Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Weight loss, surgery v. lap band

Any of you clydes have lap band sugery? If so, could you provide some feedback?
pros/cons
did insurance pay?
how long were you off the bike
recovery time
Thanks

I know 2 people that had it done, 1 was a 50something male, successful for him, not sure his details. He was Freaking HUGE before the Surgery and now just looks like your regular run of the mill 50yr old with a gut.

The other is a friend of my Girlfriend and I, she's 23 and she had to be diagnosed with Hypertension and I believe Sleep Apnea or someother Obesity related disorder in Order for her Health Insurance to pick up the bill which they did.

She got an infection after the surgery which prolonged her hospital stay, but she bounced back quick and no ill affects, she was at a Wedding only a couple weeks after the surgery Dancing and Drinking and having a good time. My girlfriend said that last week she had lost 15lbs in a WEEK!!! She's also only drinking protein Shakes 2x a day and 1 "meal" for dinner.

Any of you clydes have lap band sugery? If so, could you provide some feedback?
pros/cons
did insurance pay?
how long were you off the bike
recovery time
Thanks
I had the Roux-N-Y procedure, done laporoscopically.

Advantages:

Most effective for long term weight loss
no risk of band slippage
Very low risk of mortality


Disadvantages:

Not reversible
Some vitamin uptake issues (B, and calcium)
Carb/sugar uptake issues (Read about "dumping syndrome")
possible development of lactose intolerance


Both Lap Band and the R-N-Y have about equal risk of abdominal hernias forming post surgery.

Possible issues concerning coverage of either procedure

Time off the bike with R-N-Y, Cheeselouise was back on the bike within a couple of weeks IIRC. I had to get a lot of weight off before I could consider a bike, but would have been capable of riding other than weight issues within that period as well. You are up and walking around the next day after either surgery.

To counter the vitamin uptake issues, I have to take huge doses of vitamins for the rest of my life. I'll take that little effect in a heartbeat over where I was.
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o260/TomStormcrowe/Project1.jpg

My younger brother had the laproscopic procedure done in May. He's lost roughly 200lbs since then. I hated to see him resort to surgery, but it's definitely improved his quality of life.

AFAIK, insurance paid everything.

Recovery was pretty quick. He was in the hospital only a few days (2 maybe?). We went to a movie a week after he got home.

At 190lbs, I'm the skinny guy in our family. I keep teasing him that if he keeps losing weight like this, he'll be the skinny guy. He has about 50lbs to go before he catches up to me. :)

Tom, do you have any issues with loose skin? If so, are you going to have the surgery to correct that? That's the next problem my brother is looking at. At 240, he's not all that big (he's about 5'10"), but all that excess skin makes him look larger.

Chris

My younger brother had the laproscopic procedure done in May. He's lost roughly 200lbs since then. I hated to see him resort to surgery, but it's definitely improved his quality of life.

AFAIK, insurance paid everything.

Recovery was pretty quick. He was in the hospital only a few days (2 maybe?). We went to a movie a week after he got home.

At 190lbs, I'm the skinny guy in our family. I keep teasing him that if he keeps losing weight like this, he'll be the skinny guy. He has about 50lbs to go before he catches up to me. :)

Tom, do you have any issues with loose skin? If so, are you going to have the surgery to correct that? That's the next problem my brother is looking at. At 240, he's not all that big (he's about 5'10"), but all that excess skin makes him look larger.

Chris
Yep, I sure do! I could go nude skydiving without a parachute! I'd just look like a giant hairless flying squirrel!:eek:

Once I can afford to have the excess trimmed, lets just say I'll be making a rather large donation to the skin graft bank!

I have two close friends who've had it done. Unfortunately, both have regretted it and regained much of the weight. Don't get me wrong, I think that everyone needs to follow their own path to health, but for my two friends, it's just not been pretty. My $.02.

I have the band, after knowing 1 co-worker who's death was confirmed as complications from by-pass and my brother having major complications from a by pass I couldn't get my self to the by-pass. It's a lot slower going than the by-pass but knowing that I don't have the "1 year to loose" and it will be there to help me even 10 years from now is a nice feeling.

Ron

Any of you clydes have lap band sugery? If so, could you provide some feedback?
pros/cons
did insurance pay?
how long were you off the bike
recovery time
Thanks

I had Lap RNY on Friday, June 30th, 2006 I have lost 105 lbs. I was back on my bike the Monday following surgery, so three days after surgery I was riding, not as far or as fast but I was riding!

I had a friend who died from RNY, a gal I know gained all her weight back and several others I know have had great success with both Lap band and RNY.

No matter which surgery you have you will have a permanent tool to help you lose weight. There is s a misconception that after a year you can't lose weight anymore with RNY. That is not true. Like any diet or weight loss plan, all you have to do is follow the rules and you will lose weight.

My insurance paid for the entire procedure.

