introduction

[Suz 1]

Hi, I'm new here, my name is Suz. When my niece had gastric bypass 3 years ago I began thinking about doing it myself. I changed my mind for and against probably a hundred times. My brother had gastric bypass about 20 years ago and has gained back almost all the weight he lost, he's an idiot. My niece who was just as big as Carnie Wilson is now a size 8 and has not gained any weight in 3 years. My sister-in-law had RNY and looks great after 2 years. I decided to research WLS in earnest about 5 months ago. First my PCP was not on the same page so I found a new one. Where I live there aren't a lot of choices so it took me 2 months to find a new PCP. But this guy is on the ball. I've already had my sleep study, blood work, and first surgical consult. The surgeon said I was a poor candidate for bypass because I have Irritable bowel syndrome. So now I'm looking into lap band. I've read posts on lots of WLS boards. I've heard lots of good stories and lots of bad stories.I went to a RNY seminar when I was thinking about that, and now I am registered for a lap band seminar. I still don't know what to do, risk the RNY and hope my IBS won't object, or have the lap band and lose weight slowly. Please help. Sorry for rambling. Suz

[nightingale2u 42]

Welcome Suz!

In my humble opinion... losing weight fast is not a "good" reason for having the gastric bypass... especially if it will put your health at further risk due to an already present health condition. I think the Lap Banding is a great option that carries few risks in comparison to the GBP and it is adjustable and removable if ever the need would arise. With the gastric bypass you must consider that your body will not be absorbing nutrients as it was designed to. You may lose slower with the Lap Band... but you will not have to worry about malabsorption and it's longterm affects.

I think it would be wise to follow the advice of your doctor and I can tell you there are oodles of people on this site that have been extremely successful with their bands. I have been banded for 4 weeks and have lost 22 lbs... I am totally happy with that rate of loss and I am relieved that I chose this WLS over the GBP. I also had a very quick recovery as opposed to my sister (had the gastric bypass) ... she didn't feel human for 6 wks post-op. I also love that my band is adjustable over time and that I don't have to worry about a "window of opportunity" for losing my weight.

Wishing you the best as you choose the WLS that is right for you.

Darcy

[New Hope 37]

Suz, I also have IBS. The band hasn't caused any problems. Best of luck to you!

[ebhmom1 0]

Suz-

I am in the decision making phase also and really went around and around with myself- do I want all the risks, if I'm going to do this shouldn't I just jump in with both feet and do the rny etc, etc.

I have just recently made up my mind 100% that the Lap-Band is right for me- The risks of 'severe' complications is much lower. I also have IBS and I have read post after post on people who have had RNY and have chronic diareha and vomiting, bowel leakage, obstruction etc.

I don't have much justification of chosing wls to improve my quality of life, if my quality of life is actually reduced. And if I lose the weight 8 months quicker with RNY is it really worth it if I pay for that choice for the rest of my life?

[DeLarla 22]

Before my band surgery, I decided on the gastric bypass since my insurance covers it (but doesn't cover the band.) My insurance required a referral from my primary doctor, but when I asked my doc for the referral she almost cried. She drew a diagram of the stomach and showed me how the bottom portion of the stomach produces enzymes and has all these really important digestive properties. After a bypass, the bottom portion of the stomach no longer functions, so you don't absorb nutrition or have effective digetion. Maybe I didn't explain that in exact medical terms, but I think you get my drift.

So I had to re-think my decision. However, the next day I ran into my buddy, who is a radiologist, so I told him I was considering a bypass. He just put his head down and became very sad. He said, "please don't do that." Then he told me he sees so, so many problems with bypass patients. Being a radiologits, he regularly takes MRI, CAT scans, etc., of people with major bypass-related problems. He's seen so many horror stories that I couldn't bring myself to get a bypass. Plus my friend had one 10 years ago and has gained back all her weight. She's now spending several thousand at Kaiser on some crazy Optifast diet program.

So my husband told me to get the band. I had to get a new credit card to pay for the band, and now our mortgage and all our bills are late, but I'm sure glad I got the band.

[Janie Jackson 0]

Suz... I really advise you to go for the lapband. I know of a lady who had the RNY and has gained all her weight back and more. Also my sister had RNY and is gaining her weight back. She is allways trying to go on a diet and is really struggeling with it. Her surgery was 2 years ago. Also on one of the other posts there is a RNY memorial page. I could not bring my self to look at it. I have had my lap band since 5-6-04 and I have lost 36lbs. I have not thrown up once and I eat brownies every once in a while.. I wish you the best of luck... Janie

[Janie Jackson 0]

Suz... I really advise you to go for the lapband. I know of a lady who had the RNY and has gained all her weight back and more. Also my sister had RNY and is gaining her weight back. She is allways trying to go on a diet and is really struggeling with it. Her surgery was 2 years ago. Also on one of the other posts there is a RNY memorial page. I could not bring my self to look at it. I have had my lap band since 5-6-04 and I have lost 36lbs. I have not thrown up once and I eat brownies every once in a while.. I wish you the best of luck... Janie

[Suz 1]

