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I had decided to get the LapBand, but went to my doctor's seminar and heard more about VSG. It sounds a whole lot better, but I'm concerned about two things: (1) It's not reversible - with the Lapband, if for some strange reason I decided to I could always go back. This probably wouldn't actually be a problem, but my gp doctor mentioned it so now I'm nervous. (2) This is the issue that really has me wondering... The hormone that you lose with the VSG is supposed to regulate hunger. I'm wondering how this affected other people. Do you actually lose "hunger"? Did you miss being hungry? And it seems like we very often hear of medical issues that we thought were ok, but later learn they are not -- what's the probability of losing this hormone becoming a "whoops! - we shouldn't have done that" issue? Right now I'm waiting to get approved by my insurance and schedule the procedure. Figured I'd use my time wisely while I wait and get as informed as possible. My surgeon raves about VSG, but my gp doctor thinks LapBand is a better way to go.

Well, it looks like I've got more time than I had hoped for to research and think about this. My insurance tells me I have to be on their plan 36 months before I can qualify. That means next May. They didn't mention this before. I asked them to send me a copy of their rules, so hopefully no more surprises. Sort of makes you wonder, though... what other conditions require you to pay for insurance for 3 years before you can qualify to use that insurance? Oh well. I waited this long - I can wait an extra 6 months. MacMadame's comments about the long-term studies makes sense. But, again, I think it will come down to the insurance. When I asked them about VSG, they hadn't heard of it. Only bypass and lapband. It's bad enough they don't cover it, but they hadn't even heard of it??? And they're the ones making the decisions about our health care?? (sorry - ranting...) Economics prohibits me from doing something insurance won't cover. So I'll have to cross my fingers, and keep in mind that VSG will probably be covered soon and I can get a revision when it is (if necessary). One more thing... Jaffa Steve says: "My wife is a sleeve gal, and I'm a bander. Believe me, we don't have any arguments about which is better!!!!!!!" What does that mean? They are equal? There's no question one is better than the other? You don't argue about it because it's a waste of time anyway? :thumbup1:

No, my gp isn't referring me. I researched and chose my surgeon (location, insurance, credentials - not necessarily in that order). The gp is just helping me make the decision and prove to my insurance that I need it. This is really weird. I'm reading several posts on this website that say how bad the band is. Until now, the sites I had seen were mostly positive. My question is, if the band is so bad why is it being done so often and why are the percentage rates showing negative results so low? More questions for my surgeon....

Wow! Thanks for the great responses. Sure gives me a lot to think about. I agree that my surgeon would probably be the better one to listen to (over the gp doctor) just because he's more experienced with it. But I am getting good support from the gp either way, which is nice. It does seem like it will be weird having this foreign object in my body for the rest of my life. Plus, I live a good 2-hour drive from my surgeon and not having to go back and forth for refills sounds really good. I had also heard that, with the band, sometimes the stomach actually grows so that if you do remove the band you've got more of a problem. I'm leaning closer to the VSG, but am not there yet. I have been reading up on ghrelin, leptin and cortisol. Adding your comments to what I'm finding, I am feeling more comfortable with that issue. But I guess what's making me hesitate is that it's still new and we don't have years' of research on it yet. Wasn't ghrelin only discovered a couple of years ago? I keep thinking of phen-phen, sacarin (sp?), hormone replacement therapy, etc. - things we thought were great but then found out after a few years that it wasn't such a good thing to do because of side effects that took a while to show up. I know my insurance will cover the band, but I don't know about the VSG. It may just come down to that and my decision will be made for me. Who knows - maybe insurance will cover the band now, and then later on down the road they will cover VSG and I can get a revision. I think a good thing for me to do would be to write out all of my questions (so I don't get off-track and forget anything) and take them to the surgeon before making the final decision. Argh! I tend to be a wishy-washy person, and I felt really good having made a decision about the band. Then they had to go and come up with this VSG and I have to think all over again.