::: Cparker, I don't know what you did after 2006, but if anyone else has this kind of issue, I would suggest you consider the lap band instead. It does not require the drastic re-sectioning of your organs that is done in roux en y/gastric bypass. In the surgery, you lose more than a foot of your small intestine that you can't get back and that is necessary if it is connected to the stomach in its normal position; the area where that connection originally occurred is closed off by sutures; the area of your stomach that is stapled creates a bifurcated stomach that cannot be reopened - it is completely irreversible. This is a complete and permanent lifestyle and physiological change that should never be taken lightly. See my comments in other comment sections on this page about about the difference between your pre- and post-surgical life. You will be on a diet for life - you will not be returning to your prior eating habits, and as I mention above, you may not even want to. Your tastebuds will change. Your nutritional needs will be re-prioritized. You still have to actively pursue the weight loss - it isn't that they cut your stomach down and you eat what you want and lose weight - that is not how it works at all. You will be nauseated after the surgery - mine lasted for the two and a half months during which I was on pureed food only - I begged people to pray for me, it was so bad, but once I was back on solid food, it went away. That may have been unique to me. There are many problems that occur with everyone, but some will be unique to you. My program made me do 6 months of supervised 1,500 calorie a day diet and exercise (as much as I could with other conditions hampering me), and prior to that my PCP and I tried a similar program ourselves. So there is no "trying it out" - you are either in the program or not. But I can tell you, after almost a decade of obesity caused by medications I take for other conditions (and to be honest, exacerbated by over-eating for the first time in my life, also a side-effect of those meds), I have lost about 55 lbs. in the 5 months since my surgery. Seeing the scale keep going down and down is a good feeling. With the surgery, it happens quickly at first and then slows down, with the lap band it's just the opposite. Make sure you are totally informed before you make a choice, and choose your surgeon and their program wisely. Do your homework. Plus, they have screening methods, also, to make sure you are not wasting their time. You will be given a psychological evaluation - similar to having plastic surgery - to make sure you understand the risks, the benefits, the amount of involvement you play in your weight loss journey, and if you are ready for it.