Hello fellow Michigander, If I did not have IBS I would have had the RNY because I need a lot of help getting off my sugar addiction. After RNY you can't eat sugar without getting really sick and with IBS it would be worse because it would be near impossible to avoid dehydration. There's a lot of folks who after a few years don't dump so bad and that's exactly why they gain the weight back. If I had gone through all the suffering of a RNY and got through my window of oportunity weight loss stage I'd be damned if I'd try to see if I could eat stuff I know I shouldn't and haven't missed just to defeat the purpose of the surgery. All that pain and money and insurance problems for what? an ice cream cone! Well enough of that, does the band cause any dumping syndrome? Why do you have to worry about Protein if there's no malabsortion? Is it ok to follow the South Beach Diet after you can eat solids again? What about meds, I'm on a lot of meds that probably will still be neccesary after being banded, will I be able to take those without crushing ? What about the long acting meds ?

[ebhmom1 0]

My understanding is that you do NOT dump on the Band, but only a portion of RNY'ers do dump. I have read though that some people have a real hard time with doughy food and white bread, which is hand and hand woith sugar for me.

One of the things I tell myself when I think of the fact that you can do sugar on the band and even overeat to the point where you move the band, is that alot of the band slippage issues I have read about is due to overeating. I'm going on the theory that I know I can hurt myself int he here and now by overeating that it will cause me to 'behave.'

Also one of the things that scare me about RNY is that you here people talk about only being able to eat 1000 cal a day. AFter malabsorption thats like 800 calories, yet 50% of the people who have RNY gain an average of 5-25% of thier wieght back in a couple of years. To do that when you are only absorbing 800 calories to me means you really have to mess up your system.

BTW, I was all set to go through center that really pushes thier own brand of RNY. WHen I decided to go with lap, I called and they weren't thrilled.

I have had some great referral to lap band specialists in port huron and troy and called dr deol office in troy today and was REALLY impressed. They do both, but really support LAP-BAND as well and have a great risk lowering screening process as well as a comprehensive follow up program.

BTW -were is twining? (Fenton is just south of Flint)

[Suz 1]

I was going to go with Dr Deol too, she's the one who told me about why the bypass would not be good for me. She does both the RNY and the band so she's not just trying to get your money. She does however require $1500.00 up front out of pocket before she will do the surgery. It's for the first year of post op care. I don't have that kind of money. If she would let me pay at each visit I think my insurance would cover it, but they are not gonna give me $1500.00 up front. So I have been looking around and I'm scheduled for a seminar in Port Huron on Aug 30. ( Much to my husband's dismay, he thought Dr Deol was hot) Twining is just south west of Tawas, north of Standish. If you drive by don't blink, you'll miss it.

[Alexandra 55]

Hi Ladies,

At a meeting last night the nurse practitioner from my surgeon's office told us that something like 80% of RNY patients do NOT get the dumping syndrome. I've heard other statistics elsewhere but it's definitely no more than 50%. So an aversion to sugar is by no means automatic with the RNY.

The band operates differently and never creates dumping syndrome. Nothing about our digestive processes has been changed. Sure, we can eat sweet and calorie-dense stuff, but for me the simple fact of not being hungry makes that stuff so much easier to avoid, at least in the quantities I used to indulge.

Sure I still indulge once in a while. Normal people can have ice cream every so often, and all I have ever wanted to be is NORMAL. I don't want to stay on a diet the rest of my life, and I already know I can't force myself to keep portion sizes correct.

Yes, it's possible to eat around the band but honestly, I think you'd really have to try hard and be creative to manage it. Keeping to the "rules" is simple, and when you eat the Protein first there just isn't a whole lot of room for anything else.

It's heaven, I tell ya, heaven.

[Suz 1]

PS the last seminar I went to was with CORI and their micropouch surgery, I considered that for a while too. Bet that's who you had.

[ebhmom1 0]

exactly-

They were not extremely complementary of the band there and when I called to tell my coordintor that I had decided to go with the band and that I got the imression the doctors weren't gung ho, she told me 'they do it, but they don't like to."

I think some of it has to do with thier proceedure being the sapala-wood micropouch *patent pending* and guess who is the CORI guru- That's right -Dr Wood! (Dr Sapala apparently left to start teaching on the east coast.)

I'd probably push a procedure that I held the patent on also:rolleyes:

[DeLarla 22]

Something about having the band does make it easier to walk away "most" of the time. I still have bad days, and bad meals, but compared to pre-band, I'm a new woman.

The simple fact that I'm finally chewing my food for the first time in my life is a huge improvement. I used to eat in about 7 minutes, and now my meals last 20 or more.

My band rocks. I hope it loves me back and tells the doctor good things on my 8/26 gastro appointment.

[DeLarla 22]

I forgot the most important part. If something is wrong with my band, then the doctors can remove it.

However, if something goes wrong after a gastric bypass, it's not easily reversible. If the bypass was just a couple tubes here and there, I'd consider it in the event there's something wrong with my band, but that's just too much of a risk for me to take.

Plus, I've heard too much about severe anal odor with bypass patients, and they wear carbon filters in their underwear because the smell is so awful. You might want to read up on anal odor. I know that none of our butts smell good, but some gastric bypass patients have a severe problem.