Im per opp for the gastric band

I asked my doctor for a copy of the diet that they give to people post gastric band, I didnt want the op but could see no reason why I shouldn't follow the same diet if my will power was strong enough. As he didnt know the exact diet he wrote to the hospital. They sent him a very nice letter back which he then passed on to me. The letter included a web address which I looked up which gave the diet but also gave the statistics for all the things that can go wrong, which made me even more determined not to have the surgery.

The other thing the letter said was that in my area they no longer performed the gastric band instead they went for the more expensive, permenant and more risky bypass surgery. Their reason for this was that it was far to easy for people to cheat after gastric band surgery and their research had shown that the results were poor especially the long term results.

You still need will power whether you have the surgery or not, please reconsider, with the right support you can do it, and this site is full of supportive people

Having reread what I wrote I realise I didnt express myself very well. Had the gastric band been an option for me I would have had it done. It was the risks involved in the gastric bypass that I wasn't prepared to undergo. The bypass surgery may give better results but the risk of side affects, the lifetime of vitamin & mineral supplements and the much higher risk of death was not something I was brave enough to do. I dont see any form of weight surgery as an easy option on the contrary I think it takes a lot of guts. As I couldnt have the band and wouldnt have the bypass I decided just to go with healthier eating and so far I dont think I am doing too bad thanks to all the support on here. I couldn't have the bypass (on NHS) now even if I wanted to as I am no longer classed as morbidly obese.

If you feel that surgery is the right option for you then I wish you luck and hope all goes well for you but as it will be a few months before you can have it and you are doing so well with your weight loss at the moment, I hope you will stay with this site and give it a try, you may change your mind.

:-) What is NHS?

LisaMarie is CORRECT (u r a class act my friend) and actually deciding and having this surgery may have actually saved my life because in the preparation process I discovered that I had severe obstructive sleep apnea (large hiatal hernia too) that could have killed me because it actually was not weight related. Apparently, I was born with a very very narrow air passage way and all these years I went undiagnosed until I decided to go forward with the gastric lap band surgery. On top of this I became an advocate for sleep studies and have saved 3 other people in my life! I reserached the Lap Band for two years and I was so well prepared that I have had ZERO complications, I am finally losing weight very slowly and eating well. I feel fantastic and look great (yes a little vanity and a positive attitude goes a long way)! No matter how or what you chose to do in life to make yourself healthy and happy just be prepared and be strong in your committment. I support intelligent decisions and I do not believe anyone should pass judgement. If it works for you then so be it. Blessings and peace to you all.

"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people."
~Eleanor Roosevelt

Good luck achieving your weight loss goals. My best friend was extremely heavy (about 350lbs) and chose to have the surgery. She didn't want to make any kind of life change which was difficult for me to understand. I suppose that those types of changes, particularly in her situation (she was abandoned by her family at 13, had her first child at 14 and now has 7 kids as a single parent - her husband left her) was simply overwhelming. I'm certain that it was the best decision for her except the side effects just seem to outweigh the benefits some days.

She has not resoolved any of her food issues. As an RN I recommend that you absolutely have therapy or counselling to try and work through your food addictions. Even I am seeking this now and I'm not planning on gastric surgery. The weight will likely fall off fast so be prepared for additional surgery to repair the damage. My friend now needs a full body lift to fix the stretched skin she is left with. She vomits up almost every meal, especially if she tries to put too much in her band. This harks back to the over eating and not understanding her issues. It's very complex. Workout. It's still very important that you do cardio and strength training to try and minimize the damage. Doing nothing will still make you just as unhealthy.

In the end, these types of decisions are extremely personal. It's admirable that you have chosen to take a step to make your life much better, however it's critical that you know that nothing is a quick fix. You won't be 100% healthy unless you commit to changing your entire outlook on food and health and exercise. I'm sure (with your research and knowledge) that these are all things you are aware of, I simply wanted to emphasise their importance.

I feel sure things will go well for you. Keep up the great work and you will get to your ultimate goal.

It's not a "quick fix"
It's not "cheating"
It's not "an easy way out"
It's a WAY OUT and thank goodness it's out there as an option.

Gonna make this my siggy I think lol.

Hi Carlos,
I have just found the site and was wondering if I should come out as it were knowing what types of reactions one can get when you say you have had gastric surgery.I can lose the weight and have done so on several occasions but I have until now not been able to maintain it,putting it back on each time so I researched went to the Doctor and asked if he would be willing to refer me, I had sessions with a dietitian and was eventually referred for the op. I had my gastric band fitted on 19th December 2007, so nearly 3 years ago now. I had lost about 60lb pre-op dropping from 20 stone to 15.5, I will admit after my 6 month check up i put about 6lb back on, this was entirely my own fault, I stopped exercising due to tiredness and depression neither of which were related to my weight thankfully. The big plus for me though is that since that initial gain of 6lb I have been able to maintain my weight within 2 lb of 16 stone, so for nearly 30 months I have not gained weight, I have not lost either because of not exercising. But since finding this site and getting my brain into the right mind set I have started losing weight again. As others have said the band is a TOOL, if we don't use it correctly it will not work as intended and we shouldn't blame the tool for that but should look to ourselves.

Good luck with your journey and I hope you keep us all posted with how things are going.

Natalie

I had GBS (gastric bypass surgery) last year and have lost 118 lbs to date, a little under a year later.

LisaMarie - VERY WELL SAID! I couldn't have said it better myself. Anyone thinking it's an 'easy way out' or 'quick fix' obviously has no idea what they're talking about.

tbernard - well said also Congrats to your wife on her success.

I would do the surgery again in a heartbeat, as it's changed my whole life and I'm a healthier, happier person for it.