TurtleGal? TurtleGurl?

TurtleGal it is!

I have never had it, but I truly feel this is a decision you need to make with your husband and it's no one else's business. Other people don't even need to know what you are doing to lose weight. Technically, it is not the surgery itself that is causing the pounds to come off, but the change in what goes into your body, so when they ask, tell them you are eating a lot less and leave it at that. I am a mother of three and they are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I think it would be tragic if you never got to experience that because of weight and/or insecurity over what others think about that form of weight loss. Good luck!

Yay thanks for the name change That IS better, thanks for the nudge Jiffy!

Cloud, the more I look into this and come to terms with it the less I am worrying about what others think. Also, having a few people react much BETTER than I expected helps too.

I am pretty sure I am going to do this... now I just need to get the info and hear what they say about the type of surgery I should have. That is still a bit confusing for me. Bypass feels extreme, I worry about lapband not having as good results. So much to think about...

yes, turtle - there IS a lot to think about - and that's why it's really important to do some serious soul-searching and take all the time you need to make your decision. some folks make their decisions in a few days, others need a few years.

but it's ESSENTIAL to look at all your options first, and decide how you want to live. the lapband is a good choice for some people, but not for others. it IS possible to lose large amounts of weight and keep it off, but there's a trade off in terms of fills and the risk of slippage.

keep on asking Qs!!!!!

I started a separate thread about the diff surgeries and why people chose the one they did, I think it'd be handy for anyone who comes along to read.

There are a lot of options and I've been reading up on them all. I know that people seem to have the best long term results with bypass but I'm really scared of the dumping, hair loss etc. That said, I want something that is going to make it most difficult for me to slip into old habits, so that makes me unsure of the lap band. I the sleeve seems like a happy medium, but ... oooooh I don't know I'm so confused!! I really want to have an idea of which I want before I go to my intake as I don't want to just go with what the surgeon says. Their opinion will matter of course but I want to be fully aware of what I am getting myself into as well.

I'm just so freaking scared by the whole thing.

On the topic of other people knowing/reacting, I never hid my surgery from anyone. In fact, I take any opportunity I can to sort of share information with others; you never know who may be researching WLS for themselves or a loved one. I've ended up learning a lot about other people's struggles and made some sort of surprising friends along the way! But I'm generally not a very private person, so how you deal with telling/not telling is a very individual matter.

Well, it started because I wanted to keep my type 2 diabetes AWAY, and the DS has the highest resolution rates for type 2 diabetes, including long term (and having surgery at 26, I had hopefully a lot of "long term" left to consider!), including studies showing up to 98.9% resolution of type 2 diabetes.

Once my diabetes research led me to the DS, I also likes that the DS does not bypass the pylorus (the valve at the bottom of the stomach that regulates flow of stomach contents into the small intestine). The bypassing of the pylorus with the RNY is what increases the chances of having such side effects as dumping syndrom and reactive hypoglycemia, both of which are significantly less common in those who have procedures that maintain the pylorus.

And then there were the long-term statistics. The DS has the best long-term stats for maintaining the weight loss and for maintaining the resolution of most comorbidities. That doesn't mean the other procedures never work, of course - it's just the statistics.

I never considered the band or the VSG for myself since one of my primary goals was conquering my diabetes long term, and the intestinal rerouting seems to have a greater impact in that capacity than gastric restriction alone. I wanted the best possible outcome for my diabetes, especially since I was going to be getting pregnant in the future and knew I'd already be at increased risk for gestational diabetes, and I wanted to do everything in my power to have healthy pregnancies and not have the diabetes stick around again as type 2 AFTER my pregnancies. For me, the DS was the best shot.