Cydney

Lisa, I know you didn't ask for these kind of details, but since I've been through a similar experience, I hope you find it helpful. I also had a band that failed (May 2012) after 7 years. It had to be removed (emergency) and towards the end it was not fun. Now, that being said, the band worked and got me into a normal weight range (100 lbs. lost and I was able to keep it off). After the band was removed I felt hungry all the time (same problem I had before the band), gained back about half of what I had lost and decided to pursue sleeve surgery (Nov. 2014). The sleeve surgery was a piece of cake compared to the way I felt after the initial band surgery. We have no idea why, since the surgeon had to clear out some scar tissue from the band failure and fix a hiatial hernia, it was a much more involved surgery. I never took any post-surgery pain killers, never vomited (and still haven't to this day), was doing laps on the hospital floor within an hour of the time they brought me down from surgery and was released to go home in less than 48 hours. I was stiff and sore, but that was about it - and that was gone within 24 hours of being back in my own bed. Oh, and I'm almost 60 years old. If there is one thing I already knew from the lapband surgery, it is that practically everyone has their own unique experience, and I don't think this is any different. My most profound experience with the sleeve is that I'm no longer hungry (except sometimes in my head). From my point of view, it was worth having the surgery just for that result. I'm about 6 months post surgery and I'm currently able to eat a small portion of just about anything I want. I'm able to eat the same foods as everyone else when we go out, or when I'm stuck in a lunch meeting at work. I am naturally a very slow eater - I know that helps - the feeling of fullness sometimes sneaks up on me, so I imagine someone who eats rapidly might see a different result. I seem to be more sensitive to fatty and spicy foods (I love Thai - as hot as they can get it ), but I haven't encountered anything that makes me violently ill. I haven't had a single case of the "slimies". My sleeve feels different than the band - it doesn't have a "hard" barrier to stop anything (it's not like it was with the band, when I'd eat a piece of bread and know that nothing else was going to go through that sucker for hours ). I sometimes get a little bit of the same sensation of food moving through, but that seems to be lessening as I get further out from surgery. BTW - it's also easier to get fluids down. I don't feel the "drag" with the sleeve that I did with the band. Best of luck!

BCBS covered my fills at Northwestern. Kaitlyn Fiori is the nurse practitioner that normally does the fills. She works for Dr. Nagle (head of gastro dept.).