Weight Loss Surgery - Yes or No?

A friend had lap band surgery, and she went through major hell with it. Eventually, she ended up having to have the band removed. I'm sure her experience isn't the norm, but it was enough to ensure that I would never consider weight loss surgery an option.

This comment kind of touches on my thoughts about surgery (where I worked for many years). All surgeries and anesthesia involve risk. Some times its minor things that go wrong. Every now and then though the surgery or the administration of anesthesia causes death or other serious problems which one may survive but not recover from. Even so called minor surgery is nothing to take lightly. The OP should adress thyroid issues medically before any serious consideration of surgery.

I had a laparoscopic Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy done on 4/04/12 & it was the best decision I have ever made. My surgery is restrictive--they did not reroute my innards at all. I had part of my stomach removed, leaving a long, skinny stomach that still functions normally.

The lap band is also restrictive, but you have the band added to make your stomach smaller. Others on this thread have probably described people with a gastric bypass where they reroute your intestines & make a small "pouch" for your stomach. This is a very radical surgery that is restrictive & also malabsorptive. Other people have a duodenal switch which also removes part of your stomach & reroutes your intestines this is also restrictive & malabsorptive. Each surgery has its advantages & disadvantages.

My surgeon said he was not doing the lap band surgeries any more because he was finding his patients had more complications than successes. That was the type of surgery I was originally thinking about.

I am able to eat anything I want. I have not vomited since I left the hospital & the vomiting I did then had more to do with the anesthesia & pain meds than my missing bits. The vomiting & diarrhea is called dumping & can be a problem for people who have had a gastric bypass. I don't know a whole lot about it, since it does not happen to me.

I absolutely have to watch what I eat in order to lose weight. I did not get morbidly obese by making good eating choices. I had to recognize that I am addicted to food & will never be a "normal" eater. I will watch what I eat, weigh/measure everything that goes in my mouth for the rest of my life. I can definitely regain all my weight. Since my stomach is smaller, I can routinely overeat & stretch it back out. I can snack on small amounts of junk food all day long (graze) & exceed my calories.

I've found that there are many, many, many people with anecdotal horror stories. Many will ask why you want to go through surgery & all of the risks associated with it when you can just do it without. You can just change your eating habits & not have the surgery at all. For me, that worked. A couple times. Then I gained the weight back. For me, the surgery has been the best tool for my continued success. I asked myself how many more years I was going to keep struggling with this---until my kids were too old to want to go hiking with me (which I was not able to do while obese), until all my kids learned to ride a bike (which I could not help them with because I could not run behind & hold them up), until I got full blown diabetes which runs in my family, until I couldn't finish my household chores because my back hurt so bad? For me, the benefits totally outweighed the risks. It has been a long process. I went to the original seminar at my local hospital in Aug. 2011. My insurance did cover most of the surgery because I met the criteria. I am still paying of the rest & happy to do it. I saw a nutritionist for 6 months prior to the surgery, I had a psych exam.

It is not the total solution. If you are not committed to making life changes, you will not be successful. That is true for whatever method you choose. I am no longer starving all the time. I can eat 1 cup of food & be full & happy. This means I can make better choices about what I eat. I recommend you go to www.3fatchicks.com & look at their WLS forum--lots of people there share their experiences.

People have to do what works for them... Surgery is NOT the easy way out and yeah, you still have to change your lifestyle, but if you can no longer lose with changing your lifestyle, it is a great tool to get you there. Or if you lose and regain over and over again, it may be an option.... Many can lose the pounds, its keeping them off that is hard! It's changing our lives forever more that is hard...

It saddens me to see so many uninformed people out there in regards to WLS.

I never thought I would do it... but after a lifetime of yo yo dieting, and now a tanked thyroid.... nothing takes the #'s off anymore. I have already made the lifestyle changes. Been tracking my foods for 4 years now, work out regularly... just need help getting the #'s off.

It is NOT something that should be done without much research and commitment. Or by anyone who thinks its the easy way out...

And for health risks... Yeah there are risks. But then what are the risks of being 52, weight of 300+ lbs, high blood pressure, diabetic, arthritis to the point I can hardly walk anymore, and the list of co-morbidity issues goes on... If I cannot get these #'s off regardless of how hard I have worked, I WILL DIE sooner than later...

And yo yo dieting is a killer too! It is so hard on our bodies to lose and regain the weight over and over...

Do people have this surgery and gain back the weight? Yes, this is true. Less % than those who diet and regain, but it does happen. Why? Because they did not make the changes and do the head work (the reason we overeat in the first place) to insure their success.... Just like old fashioned dieters who jump on a plan, lose a few, fall off, gain it back... Its happened to a zillion of us!

So, yeah, I'm going to have surgery... This coming August.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I respect that. I do ask tho, that if you know someone who is going to have the surgery, DO YOUR RESEARCH before you speak up to them. Be supportive if you can... and if you can't, just know they do not need someone putting down their choice, and it might be best to say nothing at all.

For those who want to learn about surgery from people who have been there... Go to dailystrength.org and search for the weight loss surgery forum. Or go to thinnertimes.com and read those posts... You just might be surprised at what you learn! These are people in all stages of the process, pre op folks, folks just researching, people who are a few weeks post surgery, to ones who are years out from surgery...

I had lap band surgery 07-15-2006 and lost 85 lbs in the first year and a half after surgery with moderate exercise and changing my eating habits. I was 335 lbs the day of surgery and now hover at 250 lbs. I am 5'2" and still overweight. I am struggling with the last 100+ pounds. This being said I am in much better health than I was because I changed my eating and exercise habits and still maintain that to this day. I eat normally in moderation. Breads are hard to swallow at times and I very rarely have anything carbonated because food will come back up.

If I had to choose today whether to have surgery again I would in a heartbeat. It changed my life for the better. I haven't had any complications. My surgeon told me with lap band MOST patients lose 40-60% of their EXCESS weight. I am a typical statistic.

Today if I was choosing a surgery I would have the gastric sleeve vs. lap band because the success rate is better. HOWEVER, with any surgery if you don't change your eating/exercise habits you won't be successful.

Best of luck!