luvzpitbullz

Would the doubling be in respect to bougie size? For instance, my dr uses a 34F bougie. So in essence, after a year my sleeve would be 68 bougie? Still very small

So many great responses. I guess it's hard to get around the thought of my stomach doubling in size because I compare it to now (pre op) even though I know that's the wrong thing to do. And also coming from a formally successful bandster, if I felt I could eat too much, bam! I would go get a fill. But it also really helps put into perspective that I really need to make this first year count and really get with the program so that I don't have this problem with regain again. Luckily I have pretty much stopped my Starbucks addiction because that easily was 500 calories a day, every day and sometimes twice a day!

Can I chime in late? I initially wanted a bypass in 2006. My dr told me about the band and suggested it as being safer as I was young and a single mom. I had the band placed July 3 2006 and I lost 124 lbs in 15 months. I was a model bandster even appearing in commercials for my surgeons office and being selected to audition for an Allergan (makers of lap band) commercial. After 3 years, I started to get horrible heartburn, then acid reflux with aspiration. At that time, I had no insurance and couldn't afford to see my surgeon. Quickly I realized what foods would go down easier and I gained 75 lbs back. Finally may of this year, I was diagnosed with a prolapse and slip. I started researching those issues and found that sooooo many people were having issues with their bands after 5 years. I started going back to support groups and participating in online forums and the people that were 5+ years out were almost all having similar issues. I was shocked! I totally thought I was the exception and not the rule. A great deal of my banded buddies were looking into revisions or just having their bands removed. There are still a lot of people out tgere that believe in the band and are successful but I would say most of those people are 1-3 years out and still in their "honeymoon" phase. My advice to anyone who is considering the band would be to consider the sleeve first. But if that's not an option for you, make sure that you will have enough money or good insurance to cover fills and very likely complications down the road. It could be something small like a port flip but nonetheless, the band requires a lifetime of maintaining it. And if you do get the band, don't ignore the signs of a slip. Get in immediately and do a barium swallow. It won't change the outcome but it could decrease the other complications. I loved my band when it worked but in hindsight, I wish I would've chosen another surgery. I am a month out from having my band removed and 2 weeks away from being sleeved. I can't wait to start my life over again.

Lmao cuz I can totally relate. When I got skinny from being banded, I would ask complete strangers what size clothes they wore so I could better visualize what I looked like. Now that I'm a fatty again until my sleeve in 2 weeks, I keep asking my husband "do you think I'll look as skinny as that lady?, do you think my ass will be saggy? Look at my ass! Look at it!! Now do you think it will look like hers?" The crazy train makes frequent stops around here.

Holy cow! Great job! That's an astounding amount of weight for a man or woman. Have any secrets you want to share? Keep up the great work!

I'm so sorry! I haven't been sleeved yet but I have heard that what you are going through is common. The most important thing is to get your fluids in. If what you are trying makes you sick, try some warm water or some ginger tea. At 2 weeks out, you are probably still swollen a bit and something warm might be soothing. Above all that, you should call your doctors office and see what they recommend. I hope you start to feel better soon! And once you do, the buyers remourse will go away.

Oh honey I feel for you. I was sick the week before my lap band removal. I went into pre op doing fine and as soon as my surgeon walked in, I had a horrible coughing fit. My nurse said "I swear she hasn't been doing that!" So my doc listened to my lungs and decided we could proceed. My band was removed, no complications. BUT when I got home, I still felt like my lungs were full of crud and I could not cough it up because it hurt sooooo bad. So I just had this rattling wheeze whenever I breathed. I soon realized if I didn't start loosening the stuff in my chest, I was gonna get pneumonia. But let me tell you, it was pure painful hell. My advice is, if you are coughing, put off your surgery until it's gone. I know you don't want to have to wait but the pain is not worth it, not to mention the problems you could have with anesthesia. Load up on the musinex, vitamin c, echinacea, and oscillocoxicilliam and if you do postpone, hopefully it will just be a few days. Good luck!!

yah I saw that too. How bizarre.

just curious, are you using google translator or something? Just thought maybe English isn't your first language?

Congratulations!! Hope to hear more about your experience soon!

Jkg I don't understand a word of what you are saying? Sorry

I've been really struggling with this. I had lap band in 2006, told everyone who would listen and I lost 125 lbs. Now, 7 years later I am preparing to have sleeve surgery in a couple of weeks and I've only told my mom and my husband. I didn't want to tell anyone at work because I didn't want to get frowned upon for missing work for a surgery that is looked at as "elective" by the masses. I also did not tell my best friend because she has commented several times about my lap band having been the "easy way out" (ha! who are you kidding?) and how she had to lose weight the "hard" way (also known as being denied WLS by her insurance) I guess when I start losing weight again, I will tell people I am just working hard at it. If they ask if I had WLS, I don't think I'll fib but just depends how I feel at the moment. I don't think a lot of people who aren't overweight have a lot of knowledge about VSG so I can probably spin it any way Im comfortable with. But to be honest, I have to wonder if part of my hesitance to be open with people is that I am scared I may fail again. It was a horrible experience to have gotten to goal weight and then put it all back on. Its embarassing and Im ashamed. And that is something I don't want to deal with.

