2nd Thoughts on surgery

[Oceannites 0]

Hello Bandsters,

I am on the 2 month of a 6 month supervised diet. I hear many on this board say that the average weight loss is 1-2 pounds per week. I also hear many of you say that you were able to lose 20-50 pounds with diet and exercise alone but always gain it back. I've also heard it on here that the average weight loss is 50% of excess weight once banded.

If those statistics are correct then was it really worth the risk of complications such as "errorsion of the band into the stomach" and other unknown complications 10-15 years post-op. It seems that the weight loss stats are really not that far off from diet and exercise. (I don't think my PCP supports the band except in extreme cases.)

Although I have not formally been "supervised" during a diet I always seem to give up the diet since results come so slow. I want my younger person body back and want it now!

Here is the nuts and bolts of my post. Could it be that I and most other people should give it 1-2 years of supervised diet and supervised execise rather than have something foreign placed into my body? I do have diabetes/sleep apnea/hypertention/ ect with a BMI 37.5 Did any of you have these type of second thoughts?

[RestlessMonkey 7]

You have to do what's right for you. I "successfully" dieted off between 40 and 45 pounds over and over. My first time? I was 16 and went from 160 to 120. My last "High" (after one last good try at WW) 405. I diet like a champion. If you really think that you can successfully diet, exercise, lose weight and keep it off (and there are some; estimates vary between I think 1 and 5 out of 100) then go for it. I truly wish you all the luck. For me, I know I'm not that 1 or 5 in 100. I fooled myself about that for the last time in 2008.

[txspatter 0]

I was one of those with every condition looked at by Aetna prior to approving the surgery. Two days after the banding, my resting blood sugar each morning is in the 70's. My blood pressure is now like 112/62. My lungs are functioning far better (dyspnea...shortness of breath from secondary pulmonary hypertension of the lungs)...I've not had any b/p meds nor metformin (850 mgs. twice a day) since the morning before surgery!! I've lost 37 pounds and am fitting into a closet full of clothes that have been hanging for three years, slient! Banding is the best thing I've done for me in the past many years...and, there may be complications, I don't know...but to be getting the real me back and energy plus, again, I have no complaints. None of the surgeries are a magic cure. You still have to mind your manners and eat right, walk lots and push the Protein daily. I read many articles here about folks who don't lose much or gain back a lot. I'm not perfect, but I have doubts that those individuals are eating right. The band is the one alteration that allows you to eat all foods again in life...if your tummy accepts it. Would I do it again, you betcha!! Should you do it? My mother used to say, "When in doubt, pitch it out..." It has to feel right for you, but don't listen to all the negatives, find the positives and throw them in the hopper to contemplate!

[Stephanie1972 0]

You have many valid concerns. I will be banded a week from this Thursday and can tell you that it took me 3 years to make this decision. I have researched and asked many doctors your questions over the last 3 years. I will answer them as they have. My biggest concern was that it says Lap Band patients lose an average of 50% of their excess weight. I thought to myself when I read this...I'll still be obese if I only lose 1/2 of my excess weight! It's not worth it. In talking to 3 different surgeons about this, I can FULLY expect to lose 100% of my excess weight IF I am compliant! I can also fully expect to lose NOTHING if I am NOT compliant...I suppose this is where the average of 50% came about...if I want to cheat the band, I can drink bottles of wine, regular koolaid and have large milkshakes daily. I can avoid exercise at all costs and STILL consume THOUSANDS of calories daily...OR, I can eat foods that are dense and will cause me to feel full, thus WORKING WITH the band...(remember, it's just a tool). I can walk an hour a day and get in all of my Protein and lose all of my excess weight. I am going to try to choose the latter of these options. I have heard of many that don't lose weight quickly, but admittedly, they aren't following the program...dieting for me was a chore. I'd be gung-ho for 3 months, then lose all interest. I very rarely felt satisfied. I expect that with the band I will feel full and satisfied, however after consuming a very small amount of food (2 ounces). I thought too that I could diet on my own and lose 2 lbs a week...well, I can! (but only for a few months!) I then gain it back because I can't sustain that lifestyle of always depriving myself and feeling dissatisfied.

As far as the erosion...that happens in so few instances. If you find a reputable surgeon, they will make sure you have no bacteria in that part of the stoma which is believed to cause erosion. If it erodes into the stomach, it's not life or death...and seriously, it is very rare, but the most common of complications. I'll take that over "leaking" issues or the complications of my diabetes and sleep apnea anyday! I have type II diabetes. I am so sick of taking my medicine and so afraid of my ability to sustain good sugars with the help of pills. My doctor fully believes my diabetes, sleep apnea and all other issues will be fully eradicated post surgery/post weight loss...The surgery is a major decision because it's a major life change, but the mortality rate is almost nil. In fact, it's 1 in 2000 and doctors are typically VERY thorough in making sure you are safe to have surgery. The procedure takes less than an hour which means you're under anestesia for a very short time. I wish you the best of luck with your decision. I am very nervous but SO excited to put the pills aways, my husband's earplugs away and to get my life back...

