KartMan

We have a closed Facebook group for September Sleevers. Search on: SEPTEMBER SLEEVERS for 2017!! Or click: https://m.facebook.com/groups/1398061670313998

Very good actually. Today is day 5. I started feeling a lot better yesterday. Gas pains are gone. Incisions are fine. Fluids are going down well. No real complaints.

I had surgery Thursday (9/7/17). Band removed, hiatal hernia repaired, sleeve in place - all at once. There was a lot of scar tissue around my band. Dr said they almost decided to stop at band removal and make me come back in 6 months. Luckily for me, he pushed thru and did it all at once. I was on the table almost 3 hours. Everybody else in my group (sleeve only) was in the OR for only abut an hour.

I was 282 when I got my LapBand (I'm 5'11"). I dropped as low as 170, but felt fantastic even at 190 (which was a 92lb loss).

Me too September 7

There is a closed Facebook group for September 2017 Just do a search on SEPTEMBER SLEEVERS for 2017!!

Look up "hydrostatic body fat testing" in your area. It is the one where they put you in a pool and dunk you to weigh you under water. By doing this, the only weight that registers on the scale is fat weight, you subtract that from total weight so that you can see the amount of fat and lean mass in your body. You can also get this tested by personal trainers with calipers and some scales do it with electrical current, but neither of those methods are very accurate. The dunk test is really the gold standard to check body fat, but its a little more expensive. It was very helpful to me early on in my lapband journey because I found out I was in fact losing weight rapidly, but it wasn't a good loss. It turns out I was losing muscle mass rather than fat mass. I made a slight modification in the gym (more weights, less cardio) and boom, -muscle mass started increasing and fat mass started decreasing. The problem is that without knowing this body fat %, you might be fooled into thinking you aren't losing weight properly because muscle weighs more than fat.

That's fantastic! Remember muscle mass weighs more than fat mass so you could very well be getting healthier while not actually losing weight. I had this happen to me when I was first banded. Best way to find out is to get a real body fat analysis done.

I'm also September 7th in Mexico, however I'm with Dr Ariel Ortiz. Best of luck to both of us!

Haha, Dr Ortiz at OCC is actually where I'm going I had my LapBand placed in San Diego. But I know Dr Ortiz via my sister as he placed her band. I was so impressed with him personally and his facility that I started getting my fills there. I knew when it was time for revision, that he would be my number one choice.

Hang in there.

I had my band placed In 2009 and did very well until this year. I'm shooting for a single surgery for revision on Sep 9, 2017. One of the reasons I chose Mexico was because I thought they would be more likely to do it in one shot. The other reason for Mexico is I have a relatively low BMI (32) and no comorbidities. I never thought the single versus dial stage option was for a better weight loss outcome. It's my understanding that some doctors think the 2 procedures is a little safer. I think otherwise, I prefer the idea of getting cut open and anesthetized only once.

September roster looks to be filling up (I'm September 7th). Best of luck to us all.

My surgery process might be a little quicker because I'm doing self pay in Mexico. Because of that, there are no insurance hurdles to slow things down. Yes, I had a preop delay. I had hepatitis 30 years ago and they wanted to be certain my liver was healthy enough for surgery. That particular blood test takes 10 days. Tests all came back good (I knew it would) and I got a new date of 9/7/2017. Unfortunately, it also means I get to do the two week liquid diet all over again I'm really curious on the different feeling of full with the sleeve versus band. I never have been able to effectively explain to non banded people how our full feeling feels. I certainly won't miss that feeling of an elephant on my chest and I hope I never PB again the rest of my life.

I watched your videos. So what happened post op? How about doing some follow up videos?

Thanks for the story Geri. I'm sure you will do great. I can relate somewhat on the spouse issues. My wife doesn't make a joke about it, but she has zero weight issues. It seems like she eats more than me, yet barely ways 100lbs (she's 5'1"). I had the band a little before you (2009). It actually worked fantastic for me, I lost 110% of my excess weight. Unfortunately, I starting having problems with it this year (reflux and vomiting). I either had to have the band replaced or switch to sleeve. Although I successfully lost all the weight, I knew I still needed a tool. This was confirmed by gaining 50lbs after the band was unfilled. I am scheduled for revision on Sep 7th and am on the prep liquid diet right now.

Woohoo, September 7th for band to sleeve revision for me.

I'm having my band to sleeve revision (hopefully simultaneously) at the OCC in Tijuana Mexico with Dr. Ariel Ortiz,

Had my VSG revision (from LapBand) scheduled for tomorrow (8/15/17) in Mexico. Got down to do the pre-op testing. All was going well, vitals were all good, I lost the prescribed weight, but then... Apparently either I missed the question or it wasn't recorded properly in the pre-screen that I have had Hepatitis B in the past. Mind you, my HepB was 30 years ago and was acute (meaning no ongoing symptoms). Also, I had LapBand 8 years ago and there were absolutely no liver issues then and I have numerous liver panels through the years with no ongoing liver function issues. However, out of an abundance of caution - they want to run a fresh liver function blood test and the results take 10 days to process. Assuming it's good, they will reschedule. This means my surgery is postponed a minimum of two weeks and possibly longer depending on their availability. The real kick in the teeth is I have to stay on the pre-op diet the whole time.

Let's face it, most of us have some sort of issue with food or else we wouldn't be in this predicament. I can tell you that for me, the band helped a lot - but I still had to work to be successful. The sleeve will be the same way. It will be a fantastic tool, but it is still possible to cheat so you need to overcome those inner demons.

I'm sort of in the same boat. Was on a 2 week liquid diet prior to my 8/15 only to find out on the day of surgery I had to postpone to 9/7. Got to drop back to low carb for a week and now back on liquids for two weeks. On the plus side, I lost 16 pounds the first time and am still losing now. Hang in there, the date will come sooner than you think

I feel very ready and as prepared as I can be (9/7/2017 date). I've been down this road before. I had LapBand in 2009 and it went great. I had a previous sleeve date but ran into a minor issue, so I've already gotten right up to the door once already. Word of caution, try to put yourself on a preop diet anyway. Going into surgery as healthy as possible can only help in the healing process.

All the reasons listed here and more. I was banded in 2009 and it worked remarkably well for me. I lost all the excess weight very fast and felt fantastic. No one could believe I formally obese. My band failed and I am starting to gain weight now. I'm having the band remove and getting the sleeve. I've been obese before, and never want to go back to that place.

It is normal, it's something new and that can be scary. I had LapBand in 2009 and I can tell you that you have every reason to expect the surgery will go fine. They are really good at this by now and complications are extremely unlikely. But the best part is, life gets so much better. I lost 110% of of my excess weight with the band and it felt wonderful to be a person of "normal" size. After I had it done, new people I met could not believe I was formally obese. My band recently failed, and I feel the weight creeping back up again. Now I am getting the sleeve to get back to that amazing feeling of "normal size" again.

1 week low carb, followed by 2 weeks liquid diet. The liquid diet is protein shakes, strained soups, low/no calorie drinks, SF jello. The goal was to lose 5% body weight between the time of initial evaluation to the surgery date. For me, that worked out to about a month. Had to go from 250lbs to at least 236.