First timer here.

Well, I just called Dr. Borland's office to confirm a few things and was told that he doesn't not do lap bad for $8900, he does the laprascopic sleeve gastrectomy for $9800.  That settles that I guess. :) 

 
Doesn't this doctor do sleeves on an out patient basis?  That's not wise.  85% of complications happen within 48 hours of surgery.

How much would it cost in addition to have at least one night in the hospital?

So does that mean he does the lapband cheaper???? Generally the sleeve costs more than the lapband. Would you consider the sleeve now that you know its affordable?

I love my band, but if needed to have my band taken out for any reason I would opt for the sleeve. I think that they are both wonderful surgeries and you should do well with either one. Which WLS you choose is up to you and you only and it has to be that you can live with.

Good luck with your decision,

Jen

Welcome Michelle. I live in Mi. but we are vacationing in Gulfport Ms. until early April. We also go to Baton Rouge to visit our son.

The choice of wls is one that only you can make. Beyond the costs associated with the band you need to be aware that weight loss is, on the average, 1-2 pounds a week. Some lose faster but you have to be prepared for it to take a long time. Some statistics show a much lower weight loss over all, but many have lost all their weight. On top of this the band will not help you until you have had a number of fills. Over all, expect it to do about 10-20% of the work, with you doing the rest (and the hardest part). I knew all of these things going in and got the band anyway, and love it, but I am still quite new.  Any wls is only a tool. With some you will lose more quickly, but if you don't change habits for life you will regain. The band is the same. You will have to plan to "diet" for life. I don't mean diet in the traditional sense of the term, but your eating habits must permanently change, along with confronting the reasons you over eat. It is not easy, but it can be done.

What ever wls you settle on you need to start learning new eating habits. Any weight you lose before surgery will only benefit you, including making the surgery easier and less risky. Start now. If you need to get counseling do it.

I have chronic pain from severe arthritis and when I began I could only walk for 5 minutes time and any other form of exercise was impossible other than some of the seated exercise. When I would do anything I would be in pain for 1-3 days after. I gradually added walking time (at a slow stroll) a couple of minutes a week. It is less important to do much exercise but that you move more than you normally would. It all adds up.

I would say to you, read everything you can about managing your eating, wls in general, and how to live after wls. Also, on OH learn what you might confront (don't let it discourage you), what people who are/have succeeded long term do, and what those who struggle or have failed have done. This is not to point fingers at the latter but to educate yourself about what to do and what to avoid.

As someone else said, involve your loved ones in the process, but only you can make the decision that is right for you. Investigate, independently, all the wls types. You must know what is available, what the risk/benefits are, and then and only then will you be able to make an informed decision.

You will get many different types of posts and some of those will include those who absolutely hate the band. Listen to them, too, but don't be frightened away. Anything you here here is opinion only. Statistics are also how you read them and the whole context is importent, not the quotes. When you get those statistics go ahead and find that study and read it entirely for your self. It is the only way. Some of us love our bands, others have had bad experiences. This happens with any wls, no matter what some say. Learn for yourself and decide for yourself/

For a time when I was doing wls research I got so frightened I was about to back away entirely. However, I had to remember that I had tried to lose for myself, and while I could do it with much effort I could never keep it off for more than a few months. Since my health was deteroiating and my quality of life wasd horrible I needed a tool. The risks of wls were lowered by the fact that if I didn't have surgery I was going to die much earlier, and I would not enjoy life while I was here. Keep these things in mind, and good luck with your decision. God bless, Sue

Thank you for your heartfelt and insightful reply, Sue.  I'll take all of that into consideration when making my decision.  I considered wls a couple of years ago but never thought it possible for me.  It is a possibility now and I'm learning all I can about each procedure. :) I'm a medical transcriptionist and learning medical information has always been a hobby of mine. :)

Jen, in my haste to post while working, I inadvertantly put $8900 instead of $9800.  Dr. Borland doesn't do the lap  band AT ALL.  I was mistaken about that.  When I called, the lady told me that he only performs the lap. sleeve procedure and that it costs $9800.  I will most definitely go that route if that's what Dr. Borland does.  The only thing I'm confused about is the 2-step surgical procedure?  Anyone know why there were be 2 surgeries rathat than 1 and is it possible to lose all the weight with just 1 surgery?  From what I'm reading, the sleeve comes first, then after you've lost a certain amount of weight, you need to do the lap band. 

I THINK the sleeve used to be the precursor to the DS.  They would have you lose a lot of weight with the sleeve then change you to the DS to lose the remaining.  Again this is just what I remember from bouncing around the other boards and may not be correct.  The DS is not always needed to get all the weight off is the way I understood it.   I may be wrong here but someone will jump in with the correct info.

 
Yes, the sleeve has been done for weight loss since the 70s.  Longer for other reasons such as stomach cancer and ulcers.

In the 70s if someone had a really high BMI and they were too high risk to do any kind of malabsorptive procedure they would sleeve them and after they lost 100-200# and were a safer surgical risk they would go back and do malabsorption.

Well, they found that people were losing REALLY well and didn't need the 2nd procedure so they started looking at the sleeve as a stand alone procedure.

At first they were making them huge, they were using a 60 or 70F bougie.  Weight loss was good but regain was bad.  So they started making sleeves with a 32-38F bougie and now weight loss is fantastic and regain is low.

Thats pretty cheap! My bill for the surgery itself was a few thousand more than that! BTW! Welcome to OH!

Thank you all for your great advice and answers.