I want your opinon

Hi folks! 
I have decided to take the step and do it!  I feel liberated!!
Here are my questions for debate
1) Why gastric banding over Roux
2) Why Realze over Lapbad

Gvie me your opinons from experiences not medical jargon.  What is your experience
Thanks :)

Hi --
I am brand new to the process, so I will just tell you why I chose what I chose.

1.  I have no co-morbiditied.  I am looking for a tool to help me change my eating and exercise patterns and have the time (2 - 3 years) to make that happen.  In the past, I have tried things that were quick fixes (Medifast for 24 weeks) and that was not long enough for me to be successful in learning how to live long-term with healthy eating patterns.

2.  Realize because my surgeon believes the bands are 'equal', and due to a package price he has been able to develop with the local surgery center and the Realize folks, the self-pay option is more affordable for me. 

3.  I also like the idea of the Realize My Success on their website.  I will need the accountability of contact/communication.

Also, my doc requires a monthly follow up appointment for at least 1 year -- whether you think you need a fill or unfill or not.
His patients have lost 80%+ of their Excess Weight -- and he firmly believes that the follow up plan is critical to that success.

Best of luck in your research and decision making process,

Hi, I chose the REalize band because of family experiences with gastric bypass....mom had gastric 10yrs ago, put most of her weight back on and still throws up, and has to be on iron and B12 shots the rest of her life,  my brother also had gastric about 5yrs ago, has put all of his weight back on, addicted to Beer, and his best friend had gastric done several years ago, and passed away due to not eating right and became addicted to alcohol, which is what done him in.  My sister in law had gastric done three years ago and is fighting to keep off her weight, she has put back on about 25-30 lbs already.  With Realize band, it is a tool, it is not going to allow you to over eat,, unless you want to be sick and hurt all the time.  Also, the success rate of keeping the weight off is better than that of gastric.  It is still a serious surgery, but not as invasive as re routing intestines, and what ever.  It is easier to uninstall also if one is having problems.  Realize band has a great success rate, and a great support site and along with this OH site, great support from friends who have had the same problems and experiences we have had, and understand where we are coming from. 
Anyway, good luck in what ever decision you decide to do, main thing is to be healthy.Farmgirl58

Hello. I had my Realize surgery last September and I have lost a little over 40 pounds. I was hoping for more and I would have lost more if I would have had gastric bypass but I couldn't deal with the huge chance of death or serious health problems afterwards or possible even gaining all my weight back a year or 2 later. I want to do this, and I want to do it right, not fast. I am losing weight slowly and giving my body time to adjust and not be all stretched and gross. I chose the Realize over the Lapband because of the small changes the realize people had made with their band. They actual shape of the band is different. The Lapband being a circle and the Realize band being more of an oval. The oval shape allows food to dislodge itself easier if you happen to get something stuck. I have never thrown up. I have friends with lap bands who throw up EVERY DAY. Plus, the realize band port is smaller and flatter and they use metal clamps to attach it to your muscle so there is less of a chance of the port moving and having to have surgery to put it back. The Realize band has always been marketed as a softer weight loss tool that Lapband and I know why. It takes longer to even notice you have one in you and sometimes, especially in my case, it can take 4 or 5 or even 6 fills to feel any kind of restriction. I thought I would never feel full. So here is my info. Hope I helped :)

P.S. One of my friend's mother's past away last week 2 days after she had bypass surgery... I was so glad I made the band decision. But no one wants to get surgery to save their life and have their life be taken instead......

I decided on the band mainly because of my age.(32)., Because i have alot invested in my skin and want to loose the wait slowly so my body can adjust, and because of the less invasive nature of it.  My doctor recommended the band becuase i do not eat a lot of ice cream, shakes, or slurpee type items.

My doctor suggested the realize band becuase it has a 10% better result then the lapband becuase of thier online support site.(his words). I had no prefference i trust my surgeon and went with his advise.

I have had it for just under two weeks now and would do it all over again if i had to.

Any questions just ask.

Graig

I received the RNY in May 2006 because my Insurance would not cover the Lap Band (Realize wasn't around then either). Well I lost the first two years but as I got back into the main stream of life where every meeting and family/friends gathering meant a buffet of food. My eyes finally outweighed my pouch. And I started to gain weight back on. I had gained back almost everything I lost.

Thus now my insurance does now cover the Realize and Lap Banding. And I have just placed the Realize Banding on top of my swollen RNY Pouch.

Both Realize and now Lap Band offer ON-WEB website support. With personal tracking. Lap Band just added this feature because Realize did so from their beginning.

But what led me to the Realizewas a few things.
Te port is flatter and a bit wider. It anchors into the muscle with four metal prongs which are set with a twist of the port when placed (the lap band is just suitured in place and I know from others that if you at first over do even exercise there is a possibility of flipping that port - causing further surgery to fix it).
Under the port where the tubing connects is a metal sheath that just maybe the person doing the fill misses the port there is less of a chance of the tubing being punctured. Thus more surgery to replace it.
The actual band that increases in size - decreasing the amount of food that is allowed to pass is one balloon pillow as with the Lap Band it's 6 little pillows.
And lastly the Realize Band is all one peice when implanted as the Lap Bands port is attached during the surgery.

It's your choice, Best of Prayers, Mike

My surgery is not until May 14th, so I can't tell you anything post op, but pre op the main reason I chose the band is the less invasive surgery.  Since doing much more research, I have learned that alot of people who have gastric bypass start to gain their weight back after 2 or 3 years.  With the band, you can have fills forever (as far as I can tell) so if you start to gain, then you go get a fill and get back on plan before the gaining gets out of hand. 

As recently as last week I was still wavering on whether I had made the right choice or not, but after thinking about the long term options with the band, I have decided that it is definitely the way I want to go so I can continue to control this for years down the road!!!

I don't really know why I chose Realize over Lap Band, but after reading about the way the port is attached I'm glad I did.

Good Luck!!!