PaulStephens1975

I had a lap band for over 7 years. I was one of those people that followed all of the rules with my band. I chose a great doctor and had great success with the band. I made tons of friends, well over a hundred, that also had the band. I sit here today honestly amazed that they still perform this surgery in the United States. For every one person I know that I can say is happy they still have their lap band I can think of 20 that regret the decision. I was enamored with my band and it took me a long time to realize how much of a flawed surgery it really is and how it's such a temporary solution that's nearly guaranteed to fail in the long run. I still believe in weight loss surgery. In fact, I just had a revision over to the sleeve. The heartburn and acid reflux along with always trying to find the elusive 'green zone' became too much and I was unwilling to let my band do any more damage to my body. I don't write this post to discourage, but to encourage people to really dig into the posts on this site. Understand that I have been on this site and others like it for almost 10 years and I can absolutely say without a doubt in my mind that the lap band is not a good surgery. If you don't believe me then just look through the posts on this site that have been here for years where people are in pain and have lost not just one, but sometimes multiple bands. Obviously, we are all adults and if you still choose to get a lap band or if you are someone that has gotten and band and has been successful then that is fine and I have no ill words for you. Just realize that those that get banded and keep their band for over 5 years successfully are extremely rare and they should count their lucky stars. I leave this here as a testament to my lap band journey. I started it at 325lbs, lost 127lbs, then regained 102lbs back after having to have my Fluid removed. I tried to love my band, I really did. It's just really damn hard to succeed at something you are set up to fail at from the very beginning. **EDIT** Please forgive the title and any spelling/grammar mistakes as I blame them on my current pain medication!

My incision sites hurt for several weeks so me and my gf had to enjoy low impact closeness at first. I'm a month out now and I'm finally feeling back to normal. I had a little longer recovery though since I had my lap band removed before I had the sleeve.

My pain was pretty bad through my hospital stay so I was having to have the pain med dispenser button thing. That helped a ton. I almost finished my pain meds that I took home but not quite. My incision sites were sore for about a month, but I had my lap band removed and was revised to the sleeve so that's probably why I hurt more.

I'm eating normal foods and nothing has made me sick either.

I'm only a few weeks post op from my band to sleeve revision but I can already feel the difference. I love being able to eat only a small portion and feel full without all of the stupid green zone crap.

I was previously banded so the obvious answer to that question when banded is, you throw up. What about with the sleeve? I eat very slowly but sometimes I get to a point where I honestly can't tell if I'm full or not and I just err on the side of caution and stop eating. However, I figure over the years I'm not going to be so wise and I was kind of wondering, what happens when a sleever eats too much? Dumping syndrome? Vomit? Discomfort? Thanks for any insight.

Roll your shoulders, walk, Gas-x, heating pad, hot Water bottle. Those are the best recommendations I can give to try.

I have trouble sleeping from my incisions hurting. I sleep on a wedge pillow or try to sleep so that my stomach isn't all stretched out.

Great responses. Thank you!

It's called deferred pain and it's your body's way of telling you that it hurts internally. Sometimes it can be caused from the gas they pump you up with during surgery. Rolling your shoulders, walking, and taking Gas-x can sometimes help if the pain is gas related. Otherwise, healing will help. You can also try using a heating pad or a hot Water bottle on your shoulder for some mild relief.

It's weird the stuff you'll crave after surgery. I never really cared for onions and now I love them in everything. I'm only a few weeks out and I haven't found anything I can't tolerate. I eat very slowly and I stop at the slight hint of feeling full.

I do use hiccups as a cue. Unfortunately, I don't always get them so they are not always the best way to tell I'm full.

Not really a question but I did want to share my experience. After surgery I was definitely swollen on the side of my stomach where my port had been from my previous lap band. After about a week or so I started walking outside quite a bit and decided to just get in the pool to cool off. No swimming, just get in, cool off, and get out. When I got out I noticed that I had black stuff oozing from my largest incision site. Over the course of about 5 days I oozed quite a bit of black blood and filled several paper towels and gauze Patches. I talked to my doctor's office and they wanted me to let it ooze as much as it wanted. It was not puss and it didn't smell so they didn't seem overly concerned with it. Now all of my swelling is down and the incision has stopped oozing. It was a little freaky at first to be sitting with a wad of paper towels against your stomach and realize they are filled with black blood. I wanted to share my story in case it happens to anyone else. Everything seems fine now and I feel better.

I was glad when mine finally closed up. At one point I was just standing over the toilet kind of massaging the area trying to get all of the nastiness out. So far I'm two days ooze free!

They never mentioned anything about a drain. They just had me take some pics to send them and told me to keep letting it drain on its own. I have a follow up appointment on Friday so I'm sure they'll cover it more then. I think since it didn't really show any signs of infection they were happy to let it do its own thing. Lol.

One good thing about previously having the band is that it prepared me well for the sleeve. I eat slowly, pay attention to how full I am, don't drink with meals.

I was sleeved June 7th as well! How are you doing now? I'm doing alright. I'm off the pain meds but still a little sore. Getting in enough Protein has been tough for me but I'm working on it.

After 9 long months of jumping through hoops to get approved by insurance, I finally got through surgery! For my lap band I just went home after surgery. With my sleeve I stayed in the hospital for two nights. While having its share of annoyances, I thought staying in the hospital had several advantages such as always having someone there to take care of you and being able to catch any medical problems that might arise. When I had my lap band I wasn't able to pee for days and when I finally called my doc's office they instructed me that I should go to the ER to get a catheter put in. I had not idea how dangerous it was not to urinate after surgery. However, when this same thing happened to me in the hospital they caught it early and worked with my right away to take care of the problem. Some other general thoughts on both surgeries: While both surgeries left my abdomen very sore, the revision to sleeve left me with less internal pain from swallowing, burping etc. When I had my band I felt like I needed to burp for days and it was super uncomfortable. Also, with the band, I could tell when I needed to slow down drinking because I would immediately be in pain or feel like it was coming back up and I don't have that so far with the sleeve. I take a sip and let it go down and I don't really have any signal that lets me know my stomach is ready for the next sip. This may mean that I could drink faster than I am but I'm not willing to test that theory out at the moment. That's about it for now. So far I'm doing well and I'm looking forward to getting the weight back off!

Take a back scratcher! OMG this was the best decision I've ever made and that is no joke! You'll thank me later.

Unfortunately it's no longer a question of 'if' someone gets their lap band removed but 'when'. I'm honestly surprised that they still do the surgery in this country.

Out of the 100 or so friends I know that were banded I would say between 50-80% had complications, gained weight back, etc. I can think of VERY few that are still happy with their bands after 6+ years.

1) It seriously slows down your eating. 2) It ensures the food is properly masticated and will go down easier.

Let's see how simply I can put this...you need counseling. I'm not saying this from a position of judgment but of fact. If I did exactly what you admitted to doing I would immediately schedule a counseling appointment for myself. I'm not even going to try and say that I would be above doing something like this because I'm not. All I'm saying is you knew how major a screw up this was and you could not stop yourself from hurting yourself. Anyone that does something like this needs professional help. I wish you the best.

When I read that some doctors don't even require the pre-op I was like, Screw this! I would fast all day and eat one normal meal in the evening. My surgery went fine and my liver was good. I'm in no way advocating what I did but it made my pre-op bearable.