moonchild1968

Give yourself some time to heal. I'm sure you'll be feeling better with each passing day. Right now that may sound like a load of it , but hang in there. Everybody says it gets better and it will. Congrats on your surgery. I'm scheduled for band to sleeve revision on April 18. Please keep posting and let us know how you're coming along.

That's pretty much my position, except I am a bit afraid of surgery, but I'm more afraid of failing again. Regaining all the weight from the lapband kicked my emotional butt so badly that I don't want to go through it again and I certainly don't want to go through it publicly. I'm already hiding out socially, hoping that I don't run into people who last saw me at the height of my lapband success. I'm ashamed. I hate that I have to do this again, but I know that I have to do this again to give myself a fighting chance at ridding myself of all this weight and all these aches and pains. My feet and legs hurt. I walk like a fat lady...heck, that's what I am. Anyway, I thought about just getting the lapband out and going it on my own and then I really thought about it and said hell no. I've still got some fight left in me. Consider this" We have a lot of experience under our belt with band. We can use it to be better with the sleeve and take this second chance to take the bull by the horns and let our tool work for us. It's just a better tool. The band is not the right tool for everybody. The sleeve seems less forgiving and more cooperative, but not a magic bullet. Good luck (to both of us)!

If you haven't been compliant, don't let it be a deterrent. Call your doctor to discuss your options.

Hi. You are not alone. I was banded in 2007. I lost 60 wonderful pounds. I was still obese, but it made a big difference for me and I was happy with the weight loss and new found freedom. I think I had the same fill experience as you....fill-unfill-fill-can't swallow my own spit-unfill-eat every and any thing-fill-can't eat anything except slider foods-weight gain. It has been a constant struggle. Once I learned how to eat around my band, it was all downhill. My surgeon advised me to revise to sleeve last year (so you might want to start there if you still trust your surgeon and have his/her support), but I resisted. I didn't want another surgery and I didn't want to acknowledge that the band and I didn't work well together. We (the band and I) failed. It's been hard for me to accept. Finally, September 2012 I started really considering a revision. I went to another "initial" seminar (with the same surgeon) and heard everything all over again. After 5 years, I need a refresher. Long story short (is it too late for a short story? lol), I am approved. I had to get medical clearance again which was no problem at all. My doctor wrote it up better than I could have myself. I did not do psych again, but I did the NUT visit. I was approved so quickly (2-3 days) that it was further reassurance that I needed to move forward with the revision. Approval is easier for those who have been compliant with getting fills, says my surgeon. I got approved, but I put everything on hold, because I was not mentally ready to do it, but I am now. I'm calling my surgeon's office next week to ask them to schedule me. I hope to be in the April Sleever Achievers club. Bottom line, start at the beginning. Pick up the phone and call your surgeon and tell them what your thinking then go from there. Also, call your insurance co. Please update. I will too. Good luck.

Way to go!

Congratulations on your new beginning. I'm waiting for my revison date (and scared as I-don't-know-what). I will be following you, so please keep us posted.

I am researching the sleeve as a revision from the lap band. Your post is a big concern of mine and everyone else I'm certain. Thanks for posting your experience. Sometimes, the many positive stories make us forget that there is another side to the WLS experience. I hope you find your way back to the losers circle soon.