shuckybucky

Thank you. I am trying to get my pictures over from the lap band site but it is not working out well. I was pretty involved in that site and had my 2 years worth of pictures from pre op to current.

I don't know the A&P answer as to why some band patients produce a lot of phlegm or "slimming" as they call it. I had more upper respiratory issues during the 2 years of having the band then I ever had but I assumed it was because of severe reflux and the phlegm issue. If I ate something that got stuck then I would produce the thick "slime" and spit continuously until the food moved. My best friend also got the band a few weeks before me and she did not have any problems. She could eat Pasta, bread, and most anything she wanted but I was extremely limited on food choices. She also had fill after fill with no problems and I could never tolerate more than 2cc total in my band. She would have the productive burping but only because she would over eat. There is no rhyme or reason with the band and who has complications because I was very strict and followed the rules. My friend has actually gained weight, breaks most of the rules, and has had no complications. I guess it is just how each persons body reacts to it. From what i have read though I will probably have more freedom and flexibility with the sleeve. If i could eat a variety of food but only a few ounces at a time then i would be in heaven.

I feel I was extremely blessed in my situation. It was a matter of right place and right time. This surgeon is fairly new to this area so he probably has to build up his practice and my band had not slipped but my stomach had prolapsed. According to the surgeon that makes a difference. I am just so thankful that the surgeon took care of me because I lot of people have trouble getting bariatric doctors to deal with another doctors band. It was not the most pleasant experience in the world but i am moving forward and hopeful that I will have an easier time then I did with the band.

Make sure you get extra butter!

I was a regular on the band site and people definately were not so negative. Who knew posting your story in a SUPPORT forum would bring out so much nonsense.

It would have been so much easier on me and my body if this was a conspiracy theory. lol... What exactly would everyone be conspiring about? Geez. I will definately have to show this to my surgeon and give him a good laugh.

It is safe with me. I can't believe someone actually calls a person a liar for posting their ordeal on a support forum. WOW!! Sorry I am a very nice person but I have been through HELL the past week and trust me it is very real.

Is this common behavior for this person or something?

What do we have here? Looks like my spleen

I didn't realize you were the beholder of all medical knowledge about bands and sleeves. Obviously my surgeon did not realize this either and failed to consult with you. Thankfully I have my operative pictures and you can clearly see my inflamed spleen laying on my band. Seems like you might need to learn your anatomy a little better because as a nurse I can tell you it is absolutely possible for a spleen to get in the way especially when it swells. I'm so glad you gave me all your divine wisdom here so i guess that just erases everything I went through the past week because YOU have deemed it can't be possible. Are you kidding me??? I didn't post on here to get your approval or permission but obviously you feel the need to give your uneducated rediculous opinions. The fact the the sleeve was unexpected was because the surgeon told me he would not know what he could do until he got in there and if the stomach was to swollen he would only be able to remove the band. Again I must tell him to consult with you from now on because you have all the answers. Would you like to see my operative pictures, reports, hospital records? I wouldn't want you to be misguided. This surgeon did me an enormous favor by handling this but that is what happens in the medical profession when you are a NICE and UPSTANDING person in the field. I'm grateful for this surgeon and he has wonderful bedside manner as well as great operative numbers. He has even called me at home each day to make sure that I feel okay. I didn't say I had an erosion or a slip. I said I had a prolapse so you might want to do your research before you run your negative mouth and make an attempt to call me a liar. The only thing not right here is YOU. Worry about your own journey and I will take care of mine. What would I have to gain to make up a story and post it on here especially when I have already lost my weight ( not 20 pounds). You might want to respond to the other members that have responded to me and have gone through the same thing and let them know that they are lieing as well and that this experience didn't really happen to them. Feel free to not comment to me because i don't waste my precious life on negative and ugly people.

I am honestly just lookin forward to eating food with any substance. I have lived on popsicles for so long that even an egg makes my mouth water. Right now I am on full liquids but after a few sips I feel weird. I can't explain it. It isn't heartburn or reflux but something just feels weird so I back off. I have got to get some protein in me before I go bald . I thought about getting a pinto and cheese and blending it to liquid but IDK if that is too much this soon. I do not want to be back in surgery for anything so I am kind of scared to eat anything. I'm really hoping that this sleeve works better for me and that I do not have reflux.

