AKBarnes1

Hi! I have been banded for 6 years now with absolutely no success with the lap band. I never lost weight with the band and all of the subsequent fills. The only thing I think the band do was make it harder to swallow food. I was told before getting the band that I would not be hungry.....which was DEFINITELY NOT the case. I'm physically hungry all the time. After a year of fills & trying, I had the fill removed and have been struggling with one diet after another. I basically forgot about having the band in other than the pain from the port which I can't ignore. I'm looking to have it removed and have the sleeve done during the same surgery. I just had a baby 3 months ago and am currently breastfeeding exclusively. I'm looking to breastfeed at least until he's a year old. Has anyone had the VSG surgery done and had any problems with their milk supply due to the lower number of calories on the liquid diet? I know I will have to pump & dump for a few days after the surgery due to the anesthesia, but my doctor said that I shouldn't have any problems breastfeeding after the surgery. I'm hoping the sleeve will be much better at helping me lose the weight and keep it off. I have to be around for my little boy & husband. I had gestational diabetes during the pregnancy and am currently pre-diabetic so getting the weight off is necessary. I'm' not sure if I should just have the band taken out and have the sleeve done at a later date or do it all now? I look forward to your reply! AK

I had band to sleeve surgery nearly 3 weeks ago and started to have hives about a week post op. I saw my regular doctor and he thought it was an allergic reaction to something and figured we would never know what was causing the allergic reaction. He gave me a shot of cortisone and I got better. I thought it was going to go away without having to do any oral steroids. Thanksgiving evening, I started to itch some and it has progressively gotten worse. I have no idea what it causing it, but I'm broken out all over and my joints are hurting some. I don't know what from the surgery could cause this, but I'm going back to the dr's again to see if there is anything else I can do. I'm miserable from the itching. I've been taking benedryl which helps some. I would love to hear from anyone that has had a similar problem after surgery. Thanks!

I'm curious as to how the hunger REALLY is after the band to sleeve revision? With my lap band, I'm constantly hungry and my stomach is always grumbling around. If you've had the revision, I would really love to hear how the hunger is once you are healed up. Is the hunger really gone like my doctor says it will be? Thanks!

Remember the pain on the day of surgery will be bad. I had a terrible burning sensation in my stomcach. Just remember each day gets drastically better than the last. Sounds like you are ready. Good luck!

Thanks for sharing. It is important for all potential sleevesters to hear all stories...good and bad. Luckily, my band to sleeve revision went very well and I'm nearly 3 weeks out. Help out your MIL and give her support so she can meet her grandchild. I know that it is an exciting time for you...I just had my first baby 4.5 months ago. I can't tell you how much joy your little one will bring. I wanted to be healthy in the long term for my little boy and that is why I decided to get the sleeve. Luckily my surgeon is wonderful here in the US and I've had great post op care. Good luck to you and your family.

I would at least get some Pepcid Complete to take until you can get to your Dr's office. They have them in chewables and will help. I'm nearly 3 weeks out from surgery and have been on prevacid solutabs, but took the pepcid for the first week post op.

I'm extremely happy with my band to sleeve revision. I had my sleeve done on 11-9-09 and have already lost 23 lbs. I never lost anything with the band.....the sleeve is the way to go. Just be prepared for the 1st day out of surgery....I felt terrible, but you feel better and better with each passing day. Good luck.

Just an update....I'm still breastfeeding with no problems, but the supply is lower than before. However, before I was pumping a lot of extra milk to freeze. Now, I just breastfeed and not have to worry about pumping. It is a challenge to get in all the fluids, but I seem to be getting enough in. I've lost 23lbs so far and am very happy with the results of the sleeve. My baby seems to be getting enough milk and I'm supplementing with frozen breastmilk and he's started on solids.

I had the band to sleeve revision and am 10 days post op. So far, it is MUCH superior to the band and I'm not hungry with the sleeve. I was always hungry with the band and never lost any weight. The day of surgery was pretty rough, but each day gets better and better. They weight loss is great...I'm down 20 lbs already! Good luck

My family wasn't thrilled about my decision, but they are fine with it now. They just love me and want the best for me. I'm losing weight very fast with the sleeve and am really glad I did it. Your family will come around ....they'll have to after you have it done.

