Any of wish you had gotten RNY?

[flower 2]

I think the band is more follow-up after surgery and it takes awhile to find restriction but I chose it because I didn't want re-routing but I would get rny if this fails. so far okay losing weight very slowly

[Marimaru 7]

I'm considered a "turtle", and yes, I wish I was losing weight faster (at all, currently), but I still wouldn't get the RNY. SOMETIMES when I'm really depressed I think about the DS, but in MY head that is a fleating though, and doesn't stick around for very long. Like Lisa, I'm no good with remembering pills. I manage to take my birth control every day, but can't seeem to get the multi Vitamin in...

[Kimbo 0]

I started considering WLS when Carnie Phillips started showing up in all the mag. She looked great & I wanted to be where she was, but my husband would not go along with it. The risks at that time were very high & the actual surgery & recovery was horable. Last spring I started hearing about the band but at that time I still had hopes of doing it on my own one more time. Then in June I went to see a new orthopedist who told me I had to have my 1 1/2 year old knee replacement redone, but refused to do it because of my weight. Said because of the conditions caused by my weight if I had the surgery I could lose my leg. I went to the seminar that night. The band has saved my life. I have lost 69 lbs in 5 months, My knee relpacement is schuduled for June 27th & I planned to be below 200Lbs by then(24 to go). The band has been so great for me & I believe in it so much My Dr asked me to speak at the seminar tonight.

Yes RNY is faster, & sometimes I get bummed when I go to my support group & see how fast the RNY folks are losing, but they also talk about the difficulties they are having With Iron & B Vitimins & maintaining their weight lose & I know I made the right choose.

Good luck to you in what ever you chose & know we LBT will be here for you,

KIM

[Ceparano 0]

I'm also pre-op for the band. I choose it because it was minimally invasive,and no malabsorbtion issues. Yes the weight comes off slowly, but even a 2# loss is more than I have right now without the band and gaining weight everyday. So I'll take the 2 or 4# loss per month and be thankful. If it's more than that I'll even do the happy dance for ya!!! Like everyone else here suggests, do your research and make sure it's YOUR decision. Don't let anyone pressure you in either direction. Just make sure that whichever one you chose, that you make sure that you are committed to make it work for you.

I wish you the best in your search.

[Dody 0]

I had a friend that had RNY years ago and died 2 weeks later of sepsis. Dr. Pleatman says "she must have had a leak"...DUH you think so!! She did have a leak around her intestines and it killed her. I'm not willing to take a chance like that. You only go around one time in life and I intend to enjoy the ride. The lap band is right for me and I know it. I don't listen to anyone that tells me any differently. I don't want the tons of sagging skin that goes along with RNY and I know I won't have that if I lose slower. I'm 5'9" and weight 259 right now and my heart is the reason for the bypass, or chances are I wouldn't qualify. I could weight 180-185 and look great, but the cardiologist wants the extra weight off for my heart. It was off until I started eating after giving up smoking...what a great switch huh?

Hey PhotoNut, I lived 20 years in Mountain Home before moving to Caldwell. They didn't then, and I doubt they do now, have a McDonalds. Would you believe I've never, ever been to one. Arby's is probably my only downfall and that is always for a market fresh sandwich. I'm waiting for someone to explain if a McGriddle is like two pancakes put together with something inbetween. Once you've never been there or had one in your town I guess you really don't even think about going there. We had a Taco Johns and a Dairy Queen...that was it, and I didn't care for either.

[lianna 3]

I think the mortality rate with GB is what scared me off. IF I remember correctly it is like 1-3%. OMG, 1-3 out of every 100 GB patients DIE!!! Someone please correct me if that is wrong, but that scared the hell out me and made me decide that I would never consider GB. I think the lapband is the absolute best thing I have ever done for myself.

[DOC 0]

I went to a presentation by a local surgeon and I had never heard of the band. When we left the presentation my husband and I both agreed that the band was the surgery to have.

I have lost 41 lbs in 2 1/2 months. I exersise everyday and eat correctly. It gives me the responsibility of my weight loss which builds my self esteem.

I love my band and my bandland friends.

Good luck....

[ralheit 1]

I also chose the band for the health reasons. Minimally invasive, reversible, slow steady weight loss, which I believe has to be healthier. I did this to save my life and be around for my grandchildren. I couldn't risk my life with rny. I'm just getting started, but have high hopes. The 1 in 200 risk with BP surgery was the stopper for me.

[scuuder3 0]

I think there is a lot of misinformation or at least anecdotal stories about the RNY procedure. if you read this thread you would think that if you have rny you die. the fact remains rny is considered the gold standard for weight loss surgery. as for complications they are definitely possible, as with any procedure. the reported 1% mortality rate is mainly due to some inexperienced surgeons. my surgeon has had 1 death in over 1000 procedures, and that was from anasthesia, which could happen in the band.

one other thing, there is some malabsorbtion with rny, but it is mainly a restrictive procedure just like the band. the true amount of malabsorbtion is negligble in most procedures. the DS is truely a malabsorbtive procedure. you should be on Vitamins with either procedure due to limited intake.

anyway, both procedures are good, but i think that some people overstate the negatives of either procedure to justify there decision at the expense of others trying to decide.

if you want the truth go to support group meetings for both procedures. you will hear the good and bad of both. you will hear the slow losers with the band, and the ones who do fine. you will hear the complications with the rny and you will see the good results. that is the best way.

