Hi
I'm finally at a point in my life where I'm ready to make the change and take the necessary steps to having wls. I really want to try the lap band and have done my research on it, but lately I've found a lot negative words about it which almost has me second guessing myself. I finally found a doctor that accepts my insurance (Wellcare) and his name is Dr. Khan. Is there anyone here that's familiar with him? Also, is there anyone here who's just starting to move forward with the journey because I would love to have a buddy to talk to being that nobody I've talked to supports this idea.
You really need to do some objective research on the band (not the manufacturer websites or surgeons who only do bands) and check the revisions board on this site. Make sure you are well informed before you decide on the band. Not trying to be negative but I have seen so many posts regarding band revisions that it can't be a good sign. My own research at the beginning of my journey turned up very disturbing information and I changed my mind about it in a mere 24 hours.
Knowledge is power. Make sure you are informed about all your WLS options before you go under the knife so you only have to do it once.
Lia
Knowledge is power. Make sure you are informed about all your WLS options before you go under the knife so you only have to do it once.
Lia
Starting weight & height: 265/5' 8.5; Goal weight: 160; Current weight: 155
I know it can be overwhelming. That is why it is so important to wade through the "noise" and sift through to the facts. There are many veterans who have links to older posts with peer reviewed journals and statistics about the various surgery options. There are lots of websites you can check and never underestimate the power of a good google search. But I took a good 3 months to do research and make my decision and I don't regret any of that time. I know I made the best and right decision for me and I have absolutely no regrets other than not doing it 10 years ago.
You really have to take a good look at yourself, your BMI and how much you need and want to lose; what kind of eater you are now and how you want to eat as a lifestyle...that is very important because that is one of the major differences between the surgery types.
With the restriction only procedures (lap band and VSG) your diet will be very important because you only have the restriction of the size of your stomach to control your weight.
With RNY and the DS you have restriction in addition to malabsorbtion of nutrients to help you lose and maintain weight loss.
I have simplified that a bit but that is the general idea. There are many more differences between the 4 surgery types and many pros and cons for all of them.
I started out wanting the band and then after research decided on the VSG. Then I learned about the DS and decided that after really analyzing myself and my eating habits and how I wanted to eat, the DS would be the best for me. The DS had the best statistics for excess weight loss and keeping it off long term. The DS had the best post-op diet...the most normal eating of all the surgery types.
I reached goal at 11 months out and I eat pretty much anything I want. I am aware of the carbs I eat and I am diligent about eating more protein than carbs. That is all I do when it comes to eating. I don't count anything and I won't have to go on another diet ever again. I don't deny myself anything that I want. But I do work out and that allows me to feel that I can do that. I am maintianing my weight fairly easily. It fluctuates within a couple of pounds but I expect that. And I still lose a pound about every 6 weeks or so.
So slow down, take a breath and don't let all the information overwhelm you. Take control and get the facts. Read everything you can. If you go to information sessions, try to go to surgeons who perform all 4 of the surgeries, and there are precious few of them. But realize that a surgeon is going to try to "sell" you on the surgery that he performs. It is a business for him. And that may not necessarily be what's best for you.
Good luck!
Lia
You really have to take a good look at yourself, your BMI and how much you need and want to lose; what kind of eater you are now and how you want to eat as a lifestyle...that is very important because that is one of the major differences between the surgery types.
With the restriction only procedures (lap band and VSG) your diet will be very important because you only have the restriction of the size of your stomach to control your weight.
With RNY and the DS you have restriction in addition to malabsorbtion of nutrients to help you lose and maintain weight loss.
I have simplified that a bit but that is the general idea. There are many more differences between the 4 surgery types and many pros and cons for all of them.
I started out wanting the band and then after research decided on the VSG. Then I learned about the DS and decided that after really analyzing myself and my eating habits and how I wanted to eat, the DS would be the best for me. The DS had the best statistics for excess weight loss and keeping it off long term. The DS had the best post-op diet...the most normal eating of all the surgery types.
I reached goal at 11 months out and I eat pretty much anything I want. I am aware of the carbs I eat and I am diligent about eating more protein than carbs. That is all I do when it comes to eating. I don't count anything and I won't have to go on another diet ever again. I don't deny myself anything that I want. But I do work out and that allows me to feel that I can do that. I am maintianing my weight fairly easily. It fluctuates within a couple of pounds but I expect that. And I still lose a pound about every 6 weeks or so.
So slow down, take a breath and don't let all the information overwhelm you. Take control and get the facts. Read everything you can. If you go to information sessions, try to go to surgeons who perform all 4 of the surgeries, and there are precious few of them. But realize that a surgeon is going to try to "sell" you on the surgery that he performs. It is a business for him. And that may not necessarily be what's best for you.
Good luck!
Lia
Starting weight & height: 265/5' 8.5; Goal weight: 160; Current weight: 155
Very informative, thanks. When you say that your eating afterwards is the most normal out of all of the surgeries, what do you mean? With all of them you have to watch what you eat, period. Taking supplements for the rest of my life was a turn off for me because of the malabsorption. With VSG I would only have to take a multivitamin with iron and calcium from the seminar I viewed today, but I really wouldn't know I guess until after the surgery. I am definitely looking to have only one surgery. Hopefully, the one that will yield the best results for me since I have a lot to lose. I won't lie the DS sounds interesting because of the long term benefits of keeping the weight off. I'm going to read up on it now.
