Snow I have had a really similar experience to Carole as we saw the same doctors and had the same surgery at the same hospital only a week apart. I went into my wls journey with the firm opinion I wanted a bypass having known people who had both kinds.
I think not only do you have to consider your habits pre-op when you choose a surgery but also how you want to live post-op. The band offers a different lifestyle than the bypass. With the band you are given restriction of volume which can be all the help you need. Also with the band, you can eat all types of food. You can adjust the portion sizes you can eat by having fills and defills. It gives you a stronger measure of control over your food intake. But it also requires much more determination and commitment to a healthy lifestyle while you are trying to lose weight. The band does not make weight fall off of you, you MUST change your eating habits in order to be successful. This is why people say the band is easy to 'cheat' because you have complete control of the types of food you eat.
With the bypass, you are given strong behaviour modification tools with the dumping syndrome. You will forever have foods that you cannot eat because they make you feel ill.You are also able to drop weight in the beginning with little effort because of your tiny pouch and your shorter intestines. Most people will find that it does not matter for the first few months what they eat as the weight falls away. This is a false idea, you must change your eating because eventually it will stall your weight or even make a gain happen if you are not careful as well as make you suffer from malnutrition. You will always have a small pouch unless you work hard to stretch it by abusing it over many months/years. You also cannot get back to good restriction without further surgery if you stretch your pouch (they are working on new technology that will make this untrue in the future but for now it is true). You are required to take lifelong supplements to keep you healthy because of your re-plumbed intestines.
I love my bypass and I have made complete peace with the lifestyle I chose. However, many people go into the wls journey not really clear what life will be like after their chosen surgery. That makes for very sad/angry/frustrated/confused people a few months post-op. I hope this post does not seem too negative but I think honesty and a pragmatic appraisal of the pros and cons is what is needed pre-op. My feeling is that many people can only get that kind of insight with the help of an outside, objective party like a therapist or psychologist, etc.
Nic
Gee that was long-winded, sorry...
