Considered the Band Doc Says Bypass

Hi I'm new here and am trying hard to decide which surgery is the best for me.  I have been over weight a long time but my biggest issues are chronic illnesses.  I had a consultation this week with my doctor and he suggests based on my medical history, bypass may be the best option but of course it is my choice.

I weigh at 228lbs at 5'3" with my biggest issue being diabetes, GERD, PCOS, and now High Blood Pressure.  

With all my medical problems the doc is suggesting bypass.  I was terrified at the thought, with being so evasive.  I also thought I didn't weight enough.  Doc assures me the weight isn't an issue it is more to do with medical issues and feels the bypass will offer me the best results in helping with those issues.

I keep hearing horror stories with the bypass but I also want to make the best informed choice.  I am not terribly old and want to be here a long time and play and ACTIVE role in my families life.  I have two kids that I could so more with which is one of the reasons I want to take this next step.

Please share your stories and opinions.  I am making my decision by this Tuesday.  As for Diet & Exercise being option I already know about those.  I am more interested in comments about the procedures.

Thank you!

I was kind of the same way. I wanted the band or the sleeve based on how invasive or less invasive they were. But due to my diabetes, high blood pressure, hyper lipidemia, and obesity of course he suggested the gastric bypass. I am 5 foot 7 and at the time I weighed 305 pounds. Me and my doctor and my surgeon talked about and weigh the risks of gastric bypass and I decided to get the surgery. What I am seeing now is that the surgery really help me with my conditions. I knew it wouldn't do anything for my hypothyroidism but now I am post op 6 weeks and I am off my blood pressure medication and I no longer have high cholesterol and I am almost off of insulin. On top of that I have lost 36 pounds! Make sure to make an informed decision and stand by that decision.  I wish you the best of everything during this journey!

Do your research…and you will find that the band has a high failure rate.

I had RNY 8+ years ago.  I have had zero problems.  I lost all my excess weight in the first year and have maintained a 165 pound loss since.  Life is good!!

Best of everything with your decision... 

Have you done much research on the band?  I think it is actually more invasive than RNY since most people end up needing it remove or replaced in less than eight years.  That means a second surgery down the road.  And in some instances it causes permanent damage to your internal organs.  I would have preferred to have no WLS than to have the band.  Many surgeons and hospitals, including the Mayo Clinic, no longer do band surgeries at all, due to the high rate of complications and the low rate of success (many patients don't even lose half their excess weight with the band).

If you have GERD now the band is not really a good idea. Many who have not had GERD before surgery develop it with the band. I had gastric bypass about two years ago and no longer have high blood pressure,high cholesterol or diabetes. My back pain and knee pain is gone too! I now walk over two miles a day on my treadmill. I was overweight or obese my whole life and for the first time ever I have a normal bmi. I have had no issues from my surgery and wish I had done it sooner!

Your BMI is 40. "Obese" is 30 or above. Most insurance companies cover weight loss surgery with a BMI of 40 or 35 if you have co-morbiditys (which you have).

I only know a handful of people who have been successful with the band. I know many more people who have had serious issues with the band. Please do more research.

I have been completely happy with my RNY. It was the right choice for me.

Good luck.

I was almost in the same place as you a year or so ago when I started thinking about the band because I thought it was less invasive and that I wasn't heavy enough. Once I did some research, it seemed to me that more bands were being taken out than put in and I thought the whole refill idea seemed more invasive than what I had expected. I also thought that at 5'2 and 234 lbs that losing 75-80 lbs would be a huge success for me since that would put me at my pre-baby weight where I had been very satisfied. Well, I lost 100 lbs in 10 months and am still losing 3-5 pounds a month.

I keep moving my goal weight down because I still have a bit of a belly and I am eating enough for what I consider to be a maintenance diet calorie wise so I figure my body will stop losing when it's ready. That's what my doctor says too. Also, I am barely in the normal weight range for my height so I'm not worried about getting too low at this point. 

The final point for me was that I was self-pay and I knew I could only afford one surgery. So far it has been one of he best decisions of my life and I would do it again in a heartbeat. 

Thank you all for your replies.  Everything you are saying is helping me a great deal.  I also agree that the band now seems a whole lot scarier than I had originally thought.  I have never been comfortable with the thought of having something foreign in my body to begin with but as many others I believed it would have been safer.  Though after extensive research I am seeing a lot more issues with the band and bypass.  I am now leaning towards the bypass and feel certain band isn't the way to go.  I have also thought about the sleeve but then I still am not sure.  

Bottom-line, I'm in a catch 22 as I need to be healthier and doing it by myself isn't working.  I need to be healthy for me, my two young children, and of course hubby.  I want to run, play, and do all the fun things I dreamed I would do with my kids when I was young and dreaming about what it would be like when I had kids.  These things aren't happening and time just keeps moving quicker and I don't want to wait to long to decide.  Though at the same time I am scared something terrible will happen and my kids will not have mother or a mother in medically worse shape than she is now.  Weighing my pro's and con's say I should go for it as does my heart.  My brain however is saying no and to give diet a try again for the 1 millionith time but I feel like I already know he the story will end if I do that.

How did you decide?

Did you have complications?

Was it the best or worst decision you ever made?

Once again thank you everyone.

I am a single mom of two and knew I had to be healthy for my kids (3 and 5 at the time).  Remaining obese was much more of a risk to my health than surgery. I had to "forgive" myself for not being able to lose it without surgery and admit I needed surgery to help me lose the weight and keep it off. I have had no complications and no regrets. Be aware that it is not "magic". You still must work hard to lose the weight and keep it off.

Keep researching the sleeve and RNY. Ask your surgeon if he thinks the GERD would become worse with the sleeve.

Good luck!!

I was in the same place, wanting the band, but, gerd made it necessary to have RNY.

After much research I went with the docs suggestion and have no regrets. In this case, he absolutely new what was best for me . I'm told that my Barrett's is a thing of the past.