Well of course we all have to watch what we eat. Even if you don't have WLS you have to watch what you eat. But I only watch what I eat to the extent that I have to make sure I eat well over 120gms of protein every day and limit the carbs I eat, particularly simple carbs. I don't have to worry about fat because I only absorb 20% of the fat I consume. So whan I say I that my diet is normal, I mean that I just eat. I live with my dad and he did not have surgery and has no special diet so I eat what he cooks. Sometimes that's fried chicken and macaroni and cheese and some veggie. I know that I will eat a piece of fried chicken, about a 1/4 cup of mac n cheese and about a 1/4 cup of the veggie. That sounds like a normal meal to me, just smaller. And I'll be hungry a couple of hours later and eat another piece of chicken. I usually get the bulk of my protein in for breakfast. Today I had 2 scrambled eggs, a smoked sausage, and a 1/3 cup of cottage cheese for breakfast. All protein and a big chunk of what I need for the day.
The vitamins/supplements sounds like a lot but it really is no big deal. But they are a deal breaker and if you can't do it then you should not get the DS. I take my vits 3 times a day. I am not perfect and I miss my mid day vitamins a lot but my labs are great so I don't stress it so much. It is a small price to pay to wear a size 8 and for all the other amazing changes this 107 lb weigh loss has done to change my life and health for the better,. This was truly the best decision I have ever made for myself.
Whatever you decide, make the best decision for you, A good site to read more about the DS is dsfacts.com and duodenalswitch.com. I also got a lot of great information on all of the surgeries by watching YouTube videos. I watched videos from people who had RNY and VSG and seeing them and hearing their stories was more helpful than I can tell you. If you click on my YouTube link and go to my page you can find some of them as channels that I subscribe to if you are interested.
KellaWanda is a very good one. She had VSG and she is a counseler or psychologist so her vlogs always have a phsychological element that I found very helpful.
Ok, gotta run.
Lia
The vitamins/supplements sounds like a lot but it really is no big deal. But they are a deal breaker and if you can't do it then you should not get the DS. I take my vits 3 times a day. I am not perfect and I miss my mid day vitamins a lot but my labs are great so I don't stress it so much. It is a small price to pay to wear a size 8 and for all the other amazing changes this 107 lb weigh loss has done to change my life and health for the better,. This was truly the best decision I have ever made for myself.
Whatever you decide, make the best decision for you, A good site to read more about the DS is dsfacts.com and duodenalswitch.com. I also got a lot of great information on all of the surgeries by watching YouTube videos. I watched videos from people who had RNY and VSG and seeing them and hearing their stories was more helpful than I can tell you. If you click on my YouTube link and go to my page you can find some of them as channels that I subscribe to if you are interested.
KellaWanda is a very good one. She had VSG and she is a counseler or psychologist so her vlogs always have a phsychological element that I found very helpful.
Ok, gotta run.
Lia
Starting weight & height: 265/5' 8.5; Goal weight: 160; Current weight: 155
(deactivated member)
on 6/8/11 4:57 am - adairsville, GA
on 6/8/11 4:57 am - adairsville, GA
Hi,
I am actually looking for a buddy myself. I just took the first step today with turning in my paperwork to wellstar to see if I will be accepted in to their program. I have been thinking about this since 2008 and at that time I dropped the idea after a few months, but I have started looking at this option again at the beginning of the year and have done alot of research before going to a seminar. I believe I am going to go the same way sassy did because of my situation.
I was also very happy with the resources that I found on one of the surgeons pages, you may want to take a look at some of them http://www.advancedobesitysurgery.com/resources.asp
I hope this helps!
I am actually looking for a buddy myself. I just took the first step today with turning in my paperwork to wellstar to see if I will be accepted in to their program. I have been thinking about this since 2008 and at that time I dropped the idea after a few months, but I have started looking at this option again at the beginning of the year and have done alot of research before going to a seminar. I believe I am going to go the same way sassy did because of my situation.
I was also very happy with the resources that I found on one of the surgeons pages, you may want to take a look at some of them http://www.advancedobesitysurgery.com/resources.asp
I hope this helps!
Hi Pawmetto, it's nice to know that someone is from my neck of the woods. lol. I think Dr. Smith was one of the doctors on my list, but I'm thinking he doesn't take my insurance so I made a call down to Emory instead. I've been thinking about wls for years but for some reason I just didn't feel it was attainable since I didn't have insurance at the time. Another part of it was all of the negativity around me concerning the issue. This year I really started thinking about it seriously because I need to do something for me for once in my life. So here lately I've become obsessed with surgery. It seems like every time I have my mind set on a particular surgery, that will change after I read or talk to someone on the boards. My initial choice was lap band but then I read so many things against it and that it wasn't for people who had very high bmi's. So I chose the vsg since it would still give me restriction without some of the harsher side affects. I do know that all surgeries have their good and bad.
After chatting with Sassy, I'm keeping an open mind about DS. I still don't know a lot about it. The fact that my intestinal tract will be shifted around isn't very appealing to me but I need lasting results. I want to live a somewhat normal life if possible. But anyway, I did call Emory and the coordinator told me that I need to start my 6 mos. diet supervised by my doctor if I didn't want to make the trip down there every month. I'm thinking that I'd probably be better off going down there, but who wants to drive that far every a month? But again it may be worth it. See how undecided I am? Sorry for my rambling.
After chatting with Sassy, I'm keeping an open mind about DS. I still don't know a lot about it. The fact that my intestinal tract will be shifted around isn't very appealing to me but I need lasting results. I want to live a somewhat normal life if possible. But anyway, I did call Emory and the coordinator told me that I need to start my 6 mos. diet supervised by my doctor if I didn't want to make the trip down there every month. I'm thinking that I'd probably be better off going down there, but who wants to drive that far every a month? But again it may be worth it. See how undecided I am? Sorry for my rambling.
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