consdering revision to bypass but feel guilty about it

I got the lapband about 3 years ago. I was super excited to finally have a tool that would help me to lose weight. I am 24 and have been overweight sense I was about 12. It took alot of guts for me to take the step to even consider a weight loss surgery. So I got the lapband. Let me be the first to say I did not do a lot of reasearch. I heard it was less invasive than bybapp and thats why I chose it. I was scared to get a surgery and I went with what I thought was the "safer surgery" I really wish I had done more research before I got the band but I didnt and thats in the past. With the band I have never got the restriction that other people get. Everytime I went for a fill appointment I would get my hopes up that this would be the time it worked and I got some restriction, and everytime I got let down. In the begining I followed most of the rules. However after I never got the restriction it was easy to fall back into old habits. After all I got the surgery because I needed a tool to help me with portion control. Now I find myself in the same place I was before the surgery. Every week its "ok next week Im going to start my diet" I cant believe 3 years later Im still saying those same words I have said my whole life. For the last few weeks I have been considering revision to bypass, but everytime I think about it I feel guilty. I feel like I failed at the band. I feel like Im just jumping ship to another surgery. The embarrasement of getting a weight loss surgery and still not losing has been so hard for me. I dont even see some of my friends anymore because I dont want to get the " she is still fat, didnt she get surgery face" Part of me feels like maybe I didnt do what I was suppose to do with the band. But the other part of me says I have been in for countless fills but I still have no restriction. I wish I had the will power to eat a cup of food and be done. But I dont. Thats why I thought the band would help. But with no restriction I can honestly say I am right back to where I was before. I feel lost. I dont know if I should revise to bypass. I want alot of information before I decided to have another surgery. Any advice would help. Thanks!

Among wt loss surgeries, band surgery tends to have the most issues.  Many chose band surgery because it was "less surgery", only to find out they made the wrong decision.  Sometimes the band fails the patient, ie, slips out of place, port clogs up, etc. Go to some support group meetings for RNY or sleeve surgeries, common wt loss surgeries.  Depending on how much wt you need to lose, any medical issues (like heart), medications you need for arthritus, etc.--your surgeon can help you decide. But you're correct, get as much info as possible.  As a general rule (according to the data my surgeon's nurse told us at a recent support group), RNY is designed to remove about 85% of excess body wt, and the sleeve is around 65 to 70%.  Wt loss tends to be more rapid with RNY, but no NSAID meds forever.  For some post ops the sleeve seems to be more troublesome to lose wt.  I know there may be other opinions, but I'm talking about speaking with patients of these surgeries at support groups.  Behavior modification is needed to make any surgery successful. If you have issues in your past life that cause you to use food for comfort, you need to address these issues through conseling to prevent a return to these habits after another surgery. DAVE

 It's hard no matter which surgery .  I have been struggling with RNY, I have to be careful and follow the rules, or I can eat almost two cups of food if it's the wrong kind ( ie not dense protein) or if I drink during eating. So I have surrendered myself to the fact that I have to work my tool every time I choose to eat.  I still talk myself into the " start Monday diet" syndrome even with my surgery, which caused me to regain some weight, so for me it's my head that's my problem, not my surgery.  That said some people have great success with revision surgery. Either way, you could really sit down with yourself and have a serious chat about how you will deal with you thoughts and how you will make either choice a success for you.  Now, I'm going to go throw out this piece of chocolate in my hand and go make a cup of green tea

I am about 360lbs now. I would say I tend to be an emotional eater. Having the band and no restricion and the guilt of not losing weight and constantly obbsessing over it has made me even more of an emotional eater. I mean I have been on OH for a while on the lapband forum and If you even look at the titles of their post and then look at the titles on the RNY board its like night and day. All you see on the band board is fail fail fail problem problem problem. Im not saying that bypass is perfect but I mean I come on here looking for the problem stories becase I want to know everything this time! and honestly they are hard to find on the RNY board.

