maygoddess

I am just starting Zepbound tomorrow! Ihave had a long journey. I was lapbanded in 2002. I lost 130lbs. In 2014, after not seeing any doctors for 5 years, I went to a local bariatric surgeon just for a checkup. He found my esophagus had expanded. My band was too tight and I was packing my esophagus..didn't even know..no pain. Immediately unfilled and gained 30lbs in a month..eating NOTHING! LIke almost! I was refilled after about 3-4 months and then developed an infection..and to cut to the chase..band was removed in 2018 and revised to sleeve. By then I was up 50lbs. Since then I gained another 50lbs..so the sleeve did nothing. Between covid, bad eating habits and menopause, I cannot get this weight off..I tried keto..lost a few lbs..tried intermittent fasting..lost a few more..but my body just won't move the weight down..so broke down last week and saw my new primary doctor and she prescrived Zepbound..well orginally Wegovy but that is harder to find and Costco had Zepbound. I will start this Saturday.

I had revision from lapband to sleeve in March 2018. I had the band for 16 years. I lost 130lbs initially with band..kept it off until year 12 when I had learned I stretched my esophagus. My band was unfilled to let my esophagus heal and in less than 2 months, I quickly gained back 50lbs. It was devastating. I didn't go out and suddenly eat all the bad foods I couldn't. I ilterally was gaining 5lbs a day initially after literally starving myself. So after 2 years, I had an infection of the port and tubing and that was removed. I was supposed to go back in 3-4 months to have it replaced. I never did..2 years later..I developed another infection and my surgeon decided it was time to remove the band and he suggested sleeve revision.I literally had no time to research the sleeve. I was hoping to finally get this extra 50lbs off and go back to where I was. Surgery was a success..band removed, sleeve revised..I was not hungry AT ALL initially..I did slowly lose about 20lbs..Was happy to think I was only 30lbs from my lowest weight and fitting into all the old clothes I had put aside 4 years earlier.I started to regain the weight..slowly..I started doing HIIT classes (High intensity interval training) in a 21 day transformation challenge. I finished that and then wound up trading membership for marketing services. So I have been doing that for 2 months at least 4 days a week..sometimes 5. My body is definitely stronger and more toned, but I gained back just about all the 20lbs I lost shy a few lbs. And please don't say muscle weighs more than fat..it doesn't..it is just more dense and takes up less space than fat...so I know I didnt gain 20lbs of muscle. So although I feel more fit and strong, I am back up to my fat clothes...sighhh...I am more hungry than I was initially. I figure I put my body into starvation mode out of surgery and my body decided it wanted back to the old set point. I don't know! I didn't eat dramatically different.No I am not measuring everything but at minimum I should be maintaining at what I am eating and not gaining..especially since now I am working out more regularly. My body is majorly confused. I think because this was my 2nd surgery..and I didn't have a larger amount to lose.. With all the quirks of the bad..once I lost the weight I didn't have to work hard to keep it off..it stayed off all those years. This was a kick in the gut to quickly gain everything I lost a few months earlier. Not loving this sleeve at the moment...

I wanted to come back with an update. I am 45 days post surgery and now down 15lbs from pre-surgery weight. As much as I was upset to lose my band, I am now glad it is gone. I didn't realize how much **** I was putting up with being banded.. 1. I can now drink before bed if I need to without worrying that it is going to come back up and I aspirate into my lungs or down my nose. This is important when I want to take pills before bed and need to drink something with it. 2. I have not had to run to a bathroom and throw up food AT ALL. The band was a constant fight of what might get stuck or not. Those are the big issues. Now that I am on solid food, I can see how small my new stomach is. I don't have much of an appetite now. I am told that most of the hormone grehlin is removed with the majority of your stomach gone. WHo knows, this may change. Some sleevers say they are always hungry..for me..I can really go all day without eating. I DO eat..making sure I get plenty of protein..but it is a struggle to really be hungry enough to eat. I have no idea what the future will hold with the sleeve. I am sure I will not easily lose this last 35-40lbs..but doing my best to get as much off as quickly as possible. Ironically I just started dating someone who does not want me to lose any more weight! He said he didn't sign up for skinny! So after all this time not being happy with my body, I find someone who is fine with my body as it is now and has made me more confident where I am now..BUT for me..I need to be where I want to be..we shall see what happens there. Attaching a recent picture of me.

