confusion

 I'm pretty new to the whole WLS idea, & even though I'm VERY sure I want the surgery, I was definitely under the impression that, since I'm young, I should get the Lap Band since it's reversable. Now that I'm here & reading different people's success stories, I'm under the impression that the band probably wouldn't be right for me since a.) my BMI is over 50 b.) a lot of people aren't successful with the band.

I spoke to my surgeon & she said that I'm a good candidate for the banding surgery & that I can expect to lose ___% of my body weight (I don't remember how much she said). 

What do I do? I don't want the surgery to be a waste of time, but I'm terrified of a surgery that permanently alters the way my body works. I've never heard from a doctor that the band might not be the best choice for me, just on here.

Doctors aren`t that different from car dealers - they want to sell you what they offer. That means if your doctor is only doing the lapband, it is not likely that he will tell you that you should better get a RNY or a DS. The same is true for most RNY surgeons - they won`t tell their patients with a BMI of 50+ that a DS might be another and maybe better option for them. They want to sell the surgery they do.

I`m sorry to tell you that you need to be your own advocate and DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH. 

I recommend you to read ALL boards of the surgery choices availible for you (lapband, RNY, DS, and to make sure that you`re really informed add the sleeve board too!). Read the studies about the longterm outcomes and the complication rate of the different surgeries. You can find a lot of DS-related studies under www. dsfacts.com. I`m sure you can find more RNY-and lapband related studies too. Find out if there is a doc not too far from your place who does all 4 surgeries, and make a consult with him. If you want to avoid to go into the trap of a doctor who wants to sell his surgery, you need to go to one who does all.

Regarding the lapband, it can be removed, yes. But this doesn`t mean it`s "reversible". The lapband can cause a lot of scar tissue and that will make any future revision much more complicated. It can do lasting damage to the esophagus, too. And why do you want a reversible surgery? If the lapband is removed, you`ll gain the weight back. Why should you want this?

I had no choice i was to big to have the lapband.
But i have friends who were over the 50 bmi and had lapband due to reasons as they were at a risk for the gastric bypass so they had lapband ther progress is slower but the weight is coming off just not as fast.
You are the only one who can make that decision so i would read up on it and weigh my pros and cons .
I wish you luck sweetie but we can only give you our advice the final decision is up to you ,have you been on the lapband boards to see what they would tell you?
Good luck sweetheart(huggs)

Hi there!

Does your surgeon do both procedures? Sometimes the surgeons that only do one, sell you on that one, since it's profitable to them.

It's also a good idea to see another surgeon, just to see who else is out there.

As for the whole RNY vs. Lap - Band, I think it goes on the individual and how much weight should be lost. If you have alot of weight to lose, the RNY will take a good portion of it off quicker then the band. If you have co-morbidites and such, then the RNY may be better to alleviate them quicker. I know you said your young, and if you are generally healthy otherwise, you can lose slowly and still have awesome results with the band.

In one of the information sessions I attended , it was also said if your more of a sweet eater, the RNY may be better since essentially alot of people get sick with too much sugar. It's like the proverbial slap on the wrist.  With the lap-band you have to take more of a control of your own eating since you can still tolerate (from what I hear) sweets and stuff. 

I'll be 25yrs in June and I opted for the RNY. I felt if I'm going to be cut open, I want it done once. The fills of lap-banding doesn't fit into my lifestyle. Seeing the doc every couple months for a check up is better for me. I also would have sold my soul for licorice back in the day lol. So lap-banding wouldn't have worked for me as well per say, since I wouldn't be able to use that tool to it's truest capacity.

You have to keep in mind both procedures are tools that help you lose the weight. I just wanted to share why I made my decision. Maybe that will help.  

Good luck with your decision! Keep us posted!

 I appreciate everyone's advice, there are 4 or 5 surgeons in my surgeon's practice, so I'm sure if there was another surgery they think I would benefit more from, with all the surgeons, I'd be covered. I am young, I'm 21 years old & I have no other health problems. No diabetes, no high blood pressure, no dangerously high cholesterol, nothing. My doctor's say that I'm the healthiest person they've seen at my weight.  The only thing I have is minor swelling of my ankles, but that's only occasionally after I've been sitting on the computer for too long. I do have asthma, but I've had that since before weight was an issue for me. I don't mind losing weight slowly. In fact, I think that may be ideal for me because I'll be able to work out to try and save what would be excess skin.  I'm not really a sweets eater, so that won't be an issue for me either. I've done my fair share of research on each type of surgery & I'm still leaning toward the lap band. 

Like I said, I'm very appreciative of any and all advice. I tried to join a support group, but I just felt like everyone was talking down to me, because when I joined, I knew NOTHING about any of the surgeries. I felt like I was being talked to like I was 3 & I don't handle things like that very well. Everyone here seems nice. 

Anyway, I'm still open to any advice or success or failure stories as far as any of the surgeries go. 

Thanks!!

There are four major surgeries types out there right now - RnY, DS, VSG and the Band. I would look at all four of those types and consider all of the risks and positives for each one. Most insurance companies cover the RnY, the DS (depending on your weight) and the Band. The VSG as a stand alone procedure is slowly becoming covered by insurance companies.

I would narrow your decision down to 2 and then talk to your doctor about those two options. If she doesnt perform both of those options then ask if another doctor in her office does that you can talk to.

the individual forums for each surgery type on OH is a great way to find information as well and to ask questions.

Good luck!

I am still pre-op, but I wanted to suggest too that keeping up with all the surgical forums is a good way to get at the nitty gritty downsides which do not really get much focus in the general write-ups about procedures.

The failed WLS forums are also good for providing a fuller picture.

Just because there are many surgeons in one office doesn't mean they offer more than one kind of surgery...My office there were 3 surgeons and only one type, I think they may have just added the gastric sleeve but not sure...

I have a friend that was going for the lap band because of the reversability but decided against it when I told her to do research, when she researched she found the alarming rate of failure and the amount of times in the drs office and the amount of revisions and her surgeon told her she could do fine but that a good many do have to end up with a second surgery...she is now getting RNY, her surgeoun does both and told her the honest truth of it all.