Amber,
I like you chose the band because it was "less invasive" than RNY. I had my lap band in Oct. of 2005.I weighed 280lbs.  I hated the fills, at one point I had so much restriction that nothing was going down. I had lsot down to 225lbs. I wasn't able to eat much of anything but ice cream because it went down so easily. So, in August of 2010 it had to be removed along with a hernia repair.  I had no tool from August 2010 to June 5th 2012 and I gained 25lbs.   During surgery for removal and herniia repair I aspirated into my lungs. My Dr. did the repair and removal, but then left for India so I was in a colleagues care.  This Dr. sent me home with a "touch" of pnuemonia.  By 2:00pm the same day I was in an ambulance barely breathing. I ended up with a 12 day stint in the hospital becasue of bacterial pnuemonia. During my stint Code BLue was called and I almost died.  I decided i was done with surgery.  But I kept gaining weight so I went back to RNY and my surgeon said it was a good choice over other types of surgeries becasue of the GERD.My surgery for rny was on June 5th.  the dr. repaired to hernias at the same time. He said they were probably due to my vomiting so much because of the GERD. I am hating my decision right now, but I know this too shall pass and I know that rny choice was the right choice.  I still battle the emotional eating and the want for food right now.  Good luck on your decision and you will find tons of support on here.

 Hi Amber,
I had my Lapband put in in 2006.  Last Monday, June 11, I had a revision to RNY.  The Lapband left me with horrible GERD, plus a large hernia that needed repair.  So far, so good with my recovery.   It took me years to get up enough nerve to go back to my surgeon.  I felt like a total failure. You are not a failure, just like I was not a failure.  Speak to a surgeon about what options are available to you.  Good luck.

I felt quilty and embarrased also, and I just finally gave up, I lost with the band 52 the first year (on my own) with no restriction then the second year I was done with dieting but did manage to loose 25-30 ish, the third year I started gaining and no matter how many fills unfills I had , I was gaining.
By year 7 My doc finally said enough is enough , you are having RNY ( his personal favorite I think )
My PCP , orthopedic and bariatric docs all agreed I needed it, so I know how you feel.
Do you know why you don't have restriction? a friend had a punctured tube and  has never been helped by the band.
Even with RNY it is still WORK and a bit crazy making ,but I am thrilled I had it done , even though I was dead set against it when my twins had it 6 years ago, so I had to do a lot of back peddling
Best wishes

Thank you everyone for you posts. I have an appointment with my surgeon on july 2nd I am going to talk to him about my band and maybe if there is something wrong with the band itself. I am also going to speak with him about RNY and see what my options are. I am in school full time and my next break wont be until december 7th. I will have 1 month off. Is that enough recovery time? Also I have some questions. What the heck is dumping? Also hair loss.....that really freaks me out my long blonde hair is the one thing I always had going for me no matter how much I weighed lol.

I had a VERY long talk with a coworker yesterday. He had the same issue you are having. He and his wife had lapband 5 years ago. It did nothing for either of them. His wife had a revision to RNY 2 years ago and has had great success. She went from about a size 22 to a size 6 in a year. (I know, everyone is different). He decided on a revision too. He had his 4 1/2 weeks ago. During surgery, they discovered that due to his lapband, he had muscular atrophy of his stomach (I think I spelled that right). Anyway, the atrophy was causing his stomach to "twist" around. The surgeon told him that eventually, it would have twisted so tight, that the twisted part of the stomach would have snapped off...

He and his wife are loving their lapbands. They say that getting the revision was the best thing that  they could have done. Again, that is their opinion. I just thought that I would share their story.

I originally was going for Lap Band surgery. It was cheaper (my copay for outpatient surgery verses 2 nights Stay in Hospital) I was approved for Lap band and then when I met with my Dr and we talked it all over his recommendation was the Gastric Bypass. I listened to everything he had to say and I put the money issue aside and liked what he said. Over all it just made sense to go with the Gastric Bypass. They submitted the paperwork for the procedure change and all was fine. I came home from the hospital yesterday and even though I'm as weak as a kitten (actually have three 5 week old kittens in the house that have more energy than I do presently) I am very happy with my decision.

I would  not feel guilty if I was you. You made a decision based on what was going on at that time. and you didn't know all your options. Now you have more information and want to do the revision. I say go for it and just enjoy life on the loser bench!!!

Good luck with your decision.