new ohio guy for lapband

ROFL!  Yeah, we do tend to love our surgery and let everybody know it.

Approx 3/4 of your stomach is removed.  Period.  This is done often for people who have stomach cancer or in the case of one family with a long genetic line of stomach cancers, I think it was around 13 of the brothers/sisters/cousins had their stomach removed as a pre-emptive strike.  I saw it on 20/20 or 60 min. or some like show a few years back.  Who needs that much stomach anyhow?  I can eat a smallish normal amount at 2 years out.  I don't look like a freak eating my one olive and quarter of a sandwich..........sans crust, of course........

The intestional switch of the DS can be reversed. 

Who knew that everyone that didn't get the DS looks like a freak when they eat? 

Dang if I had thought of that I definitely would have gone with the DS!  Why didn't anyone tell me about this?! 

Because the DS has the highest rate of weight loss and lowest rate of regain. the need for any kind of revision is extremely rare.  Basically, there's no need to mess with success.

That being said -- the stomach still has all working parts actually working as designed, so there's no need to revise there.

If someone were to have trouble with losing too much weight, the common channel just needs to be lengthened to increase absorption.  Most of us though slow down our weight by increasing carb consumption or in the extreme, taking digestive enzymes to increase absorption, which does the trick for 99.9%.

Hey Billy!

I just wanted to say good luck with what ever you decide and be sure to visit the Lap Band Forum.

I am another example of someone losing more than 50% of their excess weight with the band. My original goal was to lose 120lbs, which I did in 10 months and now I'm (lazily) working on the last 10-20lbs before exploring plastic surgery. (which I think will easily take off another 10lbs)  I don't eat olive size portions and I don't live on or even drink protein shakes.

I do think I've had an easier and more successful Lap Band journey than SOME but not ALL.

Do your homework and find a surgery that best suits YOU. Don't forget to also look into the sleeve.

If you are interested in malabsorbsion, I also urge you to look into the DS over RNY!

Hey all,  back for a little update.  Thanks again for all the replies and opinions.  That definitely helps in picking what's right for me.  And after further research I've chosen Lap Band.  I'm not one of those guys who just eats all the time, I just have too large of an appetite.  I don't even snack, I eat 3 meals a day at the same time, but I just eat too much at those meals.  So I'm going to utilize the bands constrictive properties and train myself to lose the appetite, and thus .  .. lose the weight.  I love the idea that it's reversible. . . . I know it has a higher failure rate than most, but with this day in age in medical science breakthroughs, who's to know that something better might come along down the road than both the rny and ds? 

I had my consult with the surgeon and attended a seminar last week.  I'm going in for my psych eval the 13th.  And after that I should be approved within a week with a surgery date! 

HERES TO A HAPPIER HELAHTIER ME!

And congrats to all of you and your success stories.  You all look fantastic!

 How exciting Bill!  Congrats on your decision and I wish you success on your journey.

Can't wait to see those pounds start dropping... keep us updated.

You are right to research as much as you can. Do bear in mind (as I am sure you are doing) that on these boards there is a lot of bias. WLS is a major decision and having made that decision, we are psychologically more likely to convince ourselves and try to convince others that our decision was the best.

I am not going to argue in favour of any one WLS - every individual needs to find the one which is right for them. The band was right for me - 100% excess weight lost in 18 months, no problems, easy to maintain loss. It is not right for some others. As with all WLS - some never regret their choice, others do!

I disagree with a previous post - there is no physical reason why the band should not be for life! But, as with the other surgeries, who knows what may occur in 25 years?

Kate