[NewSho 20]

I think there is a lot of misinformation or at least anecdotal stories about the RNY procedure. if you read this thread you would think that if you have rny you die. the fact remains rny is considered the gold standard for weight loss surgery. as for complications they are definitely possible, as with any procedure. the reported 1% mortality rate is mainly due to some inexperienced surgeons. my surgeon has had 1 death in over 1000 procedures, and that was from anasthesia, which could happen in the band.

Well said. :clap2:

As I've mentioned before, I'm still trying to work with the band but after 5 years, my BMI is still at 30 and I know I have more weight to lose. Although I have suffered thru a few serious complications with the LapBand, my biggest concern is not the issues with it, but rather that it won't ever help me get near a lower weight. It's a great tool, but overall patients lose a lower amount of their excess weight. Period.

Like many people, I hoped hard work, exercise and diet would help me beat the band odds. So far, they haven't.

I hoped it would be a safer procedure than the RnY bypass.

So far it hasn't been for me. I've had just about every complication with the LapBand that people associate with the RnY - except the complication (or benefit of) the malabsorption aspect itself, and the one of the few non-band complications I've escaped so far is erosion. Knock wood. So if I suffer any more further issues and still haven't lost further weight, then I will have to consider an RnY. Hindsight is 20/20, and after laying in the ICU of a hospital after banding - I definitely had time to consider whether I should have had the RnY. No matter how much more dangerous it's supposed to be than LapBanding, banding is NOT without complications and yes some of them can be serious and life-threatening. It happens, but luckily it does not happen very often, apparently.

So to answer your question:

5 years later, I'm still fat so I if I'd known then what I know now, I might have gone to the bypass. But right now, I'm trying to work with the tool I have - but I'd never say never.

Happy Band (and non Band) Journeys to all...

[Miper70 0]

Wow, this is a very interesting thread. I'm still in the "I don't know" stage, but I swear my gut tells me to go the RnY route. The first reason is that I already have an autoimmune disease which puts me at greater odds of rejecting the band. I also just had plastic surgery so I'm not too awful worried about sagging skin. It's so tight right now I can hardly breathe. I'm not necessarily wanting to lose it faster.....just want to lose all of the weight. I've also been eating right for over 11 years now with not a whole lot to show for it. I was always scared to cheat too much because I thought I would weigh 400 lbs instead of the 200 that I do. It's only been recently (past 6 mos or so) that I have been eating things I shouldn't because inside I just gave up losing weight. The fight was so hard and nothing to show for it. I exercise everyday........I eat right.....nothing. At this point in time, it is so easy to talk myself into doing the wrong things and I'm scared I'll do that with the band. I could easily tell myself that once I started losing weight I'd get my willpower back, but what if I dont?

[Alexandra 55]

I chose the band primarily for reasons of safety. I have two small children and the idea of spending even a single night in the hospital was more than I wanted. All the various possible complications of RNY were so potentially debilitating that I simply wouldn't consider it then or now. Plus, as a generally healthy person I didn't feel the need to drop the bulk of my weight particularly fast. I wanted a safe, sane speed of loss so I'd have time to really accept it as real and permanent.

But there's another point I want to emphasize, mentioned above:

... It gives me the responsibility of my weight loss which builds my self esteem.

THIS was another huge factor for me. The RNY involves quick and invitable weight loss no matter what the patient does. If the patient is unable to change his or her behaviors permanently, the weight will come back on when the malabsorptive effects of the surgery wear off. (And no, those malabsorptive effects are not minor--supplements are required with the RNY as well as the DS, and are just as important.) I had absolutely no faith that I'd be able to maintain weight I lost via an RNY, and I still don't.

Banding FORCES you to change your behavior. If you want/need to find ways around it, you certainly can, but you won't be presented with the false assurance that you can still lose weight while doing so. I needed a teaching tool, one that will allow me to gain greater control over my intake while providing the support I need during those times I fall off the wagon. The band doesn't go away (unless it's removed), its effects don't wear off.

With the band, because I know Cookies (ior whatever one's poison of choice) are compromising my progress I can go back to avoiding them with much greater ease than without the band. The RNY might prevent me from absorbing the calories in Cookies for the first two years, enabling me to lose weight, but once that's gone and I still haven't learned how to avoid cookies, that'd be me gaining weight. You can't count on the dumping syndrome as negative reinforcement, since it only happens to 20-30% of RNY patients.

And sure, the RNY is restrictive as well, but it's not adjustable. The pouch will stretch over time and once it does, there's nothing to be done about it. The band allows for adjustments when necessary. Sure, that's not always a fail-safe because it's damaging to be too tight, but for my money ANY adjustability is better than none.

