If I could do it over, would I get a lap band??

[Cocoabean 430]

Cocoaa Bean, you were about the same weight as me when you had the Band.I have only lost about 40 pounds. Some days I am disapointed.Iwas banded aug.2008.How are you eating with the band?? Thanks,Laura

Hi Laura,

I eat pretty well. I still struggle with choices sometimes. But I am now naturally taking small portions and small bites. I eat about 1200 calories per day and have just recently reached a normal BMI.

My band is fairly loose (5.5cc in a 10cc band)which allows me to eat a wide variety of foods, and I don't get stuck too often. When I do get stuck it is usually from pilot error.

My typical day:

Cup of coffee on the way to work.

Protein shake/bar/or graham crackers with Peanut Butter for Breakfast.

note: my surgeon prefers I not do Protein shakes, he wants me to eat my calories. I recently started them because I was getting bored with my normal breakfasts. I start work at 6:30am, and cannot eat before I leave my house.

lunch is a salad or sandwich (without most of the bread), or dinner leftovers. We have a cafeteria where I work. I'll sometimes get the special and break it into two meals.

dinner is often a meat dish with veggie side and a starch. I follow the band rule of eating protien and veggie first with the starch as more of an afterthought.

I am allowed healthy in between meal foods. Just not brainless eating.

I also spend a bit of time here to remind me of my band and to keep up the hard work!

Best wishes to you!

Edited April 12, 2010 by Cocoabean
I hate typos!

[Kelleigh710 0]

Woodstock,

A few of the conceptions you have about bypass simply aren't true. I had a bypass when I was 18 years old (about 10 years ago). I can eat absolutely ANYTHING I want to, including sugar. I've never been sick from sugar...ever. The weight came off rapidly, but too rapidly. I felt I was on a rollercoaster with no real control over anything. Whoever posted about issues with malabsorbtion is correct, you do NOT get the nutrients you need so i multi-Vitamin is key with bypass patients. Being the irresponsible teen that I was, I never took my Vitamins and now have seen significant hairloss. That being said, the weight came off rapidly, but now, 10 years out, I have gained all but 15 pounds back. I am due to have a lap band put over my gastric pouch on 6/29/10 to further aid my weight loss effort. Of course not every bypass results in people gaining weight back, but it's certainly not uncommon. In fact, in Europe, when doctor's do bypass's, they will sometimes stitch a band in place to preven stomach stretching and for use as a "plan B". I think both the band and bypass are great WL tools. I mistreated the bypass and now, plan to use the band to the fullest. :thumbup:

[uhmlaila 0]

Hi I am 32 years old and I also had gastric bypass in 2001 I weighed 330lbs and am now at 266lbs, I believe after having my 2 children within those 10 years my pouch stretched I am only 64lbs away from my pre bypass weight, I'm scheduled for Lap Band over gastric bypass also on June 3, 2010. I am stil 119 lbs from my healthy weight goal. Good to see other bypass patients are getting the band

[LadyInBlack 0]

I know several people that had the bypass and after two years they gained it all back and then some...the little pouch streatched and now they can't do anything but control their eating....why bother doing it if you don't fix what got you there in the first place! It's not a cure all and it doesn't last if you don't fix your eating disorder!

I am still Pre OP but I am still glad I am having the band!

[Kelleigh710 0]

As much as I agree with you, please try to be empathetic to others and their situation. For example, I was 17 years old when I saw the doctor and 25 days after I turned 18, I was in for surgery. In no way, shape or form did I understand fully what was going on. I got my staples out a week later and poof, no aftercare or support. Everyone here has a food addiction and some of us have a harder time changing our ways then others do. So please keep in mind that some of us that failed with prior weight loss surgery had all the best intentions of trying to change, but for whatever reason, failed to do so and are looking to do the right thing now. It's unfair to judge people that have had complications or overate to the point of stretching their pouch. It happens.

[anderpander 0]

My BIL had bypass 2 years ago. He swore up and down that if the procedure was done correct the pouch would not change shape. Since he lives with us I think I can make a pretty good judgement call that yeah it has stretched. His meals are more then 4 ozs.

He never ate sweets. Never. Now I am finding candy and snicker bar wrappers. He's drinking soda (ok diet but) and koolaid and he never did before.

He's eating twice as much as he ever did (since surgery) and in the past 6months he's been eating fast food again.

Sugar makes him red in the face, flush. 2 years and we still have dumping and vomiting and at this point I wonder if he just isn't bulimic.

On the flip side when he did his surgery our meals at home changed greatly in portion and in health and I didn't budge a pound...

I do question the no sugar because I see sugar being consumed and I question the dumping going away cause after over 2 years I still see it.

I think like others have said, when your hurting you question yourself.

