Getting banded in June..super nervous!

[kychick1294 0]

So I am currently doing my required 3 months of supervised weight loss. I started the end of March and as of April 22nd I was already down 10 lbs. I had my mind set on getting the band done, but it seems I constantly hear great things about the bypass. I know I want the band because my problem is Portion Control, Im not a grazer ( and hope I dont become one! ) I just read all of these stories about people not losing any weight, or having these terrible complications! I cant imagine going through all of this and only losing 15 pounds in 10 months!! I get very discouraged easily, and I dunno..I just have a MILLION things going through my head. Ive been watching on youtube about the port fills and some of them dont look bad at all. They use the huber needles...but then I saw another one that was done with a regular syringe and they just kept poking and poking and poking..Im a nurse and I got a little ill! I have read alot about the pros and cons of both, and dont get me wrong..Im ready, but at the same time I nervous as can be. I guess I feel that this is just the final option for me. Im 27 and dont want to live the rest of my life like this. I feel that alot of things pass me by, and I sit out on alot of things due to my weight...if anyone has any good advice, or encouraging words then they are surely appreciated. My surgery wont be until the end of June at the earliest..so just more time to sit and worry!

[Dibley Dawn 84]

Everyone that I personally know who has had the bypass (with the exception of 1 person) has gained all of their original weight back, plus some. you will lose a lot of weight in the first year because you just don't have a choice, but once you can eat again, you can easily stretch your "new" stomach out. in fact, at my support group for people about to be banded, i met a woman who had the bypass 10 years ago. she gained almost all of her weight back and decided that she now was getting the band over her bypass. YIKES!!!!

what i like about the band is the fact that it is adjustable. that's a big selling point to me personally, if it doesn't work, then, well......i'll figure out what is next for me. I personally wouldn't have the RNY, but that's just because i have seen so many things negative about it. I am from a very fat community and i know several people who have had it done. 1 has kept off the weight (she is a meth addict though, so that could be because of the drugs) 4 died during the operation, and the rest have gained most if not all of their weight back.those odds ain't great. remember, it's not a magic thing, you would still have to figure out how to not eat the wrong things and you would still have to have Portion Control. none of these surgeries are easy decisions to make. i just know that if something goes wrong, the lap band is perhaps the easiest to correct and fix, the others, well..not so much.

good luck with whatever you choose.

[Arzel Ivy 0]

So I am currently doing my required 3 months of supervised weight loss. I started the end of March and as of April 22nd I was already down 10 lbs. I had my mind set on getting the band done, but it seems I constantly hear great things about the bypass. I know I want the band because my problem is Portion Control, Im not a grazer ( and hope I dont become one! ) I just read all of these stories about people not losing any weight, or having these terrible complications! I cant imagine going through all of this and only losing 15 pounds in 10 months!! I get very discouraged easily, and I dunno..I just have a MILLION things going through my head. Ive been watching on youtube about the port fills and some of them dont look bad at all. They use the huber needles...but then I saw another one that was done with a regular syringe and they just kept poking and poking and poking..Im a nurse and I got a little ill! I have read alot about the pros and cons of both, and dont get me wrong..Im ready, but at the same time I nervous as can be. I guess I feel that this is just the final option for me. Im 27 and dont want to live the rest of my life like this. I feel that alot of things pass me by, and I sit out on alot of things due to my weight...if anyone has any good advice, or encouraging words then they are surely appreciated. My surgery wont be until the end of June at the earliest..so just more time to sit and worry!

[Arzel Ivy 0]

It is good to find someone who is just as nervous as I am. I have been on my journey since November 2010 and I have finally got a surgery date for the lapband. I have my surgery on May 11, 2011. I'm so excited but nervous at the same time.

I can understand where you are coming from. I'm a person who can get easily discourage and I need that support system to keep me going. I know that exercise is important throughout this journey and I hope all goes well for me.

I wish you luck in your journey and maybe we can keep encouraging each other. God Bless.

[kychick1294 0]

It is good to find someone who is just as nervous as I am. I have been on my journey since November 2010 and I have finally got a surgery date for the lapband. I have my surgery on May 11, 2011. I'm so excited but nervous at the same time.

I can understand where you are coming from. I'm a person who can get easily discourage and I need that support system to keep me going. I know that exercise is important throughout this journey and I hope all goes well for me.

I wish you luck in your journey and maybe we can keep encouraging each other. God Bless.

