should I or should'nt I
Hi Lisa,
I have always been able to lose weight on diets. You name the diet, I probably did it! My problem though is I lose motivation, get slack and the weight always came back packing along another 10 pounds with it!
I have been banded for 18 months now and it's not a quick weight loss like the malabsorptive procedures such as gastric bypass and the duodenal switch. I have lost 80% of my excess weight and I do have small gains when I get slack now but it's SOOO much easier to get back on track and get rid of a 5 pound gain. I am 100% happy with my band to date.
Are you the type of person who can maintain your motivation and diet over the years? If you believe that you are then I'd opt to go the least evasive route which is no surgery.
If you are not, or if down the road you decide you haven't been as successful as you would like to be, then give SERIOUS thought and deliberation to ALL the various weight loss surgeries and decide if this is right for you. Pick your surgical type based upon your lifestyle and what fits you best.
Is there one particular surgery that's better than the others?? I don't think so. Each type of surgery comes with its own set of positives and negatives. That's why you need to decide which is the best fit for you. I have family and friends who have had either lap band, gastric bypass, DS and VSG.
There are actually a small handful of people on here from the London/Corbin/Somerset area. Stick around a while and they will eventually pop in to say hello.
My grandmother was from London (Swiss Colony) and as a little girl I'd spend a lot of time down in that area. Loved it! My husband lived in Somerset as a kid too. We seldom get down there anymore since our grandparents have all passed. Reminds me I need to make CONCRETE plans to get down there for Decoration Day and pay my respects!
Stick around a while and ask as many questions as you would like! This board moves a little slow compared to the bigger boards though so sometimes it could be a day or two before you get any responses!
I have always been able to lose weight on diets. You name the diet, I probably did it! My problem though is I lose motivation, get slack and the weight always came back packing along another 10 pounds with it!
I have been banded for 18 months now and it's not a quick weight loss like the malabsorptive procedures such as gastric bypass and the duodenal switch. I have lost 80% of my excess weight and I do have small gains when I get slack now but it's SOOO much easier to get back on track and get rid of a 5 pound gain. I am 100% happy with my band to date.
Are you the type of person who can maintain your motivation and diet over the years? If you believe that you are then I'd opt to go the least evasive route which is no surgery.
If you are not, or if down the road you decide you haven't been as successful as you would like to be, then give SERIOUS thought and deliberation to ALL the various weight loss surgeries and decide if this is right for you. Pick your surgical type based upon your lifestyle and what fits you best.
Is there one particular surgery that's better than the others?? I don't think so. Each type of surgery comes with its own set of positives and negatives. That's why you need to decide which is the best fit for you. I have family and friends who have had either lap band, gastric bypass, DS and VSG.
There are actually a small handful of people on here from the London/Corbin/Somerset area. Stick around a while and they will eventually pop in to say hello.
My grandmother was from London (Swiss Colony) and as a little girl I'd spend a lot of time down in that area. Loved it! My husband lived in Somerset as a kid too. We seldom get down there anymore since our grandparents have all passed. Reminds me I need to make CONCRETE plans to get down there for Decoration Day and pay my respects!
Stick around a while and ask as many questions as you would like! This board moves a little slow compared to the bigger boards though so sometimes it could be a day or two before you get any responses!
~BECKA~ Start - 254 / Current - 172.6 / Goal - 160
Just another Bariatric Babe!!
Just another Bariatric Babe!! 
The reason I would choose the Lap Band is if you gain some weight you can have it tightened up, but with the bypass from what i have read,is if you gain it back there is no going back, you could never have a lap band and would just have to rely on weight loss, I am always gun ho on diets and then get mad or depressed and fall off the wagon. I will definitely read up on everything and one i hear if my insurance is going to pay and make an appointment with a Dr. and she what he suggest for me.
I love my band. I am just sorry I didn't do it years before. Everyone loves their own surgery and I think that is great. I am in Lexington area now. I am going to go see Dr. Sonnanstine if I need a fill. I haven't had one in a long time and so far I am doing just fine.
Good luck with what ever you decide.
Good luck with what ever you decide.
With Type II Diabetes you really need to ask your doctor what has the best success rate - if you have a LOT of weight to lose like I do the RNY is probably better than lapband. Your weight comes off faster initially and your blood sugar levels should improve quickly.
However, if you are a "lightweight" with only 100 lbs. or less to lose you might want to look into the lapband. When Dr. Shina explained the pros and cons of lapband vs. RNY I heard the things that pertained to me and decided on RNY because I had over 200 lbs. to lose, I was afraid I would develop diabetes because my older sister had done that and I liked the rate of reducing or eliminating diabetes with the RNY. Dr. Shina explained that people who are big sweets eaters can many times cheat with the lapband because they can tolerate sweets better than RNY patients. He said if you are mainly meat and potatoes and veggie eater, the lapband would probably be a good choice. I also think lapbanders are statistically more likely to lose only 50% of the weight they want to lose, whereas RNYers lose about 80%. (If I remember correctly) These are averages - I'm sure many do lose all the weight they want to lose.