You make this sound so simplistic and totally negates why most of us got the surgery in the first place. If you were able to learn new eating habits, why did you get the band in the first place??? You obviously failed at that..like the rest of us..over and over and over. You do know that only 5% of people who lose weight are able to keep it off for more than 5 years..so THAT is exactly why I got banded 16 years ago. I was tired of pushing the rock up the hill, only to have it come back down on me again..and again. If it was that easy to learn new habits NONE OF US would have had surgery in the first place. The band was not only a tool to help me lose weight, but more importantly to keep it off. My band was doing that until i had issues with it 4 years ago. When my band was unfilled in 2014 due to the esophogeal dilation found, I gained 30lbs in less than a month. I was practically eating a napkin and glass of water and gained weight. There was no learning new habits..I was gaining weight on eating nothing...so your "new habits" would not have helped with the gain..well.perhaps I would have gained more if I didn't starve myself to prevent the gain. Chances are if your band was removed with no new surgery, you would gain back most of the weight too..it is a quick scary free fall that I hope you never have to experience and make that decision to have a new surgery. My body was stuck with the extra 50lbs I gained after the unfill. No matter what I did..the weight would not come off. Now 45 days post sleeve surgery, I have lost 15lbs. I have 35-40 more lbs to lose to get back to where I was before all the problems started. So do your best to keep that band inside you so you don't have to make the decision that many of us have had to do. Not an easy decision..but we are all here because the traditional way to lose weight failed. Surprised you are so judgemental, but I guess you can be if your band is fine.

Hi all! Just wanted to keep this updated with my progress. I am on Day 20 post op. Tomorrow I will finally start on mushy foods. I don't really have any pain anymore. I am not as tired. I was having some low blood sugar issues..or could have been anemic, so I upped my sugar intake a little and added fresh spinach to my smoothies..that seemed to have helped. I know I am not supposed to worry about the scale at this time, but of course we will always look!! I have lost 10lbs as of today from my pre-surgery weight. I was always bouncing up 4-5 lbs above that..so feels like I am really down 15! I believe my "window of opportunity" will be shorter than when I was newly banded. I have less to lose this time around and 16 years of my body adjusting to being banded. So I am going to behave as much as possible to get as much of the 40lbs I want off to come off without too much struggle. I am sure I will have some stalls and need to cajole off the last lbs..so we shall see. I am grateful to see some weight off at all. Was really nervous the sleeve would maybe just help keep off what I have, but not help me lose. I do notice a full feeling with slight thicker stuff..but really won't know my limits until I start eating food that will stay in my stomach longer. Will update again soon!

Thanks..updated..too bad they don't let you put in your whole journey..my original band info and then my sleeve info as well..look like a newbie now...oh well!!

Thank you FluffyChix! Yes..10 days post op and now finally seeing a drop in weight..I know we should not really be looking at loss this early..but heck..of course we will! Doh! That's why we got surgery..just so reassuring for a previous bandster to know this will work to get the weight off I gained back. I have to say the band WAS successful for me..it got off 130lbs..kept it off as it should until 2014 (12 years in with it) when the issues came back..so happy that I at least didn't gain ALL the weight back..50 sucks..but 130 would have sucked even more! So scale was down 5lbs below my pre-surgery weight and 11lbs below my post surgery. I gained about 6 lbs after surgery..water weight I am sure..so it was nice to see that extra gone and now BELOW my pre-op weight. I will be happy with a steady 1-2 lbs per week over nothing..hoping to get as much off as quickly as possible...betting that last bit will be the hardest! So excited to finally pull my old skinny clothes I loved out of the bins in garage and wear them again. It's almost as it if is new again..will be so happy to get rid of these flat clothes I hate!! ++++++ thoughts for everyone all around!!

