I also received my date today and it is Oct. 1. Dr. Poplawski at Barix Center in Michigan. I'm excited and apprehensive.

I just got my date. Finally I can't wait. Anyone else out there???? susan

Hi, I have a date scheduled for my surgery on Oct. 29th. I'm having the Realize Band put in. I can't wait. I started my journey in April and my required 6 months is up in October!

I'm planning to get a sleeve in Oct. I looked into the lap band first. I never really considered Gastric Bypass. I don't want malabsorption. All WLS interfere with the production of ghrelin, the hormone that makes you hungry. But the sleeve is the only one what removes the fundus, which is the part of the stomach that produces most of your ghrelin. People who get sleeves report just not being hungry. Since my big problem is hunger, that appealed to me. It also restricts the amount of food you can eat just like bypass and the band. Short term and long term weight loss with a sleeve is comparable to GB, but it's not nearly as dangerous. There are no long-term complications. Short term complications -- leaks and strictures -- are rare. Also, the part of the stomach that you are left with isn't as stretchy as the part you are left with with a bypass so the chances you stretch out your new stomach and start regaining are less. All WLS can be gotten around. Certain foods are high in calories but slide right through your system. Bypass has the added component of malabsorption so if you do things like that, you won't gain as much as someone who has a band or sleeve who eats around it. Or maybe you'll dump. Dumping is one of those things that some people think is a disadvantage and some thing is an advantage. But the problem is, you can't count on it. Some people dump at first, but then grow out of it. Some never dump. Some dump forever. You don't know which you'll be until you have the surgery. The nice thing about the sleeve is that it started as a 2-part operation for people too sick to get bypass or DS. So you can start with it and then if you find you need the malabsorption later, you can do the second part. But if you don't need it, you've saved yourself the complications that often go with a bypass or DS. That's my take on it anyway.

No thank you not at this time.