Should people barely over 200 lbs or below 200 get Lapband or any WLS...?

[MacMadame 81]

Not to mention we know the long-term implications of lapband about as well as we know them for lots of much more accepted surgeries and serious medical treatments. WLS is not this mysterious, scary, dangerous treatment like it used to be in the 70s, 80s and 90s.

And I love you bringing in the PS example. PS is much more serious than WLS when it comes to complications and risks ... and for most people it's 99.9% cosmetic. Yet people who spent months or years agonizing over WLS will go get PS at the end of their weight loss as just a matter of course, no agonizing at all. (And I'm one of those people - heh.)

Btw, do you know how many people out there who go on the 6 months supervised diet required by their insurance company, lose some weight, decide they can do it on their own, then one year later are back at the surgeon's office scheduling their surgery? A lot. They've wasted a year because they bought the Big Myth of dieting and exercise.

Frankly, I think this is the main reason why insurance companies have this requirement. There is no clinical evidence to support it (which is why the CA DMHC will make your HMO waive the requirement if you fight it).

[Jachut 487]

Yeah, I just love the implication that those of us who have had WLS in large part for the cosmetic benefits are somehow morally corrupt, but a huge pair of plastic knockers is OK!

[marieg 3]

Sorry if I sounded judgemental...I beleive in surgery as a last resort.I think to many people jump into it without having a clue of what complications can ensue. But of course everyone has the right to do whatever they please with their body.

[MacMadame 81]

This may be an unpopular opinion but I think surgery shouldn't be a last resort once a person has at least 100 lb. to lose. That's because scientific studies show that these people will not be able to lose weight on their own and keep it off. So making them jump through other hoops is jeopardizing their health.

In fact, I will go so far as to say that if we have a treatment that works, it's unethical to withhold it from people who can benefit from it. I also think it's unethical to force them to go through another treatment that we know doesn't work first to "prove" they are at their last resort.

The bottom line for me is that morbid obesity kills more people than WLS does.

[Jachut 487]

I agree. Why wait till you're REALLY fat to take decisive action?

Marieg, I know it wasnt your intention to offend anyone, you can tell by the tone of your post that you're stating an opinion, not trying to incite a riot.

I just have a bit of a bee in my bonnet about this topic - everywhere on this board I see peopel bleating about how they're discriminated against on one hand, whilst on the other they're completely oblivious to the biased and prejudiced views they express about thinner people. It drives me nuts. If we really want to be a non discriminatory world then we need to stop making judgements about people based on their weight WHATEVER that is, not just stop making judgements about people based on their fatness.

It's impossible to say that I thought I was disgustingly fat at 245lb because that just insults everyone who was 350 and has lost 100. But if they're honest, they all felt desperate at every new high they hit. They just need to remember that.

[Sooverit! 1]

In Europe where the Lap Band originated you only need a BMI over 30 to be qualified and yes some people there choose to have this procedure to avoid gaining weight with age.

[Sooverit! 1]

Someone wrote: eah, I just love the implication that those of us who have had WLS in large part for the cosmetic benefits are somehow morally corrupt, but a huge pair of plastic knockers is OK!

Ha ha ...this is funny but I also find it hard to believe that even a morbidly obese person isn't going into this looking forward to cosmetic benefits...we're all human!

[Carrie_C 9]

I think anyone with a BMI of 30 or more should be allowed to have surgery. Because, eventually, they are more than likely going to have a BMI of 40. Making them wait is just cruel.

[MacMadame 81]

I was thinking about this last night when I was watching Big Medicine. It was the episode where Garth's sister had trouble with her band and had to fly in for an unfill. She got banded at a size 14 at the urging of her family who could see that she was losing the battle with obesity in spite of working hard to fight it.

That was me at her age.

Not having surgery in my 20s didn't prevent me from becoming morbidly obese. It's not like my only problem was that I just didn't try hard enough to lose weight or that I just hadn't found the "right" diet yet. My problem was that my body was genetically programmed for obesity and nothing I tried was going to work.

I do think that if your BMI is under 35, the risk-benefit equation changes. Because of that, I can see why a lot of people in the 30 to 34 range aren't running out and having surgery. But I can also see why some of them are. If you have fought your weight all your life and you are losing the fight, there isn't any point in waiting until you've suffered big time defeat IMO.

[HeatherO 7]

MacMadame and Jachut, you both have excellent points and I couldn't have said it better myself.

Weight loss is a struggle for all of us, we wouldnt be here if it wasn't. I was one of those people who kept returning to somewhere around 200 or so for the past 10+ years, but staying there and not rising above was a complete struggle.

I have gone to they gym for years and years, have always been physically active, have been eating a generally low-fat high quality diet for those years (only obviously I ate too much of it . . . too much of a good thing can still be too much. I could always drop my weight anywhere from 10-70 pounds at a shot, I could never maintain it.

