donali

Hi Everyone - I'll take the plunge! I'm 5'6", and started at 333. Charts list my ideal weight as between 130-145, so I figure I can claim the 200 lb group. I was banded 1/23/03, lost my band to erosion 7/04, and was sleeved by Dr. Aceves in Mexicali 8/14/09. As of Monday I am down 100.4 pounds - woot! Of course, my situation was a little accelerated, as I had complications and was on liquids basically from my surgery date until Christmas, so those of you who had normal recoveries shouldn't be bummed if your journey hasn't gone quite so quickly. Donali

Hi Angel! I'm loving your blog. What a nice voice you have, both literary and aurally. Is there a way you can have your links open in a new page, so people aren't force navigated away from your blog when they click on something of interest? I believe that "right click" has been disabled - perhaps you can enable it? Not sure how your behind the scenes stuff is set up, and I understand the desire to protect things by disabling right click, but I suspect you'd get happier/longer traffic if vistors weren't constantly being taken away from your pages. Paul, mini-goals are exactly the way to go. And there's no rules against "resting", either - life really shouldn't be all about weight! It's so hard to get out of that mentality, I know - here I am on a weightloss site... lol

I loved my band, and we had a great relationship. I was 100% compliant, never had any fill problems, rarley PB'd. My restriction varied from day to day, but never so much that I couldn't eat at all. I never had these horror stories that so many people report. I did tear my port sutures and have to have my port repositioned, but that was about it. I probably had three or four fills, which were very gradual. I never felt over filled. So imagine my surprise to find out I was 40% eroded just 18 months into my banded journey after losing the easiest 100 pounds I ever lost!!! After my band removal I regained those 100 pounds plus another thirty. If I had known then what I know now, I would have been sleeved to begin with. Being "reversal" is a terrible selling point when you're talking about weightloss. At the time I thought it was a good thing - until they had to take it out! I need something permanent, for sure. Thrilled withmy sleeve - back down to my lowest with the band.

I don't know that my story will make anyone feel better about their decision in revising from band to the sleeve, because I did have complications - most likely due to the scar tissue from when my band eroded. Post my band erosion and prior to my sleeve surgery I would very occasionally get stuck, still. Apparently the damage from my band created enough of a narrowing that under certain circumstances I could still get food stuck between my esophogus and stomach. It didn't happen very often, but every once in a while I'd get that "deer in the headlights" feeling, and sometimes what I had just swallowed would even need to come back up. This is after having been unbanded since 7/04! Five years! Also, once I was in the hospital with my sleeve complications they did an endoscopy and said that there is still a piece of lapband stuck in there - so I imagine that had something to do with how sick I had been feeling after my VSG, and my previous "stuck" episodes after band removal. The sleeve surgery itself (for me) was an absolute breeze. It was the easiest one I've been through yet. However, because of all the scar tissue my surgery took 3.5 hours, instead of the usual hour+. The scarring at my erosion site was so thick that the stapler wouldn't fire through it, and Dr. A had to hand suture the remaining portion of the sleeve. My first month went great, until the last couple of days. Then I started having terrible gas and heartburn, was vomiting intensely, fainting, etc. My leak test showed a "self-contained" leak, which means that the suture line was compromised, but stomach contents were still being held within the second row of sutures. So stuff wasn't getting into my abdominal cavity (EMERGENCY!!), but it was getting into a place where it could rot and cause problems. To make a long story short, I was on intestinal tube feedings for a month and a half, spent the month of Oct in the hospital, had a stent placed for the month of November and had the stent removed 1st week of Dec. I threw up at least twice a day after that until the end of March 2010 when I had an upper endoscopy and they straightened out what was a severe bend between my esophogus and stomach, and since that time I've been feeling great, and I don't have to travel with a vomit bucket every where I go anymore, or keep a restroom/receptacle handy if I'm consuming anything, just in case, be it liquids or solids. I just never knew wha was going to set off the vomiting. Sometimes I vomit for no reason (that I can tell). My energy levels are back, and my muscle strength has finally returned. So I am not a typical sleeve case, I don't think - even for a revision from the band. I haven't heard of any of the other revision people complaining of these problems. As far as band-like - I am finding it similar to the band so far in regards to quantity and unreliability for quantity (some days I can eat more than others), and I don't have as much hunger control as I did with the band. I'm hungry about every two hours, it seems. I'm glad I had the revision, and would do it again in a heartbeat in spite of my complications - I'm down 135 pounds since surgery, and have maintained that loss since July 2010. Still have 65lbs or so to go to get to "goal", but I'm very happy right now with where I am and the fact that I'm not doing anything "special" to maintain this loss. Long term results sound promising. Who knows? The band sounded fabulous when I chose to do that. I'm 5'6", 50 yo female, medium frame. VSG 8/14/2009, starting weight 333, current weight 200 +/- four pounds either way.

