MI doc says 25% do not loose wgt

[PhotoNut 7]

When I went to see my surgeon's presentation on the lap band, he told the group that the US is the only country still doing gastric bypass surgeries. Other countries have discontinued this extreme form of weight loss surgery because of an alarming fatality rate (usually due to leaks).

Dr. Cahn (Boise, Idaho) also stated that none of the surgeries he does, even the most risky, have a fatality rate as high as the bypass surgery. He also showed the group the results of studies done by various doctors around the country which documented that while bypass patients may loose weight more quickly in the early months, there is clear evidence that over a two year period the lap band patients lose the same amount of weight, -and- they keep it off. Many bypass patients tend to regain the weight after a few years.

The group of medical professionals who have screened and helped prepare me for this drastic change in my life have all made it very clear that for real success I must begin making healthier choices in my life (diet and exercise). I have always been willing to do this on my own, but my weakness lies in the quantity of food I eat. So, for me the choice is clear.

I will be banded in 8 days and I'm fully prepared to make the necessary lifestyle changes to ensure my success. And to me success -is- being healthy and active and happy. The band is only one third of the equation to my success, the other two thirds being exercise and healthy foods. Afterall, why would I put myself through a $25,000 surgery and expect to be able to live the same way that got me in this mess in the first place? Like others have said in this thread, there are those that will find a way around the band and won't see the same success as others. I wouldn't attribute the 25% failure rate to the band. I would attribute the failure to the people who thought of their band as a device meant to deprive them from food and found a way to defeat it.

[cheeringranny 0]

Another question for Sue

Just came into this thread and was wondering why you chose the DS? I'm much in the same situation as Dody as far as trying to decide what is right for me and this WHY question seems to keep popping into my head. I'm finding that the answers I am getting are helping me more than anything, and I really need some help right now.

[cheeringranny 0]

to Photonut

I want to thank you for your insightful post. I am having a hard time deciding if the band or the DS is right for me. I think I have just made up my mind! I nearlly died on the table 1 year ago having (or trying to have) bypass surgery. My aorta was punctured and so the procedure was not done in order to repair the damages and try to save me life. Well I pulled through and now here I am facing the same decisions that I faced the last time. I guess I knew in my heart all along that the band was for me and your post has just re-inforced my feelings and what I know in my heart to be true. I have spent so many hours researching the different methods and looking for something, I'm not even sure what. I'm really scared this time. I finally found what I am looking for. It's been inside me all along. thank you so very much. Please e-mail me. Marlene

[Valentinebaby 0]

BRAVO BRAVO!! Well said South Tx,I totally agree that unless a person is truly ready to what is required they may not succeed with the banding or any other program(just my opinion) .Thank you for that uplifting reminder.

[Katie328 0]

Is it a stat or a sales pitch?????

I don't know but it freaks me out! I hope that i'm not part of that 25%!!!! Time to go get the butt on the treadmill!! :clap2:

[gentlespirit 1]

Susan~

Sounds like you are in an excellent place psychologically to ahve this surgery done. You'll do very well, I think. Thanks for a good reminder that even tho I now have my band, I still make the choices!

Emily

[maygoddess 53]

I wanted to jump in here. Statistics can be misleading and taken out of context. When I was on Dr Kuri's referral list, I received an email from a prospective patient that asked me if it was true that 25% of ALL band patients eventually have their band removed. I was alarmed at where she read this "fact" and she pointed me to the same stat pointed out here. If you really read the stat..it is referring to a sampling of 299 patients in a follow up study over 3 years. It does seem high that 25% of almost 300 people were unbanded..but you cannot necessarily extrapolate that stat out to the general band population. I was banded in 2002 and at that time almost 100K people were banded worldwide and there was no such statistic. I didn't hear of many people having to get unbanded and I was VERY active in many band groups online.

I find that people who I know who have not been successful with the band are not really the right people for it in the 1st place. I know one gal who I referred to my doctor has been very unsuccessful but it is because she likes to eat and refuses to believe she has to watch what she eats,get regular fills, excercise..she wants to eat like she did before.

I still recommend banding to anyone who asks, but I come from over three years of living with this noose around my stomach! Don't expect tight fills to do all the work. You still need to watch what you eat, come to grips with emotional eating habits you will still have and not freak out if you aren't losing fast enough or so many lbs per week. The band does stop you from overeating which is sooo easy..we all overeat as a society..portions are out of control. Banded, we are probably closer to approriate portions everyone shoul dbe eating but you still have to watch WHAT you eat..you can get alot of calories in even with the tightest fill. We all learn to eat around the band!

Anyway..really read statistics in context and read all you can. I know that 100lbs off and no gain of a single lb in 3+ years is a big success for me..no matter how much I finally lose. I still have another 30-40 to go..but keeping it off is WHY I got the band..not to lose the fastest or the most...

Patty

[vinesqueen 2]

I will probably be counted among that statistic whom the band simply will not work.

It isn't because I eat around the band. It isn't because I don't excersize. It isn't becaue of anything within my control. I have a metabolic disorder. There's a chance that I wouldn't lose if I switched to a malabsorbive technique, but I personally would rather weight 235 pound than have a malabsortive technique. I lost 1.5 pounds at a month of 700 calories, and felt terrible.

So. I'll just have to figure out what type of Cushings I have and get treatment for that.

I wonder, looking at my Turtle Tribe, how many of us have a metabolic disorder.

[MsButterKup23 1]

Habits MUST change otherwise this surgery is pointless. I know that I see food totally different now than I did before. If I leave food on my plate now it doesn't hurt my feelings, I don't plan my whole day around what I am going to eat anymore. I know it's easy to say, but you got to let the food demons go. One can't expect to lose weight and not change what they are eating or how much they are eating.

