Nanook

Yarah, As someone who recently replaced her band with RNY I am quite familiar with the "Revision" section over at www.obesityhelp.com I've read there that people have gotten the lap band after their RNY stopped being effective as well as other procedures. You might want to check it out and good luck with what you decide to do, Nancy.:juggle:

If it wasn't for the new "Ghetto" post I never would have read "5th day out and yes I ate chicken" which I had already missed!! It was enjoyable but now I can't get that damn Elvis Presley song out of my head "In the Ghetto" so thanks a bunch!!!

I have noticed that my cravings for food has greatly diminished, not just sugar. It can't be anything but the surgery. Everyone is different but for me I finally found something that has helped and I was about to give up. I'm just being honest and not trying to shove "RNY" down anyone's throat. I'm also in the beginning stages of RNY so things can and will change. I'm still healing and cannot take in as much food as someone who had the surgery six months ago. It's a restriction you get from the beginning, there's no messing with tightening or untightening your restriction and if I treat my new stomach well it should stay in good working order. Good luck to you Nancy.

mpw09, you sound like you know what you're doing but just remember you're not your mom. And you're right not everyone has dumping syndrome and possibly like your mom will go through it even if it means a not so fun time! I can tolerate some sugar but if it's over a certain amount that's when I'm in trouble. My daughter also had the rny after I was banded and that was "her" decision. Of course I worried like crazy for her thinking it was the end of her basically. So far so good though she's lost 150 lbs and is much happier and healthier now. It was because she did so well and I did not on the band that I thought I'd give it another shot as I was still worth it and knew that the band just wasn't the right solution for me. No weight loss surgery is perfect but considering the fact that your mom is only shy by 20 lbs from her goal I think she met the statistics for wl and probably did even better. I believe they say you should lose about 75% of your excess weight and most people lose more and then hover around an extra 20 lbs. It's just what happens. Good luck, and if you choose the band I hope you will be very successful with it, Nancy.:smile2:

From what I've gathered over the past 2 years when trying to figure out why my lap band wasn't working for me as it was for others I came to a few conclusions. One was it was meant for certain types of eaters who ate certain types of foods. Those that ate larger portions of foods seemed to do well and those that tended to eat and crave sugary fat foods struggled. I believe we use a term like head hunger a bit too lightly as it's supposed to be something we "should" be able to control by having and maintaining "willpower" or by getting some sort of behavior therapy and that's not necessarily the case. Head hunger is more physiological in nature than psychological. It's a real force that many of us can't control especially in a case where diabetes is in the mix or one is peremenapausal/menopausal, have hypothyroidism or anything else where homones seem to take over or aren't in the best working order. I think people tend to feel that if they can't work the band the way it should be they are not only considered failures for being fat but failures for failing at the band when in reality they just chose the wrong weight loss surgery. I not only had restriction from the very outcome of RNY surgery but my "head hunger" disappeared also. So there is probably a physical reason for that since physically my insides were rerouted the thing most people dread but it works. I also was fearful of this in the beginning and is why I opted out of RNY and chose the lap band first. You can't change the past but you can learn from it and I was much more knowlegeable going into RNY than I ever was getting the lap band. I'm just using myself as an example of someone who would never have done well with the band because of the many factors I listed above. People have to choose the surgery for the right reasons and not just because it "appears" to be less evasive. I say "appears" only because of the many complications we read about here on the board every day. Surgeons are wonderful at what they do in putting in bands and stapling stomachs in half but they might not be as good at figuring out which surgery is best for you so there's a lot of research that must be done and it's your own responsibility to do as much as you can. Good luck to you all, Nancy.

I have had both surgeries, first the lap band in 2007 and it's removal and then the RNY. Bottom line I had GERD with the band and since it's removal it's gone. I also gained weight with the band because the only food that would go through it were the high sugar/fat foods. One size does not fit all in the world of weightloss surgery and the more you know the better off you'll be. I consider myself a "newbie" with RNY but I'm also a "revisioner" and feel that's a totally different ballgame, like Headhunter above. I know my limitations as a human being and if I could have resisted eating sweets before the band I wouldn't have needed the band. RNY has kept me from craving them like I had before and also due to dumping syndrome, though not everyone has it, keeps me in check like Mariem said. I'm off my diabetic meds now and hopefully will continue to stay off them. Good luck to whatever surgery you choose, Nancy.

If someone told you that they could restrict most of the types of food you ate but you could still eat foods that slid through the band meaning chocolate, ice cream, cookies, chips etc...would you be successful? Not all of us are that strong. It is something you really need to discuss with a doctor ahead of time to make the right decision for you! Good luck Nancy.

