not. There are only two ways it will turn out you will succeed or you will fail and have to try try again. If you think about it everything we do in our lives have two options!

Go with what you want, don't let anyone talk you out of it. Its your body, its your life.

I have stepped down from my soap box now.

Applause! This is right on!:thumbup:

Before I got my band, I spent 2 years with a therapist, working out most of my problems about food, self-esteem, etc. It was the best thing I ever did! I now know that I deserve to be healthy (not just thinner). I feel good about myself and want to eat healthy so that I can live a long and happy life. I'm finally losing weight for me, and that's the most important thing. The band is just a tool to help me achieve my goals.

Well I settled with the band! I knew I should go with what I wanted the whole time. When I met this surgeon he was really nice as we talked about all of my options :thumbup:

It sounds to me like you had already made up your mind, good for you! I have been banded almost 2 yrs and I do love it. Don't get me wrong there are good days and bad days, but that's with anything. Do your research and find the right tool for YOU. I have never heard that about losing only 40lbs. I was on the low end of BMI's and I still managed to lose over 80lbs in roughly 10 months. I have also maintained my current weight for a year. Please look deeper into the surgery and make the choice you are comfortable with. Good luck and take care

I just want to second some of the other people's advice here with my story. My family doctor suggested gastric bypass to me, he hasn't had a lot of patients do weight loss surgery. He did have one recent one who had the Roux en y gastric bypass and had success. I told him later that I thought the gastric band looked good to me. He researched it, called me in to the office and told me that was the way to go - less risk, slower weight loss (safer), no malabsorbtion, and the same results as gastric bypass 5 years out statistically. I think he'll be recommending the band, rather than bypass to other patients now. The only disadvantage where I live is that gastric bypass is covered by provincial insurance and banding is not - self pay unless you have really good private insurance.

Anyway, when I seen costs - bypass costs more than banding - perhaps your surgeon is steering you to the more profitable surgery for him/her. I'd check that info you're getting because it doesn't match with what I've seen. I don't get the part about the band not being permanent - it will still be there indefinately. It has the advantage of being reversable, but I can't even imagine choosing that. I felt I needed the surgery because I know I would regain the weight otherwise.

Only you can judge what might work best for you, but I have no regrets about choosing the band for me. I could eat more at a meal than many others around me, so I figured portion control would be a big help. And I do love my sweets too - just have to keep them portion controlled too.