Odd that there are so many replies to my original post, but today is the first day I received a notice that someone had replied to this thread... lol Sorry, everyone, I wasn't ignoring you, but I don't hang out in the forums, so if I don't get an email notification... Anyway, I am now almost 19 months out, and am down 135lbs, give or take. My weight has been pretty stable for the last 7 months - since July 2010 - my lowest was 194, but I tend to hang around 198-202. Turned 50 in February, 5'6", female, started at 333lbs, medium frame. Fantasy goal weight is 135lbs, but I will definitely have to work at it to get there. I probably average 1700 calories a day - 1500-2000 easy. I am not one of those sleevers who has absolutely no hunger, and can only eat a few bites and am done, or subsists on 800 calories a day (!). I'm hungry about every two hours, and the amounts I can consume at a time vary. Mostly dependent upon how long I'm eating, of course, and how much I drink with my meals. Somedays I seem to eat all day long - a few bites every now and then. I eat less at restaurants, usually, and I believe that's because I'm eating in a shorter time frame, and in a more eating oriented way. But my capacity does vary - some days I can eat more at a time than others. Sunday night dinner out - sat down at 7pm, left about 7:45. In that time period I consumed: 1.5 cups of decaf with lots of creamer, 1.5 small glasses of ice Water, 1 cup of tomato basil Soup with two crumbled saltines and 1/2 French dip with aus jus. Barely a taste of the mashed potatos. I was stuffed, and declined the dessert that came with the meal. I guess about 90% of the time I have that much at a sitting. Dinner last night with family was: one thick pork chop with gravy, a normal portion of mashed potatos and gravy, a small roll with butter, two tablespoons of broccoli in cheese sauce and some salad dressed with oil and vinegar and about 8oz of ice water. Definitely more than 4oz of food! But it did take me a good 45 mins to finish. While I would like to get down to 135 just to see what it's like, 165-185 is a definite goal, and I think very doable. I am encouraged that my metabolism seems to be good enough to maintain my weight at my calorie intake/activity level, since I feel my day to day life right now is "regular" living - I am not doing anything out of the ordinary - no set exercise program, no dieting. I'm not saying that with pride, mind you - I believe in exercise! Really! And some day soon... lol But in the meantime I don't feel panicky, and love that I am a tight 18, as opposed to a 34(?) like before. I only have a few items of clothing from a long time ago that are too small still, so it's a huge relief to have rejoined the land of the living. Tracy, I'm glad you decided to go with the VSG, and that you're doing so well. Hang in there, everyone, and take it one day at a time! Donali

My revision took 3.5 hours. Dr. Aceves said I had a lot of scar tissue (gall bladder, band, port revision, unbanding). He said the scar tissue where the band used to be was so thick the stapler wouldn't fire through it, and he had to hand stitch my sleeve at the top. Surgery was on Friday and I left the hospital Monday morning, which is the usual time frame for his sleeve patients. Donali

Hi Nana! I don't know if you remember me from LBT, but I was banded 1/03 and de-banded 7/04 due to erosion. I gained back all my weight, and am being sleeved by Dr Aceves next week. Dr. Lopez did my band - both install and removal, as well as my port revision. I can't wait to have my sleeve!

About this time next week I'll be in Mexicali having my pre-op testing done Thursday 8/13, and then Friday 8/14 is the big day! (kinda glad that Friday isn't the 13th... hehe) My Mom will be going with me, and although we live in the San Diego area, we're going to take advantage of the airport pick-up service. Mom doesn't really like to drive, and I know I won't be up to it on the way back. Anyone else having surgery with Dr. Aceves that week?

My band also made healthy choices a no brainer. I quickly lost my desire for all the sticky/gooey/globby stuff like bread, fries, Pasta because it was just too hard to eat without pain. Then the rest of the unhealthy stuff... You know, when you have to chew chew chew, that unhealthy stuff is usually disgusting and tasteless after the first bite. The more natural foods taste good when you actually have to taste and chew them. Maybe that's why it was so much easier to make healthy choices with the band than without. Plus, I wasn't starving all the time. The band really helped control my hunger, and that made all the difference in the world in what I wanted and chose to eat.

Any studies done on the amount of grehlin remaining from the 36F boughie vs the 32F? Even if the staple line is oversewn to make a smaller diameter sleeve, would grehlin still be more of a problem than a straight 32F or 34F?

I loved my band, and had it for 18 months before I had to have it removed due to 40% erosion. I'll be sleeved on 8/14. If I had to do it all over again, I would have been sleeved first, but back in 2003 that procedure didn't have as much visibility. I initially chose the band because it was "less invasive" and reversable. When the time came to remove it I *knew* I would regain the 103lbs I'd lost with it, and I did and then some. I don't want the sleeve to be reversable! As far as "less invasive" - my band ended up being three surgeries - install, port revision, removal, endoscopy, and four fills under fluoro which involved very long needles inserted into the port through the abdomen (which surprising weren't really painful, but still, they were "invasive"). So although I felt I was very successful with the band and felt that it did exactly what I expected it to do, in the end it was all for naught because of erosion. I can't even imagine having the daily problems some report whose band journeys have been one great big struggle. My sleeve cannot come soon enough!