Dr said no lapband

I'm wondering where all these statistics come from. Most people I know in real life and online, while maybe not losing weight ridiculously fast, have lost successfully with the band. My doctor told me recently that average after 1 year with the band is 30% of excess weight lost. That would have been about 36lbs on me.  I am aaaaalmost 1 year out and quickly approaching 100 lbs lost in that first year.  I don't know if they are telling people to expect very little so they won't come back later and be disappointed? Or are those of us who are visible band successes just "that" much out of the ordinary? 

I asked this question of Jessie Ahroni, who is a Nurse educator specializing Lapbanding (she's banded herself 12 years and has written a book on gastric banding).

My question: "Just curious if you had run across those numbers [that average weight loss with a band is only 50lbs ] and/or where are these doctors getting their (mis?)information."

Her answer:   Every published study lists the average (mean) weight 
loss of the participants in that study. Then some brave soul does
a meta-analysis. That is take all the studies on the topic and 
average them together. In general weight loss research is reported
as percent of excess body weight lost. This is a very misleading
number. If you weigh 250 and you lose 100 pounds you have lost 100%
of your excess body weight.

If you weigh 350 and you lose 150 pounds you have only lost 75% of
your excess body weight.

If you want the best results, operate on the smallest people. If I
could only count the people who are really trying the average weight
loss would be a lot greater. I know it seems impossible, but some
people get banded and then don't make any effort or very little 
effort to lose weight while waiting for the band to force them to
eat less.

I have always contended that you can lose as much weight as you want
with a band. It primarily depends on what and how much you eat. Most
people lose 50-100 pounds during the first year.

I know, I didn't answer your question. 63.2036 pounds is the answer. 
(copied from a database). That's 165,151.2 pounds or 82.3 tons. It's a 
lot of fat. Many people continue to lose after the first year which is
another way the studies are misleading. Generally they only report the
first year. If they report subsequent years there is a huge drop off in
follow-up.

People who get a band, do well, lose weight, and don't have any problems
don't come back, especially when they have to pay for a visit and they
know they are fine. So they get left out. People with problems are more 
likely to show up.

How the band will help you is 95% up to you..5% is luck and doctor error...I am down almost 50 lb from my surgery in 8 months...

 I'd say to fight for what you want.  As a "lightweight" I had wanted to lose about 80 pounds with my band to reach my doctors goal of 170 pounds.  I'm 3 years out and happily maintaining at 130 pounds, a loss of 120 pounds!  

Kari

He is a great surgeon who has done thousands of lapbands... It sounds like you should take his opinion over a handful of responses you will get on here. It sounds like he is living the long-term statistics on the band.

But chin up, he is just one medical professional. I am sure you can find someone willing to band you if you really wanted to go against his advice.

And in full disclosure, I am a band to sleeve revision.

Good luck,
Lindsey

only problem is I haven't seen any long term stats on sleeve. Isn't it too new to know how it will do long term

The sleeve is only fairly new as a weight loss tool, it has been done for many, many years in cancer treatment.

I am sure WasABB has a bunch of studies re: WLS statistics she could point you towards. I don't keep these handy.

I can understand needing to be comfortable with the history and long-term statistics of the surgery you choose. Are you comfortable with the band's?

 If you really want the band you really need to find another surgeon, and especially a surgeon that only does Lap Bands. Do you know many surgeons do not like the Lap Band? Not because it does not work, but from what I heard many do not like the band because it takes up too much of their "surgery time" and the aftercare is a "headache" for them, they don't like the maintenance of fills and most importantly they will make more money on the Sleeve and RNY.

Also if he do not like the band you may not be successful with it, he may not fill you properly and if he fills you too tight your life with the band will be a nightmare and if you never find your sweet spot you will not lose your weight. If this surgeon is pro RNY or Sleeve then his dedication to get you to your sweet spot may never happen and you may end up chasing your sweet spot throughout your whole band journey this happens to many on the boards and some don't even know it they just think the band does not work and they can't eat solid food and vomit all the time because they never get to a sweet spot, they are either too tight and will eventually slip the band or too loose and the band will never work.

It makes me so angry to think some surgeons think all obese people are fat and lazy, how does he know that you will not be successful, does he know your motivation level? I agree some people want the surgery to do all the work, and these people should get the bypass, based on what I know my friends who got the Sleeve had to DIET just I did with my band, if they ate too many carbs and not exercised they would not lose weight so what makes him think the Sleeve is so much better? They are all tools, you may lose quicker with the Sleeve just because you can't eat much at all in the beginning and you will lose your appetite but that will change very quickly based on what I have seen with my friends with the Sleeve.

I lost 110 pounds with my band and many lose way over 50 pounds, that is pure stupid of your surgeon to say, to me when a surgeon say a patient will only lose 50 pounds that is telling you right there he does not like the band and you better run because he might be right, you may not lose but 50 pounds with him because he has no plans of getting you to your sweet spot for the band to be effective.

" Do you know many surgeons do not like the Lap Band? Not because it does not work, but from what I heard many do not like the band because it takes up too much of their "surgery time" and the aftercare is a "headache" for them, they don't like the maintenance of fills and most importantly they will make more money on the Sleeve and RNY."

I personally know a bariatric surgeon (dd's friend's dad) who quit doing the lap band for exactly that reason.  He simply makes more money in the OR than in his office with aftercare.  He also said it was extremely frustrating dealing with people who ignored his recommendations for how to live with the band (like trying to force the band to work by getting so tight that eating food is nearly impossible, or keeping a moderate fill level but refusing to adjust food choices and exercise).

MM

Have i misread this - you want to lose 50lbs? I don't  think there are any surgeons out there who do it for that sort of loss - for any surgery. Or do you mean 50% excess weight?

If so, get another opinion. Many people on here lose much more than that - i have lost 100%.

Kate