1959JimmyJames

I was hooked up to a pain pump right after the sleeve surgery. I had to be in the hospital for a couple days. I was given a prescription for some liquid opiates to take at home. I think it was oxycodone. Not pills though. It was liquid. I took it with a syringe in 5ml doses. It worked good. I was hurting for about a 5 days, at home, but that stuff just knocked me out. Then I started recovering and stopped taking that stuff. Pain effects people differently. I had the sleeve surgery in 2014. Almost 8 years. I feel good. I eat whatever I want but not very much at one sitting. Sometimes I forget that I had this surgery and I'll be eating with friends and family, the food is so good and I'm talking and enjoying myself, and then I feel it hit me. It's like, "oh **** I ate too much". I have to go throw up. When I get back to the table I dont eat anymore, I just talk. I say I'm full, thanks. Nobody knows. It's happened about 5 or 6 times over the past 7 and a half years. Its weird, after awhile you just forget that you had this thing. I get an upper GI every 3 years. I have a precancerous issue with my esophagus. That's why insurance approved the surgery. So my stomach is scoped and a biopsy is taken and sent to the lab. So far so good. I'm 62 now.

I am 3 years and 4 months post op so not quite 4 years yet. My situation is probably different from most people. I had a severe spine injury before the revision surgery. I can't exercise very much to help burn calories. So now I have leveled off. I haven't lost any weight in over a year but I haven't gained any either. I eat everyday until I'm full. I don't deprive myself of any food that I want. Breakfast is usually a small amount of cereal with fruit in it, or a bowl of watermelon or some other tasty fruit, or sometimes I skip the food, and drink something with protein. Or I'll have bacon and eggs and toast. Or French toast with butter and syrup. During the day I'll snack on vegetables or cheese or fruit or almonds. Maybe half a sandwich. I can eat a small portion of steak and about a quarter of a baked potato with butter and sour cream and a couple spears of asparagus. I love seafood. Any food that I want. The good thing is that I can't eat very much of it. I don't feel any discomfort unless I eat too much then there is a nausea kind of sick feeling and some pain from my abdomen for about a half hour until some of the food digests then I feel normal again, so I don't overeat anymore. I don't like that feeling. I still eat the same portion size but sometimes I still feel hungry after the meal so I will drink some water and that stops the hunger immediately. So far I haven't had any issues with the surgery. I had a very painful post-op recovery for about a week but now my stomach feels good. I haven't been to the weight loss surgeon for 2 years, but I do see my other gastroenterologist regularly for other problems, and he has checked me out through an upper GI endoscopy twice since the revision, and says everything looks fine. I think differently about food. Socializing with family and friends used to be a whole lot of eating. Now it's more talking and sipping on a beverage. Wine or Tea and even a margarita or a Jack and Coke. This surgery is dangerous. You need to really think about it and make sure it's right for you. I'm glad that I had it but I really wish that I could have solved the problem on my own. I know that there are quite a few people that have had a nightmare experience with this and I feel bad for them, but for me it has turned out very positive so far. I will need to have upper endoscopy's every 3 years for the rest of my life. Not because of this revision but for something else. My stomach acid has an effect on my other problem so this surgery has helped with that also. I also have to take a nexium pill everyday for the rest of my life. These are issues that I already had prior to the sleeve surgery, and were considered co-morbidity problems that were the main reasons for my insurance company approving the revision. Good luck to you.

I did have to get the lab work done. Blood testing but that was all. I think that they are finding that the bands have a high percentage of failing mechanically. Mine did. Port started leaking and the band itself slipped. I had it for 8 years.

My insurance paid for the band to sleeve revision. I saw the bills and they totalled about $30,000. I have a relative that went to mexico, just across the border from SanDiego California, and she paid around $5,000. I know my insurance company didn't pay the full amount because they cut deals with each other. I had an out of pocket max of $2,000 and that's what I had to pay. That was 3 years ago for me and I imagine the prices will keep going up.

I think you need to relax and stop worrying. Some people lose a lot of weight right away and some don't. Your stomach is still healing. You need to get a grip on yourself. If you stretch out your stomach because of overeating you could pull the staple seam loose and cause it to leak. You can actually die from this. It might take you awhile to get into a comfortable routine. Measure all your food now. Later when you are a pro you will be able to eyeball it. The first time you feel the pain from overeating will wake you up. Its not like the band at all with restriction. I'm almost 3 years post-op now. My meals are pretty small, about the same size portions as a toddler child. Try drinking more liquids. I loved vegetable beef broth and chicken noodle soup broth. Right now you're still healing. Once you start working out and being active you will burn more calories than you can eat, I'm sure. You need to always be sipping on liquids.

