I am new to this forum and wanted to know if anyone can give me advice,

I would like to have WLS but at this point I am only checking into the Lap band or Realize band, my husband and son are strongly against anything other than these two surgeries. Can anyone give me any idea as to how these are working for them? I really want to lose this weight in a good way and not too fast Help??

Please I beg you to not have either type of band done it is NOT at all safe or non invasive. It is in truth terribly dangerous and nearly always has to be removed because of the damage it causes. We were and still are being lied to about the safety of this product because the manufacturer only cares about money not the safety of the people who fall victim to theirs sales tactics.

 My self I had one put in 7 years ago and finally had to get it out in Feb because of the pain it was causing. I will have to pay for the removal because it is not covered by my insurance. So you know it had to be horrible pain for me to go that route. I am still in constant pain from an ulcer that won't heal because of all the stomach acid the band caused. I also lost only about 20 lbs in the whole 7 years so not even worth the surgery in the first place. My story is so common you wouldn't believe. Go to Facebook and look for failed lap bands and see what they have to say, I am far from being the only one.

The lap band has been proven to be ineffective for weight loss, it is the least effective of all the 4 main surgery types. Yes there are some that lose huge amounts of weight and keep it off but they are the exception rather than the rule. Statistics show that only 50% of people lose any weight at all with bands and even the Mayo Clinic won't put them in anymore because they are so bad. That alone tells you how bad they are, many, many surgeons will no longer even put them in because they cause so much damage. I know of people who have lost their entire stomach because of the damage the lap band does. They are far more dangerous than the more invasive surgeries because the damage sneaks up on people and they don't know about it until it's already done damage.

Please look at one of the other surgeries, one really good one is the vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG) where they remove 80% of the stomach and the part they remove contains the area that causes hunger. So that reduces the amount of hunger you feel and it is the stretchy part of the stomach so it is less likely to restretch and allow you to eat more. You lose more slowly than with the RNY or DS which have malabsorbtion to them where you don't absorb certain parts of the food. The VSG has been done as a cancer and ulcer surgery since the 1940's so is a very well known and fairly safe surgery (all surgeries have dangers).

What you need to do is read here on OH about what each of the different surgeries involves and then make an informed choice when you know about each surgery but the lap band and realize bands are not a good choice for anyone especially if you have more than 50 lbs to lose, they just don't work. I wish you best just take your time and study all the surgeries. They all require diet and excersize and most of all a total lifestyle change, they aren't a magic cure and they don't change your brain so don't expect a magic cure.

I totally agree with you. I am due for a sleeve early next year. The surgeon at the top hospital in my country no longer performs lap band. He said it is not effective.  I prefer the sleeve op because it reduces the risk of malabsorption of vital supplements in the long run unlike the gastric bypass.  There are so many good sites that you can read on regarding WLS.  God bless

Hi Stacy! HisLady is right. Do the research. I had a band put in jan 2007 and lost over 270 lbs. I finally had it removed this past June.  I spent the better part of those 7 years  in the bathroom throwing up, i've seen times when i couldn't even hold down water. Towards the end i didn't wan to lose anymore weight but I could't stop. I had a hard time getting support for fills and defills because i had my surgery out of town. I was vitamin and protein deficient.  I looked like an anorexic chicken. i have put on almost all the weight i had lost, even when i still had the band in.  I thought it was safer then the bypass and i told myself that at least i wasn't permanently altering the way God had created me.  I have no met many people who had great results with their bands. Also, anytime i felt the slightest bit of stress, i could not hold food down. I've had to pull over on the side of the road so many times. Honestly, it seems so harmless, but your internal organs suffer greatly. I would make a list of the pros and cons of each surgery, and i think the results will speak for themselves.  Pray for guidance in your decision, it's also not about pleasing your husband and your son, it's medical decision. My surgery is Jan 16, 2015 and i am looking forward and moving on from that nasty band... it took me many months to heal from the internal bruising. The band was actually growing into me.  Seek sound medical advice, your family mean well, and if they hear the actual truth about the band, they would most likely not want you to go that route. Be blessed!

Millie

I would do the sleeve.i had Rouyn y and 5 yrs later had a revision cause mine got messed up.i think from getting sick a lot.

When I originally thought about WLS, it was either the bypass or the band. At that time the thought of having my insides totally rearranged did not appeal to me, and having something left inside me didn't appeal to me either.  I'm so glad God made me wait at that time.  When I started researching this time, I noticed there were a lot more options.  I had then had my heart set on the sleeve.  Then I went to a seminar where I learned so much more information and then talked to my surgeon one on one and we discussed the options.  We finally came to the conclusion that the DS would be best for my situation because of my co-morbities and the amount of weight I needed to loose.  I am so glad I did the DS.  It had very little pain at the time of surgery and my weight is coming off slowly but surely.  Go to your surgeon's seminar...  listen to what each type of surgery can do for you based on how much you want to lose, how much generally stays off and then talk in detail with your surgeon - he will be the best option for you.  God opened the doors for what was right for me.  Best wishes in the future!

Excellent advice I too only had the option of band or bypass and unfortunately I chose the band, it was a dismal failure and had it removed last year. Sadly  I still suffer daily from the damage it did. God's got this tho so I will continue to trust in HIM no matter what!

Some people have had success with the band but FAR more have had health problems or had to have a revision due to poor results. Surgery is on you, you should research the heck out of it and then convince your family. If you can't convince them you can either do it anyway, have a surgery that you won't be happy with, or continue on with being obese and die at a younger age. Ask your family about that.

I would not have any type of band done. I had my lapband for 5yrs. I kept having pain on my left side and sometimes on my right side. I went to the ER Numerous times telling them I thought something was wrong with my lapband. I even went an hour away to a bigger ER, each time they would do a CT Scan and x-rays and tell me everything looked fine and send me home. I would cry once I was in my car and tell my husband I was never going back because the doctors all thought or at least made me think it was all in my head. I finally heard about this wonderful bariatrics doctor and went to him. He does all fills under x-ray, at that apt he had me drink some barium and told me I had band erosion. He scheduled me for a endoscopy and from there I was in having my band removed. My band had eroded over 50% into my stomach! I had major complications after the band was removed, 3 different infections (2 in two of my incisions and 1 in my stomach cavity). We had to open up the incisions and let them heal from the inside out, cleaning and packing them every 12hrs (talk about pain). What was suppose to take 2 weeks to heal took over 2.5 months. My doctor didn't want to do a revision until he knew I was all in the clear. So fast forward to 1yr later, I have now had Gastric bypass (RNY) and healed wonderfully from the surgery. I am only 4 weeks out but I am so glad I made the decision to go through with another surgery. I wish you the very best of luck on what ever you decide to do!