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My feelings exactly when comparing the sleeve and the lapband. I'm a retired RN of 30 years so did a lot of homework. Recently, I was complaining to my surgeon that I thought I should have faster weight loss...he laughed and said this is a marathon and not a 50 yard dash and you're lucky you didn't choose a lapband. So many of those people are lucky to lose a lb. a week, have major problems, and many end up having a second piece of surgery to have done what you've done. Thank your lucky stars that you did your homework first. Enough said I guess.

Good luck to you as well! Great job publicly documenting your weight-loss journey. It will really help you keep on track & stay accountable. I did the same thing when I had surgery three years ago. We look forward to you sharing much more. Good luck! You are not alone!

Hi! I had LapBand sugery in 2010 at the age of 51. I had prior health issues such as SIJ arthritis, & back surgery (2008). Before my LapBand surgery, I took myself off my presciption anti-inflammatory as directed. I lost around 30 lbs. in 4 months while going to the gym & walking on the treadmill at least 4 x per week. When my anti-inflammatory med finally left my system, my knees started KILLING me! I went to a Osteo surgeon who tried shots; found a torn miniscus and worn joints, but who didn't want to do sugery. Well, of course my weight loss journey not only stalled, I gained most of the weight back. I could barely go up & down my stairs at home, it was so bad. I got back on my presciption anti-inflammatory and am doing much better. I contacted my Bariatric surgeon and had a consult wih him yesterday. Heres the deal, I want the LapBand out so I can take stronger meds than acetametaphine for my pain. He and I are now talking LapSleeve. Has anyone else out there gone from a LapBand to a Sleeve? If so, are you happy you did? My doc did a flueroscopy and it looks like I have a hernia ; he said my band looks "flat". I'm praying my insurance will cover this re-do. I was self-pay for the band but no way I can pay for a removal & sleeve. Thanks to anyone who can respond to my question of LapBand to Sleeve.

I had my lap band surgery in August 2013. I had the normal up and downs. Received 5cc fill for the first year. Lost 50 lbs. Great. I had an incident where chicken got caught and had the cc's removed and endoscopy done. Afterwards, they took 6 months to give me 3cc fill. That's where I am now. I still have moments that I eat too fast or the wrong thing, but I do upchuck but not very often. My problem has been diarrhea and constipation. I would take pepto for the runs and a bowel softener for the other. That has been going on the whole 2 years. My problem now that concerns me is that I haven't lost anymore weight. Also that whenever I eat or drink I get an upset stomach every time I try to eat a little. I can't seem to get down a Protein drink, Water sometimes gags me, other drinks seem a little strong and gives me an upset stomach. I take about 20 pills (mostly RX) a day. I can feel the heaviness in my throat and stomach. I don't seem to be getting enough protein and liquids. I know what and how much I need, it's getting it down with no queasiness. I also am diabetic and at one point my blood sugar got down to 36. I took glucose pills and a glass of milk. Now my lap band dr. says I don't really need anymore fills. And everything I've said above happens most of the time. At other times I feel great. I can't figure out what I am doing wrong or right. Other big problem which may be due to the weight loss is that my husband said he no longer desires me. We barely touch, talk, or whatever. He works still at 66 and I stay at home. I don't drive. I am 65. We're like roommates. I do see a psych dr and I might start going to a therapist to figure out what I can do to help my husband trust me emotionally bc he shut down along time ago. Just recently after a heart op I decided I was no longer going to be depressed and I've done it since March 6 2015. I didn't want to waste the next 20 years like I lost the many years in the beginning of my disease. I have Bipolar Disorder Rapid cycling and most of those pills are psychiatric drugs. I have made his and my girls life a living hell for over 30+ years. In and out of hospitals. My husbands emotions just shut down. I don't know if this is a subject for BariatricPal but I'm throwing it in. I have a lot of drooping skin and a lot of wrinkles. What can I do to be more lovable without first having body lift. That is $$$$ I haven't got. Can anyone help?