The surgical connection between my stomach and brain seem to be different for me now. I don't have the same strong cravings I had before. It still involves making good choices in what to eat, but I am not going to have anxiety until I get some (chocolate or whatever) like I did before. I still like stuff that's bad for me, and if it's around me I am tempted, but I don't just HAVE to have it likie I used to.
It's a big decision - if you can lose weight and keep it off without surgery, by all means do that. This is a last resort decision when all else has failed.
Good luck!
However, if you are a "lightweight" with only 100 lbs. or less to lose you might want to look into the lapband. When Dr. Shina explained the pros and cons of lapband vs. RNY I heard the things that pertained to me and decided on RNY because I had over 200 lbs. to lose, I was afraid I would develop diabetes because my older sister had done that and I liked the rate of reducing or eliminating diabetes with the RNY. Dr. Shina explained that people who are big sweets eaters can many times cheat with the lapband because they can tolerate sweets better than RNY patients. He said if you are mainly meat and potatoes and veggie eater, the lapband would probably be a good choice. I also think lapbanders are statistically more likely to lose only 50% of the weight they want to lose, whereas RNYers lose about 80%. (If I remember correctly) These are averages - I'm sure many do lose all the weight they want to lose.
The surgical connection between my stomach and brain seem to be different for me now. I don't have the same strong cravings I had before. It still involves making good choices in what to eat, but I am not going to have anxiety until I get some (chocolate or whatever) like I did before. I still like stuff that's bad for me, and if it's around me I am tempted, but I don't just HAVE to have it likie I used to.
It's a big decision - if you can lose weight and keep it off without surgery, by all means do that. This is a last resort decision when all else has failed.
Good luck!
[
I have had type 2 diabetes x 24yr and was on massive amounts of insulin and pills,and still was not controlled (thanks to still eating). I had the RNY because I read the 1st part of the intestine (the part bypassed in RNY) had receptor cells that released a substance stopping you from using your insulin. In diabetics type 2, these cells were dysfunctional and released too much...so if this section of bowel were bypassed and food would not flow stimulating it, your blood sugar would return to normal. I know it doesn't happen to all diabetics, but it does a lot. And thank God, it happened to me. After the 1st day post op I am off all diabetic meds and blood sugar is normal. Even if nothing else happens, it was worth it. 
Hi Lisa,
I don't know if you know about it but have you considered Duodenal Switch? It puts over 90% of people with Type 2 diabetes into remission generally before they leave the hospital.
I went to a seminar with Dr. Husted. He said people ask how much weight they will lose with the band. His answer was to think about one of the diets you've been on, and truly stuck to, and that's about all you will lose.
Some people are successful with RNY but if you check out the revision board you will see the majority is RNY/Lap Band revisions. (I'm not saying they don't work for some!) Generally the only time a DS will be revised is if you are not getting enough calcium or losing too much weight.
I don't know your starting weight, nor how much you have to lose but I would consider looking into all your options, especially Duodenal Switch. I am nearly 3 years post-op RNY and wish everyday that I would've had DS to begin with. At Dr. Husted's seminar he said estimated percent of excess weight lost with a DS is 80-90% and that is over 10 years with a fail rate of only 3%. RNY and Lapband had fail rates of around 20-25%.
Anyway you're so close to Somerset, you really should think about going to one of his seminars. If nothing else you will learn about the different surgery types
Good Luck!
Katrina
I agree with Katrina. I talked to Dr. Husted about why more doctors aren't doing DS and why RNY is still done with such frequency. Now don't flame me because this is what he said and it's his opinion, although I agree with it 100%. He said there is no reason for RNY to continue to be done, because we have superior options. He said it is totally obsolete. He also said that while the documented fail rate is 20-25%, he believes it is much higher in reality because the vast majority of RNY patients don't follow up with their doctors when they gain the weight back. He's even heard some RNY docs tell their patients, "If you gain the weight back, don't come back" because it screws up their success rate statistics. Makes sense to me, because of what I have seen personally - I know 4 women who have had RNY. Two of them have gained ALL their weight back. One of them (my best friend) became bulimic to remain a size 6, and when she got help for her bulimia, she regained 50 pounds in 8 months. The fourth is only 2 years out, so it's too soon to tell how she will do. Anyway, I love Dr. Husted because he really tells it like it is!
HW 246 SW 243 CW - below goal GW 139 Height 5'3"
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