Girlfriend get it together! You are only a little over a year out from your surgery and already thinking about getting another one? Honey, with all due respect ... What are you thinking? You don't need another surgery, you need to get your head in the game. You've admitted to over eating and not making good food choices, right? NO surgery is going to cure that. You need to address what's going on in your head first. Why are you over eating? Sad, bored, depressed, lonely, etc? Does your Drs office have a therapist they recommend ? I'm sure you know that surgery is a tool and it doesn't matter what surgery you get, if you don't comply with the rules, it's not going to give you the results you want. Almost 100 lbs lost and you're ready to throw in the towel? Appreciate that for the amazing accomplishment that it is. You have done fabulous! First thing is talking to your doctors office and tell them you need some help with those last 20-30 lbs. Meet with a nutritionist and come up with a menu plan that you can stick to. Up your Protein and up your exercise. At the same time, you should really talk to someone about the issues you may have with food or anything else that might be holding you back. If you aren't already, you should keep a log of everything you eat and what exercise you are doing. Get back to the basics. Protein first! I don't mean to sound harsh but I don't want to see you make the mistake of having another surgery just to end up in the same spot or worse off if you don't address the underlying issues. Again, you have done wonderful. I know a lot of people would just about kill to have the success that you have had. And even if the weight loss stopped forever, you are still 10 times healthier than when you started and shouldn't that be the most important thing? Good luck honey

I had my band from July 2006 until Sept 12,2013. I lost all my excess weight within 18 months of having the band. I started getting horrible acid reflux at 3-4 years out but couldn't afford to see my doctor so I just lived with it. Finally in May of this year I ended up in the ER not being able to swallow anything. That's when they officially diagnosed the slip and prolapse. I was supposed to have RNY when they took out my band but surgeon found I have intestinal malrotation and decided against the bypass. So I'm scheduled for the sleeve Nov 5. Removing the band was ok. I am almost a month out from removal and I'm doing good. The first few weeks were really hard especially when I coughed or bent over or god forbid, laugh! It was by far the worst of the 3 lap surgeries I've had but it was still manageable. My 2 saving graces were a pillow under each side of me and an ice bag for my incisions and swelling. I went home 2 hours after surgery and if I had to do it again, I would stay overnight. You will be fine. I don't know what your problems are with your band but you will feel so much better with it gone. And then it's into the sleeved life which I hear is everything our band was supposed to do but without all the complications. In short, the sleeve actually works! Good luck!

Great info! That was exactly what I was looking for. That really helps me get even more excited to get this show on the road. I honestly can't believe they even do the band anymore. It seems like the complications far outweigh the success....across the board! Thanks again, gals.

Im here! Got my band out Sept 12, 2013 and was supposed to have a bypass. Dr says he can't do the bypass due to malrotation of my intestines so sleeve here I come!! I got approval last Friday and my surgery is officially scheduled for Nov 5th at 9am. Im excited and terrified and not looking forward to yet another pre-op diet. But I lost 125 lbs with the band, then gained 80-90 lbs back and I am SO ready to see it go! See ya on the losers bench!! Kayla

Hello all, I am new here. I had a lap band placed in 7/2006 and lost 124 lbs. I LOVED my lap band....until it slipped and I have gained all my weight back. Long story short, I was approved for band removal and conversion to a gastric bypass. My surgery was 9/12 but I woke up (without my band, thank goodness) but also without the bypass. My doctor said while he was getting ready to do the bypass, he found that my intestines are flip flopped around and on the wrong side of my body. Malrotation is what he called it. Anyhow, he said that he felt doing a bypass would not be the best thing giving my condition and so he closed me up. I was soooo upset when I found out. So fast forward to now, he is saying he can do a sleeve safely and I am in the process of trying to get insurance approval. The thing is, I had gone back and forth wanting bypass and sleeve and my surgeon convinced me that if I wanted to lose all my excess weight, that the bypass was the way to go. I am nervous that doing the sleeve wont give me the results I want. I was counting on the malabsorption of the bypass and even "dumping" to help keep me in line. When I got my band, they told me if I lost 60lbs, I was a success and I doubled that. But then I learned how to eat around it. I couldn't follow up with my surgeon so Im not sure if my "eating around" it caused the slip or if the slip caused me to eat slider foods. I guess Im just nervous that I will fail at the sleeve too and then what? I've heard that revisions to sleeve lose slower and I saw a post from someone yesterday that had only lost 25lbs in 5 months. I would be crushed if that were me. I guess Im just looking for some reassurance that us former bandsters can still lose a lot of weight with the sleeve. I am hoping to lose 100lbs which would put me at 142 at 5'8" tall. I don't know why I can separate this into paragraphs so sorry if it's hard to read. Thank you! Kayla

I was banded July 2006. Did you lose weight with the band and keep it off?

Wow, that's inspiring. You have done fabulous. How long did you have your band?

I've never thought about how the malabsorption would affect me as I age. Im 36 now and I guess at some point I will have to admit I'm not 29 anymore. I had MANY concerns with the bypass as well. My MAIN concern that I addressed with my surgeon was re-gain. I know only a handful of people that have had bypass and ALL of them are back up to their original weights or close to it. The only one who is still thin is only 2 years out. I do plan on seeing a therapist as I go through this. As I had said, I was REALLY successful with the band and I think that bodes well for what will happen with the sleeve. 142 may be too lean Im not sure. Truthfully I will be happy to be 175 and under and I think that's achievable.

Thank you all for your replies. I guess I'm just nervous that I will fail at this too. I just found out today that my insurance company approved me for the sleeve. I'm so excited but still worried. I've been reading a lot of encouraging things and that helps. But I was successful with the band and I think I can be successful with the sleeve too. Thinking I will hold off on surgery until next month because my sons birthday is coming up and I don't want to be laid up in pain like I was having my band out. Plus I think I should be pretty much healed by then. It will have been about 6 weeks since having my band out. Thanks again.

Mine did. I have Blue shield of Ca. Initially I was going to take my band out and have the gastric bypass but I woke up from surgery without my band but they couldn't do the bypass either because my intestines are on the wrong side. Soooo my doctor said he can do the sleeve no problem and we got to work on getting a new approval. That was last week and I just found out today that they approved the sleeve. It helps that my doctor wrote a letter on my behalf and it only took them 5 days to approve it. So there is hope. Good luck!!