Has anyone here had the surgery? Doing some research for my mom, would love to hear some personal stories...
My best friend did it two years ago. I can find out more from her, but I will tell you this - She has not lost any weight in over a year because she increased her portion sizes (her own choice) and it caused her stomach to stretch anyway. Right at first she lost about 25 pounds and then once she got used to the band, she didn't have the discipline to eat smaller portions even after having the band tightened. So, my opinion is you really have to be dedicated and willing to stick it out for the long haul. My friend had to see a therapist and dietician before her insurance company would approve the surgery, but I still think she thought it would be a magical way to lost weight without diet and exercise, but the truth is with the lap band, you are required to diet and exercise or it won't work. By diet, I mean there are certain things you can't eat anymore and what you do eat, it has to be a very small portion of. This is interesting too: For the first two weeks before surgery, my friend could only drink Carnation Instant Milk. She lost most of weight pre-surgery because of that!! Once she had the lap band she could drink or eat but never at the same time. If she ate a meal, she'd have to wait a while to drink something. Ok, that's what I know about it but I can definitely ask her questions about the surgery if you have any. Just let me know.
Thanks for the info. These are the sort of stories I'd like to hear about. Mother wanted gastric bypass, but with her health issues, it's not feasible for her to have a totally invasive surgery. Lap Band, from what I understand can be done lapriscopicly (sp?). Shoot, I could probably use the surgery myself, but I'm scared of scalpels and doctors, lol....
I know that some people have medical conditions that prevent them from losing weight, but why have invasive surgery to fix something that you can fix on your own? Crazy said that you still have to diet and exercise with the band, so what's the point? Every time I see a commercial for a miracle wight loss drug, the fine print always says that you have to diet and exercise for it to work. Just my opinion, but if it was me I'd try diet and exercise alone for six months before I had a device inserted in my body.
Well, FWIW, my Mom is elderly and can barely walk and spends most of her time in a wheel chair. Her excercise limitations are extreme and she's struggled with her weight for decades. The reason we are looking into it is because if we could get some of the weight off of her, she would have greater mobility and higher quality of life. This isn't just a quick fix. So anyway, if anyone has had the surgery personally, I'd like to hear your experiences.
Having had a gastric bypass in May and having lost 130 lbs, I would recommend a lap band or bypass for anyone that needs it. There are other options out there as the gastric sleeve, Gastric Restrictive Procedure – Vertical Banded Gastroplasty (VBG),Extended (Distal) Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass (RYGBP-E ) (MOST COMMON GASTRIC SURGERY), Biliopancreatic Diversion with "Duodenal Switch ". Gastric Roux-en-Y is done laparoscopic and they are looking into being able to do them orally and vaginally. While surgery is a "tool" for weight loss, One still has to be committed to walking and monitored food restrictions. The biggest pro about surgery is that if your mother has diabetes, it will most likely go away by the time she leaves the hospital. Below are some links that you can use to research 1st hand experiences and knowledge and not stories of my brother's sister's uncle had surgery. http://www.dukehealth.org/services/weight_loss_surgery/about/index http://www.obesityhelp.com Good luck with whatever you and your mother decide.
No reason to get upset. I said in the first line of my post "I know that some people have medical conditions that prevent them from losing weight". I hope your mom finds a viable resolution to her weight problem.
ha! and by the way .....every overweight person in the world knows what he or she needs to do but we lack the discipline to do it. If we had any discipline we would not have gotten overweight in the first place!! silly.... hush i am eating rice cakes....
I had lapband Hi! I had lapband surgery in July of 2007. I weighed 213 lbs on the day of surgery and now I'm at 138-ish. I am in need of a fill now, but with the holidays I chose to wait until January. I'm very happy that I had it done and would do it again. What questions can I answer?
Panther, not upset....just simply looking for more personal experience and less opinions.... It's all good. Pepper, I love you, but that's not always the case. My mother took fertility drugs for almost 10 years in the 70's trying to get pregnant. Even before that, she spent 10 months of her senior year of high school in the hospital with internal issues. She's got bad genes....what can I say?
DH is actually considering lapband surgery. Jenn, RnY gastic bypass can also be domne lap. but it is more invasive. Let me know if you would like the number of a surgeon I can vouch for personally (he's done 2 surgeries on me and a total of 4 on family members). Best of luck to u, girl.
