question?differences btw lap-rny and lap-lapband?also opinion and experiences?

i made my decision to have the wls the doc iam seeing only performs lap-rny and lap-lapband. i am undecided on which surgery i want at this time if any one can give me some pros and cons even thier personal exprience with either surgery and opinion. kim

I had lap-rny on 2/16/04 w/ dr. hans schmidt - one of the pioneers of wls in NJ. on monday i'll be 3 months and hopefully will be down about 62lbs. I'm not weighing myself this week b/c I'm bloated from my period. Anyway, as someone who had struggled her whole life w/being overweight, i looked at this as my last chance. I did alot of research and chose Dr. Schmidt and lap-rny. The other thing about lap-band is that I didn't want a foreign object inside of me. I know I took the more drastic approach of having my insides adjusted, but I preferred that to the foreign object - but it's an individual decision. He said my surgery went flawlessly and I have not had one complication (knock wood). I couldn't be happier. Just remember that in either case, it's not something that you just lay back and watch the weight come off. It's something you have to pay very close attention to and eventually start working out at the gym. There's a lot of hard work involved - MENTALLY as well. I see an eating disorders therapist as well as a nutritionist. But you know what? It's the GREATEST thing that has ever happened to me. To think in February I was 330 and now hopefully by monday I will be 269 is just unbelievable! I have hope - I see light at the end of my fat tunnel. Good Luck in whatever decision you make. Susan S.

I forgot to mention that there is a support group on Friday May 14th between 6-9 at the Hekemian Auditorium at the Hackensack Hospital. It's for pre-ops and post-ops -- even if you're not having surgery there, you'd be welcome in order to ask post-ops as many questions as you'd like. I'm not sure how many lap-band post-ops there are, but information is invaluable!

Read the descriptions of the surgeries on this site, they are very helpful. SImply put, the RNY uses a combination of restriction (small stomach) and malabsorption to achieve the weight loss, the lapband uses only restriction. There is a much higher success rate with the RNY as far as % of excess weight lost and maintaining that weight loss. There are also many other sites and books that will explain the different procedures available....do a LOT of research before making a decision.

i got mixed up here sorry,