Hi Everyone, I just found this website yesterday and it seems to have a lot of good info, so I thought I would join and hopefully make some new friends. I'm starting the process to wls and have my first appt on Thursday. I'm so excited and am hoping that everything goes well and that my insurance approves the surgery. I have been overweight most of my life and have done all of the diets, (hasn't everyone), and now I have high bp, sleep apnea (using a cpap for a year now) and am heading towards diabetes. I really need to find a way out of this mess and am hoping the wls is the tool I need. Well, that's a short intro about me, please tell me about yourself and let me know how your wls journey is going. Thanks, and have a great day!!
Hello, and welcome.
I had my LapRNY in December. I'm doing fine-have had absoluty no problems-thank the Lord-and although I'm not losing as fast as some-I am losing. I'm glad to have had the opportunity to have done this. Blessings to you-and hope to hear more from you.
There's all kinds of good info here. You can learn so much just by reading old posts!
What kind of surgery are you looking at having? I got the LapBand in April 2004 and am very happy with it. I'm very healthy now and working on losing the rest of my weight. For the first time in memory, I'm positive I will reach my goal.
This is a great site and has tons of information. I am scheduled to has the LapBand surgery on March 20th. Like Chickadee mentioned, I learned a lot from reading the old post.
Hi Everyone, and thanks for your responses and your compliments about my name. (I like it too...lol). Anyway, some of you asked which surgery I am looking into and I'm leaning towards the RGB. I've been reading so much info from so many sites and it seems to be the one that will work best for me. I keep thinking that with the LapBand, I may not lose as much weight as I need to. It seems that there is much more weightloss with the RGB - what are your thoughts on this? I have an appointment on Thursday and will get more info from the doc also, but it's nice to hear different view points from people who have been there.
I'm glad to see that most of you have had limited issues with these surgeries - I was really concerned about that. I know that everyone is different and any number of things could happen during and after surgery, but it helps to know what others have experienced. I have about 150 pounds to lose and can't wait to get the surgery and be on the road to a new me. I am going to continue looking thru old posts to gather more info, but please feel free to respond to my post and let me know your thoughts on the different procedures.
The thing about WLS is that it's a very, very personal and tough decision. I would never, ever try to convince someone to either have surgery in the first place or have my type of surgery if they thought another was better for them. What I will do though is tell you why the LapBand was the choice for me.
First, I was very fortunate that I didn't have any huge, life-threatening health problems that demanded I lose masses of weight immediately. The band will not provide the fast results the RNY does and I went into my surgery knowing that. I have to admit there are times I get a little jealous of the speedy weightloss bypassers experience. My goal with WLS was to get healthy. I am now very, very healthy and very, very active. I exercise six days a week and feel like a jock. I love it! The band provides ongoing, steady weightloss and can be adjusted for the rest of my life. I feel very confident that with my tool, I won't gain the weight back. I was worried about the "window of opportunity" for losing that I read about with RNY. I like the fact that there is no window with the band. It works if you work it. You can take off all the weight you want, it's just slower. Some of the studies you will read compare results of the two surgeries at a year out and hands down, the RNY will show much greater weight loss. Look at the results three years down the road and you'll see very similar weightloss.
I also didn't choose the RNY for another reason that some may find kind of silly. I hate, hate, hate any kind of artificial sweeteners. They make me want to hurl! Since you can't go into the surgery knowing if you're a dumper or not, I didn't want to chance it. For me, the chances of never having anything sweet again were about zero percent, so I had to take that into consideration.
I also liked the fact that the band was less invasive. There's less chance for complications and a much quicker recovery time.
I had a great surgeon who has a fabulous educational program. I think whatever surgery you choose, make sure that the support is there from the doctor's office.
One more thing - don't forget to look into the DS procedure. From everything I've read, it seems to be a pretty amazing surgery too. Oh yeah, more to research, woo hoo!
Thanks for your take on it Chickadee!!! It's funny that you responded with this info because I was talking to a friend of mine who is also looking into surgery and she is interested in Lapband for some of the reasons you mentioned. (Artificial sweetners vs. sugar). I don't think it's silly at all to be concerned about not being able to have sugar - it is one of my concerns also because I really don't like artificial sweetners either. I am still open to both types of surgeries and can see pro's and con's with both surgeries. You make some good points and give me some stuff to consider.
I am basically healthy except for hbp and sleep apnea, both of these should go away when I lose about 50 lbs or so. The doctor I am going to does both types of surgery, so I will be sure to ask lots of questions regarding both types.
Thanks again for your input - I really appreciate it, and welcome it.
I just joined - wanted to introduce myself
