WILL THE LAP BAND REALLY WORK? PERMANENTLY?

Okay, I am committed to having WLS, and up till yesterday was 99.9% sure it would be the lap-band...but, although my docs do do the band, they really recommend RNY. According to them, studies show people only lose 40-50% of excess weight (which for me would be 50lbs. - heck, I coul do that on Weight Watchers!), and may not keep it off permanently. They prefer to do the band on someone who is SMO, to get enough initial weight off so that they can go back and do the RNY. That concept was new to me... I don't get it...if your stomach is so much smaller initially, why could weight loss suddenly stop before you reach your goal? I have no compuntions about exercising and doing all the stuff you're "supposed" to do, as long as I won't feel deprived/hungry/miserable while doing it. My other issue is that while I know I've got the motivation to lose the weight, it scares me to think that I might invest a lot of time (not to mention $) for something that might not be PERMANENT. Otherwise, this just becomes another diet. What is your take on this matter? I have a private consultation with the docs tomorrow and really want to go in there and convince them that the band is the best choice for me, because, bottom line, the RNY is far too radical (for me)... Any thoughts, stats, etc. would be appreciated. PS I belong to the Bandsters but am having difficulty posting this ? Rebecca

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