Lapband vs RNY
Like the other person said ...research is best! READ, READ, and READ everything you can about them both. Even read all of the posts here to see the ups and downs about them both. It helps reading info from actual surgery patients.
For me ..choosing RNY was just my personal choice. It seemed to fit/work better for my lifestyle.
For me ..choosing RNY was just my personal choice. It seemed to fit/work better for my lifestyle.
hi -
i went to my choice hospital's orientation, read all i could - good bad and ugly - on the band and RNY, since that is what my insurance would cover. i decided on the band not even considering the RNY. well, i had my intake and just like my 2 close friends - went in thinking lap band and left thinking RNY is best. their advice to me is to not pick a surgery type so early in the game, but to wait, learn all you can, meet people, go to support meetings (the ones at UMASS are upen to the public) he siad not to lose sleep over it and just go thru the process with an open mind and you will be learning tools along the way that will help with either surgery. easier said then done, because now i am obsessing! i knew he would try to sway me, and my mind was made up 120% prior...now i am am more torn than ever. i think taking 6 weeks out of work isn't an option at this point...that is what i am dwelling on. would love to see other responses too.
kat
i went to my choice hospital's orientation, read all i could - good bad and ugly - on the band and RNY, since that is what my insurance would cover. i decided on the band not even considering the RNY. well, i had my intake and just like my 2 close friends - went in thinking lap band and left thinking RNY is best. their advice to me is to not pick a surgery type so early in the game, but to wait, learn all you can, meet people, go to support meetings (the ones at UMASS are upen to the public) he siad not to lose sleep over it and just go thru the process with an open mind and you will be learning tools along the way that will help with either surgery. easier said then done, because now i am obsessing! i knew he would try to sway me, and my mind was made up 120% prior...now i am am more torn than ever. i think taking 6 weeks out of work isn't an option at this point...that is what i am dwelling on. would love to see other responses too.
kat
Don't let 6 weeks off from work dictate the rest of your life.
You might not need 6 weeks. If work is an issue, perhaps bunk it with a vacation time frame or a 3 day holiday or something to soften the blow to work. Can you work at home...grab a laptop. Or maybee after 3 weeks work part time.
I work from home, and I will say I am SOOO much more productive than if I were in an office setting. I used to work in an office 5 days a week--then I went 4 days . I used to bust my hump to get my work done in the 4. I did more work in the 4 days then the other employees who worked 5 days. I cut down on my office chit chat, I was more pointed and focused in my work and it paid off.
Now when I work at home-for 5.5 years. When we are busy- I get more work done than my counterparts who work in one of the offices. And we have the same responsibilites--but I sometimes have more for I have to manage my own office machines, office supplies, filing,etc.
The point I'm making is you can finagle the work a bit, and choose whatever surgery is right for you. I chose lapband for I was too chicken tohave the RNY. Then the band broke 3 years later and I chose to have a RNY vs a new band. I had insurance issues and a 2nd surgery and a 2nd time off from work. Most RNY patients have one surgery. Follow up appts for RNY is much less than Band. bandsters need to see the doc a lot in the beginning to get the band filled and adjusted correctly. This is addl time off from work for more doc appts.
Let me know if I can share any of my insight between the band and the RNY.
Joan
You might not need 6 weeks. If work is an issue, perhaps bunk it with a vacation time frame or a 3 day holiday or something to soften the blow to work. Can you work at home...grab a laptop. Or maybee after 3 weeks work part time.
I work from home, and I will say I am SOOO much more productive than if I were in an office setting. I used to work in an office 5 days a week--then I went 4 days . I used to bust my hump to get my work done in the 4. I did more work in the 4 days then the other employees who worked 5 days. I cut down on my office chit chat, I was more pointed and focused in my work and it paid off.
Now when I work at home-for 5.5 years. When we are busy- I get more work done than my counterparts who work in one of the offices. And we have the same responsibilites--but I sometimes have more for I have to manage my own office machines, office supplies, filing,etc.
The point I'm making is you can finagle the work a bit, and choose whatever surgery is right for you. I chose lapband for I was too chicken tohave the RNY. Then the band broke 3 years later and I chose to have a RNY vs a new band. I had insurance issues and a 2nd surgery and a 2nd time off from work. Most RNY patients have one surgery. Follow up appts for RNY is much less than Band. bandsters need to see the doc a lot in the beginning to get the band filled and adjusted correctly. This is addl time off from work for more doc appts.
Let me know if I can share any of my insight between the band and the RNY.
Joan
Hi,
I can give you a perspective for both procedures since I have had both. I had a lapband placed in Jan 2004 and early on developed acid reflux that was terrible. My doctor tweaked fills for me so many times. The bad works by adjusting with fills. any time I had good restriction the acid reflux was worse, so we would remove some fluid. I ended up sleeping on 4 pillows in an attempt to curb the terrible acid that would wake me nearly every night. I did not want to give in. I had an upper GI in August that showed I had a prolapsed stomach (Some of the stomach had slipped up through the band). Well to make a long story short. I had gastric bypass sugery on November 19th, and I can tell you it is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I have not had any problems what so ever with the reflux since surgery. My surgeon has done more than 2 dozen revisions because of problems with the band. You need to commit a lot of time for follow up visits with the band, and only 1 girl in my group had what you would call "real" success. I was lucky there was a complication or I would have never been given this gift. Do your research and choose wisely what is best for you.
Good luck,
Linda
I can give you a perspective for both procedures since I have had both. I had a lapband placed in Jan 2004 and early on developed acid reflux that was terrible. My doctor tweaked fills for me so many times. The bad works by adjusting with fills. any time I had good restriction the acid reflux was worse, so we would remove some fluid. I ended up sleeping on 4 pillows in an attempt to curb the terrible acid that would wake me nearly every night. I did not want to give in. I had an upper GI in August that showed I had a prolapsed stomach (Some of the stomach had slipped up through the band). Well to make a long story short. I had gastric bypass sugery on November 19th, and I can tell you it is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I have not had any problems what so ever with the reflux since surgery. My surgeon has done more than 2 dozen revisions because of problems with the band. You need to commit a lot of time for follow up visits with the band, and only 1 girl in my group had what you would call "real" success. I was lucky there was a complication or I would have never been given this gift. Do your research and choose wisely what is best for you.
Good luck,
Linda