Lapband vs RNY

Hi I would like to know how to determine which WLS to have I'm 52yrs BMI 48 some health problems I saw the surgeon for the band this is all he does so of course this is recomendation but I am not sure WELCOME ANY COMMENTS thaks DollyC

That is a decision that you and your surgeon has to make, check out the other surgeries, there isn't a one size fits all surgery.

Check out the DS, RNY, VSG, and the Bands....make sure you understand what they do and how they work, make sure you and your emotions are ready to follow the doctors post op guidelines....besure you understand the surgeons post op rules......

Talk to many people......Base the decision on what you think is good for you, not what others feel about it for them....

I think the decision on which surgery is a tough one--you really need to examine all the choices and see what works best for you. I'm 54, had the VSG (purely restrictive but without an foreign bodies or fills) 15 1/2 month ago and could not be happier. I'd be happy to answer any questions about the VSG.

Lizanne

Like another poster suggested I think you should seriously look at all WLS options out there. Go to the other forums and see how people are living and what kinds of complaints they have about their surgery. Visit the revision forum and see why people are getting revised from one surgery to another. Go to a surgeon who performs all different types of WLS and not just RNY or lapband. They are not going to recommend something they don't do. Attend support group meeting and see how people are living with their surgeries.

All that being said. I'm choosing to have the DS. I have been fighting my insurance for years, I finally got approved for the RNY but will not settle so now I'm doing an IMR (independent medical review) with the DMHC(Dept. of Managed Health Care). I could've had my RNY in July but knew that I could not live with dumping, not drinking with meals, chewing my food to mush, and the chance of regain. I have to take NSAIDS for joint pain and costocondritis so I can not have the RNY because of the chances of ulcer formation in the blind stomach. 

At one time I had considered getting a VSG but knew that restriction alone would not help me maintain my weight loss in the long run. I've tried and failed too many diets to rely on restriction alone. The DS offers restriction and malabsorption. I need the malabsorption since my metabolism is shot from all the years of yo-yo dieting. But because the DS offers so much malabsorption you have to be very regimented with your vitamins and supplements, it is non negotiable. But both the DS and RNY require taking supplements, you just take a bit more with the DS. I think that's a small trade off to the quality of life DSers experience. Check out the DS board.

There are pro and cons to every surgery. Make sure you research all your options so that you can make an informed decision for yourself and your health. Best of luck

Hi Dolly,

You know I wanted the lapband and I had a BMI of over 50.  The doctor I went to just flat told me, no way on the lapband, that he would not do it on me.  That with my diabetes as bad as it was, my blood pressure high, and two bad knees, he said I needed to lose weight now and not tomorrow.  So I went along with his suggestion, and I don't have a day I am not happy that I did.  I was 57 when I had my surgery two years ago.  Today I am not thin by no means, I still have a good 50 lbs to lose, but I am so stinking happy, I don't care if I lose it or not.  I have been within the same 5 lbs for almost 6 months now.  But do as the others have told you.  My insurance company only paid for Lapband, or RNY, so I really didn't have much choice, and I sure in the heck didn't want to fight my insurance company.  Everyone will tell you that their surgery is the best, but you need to get a pro and con list going and decide for yourself.  Don't let anyone pursuade you into their type of surgery.  I always say, knowledge is power!  So be powerful and learn, learn learn.

Good luck, Diane

Definitely talk to a surgeon who does *all* the surgeries. And watch out for surgeons who claim to do more than one but it turns out that 90% of their practice is one type: they will pretty much always tell you that this type is *perfect* for you.

I started out thinking there was only band and bypass. I knew that bypass wasn't for me. I didn't want to deal with dumping (I don't need that threat to eat healthy) and it seemed to me that all the horror stories about WLS came down to malnutrition due to malabsorption. So I figured I'd get a band.

Then I started researching like mad. I hung out on a band board and saw what life was like for them. Too many of them talked like they were on a diet. It reminded me of being on the Weigh****chers boards. I had come to the conclusion that I could never go on a diet again because it gave me a warped relationship with food. So that was a bit turn off.

Then, I found out how the band works and that you only get satiety when you find the sweet spot. But a lot of people never find that. They constantly veer from too loose to too tight. There is no reduction in ghrelin either and I knew that most of my problems were caused by too much ghrelin.

The final nail in the band coffin for me was all the studies coming out about long-term problems that required a second surgery and some of which are quite serious. When you add this into the fact that many surgeons won't take on another surgeon's patients, that fills and unfills go on forever, that it might not give me satiety and that it's not as reversable as it's touted to be, and I realized the band wasn't for me.

In the meantime, I had learned about the DS and the VSG. Since the DS has even more malabsorption than RnY, it was out pretty much immediately. Plus, it pretty much requires an Atkins-type diet and I really don't like eating like that.

That left the VSG. When I first heard about it, it sounded great, but then I saw a surgery and saw them cutting off the stomach and throwing it away and I freaked out. It's so PERMANENT!

But by the time I realized I wasn't going to cut it with a band, I had gotten used to the idea that all WLS is permanent. Plus, the VSG directly addresses the causes of obesity by both removing the part of the stomach that produces ghrelin and by restricting the amount you can eat. Plus it give weight loss as good as RnY without all the extra complications.

I was sure it would work for me and it has. It was so great waking up from surgery and not feeling that gnawing, insistent hunger that I have been dealing with for most of my life. It's like a monkey is off my back.

The restriction -- which I wasn't sure I needed -- has been a godsend too. Now, sometimes it ****** me off. Like when I've filled up my stomach and then I want just. one. more. bite. But it's also made me realize that I would have totally cheated with the band. Not in a glutton-ish way. But I would have done things to wash the food through my pouch so I could have another bite or two or not get a fill right away when I needed one so I could enjoy eating a bit more for a while. This is something I never suspected about myself pre-op. I thought I was more disciplined than that.

The other thing I've found is that I'm really glad now I didn't go with the DS because I'm finding that the VSG is *plenty* to deal with. I've already been in the emergency room once for not getting in enough fluids and passing a kidney stone. I struggle to get in all my vitamins every day. I recently needed to up my protein requirements and I'm finding it hard to do that. If I had malabsorption to deal with on top of all that and had a daily minimum of 100 g of protein, I'm not sure I could do it.