[muffins]

I am new to the forums. I am considerinng some kind of weight loss surgery. I noticed some of you have Lap RNY under your name and I saw one with open RNY. Does the Lap RNY stand for lap band or laproscopic? I assume open means the full open surgery. Is the lap band as successful as the gastric bypass itself?

[fr1endly2]

HI muffins welcome to the boards.
I am glad you found the site for all your journey.

YES lap means a person had the precedure LAPRISCOPICALLY Gastric
Bypass and open means the older menthod of full open surgery.

I personally didnt have the lap band but do see many successful patients
with the banding. ME and my surgeon decided what was best for me to
loose 80 percent of my weight i had to do the gastric bypass. WITH lap band he didnt feel i would have gotten enough of my weight off. BUT his views have changed on that alot now that he has had so many successful patients with the banding. ITS a personal decision that only you can make.
I look forward to getting to know you more thru your posts!
AND we are all here for all your support needs as well.
welcome again

[DocSanae]

Muffins, welcome to the board, thank you for joining us.
We hope you'll be able to find lots of info that is useful to you, and make lots of friends here.

I have taken the liberty of moving your post and giving you an independent thread so you'll be able to meet lots of people.

RNY stands for Roux en Y, a method of gastric bypass, which is the most common techinque for weightloss surgery at this time. There are other types of surgery including laparoscopic banding and duodenal switch among others.
The difference between lap RNY and open RNY is as Lisa explained.
Those who have had laparoscopic banding will say lap-band, and those who've had duodenal switch will say DS.

((((((((HUGS)))))))) May your journey go well.

[bren]

I didn't have the band for two reasons, my insurnace won't pay for it and because I felt I would do better with losing the weight with a full gastric bypass

[Kat]

Hi Muffins!!! In my humble opinion this site is one of the best sources of WLS info. avaiable, along with plenty of experiences, love and support.
I agree w/Bren. I was seriously thinking about the band and met soooo many people who were not all that successful with that so I opted for RNY. I'm sure that it works great for some people. I felt as though I needed something a little more restrictive. I have been overweight all my life and needed all the help I could get with the problem.
Keep us posted with what happens & Merry Christmas!!!

[muffins]

Thanks for the warm welcome. Why would anyone choose to have open gastric bypass instead of lapriscopically gastric bypass? I have been through 2 stomach surgeries in my life. I had my gall bladder removed 21 years ago (the old fashion way). 3 years ago I had colon cancer and had part of my colon removed. So, I am very much aware of the pain after surgery, but I would definetly do it again if I had to. I would do anything to be thin or should I say normal weight. But I would go lapriscopically if I could. What factors makes that decision?

[DocSanae]

Open/lap is mostly timeline. The technique for lap RNY wasn't perfected for a while, so it wasn't widely available until fairly recently.

Another factor is whether you have had other abdominal surgeries or not. If you have had any, particularly if you have had more than 2 or 3, lap will not be an option because of adhesion that previous surgeries have caused. (If you have adhesions, lap can't be done because it will get in the way of raising your abdominal wall with air and some instruments--this is called tenting--so the surgeon has space to work his laparoscope and other surgical instruments safely.)
Even with lap, the surgeons will go in prepared to switch to open if the need arises (and this will be explained to you when you meet your surgeon) so, you may come out of surgery with open even if you went in expecting lap.

Something else with you that probably will come into cosideration with bypass surgery. If you have had part of your colon removed, it possibly could become an issue because with gastric bypass, about a third of your small intestines are bypassed, so the remaining instestines, both small and large(meaning the colon) has to do all the absorption. Certain nutrient deficiencies happen with this, so ALL post gastric bypass patients are put on suppliments for life. With a shortened colon, this may become more of an issue than usual.
You'll need to go over you needs and your physical status with the surgeon of your choice for which route to take, but there is a possibility that in your case, banding may be first choice, even though the degree of weightloss achieved is somewhat less than with bypass, as banding essentialy keeps the route through the intestines intact.

[*Butterfly*Girl*]

Too, my surgeon won't do a lap if the BMI is 60 or above. That's his official cut-off for open or lap. HTH!

[muffins]

Butterfly Girl, I see your surgery date is coming up. What kind of surgery are you having. How long has it been from the first day you started the process?

[*Butterfly*Girl*]

Muffins,

My procedure will be lap. In all honesty my process has been much faster than anticipated. My PCP suggested the surgery to me in June of this year at which time I was offended b/c I was already involved in WWs. BUT, she did jog my brain and so it was at that time that I started to do the research about the procedure and if it was something for ME. I contacted my insurance company to see what requirements they had and I started from there. I proceeded to get all of my medical records (to prove 5 years of morbid obesity), letters of reccomend, and a pysch eval. I saw my surgeon for the first time in September. I then attended a class and a support group. I just met my nutritionist this past Friday. I'm fast hurdling into the "shrinking of the liver" stage of my diet for my procedure(10 days of shakes w/a small protein centered dinner). My next and final class is the day before my surgery and it's 2.5 hours long. HTH! I am a voracious reader and I have tried to make the best educated decision for me and my my family b/c my morbid obesity does not only affect me - it does affect my husband and my daughter. I honestly believe that this is the best route possible for me at this juncture in my life. HTH - there are tons more knowledgeable folks on this board than me!