[scuuder3 0]

I am 6 months post-op RNY. again, i think there is minformation here. i can eat Cookies if I choose to, with no ill effects, and yes i wil abosrb most of the calories. i choose not to eat the Cookies and have used ths experience to learn to eat right.

about the malabsorbtion. most rny procedures done are proximal rny's not distal. with a proximal rny there is only a SMALL amount of malabsorbtion. if your BMI is over 50 the surgeon may choose to do a distal RNY which has a greater amount of malabsorbtion. The main reason supplements are needed with rny are multi-faceted:

you are eating less food, therefore you may not get the proper nutrition from your food, and the food you eat is mainly Protein so you don't get enough vegetables, etc.

there is very minimal digestive acid which reduces the absorbtion of some Vitamins, etc.

and the portion of small intestine bypassed does account for a large percentage of certain Vitamin absorbtion.

With that said, i can understand if some people choose lap band, my own wife is going the lap band route, but it doesn't change the fact that RNY is MAINLY a RESTRICTIVE procedure, just a more effective procedure than lap-band.

put it this way, have you seen the statistics about being overweight or MO? if you do the band and only loose 40-50% of excess weight, over time how much more dangerous is the lap band than if you do the RNY and loose 80% of excess weight?

I know people are now saying that over 3-4 years the weight loss is equal, but I have not seen this data in any published study so far. if you are going to gain the weight back with RNY than you surely will with a lap band as well.

not trying to dog the band, it can be good (I think for lower BMI) patients, but that is just my own opinion. if anyone has questions about the rny talk to a competent rny surgeon who can explain the malabsorbtion with RNY. the truth is, in most cases only 10-15% of your small intestine is bypassed.

One more thing, as for safety, you can have an RNY done with a high degree of safety if you choose the right surgeon. Most experienced well respected bariatric surgeons have a mortality rate of .001% if you don't like those odds, don't walk across the street

the best resource for everyone are support groups with a mix of rny and lapband patients. my heart always breaks for some of the lapband people that stand up dissapointed, "i lost 25 pounds in 6 months" next to the rny," i lost 98 pounds in 6 months, am off all my meds and feel great"

i also look at the picture wall at my surgeons office. he does lap band and rny. every picture up there is from an rny patient, I asked the other day if there were pictures from post band patients and the receptionist pointed to the manufacturer poster.

[CCBSTX 0]

Most folks, on both sides, are happy with their decision and would "do it" again. Of course, each side has complications. Some are more serious complications than others.

For me, it was personal. What was I willing to go through to lose weight? I look to the future and felt the worse thing that could happen, with the band, is for it to erode and have it removed. The worse thing, long term, with RNY, could be lack of nutrition and deficiencies that go with it. Afterall, did I want to trade weight loss for other health complications? Lapbanders seem to not have that problem. Of course, short term, the complication for bandsters is much less.

I support all who battle to lose weight!!!

Shawn

[Alexandra 55]

With that said, i can understand if some people choose lap band, my own wife is going the lap band route, but it doesn't change the fact that RNY is MAINLY a RESTRICTIVE procedure, just a more effective procedure than lap-band.

That isn't quite the way I've heard it described at many pre-op meetings of my surgeon's practice. They make a big deal of the malapsorptive properties of the procedure, but perhaps they do a different version than the one your surgeon did.

One more thing, as for safety, you can have an RNY done with a high degree of safety if you choose the right surgeon. Most experienced well respected bariatric surgeons have a mortality rate of .001% if you don't like those odds, don't walk across the street

the best resource for everyone are support groups with a mix of rny and lapband patients. my heart always breaks for some of the lapband people that stand up dissapointed, "i lost 25 pounds in 6 months" next to the rny," i lost 98 pounds in 6 months, am off all my meds and feel great"

i also look at the picture wall at my surgeons office. he does lap band and rny. every picture up there is from an rny patient, I asked the other day if there were pictures from post band patients and the receptionist pointed to the manufacturer poster.

Many patient's impressions are informed in large part by the expressed opinions of their surgeons. My surgeon's practice has done thousands of both procedures and doesn't seem to have a bias (anymore). I attend MANY pre-op meetings with RNY and bandsters talking about their experiences. While the practice is also way below the 2% national average for complications, it seems that a frighteningly large percentage of the post-op RNYers who speak at these meetings have experienced at least one complication requiring re-hospitalization. I'm not saying all the patients do, of course, but it does seem that the people willing to speak at these meetings have a big run of bad luck.

This is just my observation, but it was borne out yet again when last week someone shared her story of actually taking an early retirement because she'd been in the hospitalized so much after her RNY. She has no regrets and certainly looks amazing--in fact, she's now having to add calories back into her diet because she's getting too thin. That's another complication, attractive though it may seem, but not one I was willing to risk.

Everyone has to weigh the pros and cons of each surgery for themselves. The determining factor that makes the most sense to me is whether the weight needs to come off quickly, for urgent health reasons. Even very morbidly obese people can be relatively healthy, as I was, and for them banding may be the better choice.