K.M.
I too have not had the surgery done myself, but when I lived in San Antonio, I worked with two ladies that did. They both were very successful with it. They lost the weight quickly but not so fast as to be unhealthy. They had far fewer complications than another lady we knew that had the gastric bypass surgery. One of the ladies was so successful with it that she allowed each of her daughters to have the surgery once they turned 18 as her whole family struggled with being highly overweight.
I don't know your circumstances, but I'm sure you are aware that you should only have the surgery if you are 100 lbs or more overweight and have honestly tried several other weight loss methods without success. It should not be viewed as the easy way out, though I'm not saying that is what you are trying to do.