I need help deciding...

I have done my nutritional plan and my pysch eval and have moved on to the next step.  Now I am considering which surgery option is best for me.   According to my nutritionist, my diet is not too bad, just too much of it.  The negative is that I do have a sweet tooth and I do like chips and other not-so- good for you foods.

I am thinking that I may opt for Roux-en-y becuase I believe lack of discipline on my behalf is part of the issue. 

As far as the other option I am considering, the adjustable band, I am wondering what my chance of sucess is vs. Roux-en-y. 

I like that the band is safer and the recovery seems to be faster.

Did or is anyone else pondering this decision? 

 

Thanks in advance

When it came to the point to seeing Dr. Chua, I still didn't know which one to have. I asked him which one he thought would be most successful for me. He gave me his thoughts and reasons, and i went with it (VBG). I'm glad he gave it to me straight, and was honest. I haven't regretted it since! 

I think I will trust in Dr. Chua too.

How much weight do you have to lose? You said you eat sweets and chips. I took the rny because of the reason you talk about. If you would come to the support group you will find there are some people who had the band and others that had the rny. The band you weight loss is alot slower as well. Are you prepared to go in for the fills and sometimes unfills. I heard that others who can eat anything with the band. If you need the discipline rny is the way to go.

Any surgery is risky. It isn't one is safer than the other. If you think about it same amount of incisions are made to do the surgery. I was only in the hospital 2 days. And I was not in much pain more than 1 day at home. I was able to ride my recumbent bike 3 times a day for 10 minutes 2 days after my surgery. I didn't lay in bed all day I was carrying out my day.

I love my rny! I am glad I didn't go with the band. I heard many banders that can cheat and aren't happy with there weight loss either. I really thought hard about my decision and Dr Chua agreed with me with the rny. I have not had any dumping at all But I do avoid sugar and fatty foods. And no junk food or soda either. the thought of dumping keeps me away from it. We may or may not be dumpers. And I choose not to even try it. It keeps me in  line! When birthdays come instead of cake and ice cream I have a chocolate sugar free pudding.

With Dr Chua being your surgeon you will be in great hands with the rny. I was nervous as well He is a very skilled surgeon he also teaches other surgeons how to do the surgery.

I highly recommend the rny from one who had one. I also highly recommend you come to the Nov 18th support meeting from 6 to 8 pm across from the hospital in the heart institute building it is in the basement. There are ones who are in the process of learning more about the surgery or who are in the process of having there surgery, ones that had the surgery and ones that are few years out. There is also a clothing exchange at this meeting. I will be bringing in alot of clothes. Its a great group of people! Hope to see you there! 

Thank you, I am considering all options.  I need to lose at least 100 lbs. As far as my diet, I have adjusted it preparing myself for this, I gave up soda months ago, I am working the other stuff. 
As far as the support group, I would like to attend, unfortunately, I live too far away.

 Hi!

I would strongly urge you to look into the Duodenal Switch. I'm pretty sure Dr. Chua performs it. At first I was considering the Lap Band, but after researching and asking lots of questions here, I realized that I didn't want to have to worry about the band slipping, eroding into my stomach and all of the problems that Banders have to deal with, like puking, sliming and pb'ing. I also didn't want to go through surgery and all of the fills to only lose a small amount of weight.

I didn't want to have the RNY because I didn't like the idea of a pouch that meant I could never take NSAIDS for the rest of my life. I also didn't like the idea of dumping as a punishment for eating something "naughty". 

I wanted a surgery that had the highest percentage of weight loss, the best chance at keeping it off in the long run and the one that lets you live as normally as possible.

With the DS you can eat with your meals, you don't have to chew your food to mush, you can take NSAIDS, your stomach still functions normally with NO dumping and since we only absorb 20% of the fat we eat, we lose weight by eating high fat foods! That's right, I eat lots of bacon, sausage, eggs, full fat cheese galore, heavy cream in my coffee, you get the idea. We eat a high protein, high fat diet. That means that food actually tastes good! The only foods we have to stay away from in our losing window is carbs, which isn't good for any surgery types.

This has been the easiest I have ever lost weight in my life and I am finally living life again!

If you would like to learn more about the DS, check out www.dsfacts.com, www.duodenalswitch.com, ask a bunch of questions on the DS forum here on OH or you can pm me any time! Also, check out the Revisions and Regrets boards here. Think twice, cut once!

Good luck with your decision!

, Jules

Thank you, I will look into this..  One question, what is NSAIDS?

 You're welcome! NSAIDS are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. You can never take them with the Lap Band or RNY because they can cause bleeding ulcers in the pouch.

Here is a list of them:

Aspirin (Anacin, Ascriptin, Bayer, Bufferin, Ecotrin, Excedrin)
Choline and magnesium salicylates (CMT, Tricosal, Trilisate)
Choline salicylate (Arthropan)
Celecoxib (Celebrex)
Diclofenac potassium (Cataflam)
Diclofenac sodium (Voltaren, Voltaren XR)
Diclofenac sodium with misoprostol (Arthrotec)
Diflunisal (Dolobid)
Etodolac (Lodine, Lodine XL)
Fenoprofen calcium (Nalfon)
Flurbiprofen (Ansaid)
Ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, Motrin IB, Nuprin)
Indomethacin (Indocin, Indocin SR)
Ketoprofen (Actron, Orudis, Orudis KT, Oruvail)
Magnesium salicylate (Arthritab, Bayer Select, Doan's Pills, Magan, Mobidin, Mobogesic)
Meclofenamate sodium (Meclomen)
Mefenamic acid (Ponstel)
Meloxicam (Mobic)
Nabumetone (Relafen)
Naproxen (Naprosyn, Naprelan*)
Naproxen sodium (Aleve, Anaprox)
Oxaprozin (Daypro)
Piroxicam (Feldene)
Rofecoxib (Vioxx)
Salsalate (Amigesic, Anaflex 750, Disalcid, Marthritic, Mono-Gesic, Salflex, Salsitab)
Sodium salicylate (various generics)
Sulindac (Clinoril)
Tolmetin sodium (Tolectin)
Valdecoxib (Bextra)

Note: Some products, such as Excedrin, are combination drugs (Excedrin is acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine).

 I also am deciding what to do.  The surgeon I talked to is pro rny.  Says that 20% of the bands don't work and 20% have to be removed for complications (I have a friend whose stomach prolapsed around it!) so with a 40 % failure rate he says not to consider it.  On the other hand my nurse practitioner  has seen several patients with bands who have had great results.  I'm going to a WLS intro to learn more.  I would check to see if one is available in your area.  Also hit support groups. They have a wide variety of WLS patients and usually have a chat session.  Info is the key.  Best wishes and good luck.  Only 1 more month of the nutritional plan and I can start the next step also.
deb

Thank you, I have been to a seminar.  Right now, I am leaning towards RNY.  I did a quick study on the D- switch and some thing look appealing about it but y surgeon does that in an "open" type operation.  I just do not want to be cut up that much, plus I have a couple of other conditions that make that procedure not very feesible.  I will still discuss it with my surgeon.

Where I live, there are no support groups, that is why I turned here.