Would you do it again? Everyone please answer
"Nothing tastes as good as thin feels."
When it begins to happen, you don't long for thing foods that you think you can't live without. Besides, in my experience, there's nothing I have to live without, except maybe the skin of peaches and cherries.
Everything has problems. Being super-morbid-obese is a pretty serious problem that manifests itself in painful, embarrassing, unhealthy ways, every single day. The band "rules" are not problems to me. I am the problem and I'm learning to re-train me. I haven't had any PBing or sliming, or stuck episodes, and I'm losing weight.
I would do it again, and will do everything I need to to maintain it. I have recommended it to my daughter and my brother, and I would pay for it for either if I had the means. It's not easy, but it's way better than analyzing every seat for capacity before you sit in it, gasping for breath at the end of a flight of stairs, sleep apnea, GERD, diabetes, and overall weakness and fatigue.
BTW, my heartburn was gone the day after surgery. I was a daily Prilosec girl. I gave away an entire box yesterday.
Good luck to you and consider that if your sister decides not to take the leap, that you might want to lead by example and your sisters (and brothers) on this board will be doing it with you.
Lost 43 pre-op, 47 post-op, gained back 75, and now lost 45 thanks to r/keto
“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience by which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.” - Eleanor Roosevelt
On August 5, 2009 at 7:34 PM Pacific Time, just-thinking-about-it wrote:
Hello,I am new to this board and to the whole lapband thing. My sister and I went to see our doctor yesterday to start our process for surgery. My sister's ins. will pay for her's, I will be paying cash. She called me today and decided not to go through with it. She is to scared of the not eating the things she loves like soda and ground beef. But I think we both fear the PB's and all the stuff that seems to happen. I already get reflux almost on a nightly basis so I'm used to that part, my doctor said it should improve after the surgery. Anyone else have this problem and did it get better? And I guess my biggest question is. Would you really go through this again? Even with the problems, would you wish this on your very best loved friend? I really want my sister and I to go through this together. Thank you in advance for your answers.
Nope, I would not get a lap band again. It provides the least weight loss and the slowest weight loss of all surgical procedures with tons of potential complications down the road. I'd never go back to sliming, foaming, and assorted ways of puking. I think the band is not going to be forever in anyone. It's the doctors that are saying the band will last forever, not the band makers or the FDA. They are saying about 10 years.
If you are self pay I'd budget for aftercare and future surgeries.
Check out ALL WLS types, the safest one long term is the sleeve. No maintenance, no aftercare, better weight loss, no rerouting of intestine, just have the surgery and you are done.
(deactivated member)
on 8/6/09 1:56 pm
on 8/6/09 1:56 pm
Oh yes, I would do it again.
Your sister may not be ready yet, for this surgery or any surgery-If you ARE ready, show her the way by setting an example. Although you will have friends and support along the way-a lot of it is a solo journey that each of us must walk alone.
As Senator Moynihan was fond of saying, "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. They are NOT, however, entitled to their own facts." There are no studies showing any type of improved efficacy or safety between "new" and old bands. If you check both manufacturer's sites you see dismal statistics with respect to the likelihood of success. While everything is presented with plenty of marketing hype, both the Realize band and the Lap-band AP claim average excess weight loss of LESS than 50% in the first 1-3 years out. This means that the typical bandster hasn't even met the clinical standard of success. (50% EWL is the NIH definition of success for bariatric procedures) While clinically defined success is one measure, patients who only lose half of their excess weight often have a different opinion of their outcomes. Put another way, by the manufacturers own admission, your chance of losing more than half of your excess weight in 3 years is not even 50-50. That simply sucks. WLS is a gamble no matter what procedure you chose. I suggest you go with the best odds. Based on a large scale study done by Dr. Baltasar EWL for DS patients "reached 81.4% at 5 years when 97% of the patients had a %EWL > 50%." In other words, 97% of the DS patients lost more than half of their excess weight and the average excess weight loss for these patients was 81.4% I know which group I would rather be in.
