Help!!!

PryncessBecky · 03-03-2009, 09:19 AM

Okay..so, after battling with my weight for, well, ever...My doc yesterday suggests that I consider the Lap Band surgery. He's highly recommending it and has even already given me the name of a surgeon!

It's all a bit overwhelming right now. Hubby and I discussed it last night and so far seem to be leaning more towards going for it. I'll probably be calling the surgeon in the next few days to find out about one of his seminars.

A bit of background, I'm 5'2", 350 lbs and have literally been overweight ALL my life. I have PCOS and hypothyroid.
We're currently TTC, but at the moment...I'm not even ovulating.

So, on one hand, I'd love to be able to lose the weight in hopes that my body would "correct" the ovulation and some other aspects too. I also worry about being a "fat mommy". I want to be able to DO things with my kids. To ride on rides and to run and play and walk and take them places. Right now...I wouldn't be able to do so many of those things.

Any info/suggestions/comments/advice would be SOOOO helpful.
What should I expect?
How "hard" is it to maintain your diet/weight/exercise after surgery?

KatCarney · 03-03-2009, 11:24 AM

Did you see the info in these threads?

List of Cysters who have had WLS and their stories. *MUST READ*

Research Studies on PCOS and Weight Loss Surgery

MikesHAPPYwife · 03-03-2009, 07:43 PM

I had lapband surgery & love it. My problem was that I always over ate & the lapband helps me get fuller faster. Thats really all the band will do for you. Along with it you will need to do diet/exercise & that will make it successful. Because it has a slower rate of loosing weight my surgeon actually prefers it for patients under a bmi of 45. Currently your bmi is 64. With that being said I think I would suggest you researching other surgeries available. All the other WLS will help you loose the weight quicker (lapband is 1-2 lbs a week) to get your goal of being healthy & pregnant.
After any WLS it is suggested that you wait 12-18 mons. before getting pregnant.

If you do choose the band, let me know any questions you may have & I will be more than happy to help you out

Best of LUCK!!!

goddess819 · 03-04-2009, 01:00 AM

Hi there! I agree with Laura, you should research all the surgeries and decide along with a qualified bariatric surgeon on which surgery would be best for you. Don't have your heart set on one surgery if it's not going to be the best fit for you. You want to have your individual needs looked at and then paired with a surgery that will best fit you. For one person (like Laura) it may be the lapband, for another (like me) it may be the RNY.

I'm very happy with my RNY and if you have additional questions about it I'd be happy to answer them.

Any info/suggestions/comments/advice would be SOOOO helpful. As stated above research all of your options. Weigh the pros & cons for each surgery against your needs. You may find that with some research that the lapband may not be your best choice, then again it could be. Personally I think that with the amount of weight that you have to loose one of the other surgeries that offer both restriction & malabsorption may be better for you. Those surgeries would be either the DS or RNY. Call you insurance carrier to see which surgeries they cover and what they need to get you approved. Some insurance carriers require a 6 month physician supervised diet, psych eval, sleep study, nutritionist visits and others don't.

What should I expect? What to expect varies between surgeries. What one person experiences with the lapband will be different than the RNY or other surgery.

How "hard" is it to maintain your diet/weight/exercise after surgery? It's always hard, it's hard in the beginning because of what you're restricted in eating and it's hard at 4+ years post op because you can eat almost anything and you have to constantly keep yourself from going back to old eating habits.

If you have more specific questions I can better answer you as your questions were pretty broad. Good luck in your WLS journey!

PryncessBecky · 03-04-2009, 11:29 AM

I was actually considering the lapband because of the slower loss.

I'm hoping to avoid as much "extra skin" as I can once the weight is gone. I know the slower loss is better for the skin "shrinking".
What have you experienced with this using the RNY?

goddess819 · 03-04-2009, 03:47 PM

The best way to think of skin is like a balloon. Take two balloons and fill them up the same. Keep them that way for 24 hours and then release the air out at the same time. Take one balloon and let the air out fairly quickly like the RNY and yes, it's quite wrinkled but after the air is out it continues to shrink right? Skin does the same thing. I believe skin continues to shrink for up to a year after you've reached a stable weight which is why most plastic surgeons won't touch you until you've been at a stable weight for a minimum of 6 months. Take the other balloon and let the air out slowly, although there appears to be less wrinkles they are there right? But after say 2-4 hrs after the air is let out the slow balloon what's the difference in the balloons? My point is that excess skin continues to shrink and after an amount of time whether you have the lapband or RNY at say 2-3 years post op you'll most likely have the same amount of skin.

I speak for my surgeon at his monthly informational seminars and have for the past 4 years. I can't tell you how many times I've been asked about skin. Frankly I'd rather have 5lb of excess skin than the 114lbs that filled it ya know? Yes it takes it's toll on my psyche and I don't like my skin, but it's hidden in clothing until I can afford plastic surgery to remove it. Also skin is individual. I know a lady who had RNY, lost 130lb in 4 months and didn't have an inch of excess skin on her. I'm not that lucky. I lost 114lb in a year and have excess skin in my abdominal area (that actually came in quite handy with my 2 pregnancies). I can say that my abdomial skin isn't that bad, I have known people who've had worse, but it is enough that when full term with both pregnancies I still had skin to go.

Another thing to look at is not just the rate you will loose but how much you will loose. I'm not exact on current percentages but at the time I had surgery the average weight loss with the RNY was 75-85% of excess weight compared to the lapband which had 55-65%. I refused to put myself 'under the knife' and still be fat regardless of how fast/slow it came off. Also for me I didn't want the maintainence of the band (fills/unfills), just do it and be done. Plus I do have a sweet tooth and needed the posibility of dumping syndrome to help keep me in line. Fortunately I do dump on sugar and it does help keep me in line.

Remember too that it depends on where you carry your weight too...I was apple shaped and carried all of my weight around my abdomin. I was essentially a 'fat girl with skinny arms/legs'. Here are some pictures of me so that you can kinda get an idea of me...