Banding for Higher BMI--Why?

[elm65 0]

I attend a local support group for wls people and those that choose gastric bypass are always curious why some people with a higher bmi would opt for banding over bypass. I have told them that many people with a higher bmi have been very successful with the band but I would appreciate any other info that I could pass along to them.

Many thanks.

[TerriDoodle 6]

It's reversible and has far fewer complications!! Those two right there would be enough for me!

[anonemouse 1]

Yeah, I'd say the fewer severe complications is probably one of the big reasons.

[Wheetsin 714]

Sooo many reasons. For me they included:

• No permanent altering of my organs.
  
• Reversible.
  
• Much more highly recommended for people women who still want to have children.
  
• No real limitations on what I can eat, just the amount. I have friends with RnY and I know there are foods they absolutely cannot eat without having to vomit it back up or endure dumping. I like that I can have a scoop of ice cream if I want it.
  
• No vomitting. I liked the idea that if something had to come up, it was just the food and whatever I had swallowed since. E.g. - it's not vomit (acid, partially digested food, etc.) Have you seen what the teeth of some of the longer term bypass patients look like? That's what acid does to enamel over time.
  
• No malabsorption (I'm sorry, but it will take a lot to convince me that long term malabsorption is anything but bad, and so far seeing what my friends with RnY are living with long-term, I'm definitely not any closer to being convinced)
  
• Adjustability. RnY is very hit or miss. You have the surgery, and you lose your weight or you don't. With the band, you can go tighter, you can go looser.

My weightloss is on par with most Rny patients I know. Even if it weren't, I know that I made the right decision. To me, it's about more than losing weight, it's about being healthy. And I don't know very many long term RnYers who are truly healthy. I know several who have to go in for regular Vitamin injections and dietary evaluations. I know many who have had to accept the fact that their long term diet consists of about 8 foods. I've heard several times, "I'm just now starting to see the long term effects of living with this...."

I'm sorry, but IMO when your skin is sallow, you're constantly lethargic (but wearing a size 10), you have to go in for regular supplementary injections, and you can only eat 8 things - that's not healthy weightloss.

[Afrykanvyolet 0]

WOW Wheetsin....

That's a lot of good info. Sometimes I wonder if banding was good for me. I haven't had a fill yet and I guess that's I have those thoughts; But I aways end the day with "I love my band."

Anyway...If I wasn't convinced before, I am definitely convinced now. I think I needed real validity and confirmation of why I chose what I did. I am the only person around me that is experiencing this. I don't know of others who are so I do tend to rely on you guys to help me out.

You have put everything into perspective for me!!

[elm65 0]

Thanks for the quick responses. I assumed that most people choosing the band did so for the same reasons as I did and it looks like I'm correct. I agree with you Wheetsin. Many of the rny people do have an unhealthy look to them and are sick on a regular basis. Each time I hear of somebody with complications it makes me feel that much better about my choice! I must admit though that sometimes it's discouraging when my fellow support group members who have chosen rny are losing weight so much quicker than I am, but I just remind myself that slower is better/more healthy.

[JulieNYC 4]

For me, it was all the reasons Wheetsin said. Let me expand on the role the band's adjustibility played in my choice as a high BMI patient (68) too. I had serious concerns about regain for me with the RNY. I was a bulk carb eater. I would eat large quantities of nachos, burritos, pizza, etc. and I was very worried that over time I would stretch my RNY pouch and be one of the fairly substantial statistics of RNY regain. For me, the adjustibility of the band gave me security that I could always have it tightened if I was eating too much.

Bandsters can lose a lot of weight. Unless you're at immediate risk of death from your weight (in which case some docs recommend the DS for fastest weight loss), there's no reason not to be banded. I lost more than 170 lbs in a single year and am still losing. And I'm FAR from the only one.

That said, the RNY can be the right choice for some. It just wasn't for me.

[Wheetsin 714]

I lost more than 170 lbs in a single year

:hail: :hail: :hail:

[JosieK 120]

hey julie,

what kind of program did you develop (ie. exercise, food plan etc)

[sleepyjean 0]

I had serious concerns about regain for me with the RNY. I was a bulk carb eater. I would eat large quantities of nachos, burritos, pizza, etc. and I was very worried that over time I would stretch my RNY pouch and be one of the fairly substantial statistics of RNY regain. For me, the adjustibility of the band gave me security that I could always have it tightened if I was eating too much.

Ditto what she said. Once I found out that your pouch could stretch over time to accomodate more food, bypass was totally out of the question because I could really pack it in.