LBS vs GBS Why did you choose GBS? - ThinnerTimes

gina0922 · 04-13-2008, 03:48 PM

Hi, I have researched LBS for quite a while now. I just found out that GBS no longer had to be done "Open" and is primarily done as Lap. I have a very sedentary job so getting back to work quickly is a big issue with me. My Dr has told me that recoup time for the GBS would be about 1-2 weeks for me due to my job. So I am very seriously thinking about going with the GBS. I like that the percentages shown to lose the excess weight are higher with the GBS as well. Please tell me why you decided to go with the surgery method you chose. Either way, I would love to hear your viewpoints.

Claire-in-Texas · 04-13-2008, 04:16 PM

Gina, both avenues were available to me, but I chose Lap GBS because of three reasons -- #!, I felt better about re-arranging my stomach than putting something strange into my stomach (that may make no sense, but it somehow does to me); #2, I would have to travel 1.5 hours each way for the required fill(s), and #3 I was in a lot of back pain, and the sooner I got the weight off the quicker I could have physical therapy (I had to lose 50 lbs for it to be effective).

Now, more than 1 year post op, I would have made the same decision. It has been a magical ride, and I am now in excellent health, have a full time job (at a desk), exercise regularly with my own equipment, and have a vastly improved quality of life.

I wish you the best, regardless of your decision.

Janelle · 04-13-2008, 04:30 PM

I had two reasons for choosing lap RNY over lapband. First of all was the results. My surgeon's stats showed that patients with lap RNY lost more weight. I wanted the most effective tool I could get. Secondly, RNY requires that you change your eating habits. With lap band, I could still eat foods that were horrible for me. I wanted to completely revamp my lifestyle and relationship with food.

Janelle

Claire-in-Texas · 04-13-2008, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Janelle

I had two reasons for choosing lap RNY over lapband. First of all was the results. My surgeon's stats showed that patients with lap RNY lost more weight. I wanted the most effective tool I could get. Secondly, RNY requires that you change your eating habits. With lap band, I could still eat foods that were horrible for me. I wanted to completely revamp my lifestyle and relationship with food.

Janelle

Great point on your second reason, particularly. It is that very reason that I will remain thin and healthy permanently. I have no doubt about that!

Phoenixfire · 04-13-2008, 07:00 PM

On the issue of lap vs. open, I didn't have a choice and I was okay with that. My surgeon's method was, six years ago and still today I think, ONLY open. Because he felt he wasn't doing the surgery properly if he did it lap. There were potential issues that he wanted to be able to address by having the entire abdominal area available. Not just little holes. According to him, it is major work with potential issues you can't see until you get in there, and he's been a bariatric surgeon for decades. I trusted his judgment so I can live with the scar from open.

On the lap vs. bypass question. My reasons were just like the other posts before me and like many others. When I had my surgery I didn't consider lapband because:
1. it's not been proven to be as effective for permanent weight loss. The percentage of weight loss vs. weight that SHOULD be lost is not impressive for someone like me who needed to lose 150 lbs.
2. it doesn't REQUIRE you to change your relationship with food. If your fill isn't tight enough, it's too easy to leave it as is and keep eating what you want. Including MORE food and the wrong food. Bypass eliminates those options. It's an outside hand of control that I believe is the answer for many obese people. I was one of them.
3. it's not been as refined as well as it could be in order to be as effective as bypass. it's easier to eat past the band (see #2 above)
5. it doesn't REQUIRE the psychological issues to be dealt with when it comes to why we're obese-you aren't permanently altered. I needed to be.

I needed to lose the weight so I could stay out of a wheelchair. My spine and hip demanded that.
The research showed bypass was the most effective permanent weight loss solution. The advances in stomach stapling convinced me it would work. My mother had it done decades ago, with an old method. Within 2 days she was reversed, staples taken out. She remained obese her whole life and she's VERY sick due to morbid obesity. I didn't want to repeat her life.

So....those would be my big reasons

You'll find your right choice, we all do. Some it works for some it doesn't. (All WLS methods I mean). I count myself one of the very fortunate ones that it has worked for. Nobody believes I had it when they meet me. And I am not in a wheelchair at 40. Far from it

MiladyB · 04-13-2008, 09:17 PM

For me my insurance company decided for me. They would only cover the RNY and not the lap-band at that time. If I had the choice I still would have gone with the RNY. At the weight I was at, with all of the co-morbidities that I had I felt it was the best choice. I also felt that I needed such a drastic change in order to be successful.

veroniquetalk · 04-14-2008, 06:41 AM

I chose laproscopic GBP instead of lapband because I know two people who had lapband and you can hardly tell they lost any weight.

Kimberly76 · 04-14-2008, 10:06 AM

I chose GBS because of some of the following reasons: Refills, no dumping side effects, the port- once you start losing weight it can move, the band can wear through the tissue it surrounds, quicker weight loss, and the pain of having it filled because the nurse can't find the exact spot. I'm pre-op and will speak with the Surgeon on Friday. But I'm pretty confident in my choice.

best wishes,

Kimberly~

katzz87 · 04-14-2008, 10:12 AM

For me it was the diabetes...with lapband I would still be diabetic, with the gastric-bypass I'd leave the hospital without diabetic meds. It's only been 13 weeks...but I am off of my diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure meds! And my pouch lets me know if I'm doing something wrong!

partpusher@yahoo.com · 04-14-2008, 10:20 AM

Hi, I just had the Lap RNY done on March 12, 08 and had previously considered the lapband. I, like the previous posts looked at the amount of weight loss, and I am a self professed sweetaholic asnd felt that I would somehow find a way around the band. I was back to work in less than 2 weeks, I have a desk job and have not had any bad side effects so far.
Good Luck only you can make the choice!!

Donna