New to the Lap Band Family!

[Mrs. CMK 188]

Welcome to the lapband family! So glad you are here. It is hard work and a great tool when used correctly and oh so worth it! I wish you all the best and look forward to hearing about your success. A good support system is so important and I am glad to hear you have it.

God Bless

[cat whisperer 127]

Welcome I hope to hear more about how things progress for you

[leannel90 206]

My Dad just had triple bypass surgery and is diabetic. This has cemented my decision. I can't wait to be healthy!! My Dad is doing very well and I'm thankful for this opportunity. I'm so sick of playing Russian Roulette with my body and hoping that it continues to function.

[jdharamshi 6]

I had my consultation with the surgeon on Thursday and he is leaning me more to the gastric sleeve. I went in there with my mind on the lap band and left his office confused. I can understand why he recommends me to do the sleeve but I'm scared to death to have my stomach cut open and stapled.

My son doesn't want me to have either surgery and believes I can do it on my own. But, I've struggled with my weight for soo long I feel surgery is my best bet. My sister thinks I should have the lap band done so I'm going to think about it a little longer and weigh the pros and cons.

For those of you that have had the lap band/sleeve do you have any regrets?

Thanks everyone for listening!

And good luck and welcome to all the newbies!

[flrosie 154]

I am certainly no expert but I'll share with you my experience. I have been working with my surgeon's office since October last year, trying to get all the particulars for my insurance company in order. Turns out, my insurance doesn't require all the hoops the surgeon's insurance coordinator thought (she never dealt with my insurance before) and I could have had this done in January like I wanted. I'm 9 days till bandyland now.

In all the emotional upheaval that came with the frustration of dealing with the ineptitude of the insurance coordinator, I began to question my decision about my surgeon and the lap band. A friend of mine had gastric sleeve done in December and was down 60 lbs. I decided to go see another surgeon. Unbeknownst to me, the new guy I went to see only wants to do sleeves. And after listening to him I began to think that was the way to go, too. I agonized over all the confusion between the two. Here's what I decided:

I chose the lapband first because it was less invasive in my body. As someone else pointed out here, the lapband leaves my options open in the future, should there be some miraculous discovery about obesity and 'the cure.' I'm saving my internal organs for that.

Sure, my friend lost a boatload of weight in the first 6 weeks but the research I conducted myself says he will have more trouble maintaining that weight loss over the course of his lifetime. I, on the other hand, will have a lapband, a tool I can adjust to maintain control the rest of my life. That's what I want, a lifetime of control so I can get off this weight off/weight on carousel.

Yes, my friend with the sleeve will see his doctor on average once a year, if he chooses to go. I will be seeing my doctor every month for the first year to evaluate the restriction and get fills (I really need someone to tell me more about the 'green zone' btw!) This means I will be accountable every single month and that really helps me mentally stay in the game.

I spoke to a dear friend who had a stomach staple 4 years ago. At year three, she began gaining the weight back, as did two of her friends that had stapling done at the same time. Their other friend had lapband instead of staple and she is still at goal weight four years later. My friend told me that if she had it to do over, she would do the lapband. In fact, she said she wanted to do the lapband initially but was swayed by her doctor and the enticement that came from watching her friends lose boatloads of weight in the first 6 weeks. She feels she is stuck now and is back to her main problem: she (like most of us) know how to diet but not how to maintain.

After considering all that I realized I was just panicking and frustrated. I made my appointment for surgery with my original surgeon for a lapband. The only wait time for the surgery is his required 2 weeks on Optifast. He has no waiting list for surgery and I'm now 9 days out. Can't wait. Still have lots of questions and this forum has all kinds of answers.

Think about why you want to have lapband. Do some research on the Internet to answer some of your personal questions. Then, and this is the important part, do what you feel most comfortable doing. Don't let someone else convince you of something else. (My very dear friend that had sleeve in December told me-while I was in all this indecision- "I just knew you were making a mistake thinking about lapband instead of the sleeve. I hoped you would come around before you actually went under the knife." That didn't help at all.)

Good luck. I'll be sending positive thoughts your way.

[\Mara/ 11]

I am certainly no expert but I'll share with you my experience. I have been working with my surgeon's office since October last year' date=' trying to get all the particulars for my insurance company in order. Turns out, my insurance doesn't require all the hoops the surgeon's insurance coordinator thought (she never dealt with my insurance before) and I could have had this done in January like I wanted. I'm 9 days till bandyland now.

In all the emotional upheaval that came with the frustration of dealing with the ineptitude of the insurance coordinator, I began to question my decision about my surgeon and the lap band. A friend of mine had gastric sleeve done in December and was down 60 lbs. I decided to go see another surgeon. Unbeknownst to me, the new guy I went to see only wants to do sleeves. And after listening to him I began to think that was the way to go, too. I agonized over all the confusion between the two. Here's what I decided:

I chose the lapband first because it was less invasive in my body. As someone else pointed out here, the lapband leaves my options open in the future, should there be some miraculous discovery about obesity and 'the cure.' I'm saving my internal organs for that.

