14 yeard old

My daughter is overweight and is 14. Recently "a" doctor suggested Lap band.  does anyone out there know if doctors wiould do it for that age.  YES we have tried EVERYTHING!!! just wondering if anyone had any luck with appovals that young.

thanks

Hey There,
 You may see my recent post about the Childrens camp in NC. My daughter is 14 and went there when she was 12, She  lost 30 pounds in 6 weeks, and is planning to go back this summer.
I am afraid of doing surgery on her at this age. I think camp is a great alternative. If you have any questions , just ask me..

My surgeon's minimum age was 18. I don't know if anyone "would" do it but I'd recommend not. When I was 18 I really wanted to get RNY but my parents said no and there was nothing I could do. 8 years later I decided I wanted to get lap band and I'm happy with the fact that I went through all the maturing you do between 18 and 26 before making this decision. Weight loss surgery is not an easy answer. With lap band, you normally have to do a liquid diet for a couple of weeks before surgery and a couple after and then soft foods so it's about 6 weeks total that you're eating basically nothing and you don't have the help of the band at this point, it's pure will power. The band only starts to work after one, two, three, who knows how many fills it will take to reach the point where you have good restriction. So what this means is that your daughter might have anywhere from a couple of months to a year where she's supposed to be living on very little food but the help of the band hasn't kicked in yet so it's like gritting your teeth and just getting through it.

Does that sound like something your 14 year old wants? Does it sound like a decision a young teen is ready to make? As adults, we can be fully informed and realize that something's going to be difficult but we're committed to it. I don't think even at 14, I would have been able to handle what I'm going through now and I was a really mature kid.

ya that is something to think about...thanks

my daughter had lap-band at age 13 at 300 lbs her band is on slip #2 and has a pin hole in it so we are going back to mexico for  the sleeve, most insurance's wont pay for the sleeve only RNY  so Im spending the 5,500 for the sleeve there well worth all the money for my young teens. she is now 17 and has gained all her weight back do to the pinhole

The University of Chicago has the New Hope Program and a unit specifically for their bariatric patients.

Thanks everyone for your comments and concerns.  I think she will have to try on her own and hopefully succeed this time, now that she is a little older.