[ParrotheadCathy 0]

Have you never dieted successfully, only to gain it back? That's a big question. If you haven't, then maybe you should consider diet and exercise. But 99% of us here have lost LOTS of pounds more than once, only the gain it back every time with a few extra for good measure everytime. For me it's been 4 times I've lost 70 - 110 pounds each time and i've regained it every time with 5 or 10 extra every time. Lose only 50% of the weight you need to lose? There are thousands of people with bands who have lost all they wanted/needed to lose (and some who lost even more). Initially, when GB was more popular and LB was somewhat new, the thinking was that you would lose about 50% of what you needed to lose. But it's now 7 years since they started doing LB surgery....and with a larger patient pool and more numbers to look at, that outlook has changed. It is a tool to help you stay the course and lose all you want to lose.

[phenry 0]

I just got approved today and my surgery date is June 12th. I think it is very natural and very good to try to avoid surgery if you can. But today when I heard I was approved...I had to give myself a real good talking to. I asked myself why I was getting this done. I asked if I was sure I had to do this. Well, I have tried losing weight...I stuck with weight watchers this last time and I really hung in there. After all, if you cheat, then you know why you aren't losing. I didn't cheat and I lost 20 pounds, then it stopped. Just like every time. For whatever reason, my body just wants to hold on to this fat and not let go. I am a grandmother raising my two grandsons, and I need to be here for them. I figure from all the research I have done, this "tool" is what I need to help me get this weight off...and most importantly...keep it off forever. It is such an individual choice. All I can say is, do your research and search your heart and be honest about what you can and can't do. If you have any doubts....why not try dieting one more time. See what happens and then decide. The last thing you want to do is have regrets.

[Jodi73 11]

IMHO The band is a tool, nothing more. I too have dieted down 50-75 lbs many times. I now need to loose much more than that. Thats what dieting got me. I have around three months to go an my supervised diet, and frankly, I am not sure I will go thru with surgery either. Not out of fear of the surgery, but because I am not sure I am ready. I know I have to make some BIG changes in how I think, and what I do on a daily basis. I am hoping this "supervised" diet will help with this. It is my first time dieting with accountability to someone other than myself. We will see....I really understand your questioning, and have debated with several people these same things. I am still on the fence...reading this board helps, talking to people who really know me helps too. Good luck to you! Jodi

[ReadyOrNot 0]

I too have dieted successfully, for a period of time, then gain it all back then some, for me the biggest appeal of the Lap Band was giving me the extra something I need to continue to keep the weight off and not go back to my old, unhealthy habits. I'm still new to the band, I've only been banded a little less than 4 weeks now, and I hope I feel the same way in a few years!

[ibelieve 0]

When my PCP first approached me about WLS in 2002, I was not ready. In 2003 we tried to get Insurance approval for Lap-Band, and we were refused, and refused again on appeal...

Every year, at Annual Exam time, my PCP would bring this up. In 2004 and 2005 I said my family and I had discussed it and they were against it.

Each successive annual visit, he would bring it up again... suggesting I sign up for another plan that would okay the surgery, and always, I would refuse. Now, the annual visits were only the formal annual, interspersed in their are over 100 office visits, for my various health problems!!!! In 2004 I was diagnosed with sleep apnea. In 2005 I got very ill, and I turned out to have blood sugar over 400!!!

This last year, I had a revelation when I was alone on a vacation in late August. On Oct 1 in our annual, he brought it up again, and mentioned our insurance (its a private health system/ppo-hmo) now covers it... and I said YES. He was so happy. I saw the surgeon in November who asked me to lose 25-30 lbs. I tried to, and I did get down 20lbs. but gain easily, especially Water, and finally the surgeon okayed me for surgery when I was down 16 lbs....

I have a lot of feelings about this. But I know for sure, if I had been ready long before this, I would be wearing much smaller clothes, I would probably have a love life, and social life where I associate with and enjoy the company of others, and my 5 year old nephew would not have to have a special conversation when he wants to talk about how HUGE my belly is and WHY is it so HUGE (kid, its not nice to talk to people about how they look, how fat they are, why they are different etc)....

You will have to make the right decision for yourself. I just know that when I lose weight, I gain it back double, it is unfair and tears me up. I have lost over 90 lbs in the past with the help of fen-phen, but they took it off the market, and I stopped taking phentermine since I suffer anxiety, and the weight piled on, all 150 lbs. and it is hard to get and keep it off. I need the band. I would prefer a sleeve gastrectomym but hardly any insurers in the US are covering it. So I will take the Band instead, and I will be very grateful too. I worry some about the risk of surgery, but I probably will end up dead if I don't anyway. :smile:

Edited April 7, 2009 by ibelieve
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