On Saturday I went to a seminar by Dr. Alexander Onopchenko. He does both the Lap-Band and Roux-en-Y procedures. After weighing all the information over I feel Lap-Band is whats right for me. Until I have the surgery I started a blog where I am going to talk about my thoughts and I will continue it after the surgery until either the internet no loger exisits, the site dies or I lose internet access. The URL is at http://weight-loss-to-band.blogspot.com/ feel free to read and post there on my blog or ask me questions here about why I’m doing what I believe is the right choice for me.
And while this is neither mundane and pointless I felt this was the best place to post.
Congratulations. I am glad to see you chose the lap-band. I don’t think you’ll regret it. I am a big fan of the lap-band, since it has helped me lose 110 pounds in the past year. I feel it’s a great balance between safety (it’s much safer than the bypass) and effectiveness (no, it may not get 100% of your excess weight off, but it sure has a better track record than diets do!).
If you are in need of support from other bandsters, I would suggest checking out http://www.lapbandtalk.com - lots of friendly folks over there.
**James Bond: ** Do you expect me to talk, Dr. Onopchenko?
**Dr. Onopchenko: ** No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die … unless you have this surgery that I just happen to be very good at. What do you say?
Good luck.
I was not able to get your blog link to work, BTW. I was wondering if you were doing any type of support group as an adjunct to the surgery. I have one friend who had the surgery 2 years ago and continues with the group to this day. She has lost 180 lbs and looks phenomenal. I have another friend who did only the surgery and chose not to follow any of the other suggestions (group, meeting with a nutritionist, other supports, etc.) and therefore her behaviors did not change much. Her weight loss has been far less successful, unfortunately.
Again, I wish you lots of luck.
I would like to first tell you good luck. Then I would like to second **lorene ** in hoping that you take advantage of all the counseling they offer.
When you lose that much weight (especially that quickly) it can really change who you are and you may not be ready for all the changes. So please do the counseling. I speak from experience.
And good luck again - I know you are looking forward to this.
You raised a good question. Yes prior to having the surgery I will have to attend at least three meetings of a support group. Also my support person has to attend these meetings. I have an idea somewhat of what to expect because my mother had her stomach stapled over 17 yers ago. Making it on your own is tough so no matterwhere I live I will be part of a group. The doctor performing the operation says after it’s done we will have a life long relationship. I’m not sure why the blog link doesn’t work I just tested it and it’s fine.
Thank you for the wishes for good luck. I plan to take advantage of everything I can. I know I need to change my coping methods. Previously I would eat when upset bnut lately I’ve noticed instead of eating I’m crying when upset. I don’t knwo if thatst he healthiest thing to do but it sure is better than eating.
I hope it works out for you! Have you looked into some of the other surgeries out there? Particularly the DS: http://www.duodenalswitch.com which is what I had. I’m not trying to push it, I just want to make sure you’ve looked at alllll the options before making such a life-changing decision.
Have you gotten insurance approval yet? That can be the hardest part…
I’ve read a littlle on the duodenalswitch and while it is somewhat appealing it is more intensive than the lap-band. If the lap-band fails to help me and I doubt it will fail I will keep that as an option.
On the subject of insurance. I do not have approval yet. The insurance rep at the Dr’s will take care of that after the first meeting. Thankfully I have a great heath care plan that is covering this now. I just hope my referral comes in time. I need it for Monday and when I called the office today I was told the person who processes them won’t be in until tomorrow and it takes 5 days. Thats going to be cutting it close so I may have to reschedule with Dr. O
Ok cool, then you’ve looked at all the various options. It is really sad to see how many people just go in and get whatever their doctor does, and don’t even know there are options. I have met people who have had bariatric surgery who don’t even know what procedure they had–neither by name nor by describing what was done!
You are lucky that your insurance coverage is good. Mine was, too. They approved me right off the bat. In my support group there is a woman named Melanie who fought with her insurance company for 18 months before finally getting approval!
Yep I work for the state so I have good insurance. I still have to document all the attempts I made on diets etc etc. My primary care doctor referred me to one surgeon who doesn’t do the lap-band procedure. He only does the Roux-en-Y procedure and I told him from the start I was not not intrested in that.
I just got back from getting the results of my psychological evaluation for bariatric surgery, and I am pleased and proud to report that despite rumors to the contrary, I am absolutely sane and certifiably normal. Hopefully all the other insurance pieces will fall into place, and I will be having the Roux-en-Y procedure done laproscopically in a few months. Good luck with your surgery!
I work in the health insurance industry and can tell you that the single best indicator of a successful outcome in bariatric surgery (in terms of medical complications) is the experience of the people performing the procedures. Here in my state we have seen some facilities jump into the bariatric surgery game and have horrendous complication problems - including fatalities. So please PLEASE research who is doing it, how many they’ve done, and what their complication rates have been.
I apologize for scaring you, but it’s critical that you are as fully informed as possible about this. It’s a life-changing surgery, and for many people it works out great. Please be careful, and good luck.
Tpayne, thanks for the warnings. I have not verified the information given to me by the doctor who will be doing the surgery but based on the information he provided i feel confident with him. He has had 0 fatalities so far and out of 250 patients 6 had complications but all 6 are fine. Those 6 were when he first started out. According to the information at obesity help he has 14 years of Laparoscopic Surgery and two years of Bariatric Surgery. He was trained by Dr. Alan Wittgrove, M.D, Dr. Gerald Clark, M.D., and Philip Scherer. Dr. Alan Whitgrove & Gerald Clark are the doctors who did the surgery on Carrie Wilson. From what I have read they are experts in the field but if you can provide any additional information I’d appreciate it
I am glad to see you chose the lap-band. I don’t think you’ll regret it. I am a big fan of the lap-band, since it has helped me lose 110 pounds in the past year. I feel it’s a great balance between safety (it’s much safer than the bypass) and effectiveness (no, it may not get 100% of your excess weight off, but it sure has a better track record than diets do!).