Hello

I am scheduled to have lap REY in 3 weeks. I have a friend that had it done and they put a ring around her pouch. My surgeon does not do that. Does anyone know of any benefits/risks to the ring? Will I lose just as much weight as if I did not have the ring?

Lap RNY is a faster weightloss they then the band. You will have to work a little harder to keep your muscle tone then with the band. Check out the surgery types here in the website, it should be able to answer all your questions. Michelle

Actually I think she was saying that a friend had RNY with a ring also placed with it, not necessarily "lap band". There is a surgery where a band/silicone ring is also placed in addition to having RNY. And actually you loose at the same rate with open RNY and lap RNY, just are different approaches to doing the same surgery.

Dawn, I think that some surgeons do this because of that is the surgery that they have been trained to do and because they have found that there is success in the long run for the weight loss. I have heard of what you are talking about and do not know what the exact name of the surgery is. I have heard of stories about ring or band slippage and it erroding into the inside body tissues. The lap band and other banding surgeries are not without their complications. This is something that you and a surgeon would have to weigh the benefits of with you. What the other poster said about the rate of weight loss is correct, but the percentage of weight loss between the 2 surgeries (lap band & RNY) at 5 years is the same 50-75%. As far as how fast you will loose weight without the ring I do not know. I do not know exactly what kind of ring she has. For me going without a band or ring far outweighs itself in the long run because of the potential complications later on. I would just rather be rearranged than have possible problems in the future with a band or ring. But that is just my opinion.