sleeve_sister

I'm the 16th are y'all as excited as me?!? Where are y'all? I live in Texas but from Florida where I'm going for surgery.

Another thing to think about...the insurance I had with my job only allowed one WLS so I had to go on my husbands insurance to get a second one.

My husband and I were banded in 2010. He lost 73 lbs and now has gained about 30 back even though he still has problems eating. I had my band removed in June after losing 24 lbs and gaining 40 back, band was ulcerated, my stomach was perforated, and I was getting recurring pneumonia from aspirating food. My aunt and two friends i work with also have bands and ALL are disappointed with it. I am scheduled for the sleeve on Tuesday and am so excited.

I too had a failed band, however, the only person I have NOT told that I'm getting the sleeve is my Dad. I know it's weird, but my aunt had her stomach stapled back in the 80's and threw a clot and died at age 32. I had my lap band placed when I was 32 and he knew prior and was a nervous wreck. So, I'm scheduled for surgery 10/16 and plan on telling him the day before. Otherwise, I have not held back because I want to be encouraged as well as encourage. I tell people that doing something is better than doing nothing at all!

I'm so excited! My band was removed in June and I am finally healed enough for the sleeve. My new journey is about to begin...

I'm 4'10, scheduled for sleeve next week. I had a lap band that was unsuccessful due to placement. I had it removed in June and had to wait for my stomach and ulcer to heal. I am ready to go now! I think I may be the biggest on here with my peak being 273, I'm currently at 253, so I have a lot of work ahead of me! I'm so ready! Any suggestions going into surgery? Oh yeah...I am traveling from Texas to my hometown in Florida for the surgery. I have a wedding to attend 4 days post op and after my post op appointment (10 days post op) I will be flying back alone with my strong willed 4 yr old...am I crazy or what?!?

So glad I read this! I am traveling to FL from TX with my 2 kids (in laws are meeting me there hubby has to stay), having the sleeve on the 16th, my brothers wedding the 20th, and flying back after my post op on the 24th! After all the threads...I have no doubt ill be fine! I've had many surgeries including lap band...the worst part is the unknown! One week to go!

I had my band removed Tuesday. I can breathe!!! The removal was definately more recovery than the placement. I was shopping two days after band and this time it took me until today, four days post op, to feel like a human again. My sleeve is scheduled for October as my stomach needs time to heal.

I was banded two years ago. The day of my surgery I came home,sat down and my incision opened up, no biggy I worked in a hospital I just went and steristripped it back together. A month later, I went for my first fill and my port (not band) was flipped. So I had the port revised. Moving on, my husband was banded two months after me and lost 73 lbs with no problems (stupid men!). I lost 24 lbs total (18 prior to surgery) and I was stricter than my husband. About a year ago, I had kidney stones and had a stent placed. After surgery I couldn't even swallow a sip of water. I went to dr and he took out 2cc's leaving me with 3. I never bothered going back because I had restriction and was frustrated at my weight loss (or lack thereof) compared to my husbands. For the last 6 months I have experienced shortness of breath, wheezing, and coughing. I went to ER on a holiday weekend they treated it as an asthma attack and sent me in my way. Pulmonologist tells me to continue using inhalers religiously (as if I already wasn't) and gives me steriod pack, and one week recently when pulmo was out of town I went to my PCP who tells me it's post viral and there's nothing I can do about it. (btw, at this point I've gained all my weight back and some!). So, disgusted with what theyve portrayed as my weight to be the contributing factor, I schedule an appt with a Bariatric surgeon who was recommended by a friend (the surgeon who did my band is not a Bariatric surgeon, just a surgeon who does Lap Bands.). Before I can get into see him in addition to the sob, wheezing, coughing that I'm still experiencing, i notice that my port has moved, I can feel the port but not the access, and I went from having so much restriction that I went from having to eat fulls and about 3 days before appt was in clears because that's all I could tolerate. Making this long story shorter, in just 2 days after my appt and all the tests he ran, I have an ulcer where my band is, I have a hole in my stomach from one of the sutures that punctured it when the band was placed, my band was placed too high contributing to the lack of weight loss AND the pneumonia I have from aspirating food (pulmo says I will continue getting pneumonia if it's not removed) So, I have to have my band removed ASAP (after pneumonia clears) he will repair the hole and any others that he couldn't see with egd and ct and once my stomach heals from that surgery I will be getting a gastric sleeve! Anyone else have these probs? I really wanted to have the revision in one surgery but my BS doesn't recommend it even without the issues. Sooo here I go on another journey!!

Thank you all for your well wishes! I have thought about the risks of another WLS and believe that doing something outways my risks of doing nothing. I'm 4"11 and 264, I got up to 273. That is ridiculous in itself, but I think my biggest message here is choose your surgeon wisely. I had great insurance through the hospital I worked at and went to the orientation of a Bariatric group affiliated with the hospital, I was working on my 6 mths of weight management, and saving for the $500 I needed just for an appt when I found out the surgeon who did my surgery through a co worker. All I had to pay was my $30 copay and the copay for the psych eval as that's all my insurance required. Sounded great! Especially with two of us getting it. You get what you pay for I guess. My husband had a different surgeon, I recommended two people who also had the procedure, one who used the same surgeon as myself and the other used the other in the practice. One has done great and the other has had nothing but problems (I'm sure you can figure out who's who.). As far as the sleeve goes, my Bariatric surgeon prefers the sleeve over bypass as myself. Because (this his "because").....there's no malabsorption issues, the risk of hernia or bowel issues are minimal if any compaired to bypass, and you can stretch your stomach with any WLS but with the sleeve they use the portion of you stomach that doesn't stretch much. So, your chances of successful weight loss and keeping it off are much greater than with any other WLS. The downside....it's only been out for 6 or so years and there's no data making it harder to get approval for insurance. However, unlike the other insurance I had who only allows 1 WLS, my insurance will approve the sleeve as long as my bmi is over 50, I'm at 53. Moving on, once I get the sleeve...my chances of getting an ulcer are just as anyone with a normal stomach, the risk of the sleeve is leakage however, my surgeon prefers to do the revision in two surgeries to decrease those chances, and whether he's done it in two or one, he has never had a patient have a leak. I'm very excited to be able to live life again. I feel like a prisoner in my own home. My husband and I were hit by a drunk driver in our way home from our honeymoon (6yrs ago today) and I have been disabled for a little over a year now due to my injuries. I know weight loss will give me my life back. I also have two kids who need more from me than I currently can give. Again, doing something is better than doing nothing at all!

Oh my...my prayers are with you!! Question for you...did you have any redness where your port is? Cough? Shortness of Breath? I was banded 3/10 and am currently in a work up for a revision to a sleeve. However, I have been short of breath and had a cough to two months now and just a few weeks ago I began getting nauseas everytime I ate and after not having restriction for over a year all the sudden had restriction. So, my surgeon ordered a CT and yesterday I had a EGD. EGD results were that I have an ulcer where the band is and one of the sutures used to hold the band down has punctured my stomach leaving a hole, he also mentioned that my band was placed too high (this is a different surgeon than who did my band) and that is why I have restriction all the sudden due to that and the ulcer. I grabbed the CT report even though he hasn't contacted me regarding it, it says that I have alveolitis or pneumonitis in my left lung. Today, I woke up and I have about 4 in diameter redness on my skin surrounding my port. I, like you am pretty much a single mom right now, my husband works in another state, so going to the ER is out of the question. Haha they have to figure out a plan before I can go anywhere. Anyway, I was just wondering if you had any of those symptoms??