MPW09, I too had a sweet tooth and also had type 2 diabetes and on the lap band was able to keep eating sweets as the healthier foods never would go down for me and I would PB. My diabetes worsened with the lap band because of that. I didnt know all the junk food would still go through the band I only thought something like ice cream or sugar drinks would be an issue. I'm much older than you and was at the point where I couldn't even lose weight anymore, forget the keep it off part and due to my health I had the lap band removed and eight months later revised to RNY. I'm fairly new at it and know the effect sugar will have on me now and it's not pleasant. I also don't crave it like I used to (knock on wood)when I was banded and before and am off my diabetic meds completely. I know it's not a "popular" view here at LBT but thought you might as well hear the other side of it from someone also. Good luck to you which ever surgery you choose. Nancy.

RecklessMonkey, I think what you've said "it's just a tool and not a solution" should be in big bold letters so that people hear that way before they ever get banded. The whole "slider foods" thing was something I was not made aware of before my lap band surgery and partly caused my downfall with the band. It saddens me to think people are seeing this as some sort of magical band when in reality it can be just as hard to lose weight after banding as it was before banding. I gained weight with the band and would never have gotten it right no matter how many fills and unfills I received. Luckily I got a second chance and wish everyone the best of luck with whatever WLS they choose but choose wisely! Nancy.

HH, I need that extra help to keep me in line for sure!! I'm usually on my best behavior in public so I'm glad this incident happened at home. But I will try to be much better at home too. I think you're right it might have been the combo of high fat/high sugar. Take care, Nancy.

Mare, There's a good revision section over at www.obesityhelp.com and I found it helpful when I revised from the lap band to RNY and know there are plenty of people revising from RNYs also. Good luck, Nancy.

I was required to go to two prior to my revision surgery to RNY. I wasn't too excited as I had gone to them before when I had the lap band and went to ones just for lap bands. But I switched to a different group that takes all surgeries before, after or just thinking about it and have found it really helpful. It's also held at the hospital nearest my home. The woman who runs it is wonderful and had the same surgery six years ago and there are other women there and men who are post-op that long and it's nice to actually see people face to face for me. It's only once a month but it helps me feel somewhat accountable. Maybe because I'm on my second surgery I wanted to feel like this time around I did everything right, you know what I mean? Good luck, Nancy:thumbup:

How often do you see your friend? Maybe where she's lost it you don't see it. If she is your friend you should be supportive of her. If she had RNY 3 months ago I'd think at her size she would have lost 60 lbs by now. Everyone shows their loss differently.

For every surgery I've ever had since diagnosed with sleep apnea I've been required to bring my machine with me. Do you use a machine?

divorced......, There are plenty of folks around who have had them removed, I being one of them although our circumstances are much different. In fact this is the first I've heard of undigested food collecting above the band and causing an infection. I know a weight gain is traumatic but it seems like you have more important issues on the table right now and doing whatever you can do to make yourself healthier is what is important right now. Good luck to you, Nancy.

Maryrose, I was a transcriptionist many years ago and had a shorthand type program that I loved! I still type the shorthand and expect the full word to pop up sometimes! I never downloaded spell check here so God knows what my posts look like! Nancy.

Debbie I'll ship you my 100 lb rescue dog with fear based anxiety issues, should do the trick! Take care, Nancy.

In order to have insurance cover a weightloss surgery you're going to need to see a doctor probably to refer you to a bariatric surgeron. If you see a doctor maybe you can get some blood work done to rule out other issues you may have. Possibly hormonal. That's when I found out I had an underactive thyroid. I was also the only one in the family who had a weight problem since I was young and I was a pretty active kid too. What they said about going to a seminar is good too as you can learn about all your surgical options. Prior to my attending a seminar I had to have my primary care physician write a letter of necessity stating I should have the surgery but everyone is different and every insurance company has different requirements. You're in a forum where either we all are fat or were fat and going to a doctor when you are can be a scary thing, I know and usually avoided it when I could. You just have to have the attitude that it's your life and your body and you want to take care of yourself and need the help of a doctor in doing so. Just because we're fat doesn't mean we're not worthy of taking care of our health! Good luck and keep us posted on how things go, Nancy.

Debbie, I'm glad your friend said something. That nurse sounds like she was a bit wacko to me, but that doesn't take away her crassness/rudeness. Take care, Nancy.

I wish you luck Patricia. The main reason I worry about self pay with the band is when people have complications and are not covered by insurance to deal with those, like removals or emergency situations that they don't expect beforehand. Hopefully you won't have that problem. I personally would not have done the band if I had to pay for it out of pocket but I realize many people do. In some respects I think some people get lucky with their band situation. It works well as they expected and they're able to lose weight and keep it off and never have a complication. On the other hand there are many where it was just as hard to lose weight as it was before they were banded and/or have other complications too and this is not what they expected. Take care and I hope continued success with your band, Nancy.