I am now 10 days post op with the sleeve. I FINALLY today saw a drop BELOW my pre-op weight. I think the Weightless tea has helped with the water gain after surgery..I was up by 5lbs post surgery..this morning, I saw 4lb drop which took me 3lbs below pre-op weight. So compared to the newbies, it is slow so far..but I am just happy to see a drop from where I was stuck last few years. Feeling better every day. I am happy I can now drink before going to bed with no worry about choking on fluids while I sleep. I don't have stuck food that I have to bring back up. I am still on full liquids for another 10 days. Seems like Dr Kuri's post op is a bit stricter than some I have seen here with local surgeons..some folks are already on mushy food after week 1. Rather take it slow and safe. Have not been very hungry..only really hungry if I have not eaten all day..will have to see what happens as I heal up and eat more.. I didn't really have a lot of time to research the sleeve since my band removal was unexpected. I just knew I didn't want the band removed with no option to replace it. Kinda scary to think I cut my stomach to a smaller size..but glad I didn't opt for bypass. That seems scarier to me.

Thanks for everyone dropping by. I am now 10 days post op with the sleeve. I FINALLY today saw a drop BELOW my pre-op weight. I think the Weightless tea has helped with the water gain after surgery..I was up by 5lbs post surgery..this morning, I saw 4lb drop which took me 3lbs below pre-op weight. So compared to the newbies, it is slow so far..but I am just happy to see a drop from where I was stuck last few years. Feeling better every day. I am happy I can now drink before going to bed with no worry about choking on fluids while I sleep. I don't have stuck food that I have to bring back up. I am still on full liquids for another 10 days. Seems like Dr Kuri's post op is a bit stricter than some I have seen here with local surgeons..some folks are already on mushy food after week 1. Rather take it slow and safe. Have not been very hungry..only really hungry if I have not eaten all day..will have to see what happens as I heal up and eat more.. I didn't really have a lot of time to research the sleeve since my band removal was unexpected. I just knew I didn't want the band removed with no option to replace it. Kinda scary to think I cut my stomach to a smaller size..but glad I didn't opt for bypass. That seems scarier to me. Anyway..will keep posting my journey! Patty

Thanks everyone for coming by and sharing your stories! Glad to hear a few of you have had some success..albeit slower than the newbies. I am 9 days post op now. Started full liquids 2 days ago. I FINALLY am down a few lbs post op, but showed a 6lbs gain after surgery..so today I am now at where I started pre-op. Everyone said it is water weight from all the IV fluids..I did feel like my feet and legs seemed a little swollen the other day. I started drinking Weightless tea from Traditional Medicinals and that has probably helped. It is an herbal tea for temporary water weight gain.Now would like to see some weight loss BELOW my pre-surgery weight. I gained 50lbs (but at least kept off the additional 80 I lost with the band) after a complete unfill in 2014.I would LOVE to get back to 150 where I was for years before my band issues started in 2014. I figure it will be slower than the first time and given when you have less to lose. So how do the rest of you recently revised feel without the band? One thing I noticed right away..I can drink before going to bed and not have to worry about it coming back up and choke on it! I don't drink a ton..but before I couldn't even take medicine at night that required me to drink fluids with it..that's a plus.. I have not been terribly hungry..the clear liquids stage was hard only because I got tired of just broth, jello and juice. I didn't have any pre-planning time since this was emergency surgery to get any clear protein drinks or anything else..so was limited. This will be an interesting new journey for sure!

Hi all! I was sleeved on March 29th after my band was removed. I was banded 16 years..had some issues last few years and ended last week with removal. I am now a week post op. I know it's still early..but I have gained 5lbs. I know I shouldn't weigh myself, but of course I see others here who have dropped weight the first week. I know newbies are different than previously banded..but my weight has just stuck at 206.2. It has not budged down even an ounce. Yesterday while getting a pedicure, I finally noticed that my feet, ankles and legs looked a little swollen. Wondered why the flip flops felt a little tighter..but subtly..so I figure I am retaining fluids..wondering if anyone else has? Probably the newbies dropping weight right away may not have noticed this..but is already discouraging to see nothing happening. I had band completely unfilled 2 years ago after a routine check after many years showed my esophagus had expanded. I had quickly gained 30 lbs in a month and added another 20. So been 50lbs up since..even after being refilled. At least i didn't gain back 130lb I lost with band..but really would like to see this 50lbs go. Hoping that this turns around. I realized I had this tea by Traditional Medicinals in the house called Weightless for temporary water weight gain..so herbal diaruretic tea..see if that helps. Anyone else have this??

