Mamma Litts

Thanks everybody! I'm feeling pretty good, but I tire easily. Easy to remedy that with naps. I actually felt good enough 1 day post-op to go to our support group. I wish you all could have seen the other group members faces!

I had my conversion procedure yesterday! I was first banded in May 2007 and had a lot of success... 100 lbs loss. Unfortunately 3.5 years later, my band eroded and I had to have it taken out last December. My surgeon and I agreed to wait a few months to all the band area to heal before doing my GPS. We agreed this was the best choice for me, as it's likely a second band would also, but I have really missed the feeling of early satisfaction and level of control over food that my band helped me attain. I am so excited to be restricted again! I feel very fortunate to have found a GPS surgeon in my area who could offer me a "replacement" to my band that didn't involve removing any of my parts!

I think it is a tool, but as another pointed out, a BETTER tool! I know that it can "fail" if we rely totally on the surgery without doing our part food and exercise wise. How do I know? Because my father had a gastrectomy in the early 60s and gained weight after it. Now in his case, the procedure was done because he had stomach disease, rather than needing to lose weight. He actually worked at stretching his remnant stomach back to "normal" size under his physicians instructions, but it just goes to show that if you don't exercise control, if you continue eating the same amounts, if you graze the whole day, you can circumvent the benefits of your WLS. I don't think any of us gone through all this, spent all the time and money, dealt with others disapproval and judgment, to intentionally sabotage our weight loss. But I keep my Dad's story as a reminder that It is possible to gain weight even with stomach surgery. The tiny stomach I have, thanks to my doctor, is a TREMENDOUS help, but I still have to do the work.

Slow weight loss and stalls... I've always believed that if you lose the weight a little slower, it helps your skin to adjust better and you don't get a flabby. I also believe that stalls happen when the body is saying "hold on here a bit, I need to catch up!". Just remember that all the organs in your body that have been overtaxed by excess weight need some healing and reorganizing time too. And yes I know this may sound like a rationalization, but it's kept me emotionally OK with stalls!

Confirmed my date! April 15 with Dr. Donald Waldrep in Thousand Oaks CA. Soooo excited because I've gained 30 lbs since my band was removed (due to erosion) December 10th. :-( I am Soooooooo ready not to feel hungry again!!!!

My personal experience is that when you reverse your surgery you do regain the excess weight. I had to have my LAP band removed due to erosion in December. Since that time I have regained approximate 30 lbs. I am planning to have GPS in mid-April, though I'll be following up w/ my surgeon to discuss the recent posts re: necrosis complications before making any final commitments. My personal experience - I tried following the band removal to maintain my band eating habits, and I felt STARVED. With the band I stopped eating when I felt sated, and now, it just takes way move food to reach that sated feeling. I thought at first that I could take feeling hungy all the time for maintaining close to my optimal weight, but I just wasn't that strong in the long run. I don't think anyone should be "planning" to have WLS as a temp fix to get to goal, with the intent of then reversing. That is the old "diet" mentally that has served us all so poorly in the past... You follow the diet and lose weight, only to return to your pre-diet eating habits and regain it all. If you reverse your procedure, you return your digestive system to more or less it's current state... WLS is meant to be a lifelong choice for those for whom non-surgical weightless methods have proved ineffective.

I do know that there is a leak risk with GPS also, yes. And we're doing diagnostics before surgery to make sure that everything (well, everything we can see) from the band removal has healed up first. Also, he is going to leave the upper area a little more open than usual to make sure there is less pressure on the previously banded area. Risks are higher than if this was my first time out, but I think still much less than being rebanded. Also, I remind myself that the risks of doing nothing and seeing my blood pressure, sleep apnea and other co-morbidities shoot back up seems a greater (and more certain) danger to me than the risks associated with WLS.

(Also posted in the "my story" section) I would love to hear from anyone who has had Band and then plication. I'd like to know how you would compare your post-op experience, and your current daily experience. My story is pretty simple, and yet not. In May 2007 I got a Lap Band. I had a lot of success with it. I lost 100 lbs in approx 6 months and kept it off for 3.5 years. I didn't have any problem foods as long as I remembered to chew well and eat slowly. I only needed 2 minor fills... one for 1ml and one 0.5 ml. All was well. Then I was diagnosed with Chronic Iron Deficiency Anemia - we don't really know if this is related to my band or not as I am still in treatment for it and have some other health issues that could also be likely sources. Anyway, part of the diagnostics was an Upper GI, and guess what we found? My band had eroded all the way through the stomach wall in 2 different places AND my port line was also in there somehow! To make matters worse, I had moved from WA to CA, so I didn't have access to my original surgeon. Fortunately, I found Dr. Donald Waldrep and his team. They have two offices, one in Thousand Oaks, CA and another I believe in the Sacramento area. So, to make a short story long, out came the band and back came the pounds. Fortuntately, not all of them, but still 25 lbs in 3 months! And with it came an increase in all those comorbidities that had basically gone "dormant" for 3+ years. I am now scheduled for GPS with Dr. Waldrep. He has been performing this procedure, which his office refers to as WRAP, for a little over a year now, but has been in bariatric surgery for much longer, doing lap RnY, sleeve, and bands. For me, GPS seems like the best alternative. My weight regain, despite my efforts, tells me that there is clearly a disconnect in my body between what it ACTUALLY needs (calories), and what it THINKS/FEELS it needs (hunger). And I know that WLS has worked for me. Because I already have iron deficiency issues, a malabsorptive procedure would not be a good choice. Since my body has already demonstrated what it does with foreign objects (my band), I'd rather not repeat that - I know many erosion patients do get rebanded, but I've heard the repeat erosion rate is higher the second time around and I'd like a more permanent solution. Traditional sleeve surgery makes me nervous because of the risk of leaks. I want to make clear that I am still a proponent of Band and of WLS. I have several friends who are Band patients who have NOT eroded. All of us have had successful weight loss and been able to keep it off and remain healthy. I also believe that my surgeon did an EXCELLENT job. I had one of the "large" size bands, and minimal fills, also, never had any problems being able to swallow properly chewed food, etc. So I don't think ANYTHING was done "wrong". I believe erosions just sometimes happen. That's why they tell you they are a possibility right up front. Thank you all for welcoming me to your community!

My story is pretty simple, and yet not. In May 2007 I got a Lap Band. I had a lot of success with it. I lost 100 lbs in approx 6 months and kept it off for 3.5 years. I didn't have any problem foods as long as I remembered to chew well and eat slowly. I only needed 2 minor fills... one for 1ml and one 0.5 ml. All was well. Then I was diagnosed with Chronic Iron Deficiency Anemia - we don't really know if this is related to my band or not as I am still in treatment for it and have some other health issues that could also be likely sources. Anyway, part of the diagnostics was an Upper GI, and guess what we found? My band had eroded all the way through the stomach wall in 2 different places AND my port line was also in there somehow! To make matters worse, I had moved from WA to CA, so I didn't have access to my original surgeon. Fortunately, I found Dr. Donald Waldrep and his team. They have two offices, one in Thousand Oaks, CA and another I believe in the Sacramento area. So, to make a short story long, out came the band and back came the pounds. Fortuntately, not all of them, but still 25 lbs in 3 months! And with it came an increase in all those comorbidities that had basically gone "dormant" for 3+ years. I am now scheduled for GPS with Dr. Waldrep. He has been performing this procedure, which his office refers to as WRAP, for a little over a year now, but has been in bariatric surgery for much longer, doing lap RnY, sleeve, and bands. For me, GPS seems like the best alternative. My weight regain, despite my efforts, tells me that there is clearly a disconnect in my body between what it ACTUALLY needs (calories), and what it THINKS/FEELS it needs (hunger). And I know that WLS has worked for me. Because I already have iron deficiency issues, a malabsorptive procedure would not be a good choice. Since my body has already demonstrated what it does with foreign objects (my band), I'd rather not repeat that - I know many erosion patients do get rebanded, but I've heard the repeat erosion rate is higher the second time around and I'd like a more permanent solution. Traditional sleeve surgery makes me nervous because of the risk of leaks. I want to make clear that I am still a proponent of Band and of WLS. I have several friends who are Band patients who have NOT eroded. All of us have had successful weight loss and been able to keep it off and remain healthy. I also believe that my surgeon did an EXCELLENT job. I had one of the "large" size bands, and minimal fills, also, never had any problems being able to swallow properly chewed food, etc. So I don't think ANYTHING was done "wrong". I believe erosions just sometimes happen. That's why they tell you they are a possibility right up front. I would love to hear from anyone who has had both Band and then another procedure. I'd like to know how you would compare your post-op experience, and your current daily experience. I'd especially like to hear from LB to GPS conversions. Thank you all for welcoming me to your community!