Second guessing: rny vs lapband

 My brother-in-law is being banded on Mar 25th, and he is telling me pros and cons of both surgeries.  I already know what they are, but he's making the rny sound so bad, I'm worried now.  I am in my 5th month of a supervised diet program for insurance requirements.  Anyhow, now he's got me kind of second guessing myself!!  So I wondered what kind of a predicament I mite find myself in if I decide to do the band instead of rny.  Dr. Jones is my surgeon and at the seminar she did steer us toward the rny.  Uggghhhh, I don't need this right now!  Laura

Laura, everyone needs to do what is right for them. I think if you were leaning towards the RNY, then go with it. Don't let someone else's opinions sway you. Everyone chooses their particular surgery for one reason or another. I think there are banders who choose the band because of the idea of dumping, etc. They just want the restriction, not the malabsorption. I know that for me personally, I needed the malabsorption to keep me from cheating and eating things that I shouldn't. You do what is right for you and don't let people persuade you otherwise. Good luck.

hi melissa!  i really appreciate and value your advice.  i researched and researched both and after the seminar thought i was positive.  reading all of your messages really encourages me that rny is what i want and need to do.  can you please refresh me on the dumping? is that when you have rny and eat sweets you get diarrhea and shakes and sweats?  will i ever be able to eat fruit or sweet n low? thanks, laura p.s. i'm so excited for you and your family with the new baby coming!

Laura, dumping occurs when you eat something that your body can't absorb correctly. It varies from person to person honestly. Some people can't eat any types of carbs without dumping, other's it's sugars. I can do splenda without issues and a decent amount of sugars also. Fruits are a natural sugar and your body doesn't respond to it the same way, so yes you can eat fruit! Also, everyone dumps in different ways. Some have diarrhea, nausea, etc. For me, I just get very very tired and need to go to sleep. The sugar rushes into your blood stream very quickly. I ate an ice cream cone one time, felt like crud 1/2 hr later and checked my blood sugar. It had sky rocketed to almost 400. No wonder I felt awful.

I still say, stick with your gut (no pun intended) and go with what you feel like is right for you!!

Melissa is right on, you have to do what is best for you.  I love my RNY and would do it again 100 times over.  For me the slower and less weight loss of the band and the maintance was just not for me. 

Only you and your surgeon know whats right for you!!!!

Kim

P.S. Just out of curiosity what did your brother in law say was so bad about the RNY?

hi kim! i agree completely with your take on the faster and more weight loss and no maintenance. i would not want to go thru the needle in the stomach thing and i def don't want to lose only 50 or so lbs! i guess i just needed some reinforcement. he did say that he was sure i would be happy with either surgery. but the thing he kind of scared me on was the 'recuperation time'. i'm having it done laporascopically (sp?) and i had a hysterectomy the same way and was up and running around with little to no pain day after! he also said has anyone told you about the ulcers? welllll, i know that's a possibility.  but is it that common? what can i do to prevent getting ulcers? anything? thanks so much for your help.  also, one more question, kind of dumb....but how does your body know when to stop losing weight? what if you cant stop losing? sincerely, laura

Hello!  The recoup time varys from person to person, I have seen people on here that bounce back in a week and some that take a little bit longer.  I was one of the little bit longer, but this was the first majory surgery I had ever had in my life so I think that is the reason.  As with any surgery there as complication that can come up.  I did in fact get a couple of ulcers, but they were easily treated and painless.  I was probably eating some acid foods to early out that I should not have been.  I also developed a couple of strictures (where the hole to my stomach decided to close up!), also very easily fix after I finally figured out what was going on. I am not one of those people who is very good at listening to their body, I tend to tough it out.  I lost a total of 138 pounds. I went from 258 to 125.  From a size 24 to a size 4, even own some 2's!  I too was worried about when to stop losing weight, as I actually got down to 119 at one point, but some how if you just stick 100% to the program you just stop!  Well of course I am 21 weeks prego now so the scales are going the other way, but in a good way :)  I wish you all the best!  This board is great and I loved learning about everyones experiences when I was pre-op.  It really helped me a ton!

Kim

Laura,

Like you I find myself on the fence between the lap band and the RNY.  When I expressed this concern to my surgeon Dr. Gupta, who left because her husband's job transferred them south , she was great.  Anyway, she asked me two questions to help me figure out which I wanted to do. 

#1 - do you like sweets?  if you DO - the lap band still lets you eat sweets... so ... if you can't put down that candy bar and you seriously want to loose weight - lap band isn't a good choice for you.

#2 - if you only loose 50 lbs - do you still want the lapband?  my answer was something to do with HE and double hockey sticks NO.  So I had the RNY.  I can tell you I've watched 2 lapband coworkers who've only lost 50 or 60 lbs and it's been over a year.  BOTH, eat whatever they want to, whenever they want and NOTHING bothers them.  Me, I've lost 185 lbs now since 8/8/8.  I follow the "yellow" food sheets to the letter.  I'm just now where I might try some things a little at a time which aren't listed on my sheets.  I love Chinese food and last week I tried the rice noodles and I was fine with them... granted I'm over a year out from surgery and LORD knows I WOULD never have tried that during my first year... if it was listed on those sheet's I didn't eat it.

I'll be praying for the decision you make to become clearer for you Laura! 

Huggs,
Frankie

hi frankie, thanks so much for your help and kind words. i guess the closer i get to actually possibly getting approved and having the surgery, the scarier it gets. i'm sure that's just a normal feeling as i've read others have experienced the same.i even get teared up thinking i wont be able to eat a big meal again, so part of my feelings i think are actually grief!  i think he kind of intimidates me because he is a very intelligent person, who i know has researched and read about both surgeries probably to no end. he even bought books on it. so maybe i'm just scared that he knows something i dont? well, you are all amazing with your knowledge and advice and i love the support group i attend too. thanks for your input!! sincerely, laura :)

Fear is normal. It's a big surgery. It FORCES you to change your life.
After surgery, you will still feel like you are eating a big meal. Use small plates (I used desert plates) and baby silverware. You'll start to look at portions and go OMFG! NO WAY! I can't even watch Man vs Food anymore cause it makes my pouch hurt. I can't imagine eating 1/8th of the stuff he shoves in his face. Plus, when eating with the family, you're going to take just as long (if not longer) to eat your small plate while they eat their full size plate.
I'm 8mos out now, and can eat maybe 1/2 a pork chop with a 1/2 spoon of greens. Or a tillapia fillet with some broccoli.  You CAN eat meals...just smaller in size. But you will feel like it's a lot.