Source:
Duodenal switch: an effective therapy for morbid o...[Obes Surg. 2001] - PubMed Result
Another study echoes this with one year comparative results showing: The percentage of excess weight loss was 84%, 70%, 49%, and 38% for the BPD/DS, GB, SG, and AGB groups. (That is DS, Gastric Bypass, Sleeve Gastrectomy and Adjustable Gastric Band groups)
Source:
Comparison of weight loss and body composition cha...[Surg Obes Relat Dis. 2009] - PubMed Result
In terms of Malabsorption, you have no clue what you are talking about. Malabsorption is NOT a Problem. It is the actual MECHANISM that makes the RNY & DS so much more effective than a purely restrictive procedure such as the lap-band or VSG. Essentially there are only 2 forms of action for weight loss surgery. Either you restrict how much food you can eat, or you reduce how much consumed food your body can absorb. Some procedures use both mechanism to a greater or lesser degree. The nature of the malabsorption will determine what type of supplements you should take. DS & RNY patients must take vitamins to stay healthy. It comes with the territory. That being acknowledged, DS patients have no stoma, so there is no abnormal chewing of food required. Things will not get stuck and since you only absorb 20% of the fat you consume, there is no need to follow a restrictive or low-fat diet of any kind. Becoming malnourished means you have not been properly supplementing for months. (It is not something that is "easy to do". It is something that involves a flagrant refusal to follow the rules.) DS patients who follow the simple rules and get blood work once or twice a year are usually the healthiest of all bariatric patients.
You have also tried to lump the RNY & DS together. The RNY is an inferior form of WLS compared to the DS for many reasons - we can take up an entire thread alone on just that topic. Essentially, you lose more weight, avoid long term regain, resolve far more co-morbid conditions more completely and have a better quality of life with the DS than you do with either the RNY or Lap-band. (see the comparative articles in www.DSFACTS.com) Vomiting is a way of life for some RNY patients and a lot of bandsters. It is pretty much unheard of for DS patients. We have a normal but smaller stomach. The openings to our stomach both at the esophagus and the pyloric valve are intact and unaltered. We chew normally, swallow normally and can eat and drink fluids like normal people can. Nothing gets stuck. We can also take NSAIDS - aspirin, alleve, ibuprofen, etc. I was advised against this as a bandster and it is strictly forbidden for RNY patients.
In terms of your irrational statement - "one false move and you could have problems for the rest of your life", - are you describing a worry over malpractice or arguing about the nature of the procedure? In the context of the latter your statement is ridiculous, with respect to the former, malpractice can happen whenever someone screws up. Make sure your surgeon is experienced whomever you chose. Hazard data exists with respect to the various procedures and are all fairly close in terms of the dangers of surgery. What everyone is in agreement about is that REVISION SURGERY IS THE MOST DANGEROUS OF ALL. The band is touted as a "reversible procedure". What is not mentioned is that you get scarring from the band as soon as you put it in. Bands often become embedded and that combination of scarring and embedding, along with all of the adhesions that always accompany abdominal surgery make any revision - whether it is to another procedure, or ex-plant or a repair to the band - substantially more dangerous than an initial procedure.
With respect to your comment on fills, having something adjusted via the port and having the band removed (ex-planted) are completely different animals. Band removal IS major surgery. It is a revision and far more tricky and dangerous than the initial implant. It will also probably cost more to remove than put in since the procedure is longer and more complicated.
I do not know who you work for - if it is a doctor's office, manufacturer, or if you are simply who you say you are. You are not, based on my comments above, knowledgeable about much of what you said. Either you are spewing out the propaganda of the band manufacturers or you are just being disingenuous. I don't really care which it is as long as your comments get corrected. For those of you who have bands, I hope you are one of the lucky forty-something percent that has a successful outcome. In terms of my own experience, I was forced into a band by insurance limitations. I knew the odds were lousy, but took the gamble anyway. Fortunately, at the point it really began to fail spectacularly, my new insurance covered DS revisions. To the OP, as I said initially, WLS is a gamble. The only place you will get an accurate representation of what your true odds are is in the academic literature. Good Luck whatever you decide.
Peace,
William
ETA: This posted in two spots - it was originally a reply to Melissa's comments on pg. 2 of the thread. Second edit to correct an awkward sentence.
Source:
Duodenal switch: an effective therapy for morbid o...[Obes Surg. 2001] - PubMed Result
Another study echoes this with one year comparative results showing: The percentage of excess weight loss was 84%, 70%, 49%, and 38% for the BPD/DS, GB, SG, and AGB groups. (That is DS, Gastric Bypass, Sleeve Gastrectomy and Adjustable Gastric Band groups)
Source:
Comparison of weight loss and body composition cha...[Surg Obes Relat Dis. 2009] - PubMed Result
In terms of Malabsorption, you have no clue what you are talking about. Malabsorption is NOT a Problem. It is the actual MECHANISM that makes the RNY & DS so much more effective than a purely restrictive procedure such as the lap-band or VSG. Essentially there are only 2 forms of action for weight loss surgery. Either you restrict how much food you can eat, or you reduce how much consumed food your body can absorb. Some procedures use both mechanism to a greater or lesser degree. The nature of the malabsorption will determine what type of supplements you should take. DS & RNY patients must take vitamins to stay healthy. It comes with the territory. That being acknowledged, DS patients have no stoma, so there is no abnormal chewing of food required. Things will not get stuck and since you only absorb 20% of the fat you consume, there is no need to follow a restrictive or low-fat diet of any kind. Becoming malnourished means you have not been properly supplementing for months. (It is not something that is "easy to do". It is something that involves a flagrant refusal to follow the rules.) DS patients who follow the simple rules and get blood work once or twice a year are usually the healthiest of all bariatric patients.
