Lap vs Gastric? And would you do it all again?

THANK YOU MACK MAMA BECAUSE JUST HAVING THE SURGERY AND HEARING ALL THAT JUST DID NOT MAKE ME FEEL GOOD AT ALL IT MADE ME FEEL LIKE I UNDERWENT THE KNIFE FOR NOTHING

Chile - you chose the Band for a reason!  and that reason is YOURS alone!!  Congrats to you for making the step to take control of your health and lose weight - that's what's important.

Not a single mofo here can take away from you and your ability to succeed - feel GREAT knowing that YOU have done what you need to do for YOU - DAMN all the rest of us here!!!  We could be fat assess in the next 90 days - that ain't got a hill of beans to do with what YOU will accomplish!!!  

You will do great - follow the rules and stay true to your goal, lady - everything else is a cake walk!  Wait..... not cake - you shouldn't be eating or thinking about cake..... ummm - it's a mudslide?  Whoops - that's a dessert with cake too ain't it.......   aww HELL - the **** will be EASY!!!!!!

THANK YOU SO MUCH BECAUSE I'M TIRED OF THE WEIGHT AND I PLAN TO WORK IT OUT ANDI WANT TO BE A BAND SUCCES THANKS FOR THE ENCOURAGING WORDS I NEED THAT SSING THAT I AM NOT EVEN 1 WEEK POST OP........AND I WANT TO CHEW SO FU%@## BAD. BUT I HAVE TO GET THOSE CHEW DEMONS OUT MY HEAD FOR NOW

Unique,

I sent you a friend's request, just accept it and you will be able to see my page.  I closed off all of my blogs, but  I will reopen them so that you can read what I have written there.  Also, you can send me a message anytime and I will respond.

Don't be discouraged, the band is a fantastic tool but it is not for everybody.  Some people were simply stating the reasons why they did not choose the lap band.  There are many successful bandsters on OH and several on BAF.  All wls choices are supported here. 

Just know that the band is a lot of work and sometimes it takes a while to start seeing big results.  I get frustrated from time to tme, but this is the choice that I made and I make it work for me.  The up side to it (for me anyway) is that it is so much easier to keep the weight off.  I really don't have to do a lot to keep from gaining weight. 

The band is a strange beast: some days it seems like I'm eating a lot and then there are those days that I forget to eat.  I never know what kind of band day I'm going to have. 

Karen

Well thanks for the encouragement.  I know this has been a learning expereince for sure.  I just find this journey to be much more frustrating than I ever thought it would be.  in the past I've never had a hard time losing weighht, just keeping it off.  Sometimes I wonder if the weight I am at now where I am supposed to be.  My body seems to very commfortable here despite what I try to do to shake things up.

Wow Michelle. I am happy you came thru it all okay.  The cost is a question because my employer did major layoffs (me being a part) and right now I am paying for Cobra ($400+).  I have another job offer lined up for August.  I have been told that you cannot get new insurance for like a year after weight loss surgery.  So, assuming I am Cobraless (JIC the job does not fall through, which I am sure I will get it) I may have to pay out of pocket for atleast a year.  AND I am planning to move to another state (upon receipt of said job offer).  So I wanted to get a jist of what I should expect should out of pocket become a necessity.

Well like I said it can be pretty costly if you're paying out of pocket for fills.  $100 a pop.  My doc doesn't charge for unfills thankfully since I've had two now.  The good news is once you get to a certain level of restriciton frequent fills aren't really necessary.

Now if you're planning to move please look into a follow up doc now.  i had a hard time finding a Band surgeon to take me on as a pt without charging $1000 or more to take m on as a pt.

Good luck!

i'm coming in late (power was out last night), but i LOVE my band.  i've said it before if the only option was RNY then my a$$ would have remained fat!!!  there was NO way i would have gone that route. 

after researching the band, i knew it was the surgery for me.  i had problems with binge eating only.  i was in need of a tool that would help me with that (restriction).  i didn't need  nor want the malabsorptive factor.

i reached my sweet spot with my 3rd fill (last july).  however, when i stalled in december i thought i needed another fill.  well that shyt didn't work.  i should have just waited the stall out b/c the band was happy where it was at (8cc's).  so, technically, i've been at the same fill level since last july.

if i had to do it all over again, i'd chose the band or the sleeve.  again, all i need is restriction. 

as far as cost, i'm lucky that my insurance covered everything at 100%.  my fills are also covered with a $20 co-pay.  if i had to pay out-of-pocket the $200 or so most doctors charge, i'm not sure if the band would be an option for me (sleeve).  but then again, if i were to to have stuck with just my first 3 fills, i would have only been out around $600. 

i have had zero complications!!!  i know that i'll always have my restriction by just going to get a fill...no other surgeries.  good luck with YOUR decision.

 

 

AJ gmorn'ting lol

gurl i started not say anything cuz everytime i open my mouth i feel like a sleeve fiend

click on or write to Shani (screename Star Jones) about insurance coverage of vsg, don't know what company you have but ya'll have (had) similar stats and ins is much more likely to cover the vsg's sister procedure (it's "part two") called a duedonal switch if you're willing to consider it.

those band commercials where the lady has a lion in her kitchen was what brought me to the boards, once i got here tho (please note this is not necessarily the opinion of management :) it seemed like i came across more stories about its complications - probably no more so than any other surgery but between the stories and paying for it to get tweaked, eh.  feh. i was over it.  say all that to say that i didn't qualify for covered surgery, if i had i probably would not have fought my ins. co. for whatever type they chose.  

from the remaining choices i decided based on my lifestyle,  how am i gonna feel about restriction? how long does it take to get back to "normal"? how much post op work is there to do?  my mind being what it is i didn't wanna have a procedure that relied upon my memory to succeed like if i forgot my vitamins for 3 days in a row could it be potentially hazardous?  anteeway, i'm sure you'll get a lot of opinions and advice because for people for whom this is working well, they love and are loyal to their surgery type.   read, write and  talk summore, you'll come across the answer you need.  good luck!!!