I'm 10 days post op and have already lost 20lbs since starting my preop diet...which was only one week preop. I had the band to sleeve revision and the sleeve seems to be wonderful so far. I never lost weight with the band, but I can immediately tell a difference or lack there of an appetite. You'll see this a lot, the sleeve is like having a band that actually works. I wish you the best of luck.

I'm on the eve of my surgery and very concerned if I'm doing the right thing. My family does not want me to get the sleeve, they just want me to get the band out. I'll have one last discussion with my surgeon in the morning and make my final decision. The band will come out at a minimum. Our plan is to do the band to sleeve in one surgery, however if there are any problems, then we'll do the sleeve in a later surgery. I've lost 9 pounds on the pre-op diet and went from 245 to 236 lbs. I'm happy about that, but I know if I don't get the sleeve and start eating normal foods and overeating again, the weight will come back on quickly. I have a beautiful 4 month old son that I have to think about and am still breast feeding. Surgery scares the heck out of me right now since I have a baby. I haven't had any breastmilk supply issues this past week on the liquid diet, so I'm hoping I won't have any problems after the surgery. My surgeon said he can make the sleeve on the larger size so I can get in more fluids. I guess I'm just scared and the fact my parents and husband are all telling me that I shouldn't be having the sleeve done isn't helping. My biggest issue with weight loss is falling off the wagon due to overeating from physical hunger. I'll get really hungry (physical), then just binge. I know when I'm head hungry and can control that. But overeating after physical hunger is a different story. I've been so hungry this past week and if it weren't for having surgery, I would have eaten regular foods due to the hunger. The lap band has been such a disappointment as I'm always hungry with it and have not had any real restriction. I have never felt "full" when I had the fills. The only sensation I had with it was difficulty swallowing. It was a total waste. Well, we'll see what happens in the morning. I have to go pack my hospital bag! Any support you can provide will be much appreciated!

My surgeon is Dr. Jayaseelan at Medical City. He is really wonderful.

I'm just over a week post op and am overall feeling better. I'm down 19 lbs...maybe a little too fast as I'm concerned I'm not getting enough fluids or calories down. I had my post op appt yesterday and they took out the staples. Everything looked good. I am having some problems with sweating after I eat and just feeling yucky, but it goes away after about 40 minutes. I'm pretty tired of the protein shakes, but the soups are ok and have 15 grams of protein. I'm still able to breastfeed, but am supplementing a bottle of frozen breastmilk to make sure my baby is getting enough to eat. He's a big boy at over 18lbs at 4 months! So far so good, I'm glad I got this done now and am on my way to being healthy for my son.

I'm 1 week out and am able to sleep on either side, but sleeping on my right side is a little more comfortable as the biggest incision is on my left side--where the port was and still hurts some to sleep on it. Use lots of pillows and you'll be fine on your side.

You'll be in my prayers! I know you'll do fine and will give your 4 year old a gift of good health for yourself. Please let us know when you get out and how you feel!