I have been doing alot of reading on here and I am certain the lap-band is for me. Its just very hard to read stories about failed surgeries! I have the will power, and will do what I need to do...but then you come on here and read about how this person was following the diet and exercising but only lost 20 lbs in 2 years! I'm kind of skeptical, maybe there was some cheating going on, or maybe the band wasnt fitted properly for that person...but either way, it kinda rustles your nerves. I wouldnt want to do all of this and not lose anything. I have several friends who have done it, and have done fine with it. They look amazing. I know they say you lose weight gradually, maybe 50 lbs a year..but my friends lost a pretty good amount fairly quickly..Id say 100lbs in a year. But, they stuck to the diet, and exercising thing to a tee. I wish my banding was sooner, I think the "sitting and waiting" is what makes my nerves so bad. My brother is getting his band done at the end of May, so I am excited to see how it works out for him. Hoping the pain after surgery isnt that bad, because I really want to get back to work. I'm a nurse, but my job isnt that hard...I work in a PTSD/Substant Abuse program, so we basically sit there and watch them take their medicines, and conduct group therapy...I could take it easy there, and still not miss out on any pay! I was thinking of going back maybe 2 days after surgery!! Everyone says this is crazy, but honestly I could sit around at work just as well as I could at home. My boss says shes willing to work with me because she knows Im hard headed and wont take a lot of time off! Anyway, good luck with your band and please keep in touch. Id love to hear how everything turns out for you!!

[ElizabethNYC 1]

First off congrats on getting a surgery date!! Late June will be here before you know it, you should be excited BUT I know how it feels and I get why you're nervous. My advice for you would be to stay away from the bad stories as much as you can because all it will do is discourage you. Read about the positive stories, look for people who have lost over 100 pounds, look for the people who are succeeding at it and ask them questions. You need to keep your chin up and keep a positive attitude before and after you are banded. Good luck with anything and if you have any questions, let me know!

[Arzel Ivy 0]

There are going to be good and bad stories of the lap band. Like stated previously, I have to stay focus on the good outcomes because the bad stories will definitely get me discourage. I have read many stories on here on the journey of medical visits and the time it has taken them to get their surgery date. Personally, I think some people had surgery quickly which I wished that was me on my part. On the flip side, I'm glad that it has taken me a longer period and had thorough medical visits. I think that makes a difference. I have been going through medical visits since November 2010 and just received my surgery date on April 18, 2011 and met with the surgeon. I have my surgery on May 11, 2011.

This is a great website for support. I hope that I will gain friends in the same boat that I'm in and aid me through out my weight loss. At this point, I need all the encouragement that I can get. Good luck to everyone.

[Arzel Ivy 0]

There are going to be good and bad stories of the lap band. Like stated previously, I have to stay focus on the good outcomes because the bad stories will definitely get me discourage. I have read many stories on here on the journey of medical visits and the time it has taken them to get their surgery date. Personally, I think some people had surgery quickly which I wished that was me on my part. On the flip side, I'm glad that it has taken me a longer period and had thorough medical visits. I think that makes a difference. I have been going through medical visits since November 2010 and just received my surgery date on April 18, 2011 and met with the surgeon. I have my surgery on May 11, 2011.

This is a great website for support. I hope that I will gain friends in the same boat that I'm in and aid me through out my weight loss. At this point, I need all the encouragement that I can get. Good luck to everyone.

[Arzel Ivy 0]

Well, I made it through surgery. I received my lapband on May 11, 2011. I can't believe it. I'm at home now. Everything went well. I was even down 10 pounds from the liquid diet. I have my first follow-up appointment on Monday with the surgeon. I'm lucky to have a great surgeon. She really cares about her patient. Dr Kristi Peck is wonderful. I'm feeling pretty good but sore as heck. I must say it was well worth the wait.

[MCCLB 16]

Hey I'm around your age (26 tomorrow) and I went through the same tough decision on which surgery to have. I was emailing back and forth with a woman I met who is having RNY but in the same program as me at my hospital. This is a copy and paste of one of the emails I sent her. (I know some of it may not make sense, but you get the idea). I hope this helps!

Copy and pasted email...

I'm sorry I haven't gotten back to you in a few days. The cord on my laptop was frayed and sparking a little, so now I'm using my cousin's computer while I wait for a new cord. Anyway, it was so nice to hear from you! I'm sorry to hear about the gallstones they found-- but I think it's good that they can take it out during surgery. Gallstones can develop more easily in people who lose rapid amounts of weight, so you won't have to deal with that .