Hi I'm researching getting a revision from a VSG to a MGB. I was sleeved in July 2010. I never experienced the "Honeymoon phase" and my weight loss was slow from the beginning. I was able to lose 80 lbs over two years with dieting and vigorous exercise, but now my weight is rapidly creeping back up. I have a few questions for those who went from a sleeve to a Mini Gastric Bypass. Did your surgeon resleeve you and then bypassed you or did he/she bypass you only. I watched a few revision videos from Dr. Rutledge and he doesn't recommend resleeving unless the sleeve is very large or deformed due to the increased risk of complications when resleeving. Are you satisfied with the outcome of the MGB and would you recommend your Surgeon? Also, if you can please list your Surgeon's name I would appreciate it. Thanks

So I started my weight loss journey years ago but never thought about wls. I decided last year that wls was probably my best bet. So on my oldest son bday, April, I started my supervised 6 month diet. I went through all the testing, pych eval, nut appt and meet with my suregon twice. I have jumped through hoops to get here and now its only a week away. Im scheduled for preop appt on 2/12 and surgery on 2/13. My preop diet has been hard cause I still have a husband and three lil children to cook three square meals a day for but I haven't cheated and I'm hanging in there. Im getting super nervous as they days pass.

Hi, I think it is your choice to not get a fill and I congratulate you on your weight loss. However, that four week post op appt is important. I don't think that waiting two weeks will do any harm but you need to see the surgeon for your post op. All the best to you on your journey to good health, Melinda

my doc wants to see me every month for the first year regardless of fill or not. I'm 9 months post op and I've only had one tiny one. Definitely a fill is up to you. My doc wanted to give me one earlier this month, due to slow weight loss. I declined it because I had a feeling what was wrong and I wanted to try to adjust before I got one. Changed things up (started eating more) and I started losing again.

Hi, welcome! Congrats on starting your journey. Here's some tips I give out to newbies who are just getting started. Feel free to jump right into the community. So much to read and learn about. You can utilize the search bar to see if topics have already been started that you are interested in. Start altering your diet now. Cut out processed food, or at the very least processed sugar. Practice eating your protein first and then focus on non-starchy veggies. Also, start tracking your food. There are lots of apps that make logging very easy. I personally use MyFitnessPal, but there are others out there. Find something that you like to drink that doesn't have calories. Try different caffeine free teas and water additives. I still can't drink plain water....so you want to have something on hand that you know you like. Cut out caffeine. Most programs allow caffeine back in relatively quickly, but caffeine can hinder your body's ability to heal. You don't want to go through caffeine withdrawal along with the aches and pains of surgery. Don't use protein shakes before you absolutely have to! I made the mistake of supplementing some of my meals with shakes to "prepare myself" for the pre-op diet. Big mistake. You will get to the point where they are DISGUSTING, and you don't want to increase the timeline of that by drinking them before you need to. Start incorporating exercising (even if it’s just walking) somewhere in your daily routine. It will make it easier if it’s already a habit. Practice chewing your food at least 20-30 times before swallowing. Muscle has memory and it will be so much easier if you already have this habit. If you screw up and swallow too soon after surgery, you will pay the price. Set timers and don't drink and eat at the same time. I highly recommend having at least 1 visit with a therapist to establish with someone for after surgery. It’s not required, but everyone seems to have some emotional struggles afterwards. Whether its 2 weeks, 2 months, or 2 years you may struggle with the changes. I personally wouldn't share with people, unless you know they will be 100% supportive. It is nerve wracking already and you need nothing but positivity. Plus it’s a lot of pressure from people who know you've had WLS, versus people who think you are on the weight loss track. People think that the weight is going to melt off after surgery, and sometimes it doesn't. You don't want the extra judgment. Don’t engage people with people who say “WLS is too dramatic” or “You could just diet and lose the weight” or “You aren’t big enough for surgery” or “It’s the easy way out”. SCREW THOSE PEOPLE, they don’t know. They will never know how triumphant our victory will be. I would also remember that you need to make time for you! Make the time to shop healthy, meal prep, cook healthy, and plan ahead. And I’m talking to all the selfless mothers, fathers, husbands, and wives. We give so much to our families, but NOW is the time to focus on ourselves. We are doing it for them, after all. We are doing it to prolong our lives and improve the quality of our lives. Come up with a reward system of sorts. You want to acknowledge your successes. For my 50lb mark, I went and got pedicures with my girlfriends. For my 75lb mark, I bought myself some new dresses. For my 100lb mark, I bought myself a really nice full length mirror. Stalls happen and are completely natural. There are tons of threads in this community that you can search for suggestions or for advice. Hunger happens. Some people don’t experience a decrease in hunger, but it is easily manageable with a small amount of the right foods.

