In 2006 & part of 2007 I worked for a Surgery Center that did the Weight Loss Surgeries. My job was to get the people that were interested, signed up for the Seminars "before" they could even see the Drs. They had to go through these to get their questions answers and to become educated on the procedures. If they later had questions, they would call me and I had to find the answers for them. When they had their surgeries, I followed them through it and afterward as well with calls regarding questions or just their success or failure. Before surgery they had to go through quite a bit of testing. Otherwise no surgery would even be considered. Even a Psyche evaluation & sleep study had to be done.
I had coworkers that had the Gastric Bypass done. My DD had it done. All in this time frame. NO serious issues occurred. You DO HAVE TO DO what you are told to do. There is a very slim chance like with any type of surgery, that a problem might occur. Strictures can happen. Some Drs patiens have more strictures than other Drs patients. IF you start out on the liquids, graduate to like a pureed food, then go to a soft food, all in a certain amt of time & give your new pouch time to heal well, rarely do bad things happen. And yes, exercise is very important.
Insurance sometimes helps with these surgeries and sometimes not. Rarely do they help with plastics afterward. Unless like Amma said, a health risks could be cured by plastics like a consistent yeast infection. My DD was nearly dead before she had GB in Oct. '06. Serious! She was a walking, ticking time bomb about to go off. Could barely walk. Now she is a sz 10 and off of all meds but a Sinus pill once a day, never sick at all, has more energy than most teens & she followed her Drs orders to a T & still adheres to the diet which is basically No pasta, potatoes, rice or bread or sugar. At all!!!
So do your homework. Talk, talk, talk to your Dr & it would not hurt to talk to more than one Dr. Ask for their success rate. Weigh out your risks. Only you can decide what to do.
With the Lap Band, as you lose weight, you will have to go in and have the band injected or tightened from time to time in order for that to work. From now on you will have that to deal with if you gain a few pounds here or there. That is a cost to eat. Ins. will only cover a few visits the 1st year.
As for being a Diabetic, after Gastric Bypass, you no longer will be Diabetic. Usually by the time you are released from the hospital. High Blood Pressure is almost always cured after GB as the weight comes off. I know this as a fact from my DD & a few close friends that had it. I am not trying to persuade anyone to have this surgery!!! Just telling you what I know about it & how it has worked for my DD and ex-coworkers and sev close friends. And after anyone loses a great deal of weight, any way shape or form, they may have gall bladder issues. With ANY surgery, there is always a risk. Do take that into consideration. Living as a morbid obese person has risks also, so it is your choice. We love you here & just want you healthy.
God Bless you in whatever you decide. Your health is what is important. I wish you well & pray for much success.