I can't say anything about exercise because I don't do anything but walk the mall every other day or so.

[taylorrae9 0]

My doctor also stated that some people need to convert from a lapband to another procedure. I am in that process now. I started at 300 and at surgery was 282. I am not at 233. It has been over a year for me. SO I need to really look at this. I do walk and had amny fill to the point I was almost on a full liquid diet. I think I need to by pass so that my body does not absorb as much of the calories. He has been very supportive and is willing to work with me around this issue. It is me however that it disappointed. It is easy to blame the band owner but I have tried hard. So if it comes to having to go on this path try to not be hard on those who fail. Please.

[vinesqueen 2]

If you are living on a good amount of food by lapbandster standards, if you are living on 1000-1200 or even a bit higher, depending on your activity level, then you might have developed a metabolic issue.

Please, please, please, before you consider any of the bypass options talk to other doctors. Talk to nutritionists, get a referal to an Endocrinologist.

Your surgeon's tool is surgery, that's how he or she will look at all problems. If all you have is a hammer, all your solutions look like nails. But hammers don't work well with fine china or glass.

[maygoddess 53]

My doctor also stated that some people need to convert from a lapband to another procedure. I am in that process now. I started at 300 and at surgery was 282. I am not at 233. It has been over a year for me. SO I need to really look at this. I do walk and had amny fill to the point I was almost on a full liquid diet. I think I need to by pass so that my body does not absorb as much of the calories. He has been very supportive and is willing to work with me around this issue. It is me however that it disappointed. It is easy to blame the band owner but I have tried hard. So if it comes to having to go on this path try to not be hard on those who fail. Please.

I have heard of patients converting to bypass..BUT I have also heard of bypass patients converting to band. I have an old assistant who was bypassed about a year or so before I was banded. She lost about 120-130lbs pretty steadily, but by the time she got down to where she needed to lose the last 30 or so lbs..she couldn't. Her doctor told her she would have to diet her way down. She eventually gained back about 40lbs and recently decided to get banded. Turns out when they went in to do the surgery, they couldn't band her because of scar tissue, but her dr did a revision of her bypass. She still is working her way down again, but it has been a struggle.

My best friend had bypass just a year ago this month and has dropped 120lbs in that time. She is pretty close to done and she has already passed me in weight. But I would not be happy having to watch sugar intake. She has eaten some sugar stuff and passed out once while at dinner with us..just got really sleepy. I work in the wine industry and have to taste and would have a problem with ingesting alcohol and sugar. That is not living to me. Ihave seen more people gain their weight back then keep it off in my circle of friends.

Now a friend of my best friends who was also banded by my doctor has been very unsuccessful with the band..her own fault. She likes to eat ALOT..volume..she is not getting fills and refuses to change her eating habits. She looks at my now skinny friend and says she should have gotten the bypass. Well...my friend and I laugh at that because she would be a horrible candidate for that surgery as well..she won't change her habits either way.

I think before anyone decides to be unbanded and resurgeried, is really be honest with yourself about what you are eating and doing to get the weight off. It took me over 2 years to realize that I really was not that tight...what a real fill was and I just realized that I didn't want to cut my portions...I wanted to eat more than I should. I also had to re-evaluate my excercise. I was walking 2 hours 4-5x a day, but realized that walking burns less calories. I was only burning 300 calories after a few hours! I could have easily eaten that back quickly in a day. Even had a glass of milk or two and drank that back!! I know that there are people with disorders that make it harder to lose weight, but there is alot of denial in what we do to. We lie to ourselves alot about what we eat or don't eat or do or don't do...

And lastly (I promise)..don't evaluate a surgery based on how quickly you are going to lose weight, evaluate it on how well you are going to keep it off! That is THE REASON I had surgery in the 1st place. I knew I could probably do a diet one more time and get some weight off, but keeping it off never worked..tired of pushing that rock up the hill to come back down on me and then some. I don't consider my banding a failure because after 3 1/2 years I STILL have to lose at least 30-40lbs. I have kept nearly 100lbs off in that time! Not a single lb back! Wahoo!! That has NEVER happened. So if it takes me another 3 years to lose the last 40lbs..so what..as long as I kept off what I lost. Use the band as a tool in helping you lose weight at ANY speed and look at it as a maintenance tool along the way.

It takes alot of head work and body work to make any surgery work..it isn't easy and shouldn't be really.

patty

[cheeringranny 0]

Hello maygoddess,

I also have decided to get the band to help me keep the weight off. The key word here is 'help'. I am in touch with someone who has turned out to be a very good friend and she was banded in January. I have gained a lot of information and insight from this thread and I am ever so grateful to all of you. I know that I can succeed because I want to succeed. If I become part of that 25% it will only be because I stopped trying. I know that this will be a life long thing and I am prepared to deal with that.

Good luck to you and much continued success to you. WOW!! 100 lbs. That's fantastic. It's people like you that have helped give me the courage to do this, and it's people like you who make me sure that I too can succeed. It's all about attitude. Thanks.

[cheeringranny 0]

Hey there:):bananajump:

I asked my doc about the erosion thing and he e-mailed me back saying that he takes extra precautions against that and he always makes sure that the buckle is turned away from the stomach. He eased my mind about this

and I don't think that I have anything to worry about. He's a great doc--came highly recommended. Dr. Cobourn in Toronto, Ontario. *smile*

Marlene:)

[cheeringranny 0]

Hi MsButterKup23,

Congratulations to you!!:clap2: Keep up the good work. You must be so proud of yourself.