You have also tried to lump the RNY & DS together. The RNY is an inferior form of WLS compared to the DS for many reasons - we can take up an entire thread alone on just that topic. Essentially, you lose more weight, avoid long term regain, resolve far more co-morbid conditions more completely and have a better quality of life with the DS than you do with either the RNY or Lap-band. (see the comparative articles in www.DSFACTS.com) Vomiting is a way of life for some RNY patients and a lot of bandsters. It is pretty much unheard of for DS patients. We have a normal but smaller stomach. The openings to our stomach both at the esophagus and the pyloric valve are intact and unaltered. We chew normally, swallow normally and can eat and drink fluids like normal people can. Nothing gets stuck. We can also take NSAIDS - aspirin, alleve, ibuprofen, etc. I was advised against this as a bandster and it is strictly forbidden for RNY patients.
In terms of your irrational statement - "one false move and you could have problems for the rest of your life", - are you describing a worry over malpractice or arguing about the nature of the procedure? In the context of the latter your statement is ridiculous, with respect to the former, malpractice can happen whenever someone screws up. Make sure your surgeon is experienced whomever you chose. Hazard data exists with respect to the various procedures and are all fairly close in terms of the dangers of surgery. What everyone is in agreement about is that REVISION SURGERY IS THE MOST DANGEROUS OF ALL. The band is touted as a "reversible procedure". What is not mentioned is that you get scarring from the band as soon as you put it in. Bands often become embedded and that combination of scarring and embedding, along with all of the adhesions that always accompany abdominal surgery make any revision - whether it is to another procedure, or ex-plant or a repair to the band - substantially more dangerous than an initial procedure.
With respect to your comment on fills, having something adjusted via the port and having the band removed (ex-planted) are completely different animals. Band removal IS major surgery. It is a revision and far more tricky and dangerous than the initial implant. It will also probably cost more to remove than put in since the procedure is longer and more complicated.
I do not know who you work for - if it is a doctor's office, manufacturer, or if you are simply who you say you are. You are not, based on my comments above, knowledgeable about much of what you said. Either you are spewing out the propaganda of the band manufacturers or you are just being disingenuous. I don't really care which it is as long as your comments get corrected. For those of you who have bands, I hope you are one of the lucky forty-something percent that has a successful outcome. In terms of my own experience, I was forced into a band by insurance limitations. I knew the odds were lousy, but took the gamble anyway. Fortunately, at the point it really began to fail spectacularly, my new insurance covered DS revisions. To the OP, as I said initially, WLS is a gamble. The only place you will get an accurate representation of what your true odds are is in the academic literature. Good Luck whatever you decide.
Peace,
William
ETA: This posted in two spots - it was originally a reply to Melissa's comments on pg. 2 of the thread. Second edit to correct an awkward sentence.
To teach something is to have it. To have something you must be it. Teach peace, for that is what you are.
To listen to me sing: www.youtube.com/watch
Yes, I would absolutely do it again. It's a tool, but a very useful tool. I didn't want to have a surgery that would result in malabsorption or that was not reversible if there was a problem. Is it fast? No. I'm glad it's not, because my skin isn't hanging off of me either. I've lost 45 lbs. now. I'm half way there. I'll take my time and hope that by doing so, I'll change some habits for good. I eat what I want. I don't slime, foam or vomit. I pay attention to how much I eat. It works for me. I hope you all find your own way, without judging everyone else. No vitriol is required. Good luck with your journeys --whatever path you choose.
I love my band. 66 weeks and 66 lbs.....slow is no problem.....
I am self pay....
My mom got banded in Mexico 8 years ago!! and STILL loves her band (no problems either).
IF i were to do it again I would NOT look into DS.....I went to a funeral of a DS'er (failure to thrive) and another DS'er I know is 2 years out and CANNOT get above 100 lbs!! Not for me.
I WOULD look into the sleeve though~ I know many folks who are thrilled (so far!! )
I am self pay....
My mom got banded in Mexico 8 years ago!! and STILL loves her band (no problems either).
IF i were to do it again I would NOT look into DS.....I went to a funeral of a DS'er (failure to thrive) and another DS'er I know is 2 years out and CANNOT get above 100 lbs!! Not for me.
I WOULD look into the sleeve though~ I know many folks who are thrilled (so far!! )
Karen in NJ 
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