Sure, my friend lost a boatload of weight in the first 6 weeks but the research I conducted myself says he will have more trouble maintaining that weight loss over the course of his lifetime. I, on the other hand, will have a lapband, a tool I can adjust to maintain control the rest of my life. That's what I want, a lifetime of control so I can get off this weight off/weight on carousel.

Yes, my friend with the sleeve will see his doctor on average once a year, if he chooses to go. I will be seeing my doctor every month for the first year to evaluate the restriction and get fills (I really need someone to tell me more about the 'green zone' btw!) This means I will be accountable every single month and that really helps me mentally stay in the game.

I spoke to a dear friend who had a stomach staple 4 years ago. At year three, she began gaining the weight back, as did two of her friends that had stapling done at the same time. Their other friend had lapband instead of staple and she is still at goal weight four years later. My friend told me that if she had it to do over, she would do the lapband. In fact, she said she wanted to do the lapband initially but was swayed by her doctor and the enticement that came from watching her friends lose boatloads of weight in the first 6 weeks. She feels she is stuck now and is back to her main problem: she (like most of us) know how to diet but not how to maintain.

After considering all that I realized I was just panicking and frustrated. I made my appointment for surgery with my original surgeon for a lapband. The only wait time for the surgery is his required 2 weeks on Optifast. He has no waiting list for surgery and I'm now 9 days out. Can't wait. Still have lots of questions and this forum has all kinds of answers.

Think about why you want to have lapband. Do some research on the Internet to answer some of your personal questions. Then, and this is the important part, do what you feel most comfortable doing. Don't let someone else convince you of something else. (My very dear friend that had sleeve in December told me-while I was in all this indecision- "I just knew you were making a mistake thinking about lapband instead of the sleeve. I hoped you would come around before you actually went under the knife." That didn't help at all.)

Good luck. I'll be sending positive thoughts your way.[/quote']

Great post, thank you for that....!

[jdharamshi 6]

I am certainly no expert but I'll share with you my experience. I have been working with my surgeon's office since October last year' date=' trying to get all the particulars for my insurance company in order. Turns out, my insurance doesn't require all the hoops the surgeon's insurance coordinator thought (she never dealt with my insurance before) and I could have had this done in January like I wanted. I'm 9 days till bandyland now.

In all the emotional upheaval that came with the frustration of dealing with the ineptitude of the insurance coordinator, I began to question my decision about my surgeon and the lap band. A friend of mine had gastric sleeve done in December and was down 60 lbs. I decided to go see another surgeon. Unbeknownst to me, the new guy I went to see only wants to do sleeves. And after listening to him I began to think that was the way to go, too. I agonized over all the confusion between the two. Here's what I decided:

I chose the lapband first because it was less invasive in my body. As someone else pointed out here, the lapband leaves my options open in the future, should there be some miraculous discovery about obesity and 'the cure.' I'm saving my internal organs for that.

Sure, my friend lost a boatload of weight in the first 6 weeks but the research I conducted myself says he will have more trouble maintaining that weight loss over the course of his lifetime. I, on the other hand, will have a lapband, a tool I can adjust to maintain control the rest of my life. That's what I want, a lifetime of control so I can get off this weight off/weight on carousel.

Yes, my friend with the sleeve will see his doctor on average once a year, if he chooses to go. I will be seeing my doctor every month for the first year to evaluate the restriction and get fills (I really need someone to tell me more about the 'green zone' btw!) This means I will be accountable every single month and that really helps me mentally stay in the game.

I spoke to a dear friend who had a stomach staple 4 years ago. At year three, she began gaining the weight back, as did two of her friends that had stapling done at the same time. Their other friend had lapband instead of staple and she is still at goal weight four years later. My friend told me that if she had it to do over, she would do the lapband. In fact, she said she wanted to do the lapband initially but was swayed by her doctor and the enticement that came from watching her friends lose boatloads of weight in the first 6 weeks. She feels she is stuck now and is back to her main problem: she (like most of us) know how to diet but not how to maintain.

After considering all that I realized I was just panicking and frustrated. I made my appointment for surgery with my original surgeon for a lapband. The only wait time for the surgery is his required 2 weeks on Optifast. He has no waiting list for surgery and I'm now 9 days out. Can't wait. Still have lots of questions and this forum has all kinds of answers.

Think about why you want to have lapband. Do some research on the Internet to answer some of your personal questions. Then, and this is the important part, do what you feel most comfortable doing. Don't let someone else convince you of something else. (My very dear friend that had sleeve in December told me-while I was in all this indecision- "I just knew you were making a mistake thinking about lapband instead of the sleeve. I hoped you would come around before you actually went under the knife." That didn't help at all.)

Good luck. I'll be sending positive thoughts your way.[/quote']

Thank you so my much for sharing your story. Like you my insurance does not require me to get the the 6 month pre-diet or the psychological evaluation as my surgeon office insists they do. I think the lap band is the right decision for me and you are right about saving our internal organs. While the sleeve may be right for some people it's just not for everyone. I am going to call my primary doctor today to set up my pre-op physical and make my appointment with the dietitian. And good luck on your surgery! I wish you and everyone much success on this new journey in life!

[mxpx1rocker 4]

Congrats, I am also new to the Lapland Family.....just got mine today!!! How are things going for you so far???