baby or surgery?? THAT is my question....

The lap-band works by restricting how much you can eat. A band is placed around your stomach. It is adjustable so you can make it tighter or looser depending on how fast or slow you are losing. That's how it helps when you are pregnant. You can still have babies after bypass you just have to work really hard to make sure you are getting the extra calories you need. With the band they can take a little bit out allowing you to eat more. That way you are assured you can take in the calories & nutrients you need when pregnant or breastfeeding. You do lose the weight a little slower with the band vs. bypass, but over time the overall weight loss is the same. With the band you don't have to worry about the malabsorbtion issues that you do with bypass. That was the biggest difference to me. I'm relatively young & didn't want to have to worry about taking vitamins & minerals & still possibly not get enough of what I need for the rest of my life. I had a nutritionist tell me that unless someone has severe health problems & need to get a lot of weight off very fast, that the band is the better option. It's actually healthier to lose the weight a little bit slower. It's more likely to be fat rather than muscle you lose. No matter which way you go there are positives & negatives. I've done a lot of research on Lap-band & felt it was the right choice for me, but everyone is different. As far as cost Lap-band does cost less, because it's a less invasive procedure. You have a shorter hospital stay saving you money. Some doctors even perform it as out-patient meaning you have a much smaller hospital bill. If you have any questions feel free to ask me. You can also go to the lap-band board here. I learned tons of great info from the people there. http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/surgtype-forums/LapBand/posts.html Good luck! Gen