Hi all! I have seen a few threads here and there, but wondering if there is a place for lapbanders to sleevers here to share our stories and progress. It is a bit discouraging to read the posts of surgical newbies who are losing much faster (of course). Would like to know how others who revised are doing since having surgery.

Hi! So sorry to hear of your troubles. I had a good run of 16 years..well at 14 years I made that fateful decision to just a checkup and found the esophagus expanded...if I never did that checkup, I would probably still have the band. But of course the esophagus was a problem..otherwise, I was maintaining my weight at 150 for years..didn't have any pain or issues..the real problems didn't start until I got that fill at the local surgeon down here who I believe infected me..that started the trouble with the port and tubing and then this last infection..but my doctor said it was probably time anyway..I got banded a few years after it was approved here in the states..so not many people banded much longer than me..at least that I have found.. Does your insurance company require you to do two separate surgeries and jump through all the hoops in between? That was my problem here..I could have had it all done for free but no way was I going to do two surgeries, wait at least three months in between and have to do all the psych evals and other dietary BS that the newbies have to do and should do..but being banded 16 years should mean I am way past that!! Insurance sucks here!! But I also wanted my more experienced doctor in Mexico to take care of this and took a chance that all was fine and I could get it all done at once. So happy it turned out that way!! Best of luck in your journey for revision..hope it all goes smooth..would love to stay in touch with other band to sleevers here..we are definitely different than the first time patients...hard to relate!!!

Hi all! I was just sleeved 6 days ago after having lapband removed I had for 16 years. The band was fine, but what was rest of the tubing got infected. I had the port and tube removed 2 years ago after a local band surgeons office infected me after a fill. So I went back to Mexico to my original surgeon and paid out of pocket so I could get the two surgeries done at once as long as band was not eroded. Didn't know until surgery time if I was going to get the sleeve, but luckily all was well with my stomach and he did both! I am home now and recovering. Little bit of pain, but I am staying off pain pill for now so I can work. Luckily work at home so can work in bed with my laptop. I had gained back 50 of the 130bs I had lost with the band back in 2014 when I had the band completely unfilled due to expanded esophagus found in just a routine check of the band. I immediately gained 30lbs even though I was severely restricting calories..eventually went up to 50 and stayed there. Couldn't get the rest of the weight off even when refilled..then I had to deal with the infections, etc. So now I have 50lbs to get back off..and worried it will be harder than the first time. I know I should not be looking at the scale right now, but of course I do and I am UP 6lbs. Did you all check your weight right away and have a gain? Hoping it is just swelling and water weight. Scared because of that immediate gain after unfill. Since I am still on clear liquids for another day, I really don't know what my restriction is..I guess until I can eat some mushy food, I won't be able to tell. I figure that the sleeve should at least help me keep it off. The option of just trying to wing it with nothing was scary!!

Hi all! Been home a few days and in the clear liquid phase. Have some slight pain but trying to avoid taking pain pills as I am trying to work..luckily I work from home, so my bed is now my office for now! Been a little harder to return home and next day have my boyfriend leave for good. That was planned for over a month, so was not sprung on me..he stayed to take care of the animals while I was gone, but decided not to stay any further..so recovering alone and trying to keep up with my cats and dogs and work...sigh.. I of course stepped on the scale and am up 5lbs from where I started before Ieft home. I think I was up 6lbs, but may have dropped 1lb. Hoping it is just inflammation and perhaps some water weight. I know we are not supposed to look at this time as weight loss, but I recall immediately losing weight once banded..even during initial recovery. Also just nervous given the weight I gained after I was unfilled that this sleeve is not going to work as well as when I first banded.I am hoping at least it will help keep the weight I haven't gained off. But getting this extra 50 off would be fantastic!