[captainsigma01 0]

Wow! I didn't know that those that had Gastric Bypass eventually went in for a Lapband. The one other reason I can give for choosing Lapband over RnY is that being the fact that what you eat is Malabsorptive and even though this is a benefit when it comes to those things you don't want the body to absorb you still have the flip side of it not absorbing what it should properly thus leading to a life of Vitamins 4x a day.

[uhmlaila 0]

I agree also we should change our habbits first but true also dont judge, I am on weightwatchers now and am getting the band as a tool... this time around. Further more if anyone on this site was fit or had an acceptable BMI we wouldn't be on here wether we stretched our bypass pouch or just stretched our natural stomachs out everyons in the same boat the fat boat so don't throw stones we may sink :thumbup: and if it was so easy oh dark one to just up and change your eating habbits WHY DO YOU NEED THE BAND at all...:laugh: last time I checked no one gets a BMI of 44 by eating rain drops .....we all have a eating disorder clearly and by the way lap band puches stretch too if your not careful. I know a nurse who had Lap Band and after 5 years her pouch streched a little but enough to balloon somewhat over the band kinda like a mushroom shape if you can imagine, it requires another surgey to correct and if that happens you cant get anymore band fills until its surgically corrected....I say we should all consider how we ever got Obese in the first place.....not who blew thier pouches first time around which now studies show are over half of gastric bypass patients......its an epedimic

Edited May 20, 2010 by uhmlaila

[Kelleigh710 0]

Amen Uhmlaila!!! :laugh:

By the way, you're getting your band the day after my birthday, I hope it brings you lots of luck and lots of health. Just to give you a heads up, there are quite a few people with BOBS (Bands over Bypasses) at OH (www.obesityhelp.com) and we even have our own group. One person with the BOB, just had her 1 year anniversary and she's lost 91 pounds. It can be done and we will do it!

~Kelly

[Kelleigh710 0]

Captainsigma,

Not everyone decided to revise from Gastric Bypass to a band. As a matter of fact, many people opt not to and go for a procedure that's a lot more tricky called the DS (Duodenal Switch). However, there are more and more people with bypasses that simply don't want to go through a major surgery again, so they go to the band. Then there are some bandsters that go with the gastric bypass after a while. It's kind of funny how someones method of WLS can be a failure, but a triumph for someone else and vice versa. It's all really intriguing.

Wow! I didn't know that those that had Gastric Bypass eventually went in for a LAP-BAND®. The one other reason I can give for choosing LAP-BAND® over RnY is that being the fact that what you eat is Malabsorptive and even though this is a benefit when it comes to those things you don't want the body to absorb you still have the flip side of it not absorbing what it should properly thus leading to a life of Vitamins 4x a day.

[Astrasmom 1]

I chose the Lapband for several reasons. One big reason is that it was less invasive and the second being that I have talked to so many people about this..the Bypass stops working after about 2 years because it can't be adjusted anymore once you have lost so much weight.

Yes there are times when the lapband can be a pain but over all I would put up with the once and awhile stuck feeling over being OBESE again anytime. I'd rather deal with that then having a doctor tell my family that I have died on the table from a massive heart attack.

There are complications with any procedure. And as for dumping syndrome and eating sugar..old habits die hard. Just because you get the band or the gastric bypass doesn't mean that your bad habits are going to disappear over night. It's all in the mind.

So to answer the question.. If I had to get the Lapband over again would I do it? DEFINITELY!! I have never been happier in my life.

[jllybean1982 0]

There are so many more risks for gastric bypass. I have a couple of friends who almost died from complications of the bypass. I have also taken care of ppl that have had bypass that are so sick and malnourished they have to receive TPN (food through IV). I have a friend who had gastric bypass...she can eat anything and not get sick. She weighed 350 pounds when she got it done, got down to 198, and is now 250 again. She has no trouble digesting foods.

[uhmlaila 0]

Kelleigh710 thanks for the elink I will check it out I wasn't sure how many people were actually getting the band over bypass done that helps.

Edited May 20, 2010 by uhmlaila

[Sunshine79 0]

Yeah I would never get bypass (sleeve maybe) because of what I've seen my dad go through. He had it 10 years ago and has had a lot of complications. He has pernicious anemia and will have to get B12 injections monthly for the rest of his life. He also stretched his stomach out within 2 or 3 years and can eat much more than he used to and that (unlike the band) is not reversible and is very common among bypassers.

Also, I used to work with a woman who had recently gotten it done and she had some SERIOUS digestive issues, meaning that she couldn't always make it to work without pooping in her pants. Disgusting, I know, but that's what she told me on more than one occasion. I would never willingly subject myself to that kind of humiliation. For some it may be the best or only option but I think I chose correctly.

[uhmlaila 0]

Hi di the surgeon say the band over bypass was safe?