i need lapband info

can anyone give me some info. on the lapband surgery.. what does it mean to have a restriction and what does it mean to get a fill. i was going to have gastric bypass but changed my mind. how effective is the lapband as far as long term success Kateri

Hi Kateri, Sorry for the delay. There are not many lap band patients active on the Louisiana forum, but we are out there. The lap band helps to achieve weight loss by portion control and slower digestion. Banded patients do not experience dumping and no changes have been made to the anatomy which might promote malabsorbsion as in the surgery type you were considering before. Restriction refers to the adjustments in your stomach capacity which make you feel fuller faster than you were pre-band. Proper restriction gives a subtle signal when you are full. Studies show that many obese people actually miss this signal or get it too late and the result if overeating and weight gain. Even with good restriction, one can overeat. If this happens, food will cause discomfort and the capacity of the stomach is smaller so at some point, it will come back up. The goal of a well-adjusted lap bander is to stop long before this happens. This means eating 1 or 2 pieces of chicken instead of 4 in some cases for me or having the "fist" size portion of steak and being happy with a single portion. A fill is the process for putting saline solution into the band to make it form a tigher hold on the stomach. I have a port under my skin near my left rib cage. A tiny needle of fluid is put in place and inserted into the port and the stomach capacity is adjusted by this process. Fluid can also be taken out to make the capacity larger if the patient is pregnant, at goal or choses to be able to eat more. Fills are extremely easy if you have an experienced, expert surgeon performing them. I've had insulin shots and my fills were much easier than an insulin stick. The lifestyle that the band encourages is basically fairly normal with a concentration on high protein, low carb eating. One does not have to eliminate carbs to lose weight. I eat much less rice, pasta and bread, but I still eat rice, pasta and bread. Bread is most difficult for me, but after I reached a year, I had less problems with most types of bread. Eating solid protein is very important to not feeling hungry. Some bandsters feel if they do liquids and consume lots of protein shakes like in the beginning stages, this is the best route to fast weight loss. It could be, but hunger will be a factor. Liquid, soft meals don't promote a feeling of fullness and a couple of hours later, you might be hungry. This is why solid protein is highly encouraged. A serving of moist, tasty chicken with 21 grams of protein will hold you much better than a protein drink with 21 grams of protein. Even some lap band postops think I eat a lot of food and I do, but I'm eating bulk, healthy choices with lots of protein, vitamins and fiber. Eating normal portions and watching sweets has led to my weight loss. Early on, I was losing 10 pounds a month eating 1900 calories, but I was over 300 pounds. As my weight dropped, my required intake needed to lose also dropped. I'm trying to eat about 1500 calories a day right now. I posted this earlier about what I ate Tuesday: http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/LapBand/postdetail/298729.html?vc=0 I had pork ribs, roasted potatoes and black-eye peas for dinner. Nope, that doesn't sound like a diet. It's a way to get lots of protein and fiber and stay under my 1500 calories. I don't get hungry between meals and when I do feel "blue" and I'm tempted to eat my cares away, I'm still stopped at one serving. I don't get sick if I eat too much ice cream, I really just get sick of it and it's not appealing after I've had enough. Long term -- I strive to develop a way of eating that can be adopted for life as opposed to a a diet for a year or a diet for 2 years. Diets don't work because the dieter will never be able to incorporate the banished items back into their eating plans without being thrown back into weight gain. I've not intentionally eliminated anything from my diet in an effort to avoid that "diet rebound" later. There are some things that aren't agreeing with me -- some breads, dry meat, baked meat, etc. It might take me three years to reach my goals, but when I do, maintaining won't be an issue because I will continue eating like this forever. I'm not missing anything, so there will be no need to bring my favorites back into practice. I lost about 80 pounds in my first year. I think this could have easily been 100+, but I was not able to exercise because of unrelated surgery issues. Exercise is great because I will boost my metabolism and be able to eat more as I burn more. The expected weight loss is 1-2 pounds a week and the process takes 2-3 years as opposed to one year for a lot of RNY patients. There are lap banders on the band board who have lost 100+ pounds in a year and reached their goals in only one year. My weight loss journey can be accessed on my blog at the "www" button below.There's more details, struggles, recipes, pictures -- warning -- a lot of stuff. I know the lap band was right for me, but I'm not saying it's right for you. This is something, however, I can help you determine as you look at your life, reason for weight gain and how you deal with the changes needed post surgery. My surgeon's office has just negoiated a new package price for cash-pay lap band and RNY and I was extremely impressed at how low it is. If this is covered by your insurance, they will take care of most of the leg work and paperwork for you. They have an informational seminar the first Thursday of each month. That's tomorrow for March, but I know that's cutting it close. Please let me know how I can help. All of my best, Frances

Hi Frances. thanks for all the information... I made a call this morning to Lafayette, there are 2 surgeons there who do weight loss surgery. they will call me back as soon as they can with an appointment, i spoke to the bariatric cordinator. she said they screen their patients very carefully and decide which surgery they feel is better for each patient. that kind of scared me because when I told her i have sleep apnea and high blood pressure, she said it sounds like i should go with the gastric bypass instead. but i will go for the appointment and speak to the dr. and hopefully we can do the lapband instead. I will keep in touch with you Thanks Kateri