And the answer is.....!

Here were my choices:

Adjustable Gastric Band

A silicone band is placed around the upper part of the stomach, creating a small pouch. This pouch fills after consuming only a few small bites of food.

Vertical Sleeve Gastronomy

During a vertical sleeve gastrectomy, most of the stomach is removed, leaving only a thin tube of stomach [the size of a banana]. This tube holds the food eaten at a meal, allowing patients to feel satisfied after eating a smaller amount of food.

Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass

During a gastric bypass, the stomach is stapled in two sections, creating a small pouch that serves as the new stomach. The new stomach limits the amount of food intake and provides patients with the familiar feeling of fullness.

I had ruled out the lap band because I’d heard that it is much easier to “cheat” around the band and that you lose a lot less weight than the other two surgeries. However, the lap band CAN be reversible. Wow, that did sound good. I could lose all the weight and then have it reversed and be able to eat like a normal person. WRONG. I know myself better than that. I lost up to 67 lbs once. Did I keep that off? Nope, I put it right back on. I know how I am.

So the next option was the sleeve. I’ve been leaning towards this one. Less changing around of my intestines was the first reason! Or as someone once referred to it as “ginsuing up your innerds”! :-) But, as I understand it, my insurance company does not cover that surgery as it is newer than the others. But I thought it would be better because I could eat a little more. Again, I’ve ruled this out because I don’t trust myself that much. I needed a better TOOL to keep me on the right track and stay there!

The full gastric bypass scared me at first. The main thing was the cutting and reattaching intestinal parts. That just didn’t sound right. But all of the surgeries have the same risk and it’s minimal. The gastric bypass would allow me to lose the most weight, making it MUCH harder to ever go back to the old ways.

How much weight could I possibly lose?

Weight loss is variable from patient to patient but on average you can expect to lose 65-70% of excess body weight following Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass surgery, 55-60% following Sleeve Gastrectomy and 35-45% of excess body weight following Laparoscopic Gastric Banding (LAP-BAND).

Needless to say, I figured if I was going to do this, going ALL THE WAY - would be the WAY TO GO!

I've decided to have the
Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Surgery!