I also had my surgery in May and have not had any fills. You will have this piece of plastic inside of you for a long time. There is plenty of time for fills. I look at the lap band helping you lose weight in either 1 of 2 ways. For most people it is restriction. It is all about limiting what you can take in and it being somewhat forced by having a tight band. For some (myself included) the band really helped with habit modification. The lap band was my rock bottom in my food addiction and getting surgery flipped a switch in my head that I need to make better choices in life. Restriction cannot change the way you behave and look at food. Only a good long look in the mirror can do that. Restriction cannot force you into the gym. Only you can do that. So far I lost nearly 40lbs and I feel great but most of the weight loss has been through good old fashioned hard work and that is how I want it. To me, that is the way you are going to truly keep it off. Plus my doc is fine with it as long as I am losing. My father saw me recently and commented on my weight loss and all the hard work I am doing and then suggested I didn't need to have the surgery then, I disagreed because it was because of the surgery that I made these changes. The lap band is a tool and like all tools, can be used in various ways to suit your purpose. Good luck with your journey.

to me any loss is good.....i am not sure i understand what you are asking/questioning

i just had a question for you, i am 29 years old i am recently banded on may 14 and i have lost 36 lbs so far. Is there anything extra I can do to help keep my momentum up as far as weight loss.

A great amount of weight loss so far!Great!

Does anyone else feel like their Case Manager could careless about them? I sent in my paper work after my 6 month weight management requirement from my insurance on Monday 7/18/16. Along with messaging in the portal that I faxed it over and here it is Wednesday and I still haven't heard back saying if they have received it. During my 6 months every time I asked question, I got the same response and no answers. I understand her hands are tied because of the insurance approval process. But I just thought they would be more hands on with communication leading up to the surgery. I'm just frustrated. I have been dreaming about this surgery for 8 months and I am beyond excited to start my new life. I'm afraid not enough information is going to be provided to the insurance company and cause a delay in the approval. Although I am not currently medicated for my medical issues. I have many issues that are causing life to become very uncomfortable and my doctor is holding off prescribing anything until after I have the surgery to see if they rectify themselves with weight loss. I have high blood pressure, and I'm beginning to have a lot of trouble with mobility, my back, my hips, my knees, my ankles, and most of all my feet hurt so bad that walking is very painful. And I don't feel that is being put into the documents to provided to the insurance to express why this surgery is so necessary. What did you provided to your insurance company for your approval, I have United Health Care? Any feed back would be great? Thank you for letting me Rant Crystal. Current Weight 261, 5'5 Goal Weight 145 Looking at having either the Sleeve or the SIPS procedure

Hi, I’m new here and just had the gastric sleeve on Monday 2/4. I’m feeling great and pretty much back to normal. Just some slight pain where the pain pump was put in but nothing else. How was everyone else’s recovery? When did y’all start seeing significant weight loss?

You may show a loss at 2 weeks if you have lost your surgical overhydration water weight, otherwise at a month or 6 weeks you should have a pleasant surprise coming! Everybody is different, but that is a good rule of thumb. And as you go further out there may be even more varience, I know an almost surgery day twin, lost only 38 pounds, then there are people like me who are in the 60s, same surgery , our bodies just reacted differently, she's lost less but went down 2 sizes, I've only gone down 1, I'm still a little envious but she started out at a different weight point than me, Its still okay, when all said and done!

it's not done all that much in the US, either. I think I read only about 10% of weight loss surgeries in the US are DS (it may even be lower than that)

Okay please tell me DS is also known as loop or MGB or SIPS am I right? Why are people saying that surgery is better weight loss in very curious if people can give me the scientific reasoning or personal experience??? All I can find is information showing bad bile reflux with the DS/MGB They both sound similar RNY or DS??? I'M THINKING ABOUT RNY but maybe someone can convince me otherwise before I choose surgeon!!