THere are many things to consider when choosing to have a WLS procedure. What procedure is best for your health? This is forever. Even after you lose the weight your head still thinks you are that fat person and there are issues that will surface and that you WILL need to deal with. It's hard to explain but whne you ar efat no one notices you. IT is your safe place. Get skinny and the whole world notices you.

Good luck in whatever YOU decide is best for your health.

Linda


PS You may want to check here http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/lapband/a,messageboard/board_id,5359/

I hate to bring this ancient old thread up, but it seem relevant to my little part of the world. My wife is having the Lap-Band surgery on Wednesday and I know we have many new people on the board now and wondered if any of the new folks have had this.

Looking for any issues\problems and how your exercise capability improved or declined. She has several medical issues working against her at the moment and we are hoping that losing the weight will help reduce the issues with the others.

Brian, you have my email, etc. Any time......

As to the medical issues, loss will very likely help them out. ;)

In Aug of 07 I had the RnY and my wife had the band. Both for different reasons. I had many more health concerns which made the RnY best for me and the fear of the rather drastic reworking of the innards caused her to go the lap band route.

She had a faster recovery than I did. I have had lots of problems eating. Meat still gives me fits. I lost much/most of my strength for a while afterwards but in the last couple of months it has started coming back pretty good. I had someone who had gone through the RnY several months before me tell me it would take 4 months or so before I started to feel "normal" again. He was right. Around the first of Jan I started to notice I could start eating more "solid" food. I am not sure if my increased ability to eat has caused the increased energy and strength or if they both just happen to be coming back at the same time.

She had to go in and have the band re-positioned in January. It had slipped. The surgeon stitched it in place and said it should never slip again. Hopefully that is the case. She had a pretty rough go of it leading to the second surgery.

It isn't the magic pill that some people are looking for. It is a FORCED, DRASTIC change of lifestyle. I never thought I was using food for psychological reasons--I just assumed I ate as much as I did because I loved to eat. I'm sure that was part of it but when I couldn't "use" food the same way anymore I really noticed the psychological aspect of it. I WAS using food as some sort of "medicine". I'm still not sure what I was "medicating", but when I couldn't do that anymore it became really, really clear what had been happening. I know that I can work around my bypass and cause myself to fail. I know that with a little effort I could be right back where I started--400 pounds, unable to walk more than a block without nearly passing out, high blood pressure and diabetes, dragging an oxygen tank around and wondering how long until my first heart attack (which I would hopefully survive so I could continue on my same path until my next or final one.)

My life is a world away from where I was 9 months ago. The first couple of months out I wasn't sure I had done the right thing. I wondered if I shouldn't have just accepted my fate as obese and enjoyed what life I had left as I ate myself to death. At least I would have had the food to keep me happy. Now I can see how much I was missing. I would do it again without a second thought.

As for the financial issues--my wife has pretty good insurance so it paid for the vast majority of it. We have had to pick up a bit here and there but nowhere near the total.

As Tom said, feel free to email any questions. There are enough of us out there that you shouldn't need to go through this alone.

Jaxgtr. thank you for brining this thread to life. My wife is considering this band after a aquentance of mine had it done and was back at work, and in back in my dojo after 1 week. We would not throw him until week 2 and only then if he was comfortable, yes throwing a 300 lbs man is possible and so far i have not seen him spar. But i took this week off from martial arts so i could get some overdue riding in.

Thanks for your reply and offers of knowledge as I need it. She seems pretty accepting of the new world in front of her, but I guess she really has no choice. I asked her doc if they have ever done a study of the patient family's to see if they lost weight along with the patient. She said she had not, but it would be interesting to ponder. There's a study for anyone looking for a research project.

My wife has been on the pre-surg diet for about 10 days and I know it has interrupted the normal routines for dinners as I have lost 5 lbs along with her. I do all the cooking and even though I typically do the lowfat and vegi's, knowing that she is on the high protein shakes right now, I have not been cooking, just making for myself and letting the 17 and 14 year olds fend for themselves, which they are not liking. :lol:

Hey...thanks for bringing this thread back up. I've been considering having one of the procedures as a last resort. Found out this year (Feb) that I had Hashimoto's and my body was trying to destry my thyroid.
So we're trying the replacement therapy before looking at surgery.
:bang:

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o260/TomStormcrowe/Project1.jpg

WOW. That's an amazing transformation Tom!

Once I can afford to have the excess trimmed, lets just say I'll be making a rather large donation to the skin graft bank!

Eeek! That may put you into Clyde Emeritus status :(

For anyone that has had it, I recently found out that the University of Florida has a program that will perform the skin removal surgery for free and use the skin for their patients in the burn center. Might look into it in your area.

For anyone that has had it, I recently found out that the University of Florida has a program that will perform the skin removal surgery for free and use the skin for their patients in the burn center. Might look into it in your area.

Unfortunately this isn't true. http://plasticsurgery101.blogspot.com/2007/09/urban-legend-debunked-can-you-donate.html

I'll check with the person I heard this from, I thought she saw a story on the news, but in any event, I will check into it.