Vonett Trotman decided to have weight loss surgery after being diagnosed with high blood pressure.
"I was so heavy, when I went to the doctor, no scale would be able to tell me my weight," said weight loss surgery patient Vonett Trotman.
She chose a procedure called gastric banding.
Doctors put an adjustable band around part of the stomach, this it limits the amount a person can eat.
Trotman thought banding was the safest option but three years later after complaining to her doctor, she had the band removed
"I told her what is going on? I'm not losing any weight, I'm gaining weight still," said Trotman.
Trotman's experience is not unusual. Nearly half of patients who chose gastric banding were still obese after six years.
According to a new study in the archives of surgery, patients also had more long term complications and follow up operations than those who had gastric bypass, where doctors use staples to create a small stomach pouch.
The study found that people who had gastric bypass surgery lost more weight more quickly and kept it off longer than those who had the band.
Dr. Mitchell Roslin says there is a reason that bypass patients may have better results.
"When we actually remove part of the stomach we change the hormones that control hunger and fullness and we change people's relationship with food," said Dr. Roslin of Lenox Hill Hospital.
Trotman said she regrets choosing the gastric band, "It was an experience that I learned from but it was a big mistake."
She underwent an enhanced gastric bypass in the fall and has shed 77 pounds.
With diet and exercise she plans to lose even more.
The study found that the risk of a deadly complication was somewhat greater with the gastric bypass surgery than with banding, but the researchers concluded that the benefits outweigh the risks.
"I was so heavy, when I went to the doctor, no scale would be able to tell me my weight," said weight loss surgery patient Vonett Trotman.
She chose a procedure called gastric banding.
Doctors put an adjustable band around part of the stomach, this it limits the amount a person can eat.
Trotman thought banding was the safest option but three years later after complaining to her doctor, she had the band removed
"I told her what is going on? I'm not losing any weight, I'm gaining weight still," said Trotman.
Trotman's experience is not unusual. Nearly half of patients who chose gastric banding were still obese after six years.
According to a new study in the archives of surgery, patients also had more long term complications and follow up operations than those who had gastric bypass, where doctors use staples to create a small stomach pouch.
The study found that people who had gastric bypass surgery lost more weight more quickly and kept it off longer than those who had the band.
Dr. Mitchell Roslin says there is a reason that bypass patients may have better results.
"When we actually remove part of the stomach we change the hormones that control hunger and fullness and we change people's relationship with food," said Dr. Roslin of Lenox Hill Hospital.
Trotman said she regrets choosing the gastric band, "It was an experience that I learned from but it was a big mistake."
She underwent an enhanced gastric bypass in the fall and has shed 77 pounds.
With diet and exercise she plans to lose even more.
The study found that the risk of a deadly complication was somewhat greater with the gastric bypass surgery than with banding, but the researchers concluded that the benefits outweigh the risks.