I had a lap band until a few days ago. It is very high maintenance and it is a foreign object in your body. I don't know how stable the area you live in is but I have had times in the 2 years I had the band that there was no bariatric doctor to monitor it or perform fills for hours. Then the doctors that opened practice here aren't for the band and do not have the fluoro equipment that is needed to monitor a band. Insurance will not cover barrium swallows for band placement so you basically are left to either travel somewhere that has the machine in their office (air faire, hotel, and dr visit costs) or just get adjustments without the band being visualized. It is also common to get an adjustment and it was to much so you have to go get some taken out ( that is another trip and cost). My stomach ended up prolapsing through my band (which is not a slip) and caused my stomach lining to bleed out. I was literally living on popsicles because that was all I could get down without vomiting it up and pain. I haven't had the sleeve long enough to know what problems I may have but I constantly had problems with the band. Even when my band was functioning at its best I had very few foods that did not get stuck. I could only eat a few bites of baked chicken and that was all the meat I could get down. I could not eat any bread, pasta, salad, most meats, most vegetables, anything with a skin or a seed so basically no fruits. If you like the liquid diet then the band is for you because that is what you spend most of your time on. That doesn't even begin to talk about the reflux! It was constant and would wake me up at night and often I would immediately have to vomit upon waking up because of the reflux. I know all WLS has their downfalls but I felt like it was medically induced bellemia. I would definately encourage you to do your research and the bariatric doctors in my area are not even putting bands in anymore so if you think about the future will you be able to get care for your band?

I just had a badn removed and a sleeve done. It was done on an emergency basis but i thought it was strange my surgeon said to stop all my vitamins and minerals (that I took for the band) and didn't prescribe any. Maybe it is just until my follow up or until my stomache heals to a certain point. I know with the band I had to take multivitamin, calcium, and vitamin D. They do make chewable ones specifically for bariatric patients and they taste great but it was too tempting for me to eat them like candy so I used pills. Good luck with your surgery. Since mine was done as an emergency and unexpected i think I may have more pain then someone that just got the sleeve. When I got my band I had surgery on Thursday and went back to work on Monday. I was a little sore and bloated but not in pain. I had my sleeve on 1/25/13 and got discharged from the hospital yesterday. I am just now to the point of being sore and not in pain but my pain was from all the other things that took place during my surgery (removing the prolapsed band, fixing a hernia, knicking my spleen, and the sleeve). I was a very sick person when they took me in.

I never had reflux before the band then I had it horribly after being banded. I often would wake up from reflux that would make me vomit. I got the sleeve on 1/25/13 and have not had any reflux so far. My doctor didn't send me home with anything for reflux either and I remember him telling me that sleeve patients do not seem to have the reflux problem that band patients have. I pray that reflux is not a problem with the sleeve because it was brutal with the band. I got my sleeve in an emergency surgery and really had not researched it so this is new to me.

I was banded in March of 2011 and have lost 75 pounds since then. Last Thursday I attempted to eat some refried beans and almost immediately I began getting sick. I had been getting sick a lot lately and had gone in the day before and had my band deflated to try and get myself together. This would be my last attempt with the band. The pain got worse and the vomiting and dry heaving would not let up. The doctor that deflated my band the day before just happened to call and check on me during this ordeal and he advised me to meet him at the ER and the odds were that I would be admited for surgery. I went to the ER and he had orders waiting so they quickly drew my labs and gave me pain meds as well as phenergan for the dry heaving. He showed up to do the barrium swallow and sure enough my entire stomach had prolapsed through the band (he said the band hadn't slipped so I guess there is a difference between a prolapse and a slip). My blood count was very low because I had been getting sick for a while and turns out the lining of my stomach was bleeding. He admited me and took me in for surgery at 7 the next morning. The band had got under my spleen and there was some trauma there but they were able to control the bleeding and leave the spleen. He fixed a hernia that had been caused since getting the band and resectioned me to a sleeve. I feel so lost now because I know nothing about the sleeve and of course I'm scared that something could go wrong with it. Even though I had a bad experience I do not regret my decision to have WLS and I'm looking forward to moving on and healing up. I really can't say that I should have done things differently because I didn't have the signs people talk about. I was always able to get liquids down but was never able to get the band adjusted correctly. Anyway I'm gonna miss lappy but hopefully sleeve will give me what I need and with less problems.

What has you scared about what you have read? I think the sleeve will be less maintenance and fewer problems and it sounds like the food selection is better then the band. I'm confused about the suture line bleeding. How long is this a possible complication or how soon does the suture line heal? I also can't find a real idea of how much food I will be able to have. With the band they told us 1/2 cup but it seems that i may only be able to eat a few bites with the sleeve. I was so limited on my food choices with the band that I am looking forward to possibly eating some real food and meat. Even if it will only be a few bites. I haven't been able to eat meat in months with the band. I really have lived on fluids and refried Beans for a long time because the band was so constrictive.

Thank you. I feel I will be just as successful with the sleeve and there are some benefits that the sleeve has and the band doesn't so it is a fair trade. I was never able to get fills and things like they said I should. Actually the most I ever had in my band was 2cc which is amazing that I lost that much with so little but it just wasn't meant to be.