Your comment surprises me. I don't remember drainage from any of the incision sites. They were taped and very clean looking when changing the dressing. Its been a few years now and hard to recall but I would have remembered that. I do know that I had lots of pain in my abdomen for about a week but the liquid pain killer helped with that and the pain finally faded away.

One other thing that I should mention is if they are removing liquid for a medical reason and not for regular adjustments to assist with appetite control then that would make me choose the sleeve. I think that overtime all of the bands will fail and need replacing and having it removed is a relief. No more port in your stomach area and no feeling of restriction when you swallow food. You won't feel that plugged feeling when you eat. With the sleeve your stomach is soo small that you can't eat very much. The restriction comes from a full stomach feeling that can be very painful. But, after a few months of heeling post surgery, you will be able to eat whatever you want, just a small amount of it.

That's a difficult decision. Having the band removed and the fill port gone was a wonderful feeling of relief. I had a band for 10 years and used it successfully until it failed. I gained weight back. Got very disgusted with myself. My options were to replace the band or convert to sleeve. I chose the sleeve but I wasn't at goal weight. Personally, I think that if you are strong enough to get to goal with the band then you are strong enough to stay at goal. I think that your band will fail someday. That would be a better time to decide. The sleeve surgery is a tough decision. There is no going back.

Good luck to both of you. Before you know it you'll be 2 years post-op and thinking, that wasn't so bad.

I think an oil cannibinoid would work as a pain reliever just as good as that liquid crap I drank. It was liquid morphine and tasted bad. I don't know if inhaling and risking a bad coughing spell would be good though. Too much stress on the staples in your stomach. I would give it time to heal before smoking or vaping.

My band developed a leak way before sleeve surgery. I didn't know it at the time but I suspected something wrong. I was able to eat more than usual and put off seeing the doctor about it. Finally I went and the xray machine showed some serious problems. The band wouldn't expand with the injection into the port. It might be worth it to go and see if you can have it all removed. It would take some stress off of the band area.

That's fantastic. Good for you. I hoped that that was going to be my result too but it wasn't. There is research that suggests the acid will be reduced because the part of the stomach that makes most of the acid is removed with the surgery.

This is my case and my opinion. This is very serious and you should consider all options. I had heartburn symptoms going back 15 years. I had gained a lot of weight and my symptoms got worse. After about 5 years of eating tums everyday I finally gave in and started seeing a doctor. He sent me for an upper GI and they said I was stage 3 Barretts. The doctor suggested a lap band to help control weight. I agreed and insurance covered it. I have been on nexium 20 mg a day for the past 10 years. After much success with the band for 8 years I developed complications from the band. 10 years ago the sleeve wasn't perfected like it is now. We discussed a band to sleeve revision and I agreed and so did the insurance company. I have had the sleeve for 2 years now. It is so much better than the band but the acid problem is only controlled with nexium. I dont have more reflux since the surgeries. With nexium i feel nothing, only relief. Herbal remedies or diet do not work for me. I have to have an upper GI every 3 years to monitor the Barretts and they always do a biopsy and so far it is still stage 3 Barretts. I am aware of the risks with these drugs but nothing else works for me. I have blood work every 6 months and I am under a doctors care. That's just the way it is. This surgery is very serious. In my case the co-morbidity problems worked in my favor because the insurance board agreed with the doctors that there was a good chance the acid would be reduced because of a smaller stomach. That didn't work in my case. I still have the acid reflux pain if I stop taking the drug so I continue taking it. I think that I probably would have some kind of gastrointestinal cancer by now without the benefit of modern medicine. I would never tell anyone to get a lap band. Don't do it. A sleeve can't be reversed. Its forever. So it is a very serious decision. I am happy with the sleeve. My weight and bmi are in the normal healthy range. My blood pressure is normal and my lab work is good. They say that I am pretty healthy except for the problems already mentioned. I feel good. This is a lot to say in just one post. I haven't run across very many patients with Barretts.

There was one time in the past 2 years that I started eating and I was so completely hungry and it tasted so freaking good and I was starting to lose myself, and in an instant my stomach gave me a huge wake up call, like a slap to the face. This sleeve is a real miracle worker.

Awesome comment crazygoose and some very good replies too. I think you will find as you get farther along with this is, is that the food will not appeal to you like before. I loved home made burgers on the grill with all the fixings and mayo and ketchup and fries and cold beer also, but not really. It doesn't taste the same and I could never even eat like that now, the pain would kill me. When we barbeque now, I still make me a big deluxe cheese burger but I cut a small section from it and eat it and throw the rest away. It's just not the same. I don't have any favorite food anymore. I don't even care for pizza now but I will still eat a small slice with the family because the kids love it. I'm over 2 years post op now. I still love food but in a different way. I think a healthy way.