Lap Band or By Pass?

Okay, think of it this way.  Does dieting work for you?  Do you lose weight hen you go on an extreme low calorie diet?  Do you eat and eat, never feeling full?  Will you be satisfied if you only lost half of the weight you need to lose (long term stats on LapBand)?  If you answer yes to these, then the LapBand or VSG would be perfect for you.  Restrictive procedures like these merely help you to reduce your food intake, basically like a dietary aid.

If you never got good results with dieting regardless of your effort, then you may need to alter the way your body metabolizes food.  The RNY Gastric Bypass and Duodenal Switch might be better options for you.  Don't put all of your eggs in the basket of dumping syndrome though, for only half of RNY patients get it.  If you don't, then you're left with willpower all over again.

Just some things to chew on.  Your best decision is by looking at your own body and diet history rather than what someone else did, what might be scarier, etc.  The goal is success the first time, and your best decision is an educated one.

I'm probably the oldest one here to replay to you. I was "over" 200 LBS over weight . Being my age (60) at the time of my surgery, there was now way I could loose over 200 LBS in a few years. As far as "dumping", knock on wood, but I have never had trouble eating or drinking anything that I used to consume. I do try and watch what I eat and the amount. My pouch let's me know when enought is enought. Just remember to get up and do something and don't eat anything "white" and you'll do fine.

Dave

This is a very tough and personal question to answer. I think you will personally know what works best for you. I chose lapband and am only 3 weeks post-op. My partner had bypass 2 years ago. He had fantastic results losing 50% of this weight. He is now 5'10" 180 and looks so good.

I personally chose lapband after a lot of consultation with my surgeon. You should utilize yours in the decision. According to my doctor, you can lose 60-70% of excess body weight with bypass and 40-50% with lapband. Of course, that varies by person. Since I have had open heart surgery and have high blood pressure and cholesterol, my motive was for better health.

My surgeon concluded that I could possibly be 15-20 pounds lighter with bypass. He felt the health benefits would be no different than 15-20 pounds heavier with lapband. The less risky, less evasive approach seemed to fit best for me. Add to this the fact that I felt lapband fit my lifestyle the best. I hope this helped...

Tom 

"Weighing in late here" I just had my surgery six days ago.  I started out only considering the lap-band and ended up considering all of my options, RNY, Gastric sleeve, DDS, Realize and Lap-Bands. It was a tough decision, and I quadruple checked myself until it was time to submit to the insurance my request.  Even then it is not too late to change your mind, they can resubmit for a different procedure.  I had until the morning of my surgery to decide on Lap vs. Realize (different brands, slightly different construction).  I even deeply researched which type of band and asked what size I would be given, the whole nine yards.  I can't speak personally for results, but I was motivated by my desire to return to taking care of my kids and my job as soon as possible, and the lap-band had the shortest recovery time, being the least invasive and minimal altering.  I don't have a sweets issue nearly that I do a fried fatty food issue, but I am ok with moving past food choices which are not good for my body (cancer, blood pressure, etc... as potential issues).  I admit being envious of DDS patients who can eat what they want, but I am also working on my emotional eating (stress and social) through therapy as I walk down the banded road.

The more research you do, the more comfortable you will feel with whatever decision you make. 

Hi! I have an empty lap band right now. It has slipped twice. I had my surgery March 2006 and it was slow going that year, but the scale was going down. Then since last fall it has been in and out with the adjustements and I was too tight then not tight enough. We could just not find that "spot". The only time the scale was moving was when I was too tight and had all that slim coming back up.....we knew something was not working. Then the slip-drained my band to let it heal then gave me a small fill to where I could not feel any restrictions. THEN another slip. I have appts on the 25th to see what the DR is going to do with me. One DR doing the unfill talked to me about the sleeve since I have Crohns disease and said that would be perfect. WELL United Health care does not cover that but they called today saying they would pay for me to have the gastic. SO not sure how all this is going to play out for me. Just taking it one day at a time with much prayer. This is just my story. I know there are a lot of people who have great success with the band. I have 2 dear friends who had the gastric and they could not be more pleased. It is such a personal choice I would just say read all you can about the surgeries both the pros and cons. Best of luck to you!

Kaybo,
If you have Crohn's disease I would imagine that United would cover a sleeve after an appeal.

Hang in there,

Thanks I will try!