I have spent years obsessing over my weight . . .and where has it gotten me. Well, in all honesty it did get me somewhere. My younger sister never exercises, she eats what she wants with only the occasional thought towards dieting and she is 300+ pounds. I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever that if I would have just given up completely, I could have made it to the 300's.

Marieg, I was a lot like you about 3 years ago. I started investigating wls, jumped through the hoops, was about to go through bypass and scared myself out of it at the last minute (and I am happy I did because banding was a better choice for me). I did consider wls a last resort and decided to do it myself one more time. All I did in my own case was waste my time. I lost 70 pounds, kept it off for a while . . . and then the inevitable happened, pound by desperate pound. You mentioned that you have been struggling with your weight for 25 years or so . . . I didnt want to do this for 25 plus years. The end of the last year I was so depressed about it because I had to accept that my final push failed miserably even though it took two years for me to lose and get back to 200+. I really wish you the best of luck with your last attempt.

My personal feeling is that the band is an excellent tool that should be available to everyone who struggles with obesity. 200 pounds on one person can be as miserable as 400 pounds on another depending on stature and circumstance . . . who am I to say one is more deserving than the other, they are both deserving.

I feel that the only people who should not have wls are as follows:

1) Those with psychological issues that are likely to prevent eventual success with the band or could cause more damage to themselves (bulimia, anorexia, body dysmorphia, etc)

2) Those who did not do research and do not have a full understanding or the ability to commit to what banding entails.

3) Those whose lifestyles or eating styles will not lead to success with the band (heavy sugar/liquid calorie intake, constant grazing, etc)

I really don't care if it is health or cosmetic issues that are the strongest underlying reasons. All of us have some cosmetic reason for doing this as well. Statistics say that obesity will most likely lead us to initimate knowledge of suffering with comorbidities in the future anyway. Why not nip it before it ever even starts?

[Carrie_C 9]

I admit that I mostly wanted to lose weight for cosmetic reasons, and to have more energy. Those who say they don't do it for that, at least partly, are lying. I did like most others have done. I said I would try it once more on my own. Well, I did, and I lost some, but it just came back plus more. I was 254 on my surgey day and I would have been 300 very easily if I hadn't had the surgery. Everyone has their breaking points, and that was mine. I would not allow myself to get to 300 pounds. For others, their breaking point may be 200, and there's nothing wrong with that.

[marieg 3]

If I fail to maintain my weight loss I will resort to LAPBAND.I just want to make sure that if and when I do resort to LAPBAND I wont look back and say"Why didn't I try my best the natural way".I will know that I gave it my all .

[MacMadame 81]

So what makes you think this time will be different and that you didn't give it your all at least some of those other times in your 25 years of dieting?

I gave it my all when I lost 70 lb. for my wedding. I dieted right through the holidays and didn't cheat once -- and I was on prepackaged food, not WW points, so that means NOT ONE piece of candy, slice of pumpkin pie, etc. Then, I fought the regain like no-one's business. It took me 8 years to regain that 70 lbs, not the usual 1-5 years.

But regain I did. If I couldn't keep it off then -- and all the other times after that -- I didn't see the point in one more "serious" attempt.

Edited December 10, 2008 by MacMadame

[JaimeSTL 4]

I feel that the only people who should not have wls are as follows:

1) Those with psychological issues that are likely to prevent eventual success with the band or could cause more damage to themselves (bulimia, anorexia, body dysmorphia, etc)

2) Those who did not do research and do not have a full understanding or the ability to commit to what banding entails.

3) Those whose lifestyles or eating styles will not lead to success with the band (heavy sugar/liquid calorie intake, constant grazing, etc)

I can agree with the first two, but not the third. If you are MO, or especially SMO, you didn't get there by genetics. You got there (*I* got there) by eating badly...very badly. I probably took in more calories in just the soda I drank in a day pre-op than I did in an entire day post-op. I think WLS takes a strong commitment to changing your lifestyle and it would be really unfair to exclude people because of the choices that led them to being obese in the first place. Now, if you can't commit to giving up those things after surgery, then no, you aren't ready, but that falls under condition #2.

[JaimeSTL 4]

If I fail to maintain my weight loss I will resort to LAPBAND.I just want to make sure that if and when I do resort to LAPBAND I wont look back and say"Why didn't I try my best the natural way".I will know that I gave it my all .

Well, if you think that the band isn't going to require you to give it your all or try your best, you aren't ready for surgery. The band isn't a magic wand. It doesn't go on your stomach and force your body to lose weight. You have to work with it. I've worked HARD to get where I am. My body doesn't care if I lost weight with the band or without it, but it does care that I lost it and along with it severe sleep apnea, high blood pressure, pre-diabetes, etc.