progressing...

OK, dear AZ friends, I have seen Dr Juarez, and when I told him that I was seriously considering lapband, he asked if 40-50 lb weight loss would be enough for me. NOT!!! He says that they are mostly for younger folks who plan to very active, and that he believed I might be happier with the RNY(I'm only 49, I thought I was young!). I am a little nervous about possible complications, but I am a nurse and a fast healer, so I'm sure I'll be fine. I must admit the relatively "instant gratification" of the bypass is sure appealing!!! Anyway, the folks in the office say my paperwork is in order, and they hope to be able to schedule for late June to early July!!! I'll keep you all posted... Bonnie B PS Still trying to get my picture on the boards. I'm kinda dumb with this stuff

Bonnie, Hi my name is Terri and I had the lap-band put on in Nov of 04. I am down 50 lbs now and still going. I am 42 (well I will be in a couple of weeks) and not active much at all. I am disabled so I can't do alot of excercise. I also belong to another board lapbandtalk.com and there you will find many people who have lost over 100lbs. What ever you chose should be your decission but please look around before taking this one Dr.'s advice. I had my surgery in Flagstaff. and am VERY happy with my surgeon! Good luck with whatever you decide, Terri Mully

I highly recommend RNY. You'll recover quick because it'll be laproscopic. I have a low-threshold of pain and I did not need any pain meds afer the 5th day. For the first 5 days it ONLY hurt as I was sitting down, standing up, laying down or turning over in bed. But other than that, I was feeling great. Juarez is good. I had his associate Dr. Fang. Lap Band is less evasive, but the weight loss is much slower and you won't lose as much. So it's up to you. It's your body. But having WLS is VERY exciting!! Keep us posted on what you decide and how things go! P.S. E-mail your photo to [email protected], and within a few weeks (takes a while) it'll be added to your profile and posts.

Trisha, I finally figured out how to get them up, they are on my profile. Now, I just have to wait until they get to putting them up on the message boards. Believe me, I'm not really in any big hurry for this, I'll be much happier when I can post AFTER pix!!! Bonnie B

Hi Bonnie - it is great to see your beautiful face up. Someday we will actually meet in person. Sandy

First of all I don't know where you people are getting that you can't lose a lot of weight with the Lap-Band? That is VERY untrue!!!! A friend of mine has lost 187 lbs in just under a year and I there are MANY others that have lost 100+ lbs. I chose Lap-Band because there were too many risk of major complications with RNY and too high of a percentage of regaining the weight once your pouch is stretched. With MY BAND I can forever get fills to tighten things up again. Yes the weight loss is slower but that is also healther. And there is less problems with lose skin after weight loss. Oh and no one I know has lost any of their hair!! Sorry to rant and vent but when someone says we Bandsters don't lose weight I can't help myself!!!!!!!!!! Terri

Sorry if I sound a little jaded, but doctors are, just like car salesmen in the long run. They're much more likely to push whatever they've got on the lot. Juarez's specialty is RNY. He does four or five a day. It's what he does. It's what he knows. And I'm sure he's one of the best at it. He did mine. But he's gonna be less familiar with lap band and therefor less likely to recommend something he has less demand for and experience with. I know lap band is super popular in Mexico - way more than here. It's also popular in Europe. There they would probably tell you all more of the drawbacks of RNY. Why we can't access some unbiased longitudinal studies comparing the two by just clicking on the internet by now is a whole nother question. For all that's known about these surgeries, the level of unbiased public education is still in the stone ages. That's for sure. - Stephanie J