I haven't personally had it done - and wouldn't - as i'm the child of two failed cases - both of my parents have had serious failures, and needed corrective surgery (mum nearly died due to the complications). i have friends who have successes though so it can work
i'm pretty sure you have to pay or have private cover for it -
all i will say is if you are going to do it, make sure you make the lifestyle changes well in advance - do it as a last resort when you have the healthy lifestyle adn weightloss has halted and you just need the extra boost to your own efforts - don't do it to kick it off. you need to be motivated and well on the way to your goals and ONLY use it as a boost, not as the "easy way" kwim?
I am pretty sure private health doesn't cover cosmetic surgery (mine doesn't) however lap band could be consider a health thing not a cosmetic thing. I don't think medicare covers cosmetic surgery either does it?
A family member of mine just recently told me that she went in thinking it was going to be her 'miracle cure'. She didnt prepare herself at all... and has really let herself down. She said that along with the surgery you need to be in the right head space. You can still eat everything, its just the way that you prepare it is different. She still eats all the wrong foods and she knows it but she just isnt ready. She paid $11000 out of her savings and feels terrible. Her doctor wont tighten her band anymore as she still is pushing the limits.
Having said all that, another family member has had GREAT success. The surgery went well thank goodness and recovery was managable she said.
A friend of mine had it done and it's been fantastic for her. I don't know about the cost or the physical recovery though I think she found the latter quite manageable apart from a couple of episodes where she had to have it adjusted.
I don't know what her weight was prior but I'd say she's gone down from a size 20 to a size 10. More importantly, she's gone from getting very out-of-breath from even just walking to now doing 200km bike rides, being a gym junkie and generally being incredibly active.
She approached it in the right headspace, researched it thoroughly and has followed the doctor's instructions to the letter. She also joined an online support group and says that the people who didn't lose weight (or not as much as they thought) haven't followed the instructions basically.
The hardest thing she found was other people's reactions to her weight loss. She chose not to tell many people she was getting a band and found the constant questions about how she was losing weight quite difficult. She also found that some friends/family were less than supportive of her losing weight, particularly when she was going not just from morbidly obese to obese but from overweight to slim (in BMI terminology) and felt very threatened/miffed that the "fat friend" was now the "hot friend".
I have several friends who have been banded, as well as a couple who received the sleeve. From what I remember, there is a large cost even with private health.
I originally looked into it. I decided at the start that banding wasn't for me as before even having a consultation I knew how to cheat the band, so I set my sights on sleeving. My husband would not support me undergoing such drastic surgery and when I really thought about it, I didn't really want to lose 2/3's of my stomach for the rest of my life so any ideas of weight loss surgery were put on the backburner.
There is a lot of info about it online. If you google weight loss surgery it should come up with a heap of websites and you can get information sent out to you.
I've since lost weight on my own (40kgs) with a little way still to go. I've also found a lot of banders/bandits as they are also known, following the nutrition and exercise program that I'm a part of as they've struggled with the band.... it's certainly no easy fix and you need to be in the right head space and work just as hard as someone who isn't banded.
Good luck with your decision!! It's certainly not an easy one to make.
My husband looked into it and decided against it. They were saying that at first few months, everytime you ate, you end up throwing up due to the band as you just can't eat much at all.
TBH if you are prepared to pay all that money to get it done, I would put that money towards a personal trainer and someone to come to the house and educate you on what exactly to eat/cook that bests suit your tastes. It's taken years to put all the weight on, it will take years to lose it/sort out your head space to ensure you eat the right things in every situation.
My Mum had it, lost 40 kgs, and then the band slipped. She's fallen through the cracks of the system and hasn't bothered making another appointment to get checked out. She fully admits that she knows how to cheat the band, and that's why it isn't working for her.
In WA, you can get the band done for free in the public system. Speak to your doc first, and they send you for some appointments with a dietician to try and lose the weight by yourself, and then do the band surgery. It took 18 months - 2 years for Mum, but that was close to 10 years ago. It may be like this through Australia, the best thing to do would be speak to your GP.
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks