CowgirlJane

You'll be fine - best wishes for a quick recovery!

Therapy might be a good idea. I have to say that I have noticed my desire to eat for emotional reasons has decreased considerably. I wonder if it is because food just isn't htat pleasurable now so it doesn't have the "benefit" it used to give me?? I don't consider myself a serious emotional eater but I know i have definately done it - comfort eating. Maybe the therapy combined with the physical changes of the sleeve is the best combination?

I had the band for 10 years, revised to a sleeve in Dec 2011. I am happy with the decision - I don't have trouble eating - actually it has been easier for me to manage then the band ever was. When I have had enough food, i feel full rather then feeling pain. What a relief. I did mine in two surgeries, but the doc would do it in one. The theory behind the two surgeries is that it may decrease the risk of a leak. I am not actually sure there is research to back that up, but it is the rationale and I wanted a risk reduction strategy. For me, it was beneficial to be split into two surgeries because although the band sucked, it apparently interfered with hunger. When I had the band removed my appetite went through the roof - it reall convinced me i needed the surgery and removed all doubts.

Congratulations! You must be walking on air with happiness!

Sounds like there is alot of different info out there about leaks. My understanding is that they THINK all leaks happen in the first several weeks, before 4-6 weeks. I was told that they think leaks found after that were there earlier, but were small enough or otherwise were not detectable. I have also heard that they can't always detect them with those leak tests immediately post op because there is so much swelling post op that it can mask the existance of a leak. I would be interested to find out more about leaks that are created after the first couple of months.

I am having some acidy feeling in my stomach, and i have not been able to associate it with a particular food or situation. Before the acidy feeling, I had noticed some nasueau feeling (not severe, but noticable). I will see the doc next week, but curious if others have had the acid/heartburn show up 3+ months out from surgery? I have been drinking a cup of coffee a day since 8 weeks, so am eliminating that (not that i associate the acid with coffee, but i figure I should try eliminating anything questionable). Any other ideas of what to try? I have been taking one proselec every morning since my surgery... no change there. I have felt very happy with my results, no big complications, happy with my weight loss... so this is discouraging... like I am experiencing a complication when I had thought i was "out of the woods."

I agree that your feelings are very normal. I had many fears going into the surgery, including the long term one you mention. As far as i could tell, the primary long term risk is of acid reflux. That still concerns me, especially since just the last few days an acidy feeling has shown up..... The flip side is that while I am still mobidly obese, I look and feel so much better. it is amazing what a difference even losing 40% or so of my excess weight! I am finding myself returning to enjoy physical activity again- I can move!!! I can't begin to express how much easier day to day life is, and I am still early on this journey. In the end, it comes down to a risk/benefit trade off and I think you have come to the conclusion that the benefit IS worth the risk. I think taking something to help with the anxiety can make a big difference because you are ready to do this, but just feel anxious. I felt the same way you do.

So glad you are doing better. Thank you for sharing your story as it is important for people to know the risks! I have been told that risk of leakage is higher for band to sleeve revisions. It was one of the things I was most scared of as statistically it is a much higher rate then 1% for us revisions.

Another thought is that after many years of watching losses and gains... my hubby has just gone neutral on the whole topic. He has been helpful to me, but does not mention my weight loss, does not make comment if i say anything. He is not overweight and I think he is just skeptical considering that I lost and regained weight with the lapband, i can kinda see why he is a bit reserved on this Not sure if this applies to your situation, but i get zero "atta girl" from the home front. Fortunately, I am internally motivated so I am okay with it.

My experience is there is no comparison. i too experienced the "stuck but still feel hungry" sensation with the band. So far, I feel the sleeve is totally different. What I am describing is my personal experience, after the initial healing period... With the sleeve, I feel like my stomach is pretty normal. I get hungry when it is has been awhile since eating. I am satiated after eating small amounts. I NEVER have that "full pouch, but still hungry" sensation that I associate with the band. I think it is because the sleeve isnt a pouch, just a much smaller stomach. I have had a few episodes of "head hunger" or bad habits or whatever rearing its ugly head. I notice that in general, food doesn't taste as good anymore. So, I give in to temptation and then it is like "uh, that isn't so great." It is like that sensation of eating something delicious just doesn't thrill me like it used to. Weird, huh? I have read that over time, some of the benefif of the sleeve decreases, but for now, it is about 1,000 better then the band ever was for me.

Interesting observation. I think we are coming to similiar conclusions - that this watching/judging obese people has more to with working through our own issues then it really is about the other person. I think that the world is full of people doing stuff that may not be the best for them (shopping too much, smoking, drinking, hanging out with people who aren't the best etc) but we only focus on the eating/weight because that is what obese (and formerly obese) people loath in themselves. Last time I was at Wendys restaurant, there was a very large person there - perhaps in the 400# range, and i don't care if people think they are discretely watching - I noticed several people watching his every move and what he was eating. I found myself more intrigued by the "starers" then I was by the obese person - just really asking myself the question of what makes this such an obsession? of all things to think about other people - their character, their clothing, whatever - why is it weight that seems to draw this kind of ... negativity.

That is really mean and I am sorry you have had those experiences! it is unkind and unhelpful to say the least! One word of encouragement is that as you age a bit... this kinda crap is less and less of an issue. In fact, I would say that college was the last time I remember dealing with this kind of ignorance - I wasn't obese, but it had more to do with judging female body and making public remarks about your attributes, or lack thereof.

I had alot of fear of anesthesia too - especially after finding out that having sleep apnea increased my risks. What added to that was when I had the band removal, that anesthialogist told me I was "hard to intubate" - it scared me. What helped me was asking alot of questions and getting educated on it. By the day of the surgery, meeting with the new anestheologist really boosted my confidence. Those guys literally keep you breathing during surgery - and things have progressed so much that they don't lose too many people these days! The sleep apnea risk is actually the first 24 hours post op.

Maybe because I am still obese, but I can't realy relate to judging other heavy people. I appreciate somebody admitting it, because I notice alot of posts that sort of brush by the issue but certainly imply "disgust" with people who are still obese. I personally feel that we can be our own worst enemies. I wonder if some of the self loathing that many obese people have get shifted to others as they lose their weight? i don't know if that is the case or not, but I find that MOST thin people accept obese people and I hope once I am "formerly fat" that I don't become judgemental. (You know, how ex-smokers are often pretty obnoxious about smoking, for example) As to the original post, I kinda think that the experience for women (5'5" in my case) being overweight doesn't equate to people being intimidated. I think it more equates more to being ignored/and considered very unattractive. For women, looks is a big part of our identity in this culture, and at least in my corner of the world, being thin is critical to those "looks", so being so outside the range of normal kinda takes away some of your participation in being considered a "woman". I am not really finding the right words, but I feel that obesity sometimes makes women appear as invisible, non-sexual beings to the outside world. I say all that, but I also believe that the obese person contributes to this by behaving in a low confidence/ I am trying to be invisible way. I am a naturally outgoing person, and as I get thinner I notice myself engaging in a lot more pleasantries with complete strangers, but i think that is mostly because MY attitude is changing, I am feeling better physically and just feel more comfortable in my own skin. I was not embarrased to be seen when I was 300+ pounds, but I was physically uncomfortable and felt like an overstuffed sausage kinda thing and I am sure that uncomfortableness was visibible. That attitude shift shows up to the outside world, and i think people respond to that unconscious message.

I had a lapband implanted in 2001 and it removed in 2010. I would not recommend it, I don't think it works for most people in the long run. I took at least a year before I was ready to pursue the sleeve. I started down the path of revising to gastric bypass, and one day, it just hit me that I would rather stay obese. It isn't even a logical decision, it is how I feel. When I started getting serious about the sleeve, it triggered alot of fear and anxiety. One reason I picked the lapband was that it was "reversible" and this is not. I think what helped me was doing 2 last major efforts at a diet on my own in 2011. I lost weight on medifast, but discovered that all the soy in those products was really messing iwth my tummy and digestive tract. Of course I regained everything once I went off medifast. Then, I lost like 3 pounds on my last attempt and was very unhappy with the super low carb eating program to boot. It hit me that dieting just wasn't working at all anymore. I encourage you to take your time in thinking through this though. The sleeve doesn't make you instant skinny. It is still alot like dieting, takes planning and focus to eat right and exercise. I have lost nearly 60# since my preop diet start of 11/30 (surgery 12/12/11) but I am still obese. While I am excited about my progress, I wouldn't want to somehow make anyone think that this is easy or even super fast. For me, dieting just wasn't working and so far this is, so i am very happy I did it but I think you really do need to know that it isn't a perfect solution that cures all of your eating/activity level challenges.

My energy level hasn't been great considering I have lost alot of weight and should be feeling GREAT. For the amount I have lost, it in the past took more like a year to acheive this much weight loss and I remember feeling so energized at the weight I am now. I guess I am getting older, but probably the big deal is that it is hard on the body to go through the surgery and rapid weight loss - makes sense that it will take awhile before I feel that extra energy boost. What did help though was upping the exercise. I went back to things that have energized me in the past - Water aerobics, elliptical trainer and a bit of weight lifting.

I think it is motivating to get closer and closer to fitting something! The only warning I would have is that people might just skip over a size! i started this journey wearing a 26W/3X. I seemed to have skipped right over a 24W and am wearing 22W (non stretch) pants. I went shopping recently, and in some styles, the 1X fit me better then the 2x and some 22W are too baggy so I went with the 20W even though it is snug still..

I havent eaten out too much since surgery, but on a recent business trip had alot of restuarant meals. You know what struck me is that the food just didn't taste very good. I was disappointed in every single meal. I think my taste buds are not on track yet - food will smell good to me but then just taste not so great. Restaurant food seems to be more of an issue like that.

Over the past 6-7 weeks, I had been losing 2-4 pounds per week. I have been really happy with that given that I am now 3 months out, it was good steady progress. I just got back from a week long business trip and had my first gain. I felt like I did "ok" while traveling, but let's face it, at home I hardly eat at restaurants, and for a week I had 100% restaurant meals. I ate alot of salads with chicken on them, and didn't get Desserts or any junk food.... but it is definately higher calorie then my normal eating day. I did work out at the hotel, but i had business related events so couldn't do it everyday so my activity level was definately lower. I am not too discouraged, but it was an "eye opener" that it doesn't take much - a fine line between losing weight and making great progress to nada. I am back to going to the gym now. I feel that the change in the eating pattern has made me a bit hungrier... so working to get back into my better eating patterns.

I use myfitnesspal.com for food tracking, but when i enter my workout info, it seems to calculate ridiculously high calorie burn numbers. Yesterday I did a 35 minute session on the elliptical. The machine told me around 350 calories, but my fitnesspal is saying something like 600 calories. In addition, the weight training just seems to much of a pain. Yesterday I did about 15 minutes of upper body and ab strength training and I don't want to type in each machine. I love this app for food tracking, not crazy about it for exercise, just wondering what is working for the rest of you - especially the strength training.

My Nut handed out some samples of various chewable Vitamins (Bariatric Advantage, Celebrate) and I am finding them to be awful, chalky and make me feel a little queasy - and I am still pre-op! I have been using the liquid Vitamin from costco - reViva. The thing I like about the liquid is i can swallow it and get it out of my mouth quickly. I just found out they have a liquid Calcium citrate too! Alot of my favorite chewable calciums are calcuim carbonate so i have been apparently taking the wrong calcuim all these years. I love the gummy vitamins from Costco too, but I think that the reViva is a more complete vitamin. Anyway, I am going to brave the liquid calcium since costco has a good return policy. They have twin packs for a decent price right now: sublingual B-12 discs because Costco had a coupon special. I found out that they are higher dose then the 1,000 mg recommended by my nut. She didn't seem overly concerned about it, but i wonder if I should return them and get something else. I have been using liquid ones but find that i don't keep it under my tongue long enough, think I will do better with a disc or lozenge. Now i just need to find a chewable Iron pill and I guess I am set.

I put my weight and age and I do check the heart rate often. I stay in the cardio zone.

I was banded in 2001 in Germany as i lived there at the time. Last year I pulled out the brochure from Bioenterics (lapband at that time) and there is a clearly a statement that the band should NOT be considered a permanent device. I even found a statement that I had signed, indicating that I understood that it was not a permanent implant and would likely need to be removed! Knock me over with a feather, I didn't remember ANY of that. I guess the mind sometimes blocks what it doesn't want to hear.... As for the reason for failure, it is a complex topic but living with the band was really hard for me from the beginning. I hated that I couldn't eat normally. With the sleeve, I feel like i eat normal foods, just in very modest portions. I have no negative feelings about that, it feels right. I regained all the lost weight with the band after I had to have all the Fluid taken out due to reflux.

It took me close to a year to get the courage to revise from a band to a sleeve. I had all the same fears... fear of reflux, fear of failing AGAIN, fear of horrible complications and it not being "reversible". I am just a few months out, but feeling very confident this was the right decision. I am not saying it is easy, but I love that i am not hungry all the time. When I eat a meal, it is not just a pouch that fills, it is your whole stomach and to me I feel pretty normal, just eat small quantities. I never felt normal with the band. I think people who have been through a band first find some of the "challenges" with the sleeve to be a piece of cake by comparison. The main thing that was harder with the sleeve was the exhaustion/recovery during the first 6 weeks post surgery. I don't remember anything like that after being banded. I have a long way to go on my weight loss journey, but so far, hands down, 1000% better then the lapband.

That was very interesting. The only thing that really surprised me was the discussion around leaks found after 6 weeks. I thought that pretty much all leaks happen wihin the first 6 weeks.