Wow! Congratulations on your surgery and your speedy recovery. It's been 4 weeks since my surgery, and I've lost 29 pounds. Your weight loss is exciting.

a true DS is different from an MGB and a SIPS. I don't really know much about SIPS, but I know some surgeons do those now instead of a true DS. They're somewhat similar but not the same as I understand. An MGB is a variation of the RNY. a true DS is the most powerful of the current weight loss surgeries . It's a sleeved stomach (VSG) with a partial intestinal bypass. It tends to produce the greatest amount of weight loss and an easier maintenance (because of the malabsorption). But vitamin deficient risk is also the greatest with it, so you have to be really religious about taking your supplements. since a DS involved a sleeved stomach, yes, there would be a greater risk of reflux with that than with an RNY. An RNY often improves - if not cures - reflux, whereas there's a risk of reflux with a sleeved stomach (note I said risk - not everyone who has a sleeved stomach develops reflux). btw - there's also a malabsorption component with the RNY, but it's not as great as with the DS. Not as much of the intestine is bypassed with the RNY.

It's a narrow-network product, and I believe it's only offered in northern CA. here in the bay area, which means your two sites for surgery ought to be either Valleycare or Summit in the east bay, UCSF in SF, or Mercy Methodist in Sacramento. The same criteria apply for approval of surgery; here is a link to the policy: https://www.healthnet.com/static/general/unprotected/pdfs/national/policies/BariatricSurgery.pdf They do NOT require six months waiting period, nor have they since this policy was updated in May 2015, however "Patient has made a reasonable effort to lose weight and there is documentation that these attempts at dietary control have been ineffective in achieving a medically significant long-term weight loss.". A psychological evaluation is required. Their criteria for individuals with a BMI between 35 and 40 are pretty stringent. All of these details are on pages 3 and 4 of the policy. Health Net requires that its delegated medical groups (Brown & Toland, Hill, Mercy, etc.) follow Health Net's criteria. This means that if your medical group says that you need to anything beyond what is mentioned in the criteria, they are incorrect. Your surgeon will have specific requirements for preop diagnostic testing, such as an EGD and/or upper GI X-ray, a sleep study, or an EKG, and that's fine, those are diagnostics your surgeon needs and not subject to the health plan or medical group's policies. I hope this helps!

Thnk u I hope soo and I did but he was happy about the numbers I wasn't because I compare my loss to others lol .

Super! I'd take a 23 pound loss any way I could get it! Good for you.

I was sleeved in Aug 12. I lost 20 pounds in 3 1/2 weeks and then the scales stopped. Then I only lost another pound, but this last weekend I lost 3 pounds in two days. Did I just get over my stall or is this common? I never expected to be able to set a watch to the weight loss, but wasn't expecting it to be in chunks. Thoughts? TIA!

Disputing health insurance companies is a little bit like talking to a brick wall. Even when the words are in black and white in the policy, they deny claims. But if you have the time and patience and want to give it a go, then by all means try. It sounds like you have 2 disputes. One is with Active Health. They required that you lose 5% of your weight before you qualify. But you failed to do this (with the consent of your surgeon). The reason you gave is that you would fall below the 35 BMI requirement. Many insurance companies require that you try and lose weight and that your qualification to the BMI requirement is determined at the initial weight officailly taken when you first apply for the surgery. So if you had lost the 5% of your weight you might not have been penalized for it. The area that I would explore is why your surgeon did not push you to lose weight during the pre-op period. Was there some medical issues that would make this weight loss a problem. If so can you surgeon's office articulate this in a letter to your insurance. The second dispute might be with BC/BS, that appears to be out of network. The cost incurred generally includes the hospital, the anesthesiologist, the surgeon, and a secondary surgeon. It is difficult to ensure that all of these are within network before surgery. Maybe impossible. I believe BC/BS offers fairly good policies and I suspect that most hospitals are within network. So anyways I would check to see what is in network and out of network for each of these elements. This is probably accessible over the internet. During my second round of pre-op testing, one of my specialist clearly showed up as being in network (that is why I chose him) but when I received the bill I was charged as an out of network. His name was clearly listed on the latest in-network doctors. When I talked to the insurance they claimed he was out of network. I told them that their website clearly showed him as in-network. But they still disputed the charges. I met with the specialist staff, they said the specialist was in-network and that they would handle it. And they did. I never received that bill. Also even though I made sure that my hospital, surgeon, anesthesologist were all in network prior to the operation. I received a large bill for the assistant surgeon. I didn't even know there would be an assistant surgeon. It turns out that this assistant had not yet submitted the paperwork for becoming qualified for in network. I asked the surgeons office to reconsider and they said they would take care of it. Again, this charge disappeared. So I had better luck working the problems out with the surgeons, hospital and other doctors than with the insurance companies.