July 12, 2002-
Well, how do I begin. My profile will begin like everyone elses here. I have been overweight most of my life. I weigh almost 240 Lbs.
I have always watched what I eat and enjoy salads, veggies and fruit, chicken, fish etc. I just sometimes probably eat too much.
My parents were overweight and both of them went through periods of being Morbidly obese.
My father had the Ileal Bypass surgery in the 70's (a WLS that is not done anymore for some horrifying reasons). He suffered from the earliest i can remember with horrible gas, extreme bloating of his stomach so that he looked pregnant, he had to sleep with pads because he couldnt control his bowels at night, and a host of other horrendous things. But, he had lost weight.
He DIED this past November from complications from renal failure due to the malabsorbtion that he had sustained throughout the years. His death certificate says he died of MALNUTRITION. THis is one of the reasons im adamantly against getting any surgery but the LAPBAND.
I understand that medicine has made great leaps in the years since this surgery but the concept is the same. Change your insides around so that you cannot absorb the nutrients your body so desperately needs. Some will say, "but take vitamins and youll be fine" and i say that isnt so. No vitamin is absorbed the same way in pill, spray, or liquid form the same way it is from natural food sources. That is a proven fact!
Well, i guess enough of the preaching. Wls is a very personal decision and each person has different goals. My goals are to become healthy and more active. I do not need to lose 100lbs in 6 months for that to happen.
I have noticed on the listservs i have joined and on this site that there is such animosity and almost anger at anyone who would chose to consider the lapband. The comments i see again and again are about statistical figures from the FDA study in America..and comments that the lapband isnt as "successful" as the other surgeries. THen my question is, how do we define success and failure? SUccess in WLS can be defined many different ways. When reffering to the lapband, success , at least in the ways these studies define it, is not losing as much weight as fast. In the other surgeries success can mean NOT dying and very little complications. It is important to make this distiction. LApBand IS effective and WILL work, but it is not for those who want a quick fix. You may not lose all your weight within one year..but maybe in 2 or three. You still have to have some level of self control because there is no "dumping" syndrome that couses you to be sick if you eat sweets. YOu have to have the willpower to make your own healthy food choices! SOunds like a healthy lifestyle to me! The lapband may be new in the US but it is the "GOLD STANDARD" of WLS in europe! Just like the "gold sstandard" here is RNY. Europeans who have gotten the band do well with it. those facts just havent been reported here in the US because the FDA does its own research.
From all i have said, one can see i have strong opinions on the subject of obesity and WLS. But, please know that this is a personal decision that one must make on your own. Read as much as you can about all the surgeries and read opinion...but make your own judgements..don't let someone on a website tell youwhat to think. Do your own research. If you have questions about Lapband please join http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Bandsters/ and ask. There you will find many people who have had the surgery and are doing very well with it. |