Hello All! I’m back from the hospital today and feeling much better. I have to admit that on Monday after the surgery, I thought I made a huge mistake as I felt horrible. The surgery itself went really well and only took an hour to remove the band and do the sleeve. However, I was in the recovery room several hours longer than expected because my blood pressure was really high. When I finally got to my room, I felt really sick and had awful dry heaves. If you are going to have this surgery, know that the first day will be hell and the burning in your stomach is a horrible feeling. I couldn’t have anything to drink that first day, but just rinsing my mouth out with Water and spitting it out helped a great deal with the dryness. My surgeon said my liver was small and everything looked good. I did follow the preop diet pretty well and managed to lose 9 lbs in a week and was able to get in 80 grams of Protein each day. The preop diet is very important in making the surgery as safe as possible. Tuesday, I felt better, but still had a lot of pain. I had the 2nd leak test which made me throw up. It was pretty gross, however, NO LEAKS! Yeah! J They said everything looked great which made me feel better. I was then cleared to drink Clear liquids. I was really scared there could be a leak and have to go back into surgery. Luckily everything was great. As long as I had my pain meds and nausea meds, I felt ok. I slept a lot Tuesday, but did get up and walked a few times during the day. I certainly had no appetite, but did want some water. Learning to sip small amounts is a challenge, but I think once I’m healed up, it won’t be a problem. Today, I felt pretty good. I did a lot of walking/pacing in the room. I had a really long IV and a terrible pole that didn’t move well, so I just walked back and forth in the room. I managed to sip down a few servings of the liquid Protein which has 15 grams of protein in 1 oz. It tastes gross , but is supposed to promote healing and gets a lot of protein in a little amount. I also ate some chicken bouillon which has 15 grams of protein in it as well. It still hurts to swallow, but they say that is normal and will get better and my stomach heals. I’ve been pumping and dumping all my breastmilk as I don’t want to pass along any of the drugs to my son. Maybe by tomorrow, he’ll be able to breastfeed again. I don’t think the quality will be very good until I’m eating more and getting in my Vitamins. Luckily, I had plenty of breastmilk frozen and haven’t had to use any formula. I have to say that I have had no appetite and am really having to make myself eat. This is really great as I think I will finally get the weight off this time and be able to keep it off. I was ALWAYS physically hungry with the band. The band was such a disappointment as I never lost any weight with it and had lots of port pain. My family has accepted my decision even though they weren’t thrilled with it. I think they will know I made the right decision once I’m all healed up and my health is much better. It is so nice to have this site with other people who support you. It is important to be able to talk to others who have been through the same thing. Thanks to everyone…..I really appreciate all the support!

Thank you guys for your support. It is so nice to have this site as I'm sure many of us don't get the real support we need from our loved ones. I wish they supported me on this and I hope I will prove them wrong when I'm able to lose the weight and keep it off. I know a lot of my health issues will go away once I lose the weight and if we decide to have another child at a later date, the pregnancy will be much easier. This pregnancy was very difficult with gestational diabetes and high blood pressure. Well, I'm going to go pump for the last time before surgery. I'll have to pump & dump for the next 24 hours according to the dr, but I may just dump for both days I'm in the hospital just to be on the safe side. I'll post once I'm out and let ya'll know how I'm doing. Thanks! Angela

I live in Plano and am scheduled to have the band to sleeve revision on 11-8-09. I'm excited to get the band out as I never lost any weight with it. Dr. Jayaseelan is doing my surgery. He did the original band surgery along with gall stone & hiatel hernia repair.

I'm scheduled for 11-8-09 and start my preop diet on Monday. I'm not looking forward to the clear liquids for a week before the surgery! But, in the long run it will be worth it.

Thanks for all of the insight. I was told by the doctor that getting in enough fluid wouldn't be a problem, however, I'm seeing that it is not easy. How much are you guys able to drink at a time?

From what I'm seeing, it appears most people are happy with the band to sleeve revision. Since all my deductibles are currently met, I'm trying to get it done this year. I have enough breastmilk pumped & frozen for about a week, but don't want the milk to dry up. I'm hoping that with regular pumping or feeding after the surgery, I won't have a problem even with the lower calorie diet. Anyone have any major problems with the sleeve? The band has just been completely useless to me and I was very disappointed with it. I'm currently about 242 (about 20lbs is still baby weight). I hope this is the right decision as once it is done, there is no going back. I'm always telling people at work who are talking about getting the band not to do it. However, they make their own decisions and have it done any ways. I wish someone would have told me that there is a big chance that it would not work at all and you could actually gain weight with it. If I were told it didn't take away the hunger and the band only makes it more difficult to swallow food, I would not have done it. I really hope the sleeve really does reduce hunger pains. Please let me know your thoughts. I know I can live with eating the small amounts as long as I'm not constantly hungry.