I'm actually planning on getting the lap band, not RNY. I went back and forth on my decision so much. There are definitley pros and cons to both. I liked the idea in RNY that you can lose a lot of weight pretty quickly and since I'm so impatient, I was thinking that that might be nice. I also kind of liked the idea of dumping syndrome because it would keep me in check, but then I thought about that say in the future if I want to have a cupcake at a birthday party on a rare occasion or something like that, I don't want to be sick from it. Another thing I considered is you have to be very careful about consuming alcohol after RNY and the chance is higher of developing alcoholism. Not that I think I would become an alcoholic or anything, but I don't know if I really want to be smashed if I have one drink.

Now the malabsorptive thing was back and forth for me, too. I think it's cool that you can eat things and not absorb all the calories, but then again it scares me a little not to be getting all the nutrients I need. I know in both surgeries you have to take Vitamins, but in RNY there are more, and it's a little more vital to be on top of it. Plus, like you, I want to have kids some day. I'm only 25 (26 next month) and I'm single but it's something I need to be thinking about, too. I googled 'gastric bypass and pregnancy' and was trying to read up a little bit on it and sometimes it can be hard to get all the nutrients to the baby. I'm not trying to sway your decision at all-- I just want to share what my thought process was coming to my decision.

I also liked that in RNY, that your hunger hormones are changed a bit and you may not even feel hungry a lot of the time. But then again, a lot of what I eat is not because I'm actually hungry-- it's because I'm bored and it looks good and tastes good. So I think that that's more of a behavior I need to change rather than the whole hunger hormone thing. It's funny that you mentioned about the social worker suggesting therapy, because she said the same thing to me. But she also said she's supposed to basically say it to everyone, so I'm not too worried about it, lol.

Ultimately after going back and forth I decided on the lap band. A lot of people say they like it because it's reversible, but that actually doesn't play into it for me. I hopefully will never have to have it reversed. I do like the fact that it's very adjustable, though. If you feel hungry and not satisfied a lot, then you can go get a fill and have more restriction. With RNY, you don't have that adjustability. Part of that lack of adjustability and control with RNY scared me because you hear about people who have lost a certain amount of weight and then gain some back and they can't adjust what they're taking in. I know everyone is different, but I like the fact that I can just get a fill if I need to to get me back on track.

And I know that with lap band it takes longer to lose weight, but I've been overweight my entire life and I can wait a little longer. Also, since everyone is different, I'm hoping if I exercise most days and eat right that I can really do it faster than the statistics. Twice in my life I've lost close to 90 lbs (which I gained back both times), so I know what it takes to actually take the weight off. And I think with a lap band it will give me the extra push i need to lose even more weight and keep it off.

Another small factor for me is the recovery time. I say "small factor" because it the long run, what does the recovery time really matter in exchange for your health back? But I do like that lap band has a quicker recovery time and is a safer surgery with less risk of death and complications.

Another factor, like you mentioned, is the hair as well-- people with RNY are more prone to lose their hair than from lap band. My hair is very fine too, so I was kind of scared of that. But either way, they say it's only temporary, so you can wear head scarves or hats or something until it passes, if it even happens (everyone is different).

Also what helped me in coming to my decision was seeing what other people say about lap band and looking at success stories and all that. I don't know if you know about it, but there is a site called lapbandtalk.com which is pretty cool and lots of topics. Another thing I looked at was youtube. There are some people on there who update once a week or more about their surgeries. I've really only watched the lap band ones, but there are people who do the same after RNY if you're interested. Some of the lap band people I like if you want to check them out are Newtoy4kt-- she started at 308 lbs and it's been like 66 weeks so far post-op for her and she's down to around 180 I think. Also there is BandedWendy who's been at her goal weight for a while now, and there's Thebandinme who gives some good info as well. It's kind of cool to see their first few video posts and then see their recent ones to really see how much they've changed and how far they've come. But like I said, if you want to watch RNY patients they have them on there too, just gotta search a little.

It's funny what you said about Dr. H trying to sell you on the band. I didn't get that feeling so much, but I do remember leaving there and knowing for sure that I wanted lap band, after being undecided. Part of it too, if you have lap band-- you can always have RNY afterward if the band isn't working for you. But you can't have the band after having RNY (I don't think).

Ultimately, I think you just need to go with what you're most comfortable with. And I'm really not trying to sway your decision at all-- just wanted to give you my thought process on the whole thing.