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Hi all. I am researching this procedure to see if it is right for me. I have read alot of your posts and everyone seems to be very glad that they had this done. Does anyone out there regret it? Maybe had a bad post-op experience? I am interested to know. I almost did the RNY years ago until two of my chat buddies passed away from complications due to their procedures. It scared the heck put of me and, of course, I did not have it done.:cry Here I am, 6 years later, looking once again for a solution. I had a baby 10 months ago. I was diagnosed with postpartum cardiomyopathy (an enlarged heart) and was told that my heart was only functioning 10-15%. I also have high blood pressure and am a diabetic. I am at 261 lbs (last time I checked), possibly more. I need to do something before it is too late. I want to live long enough to see my baby grow up. Also, if anyone here is in the Miami area and has had or is in the process of having the lapband procedure done, I would like to hear from them. I would like to know what doctors they are seeing and what troubles, if any, they have had with insurance. I have United Healthcare but I do not know if they cover WLS. Anyways, I am sorry to have rambled on. I look forward to hearing from all of you.

Had my last supper meal tonight...steak and lobster! My RNY is on June 9th (tentatively schedule as I wait for final approval BCBC FEP) and will start my modified (self imposed) liquid diet tomorrow (two liquid meals with one light meal) and official pre-op full liquid diet on June 1st. Feeling excited and fearful simultaneously. I'm fearful of possible complications and excited that I have an opportunity to save my life! Praying a lot; however, I know that this is God's will and that He has led me down this path.

I'd suggest reading some of the threads on success stories, complications and other types of surgery. Also you can search threads - just type in a key word and you will find many postings

My wife was originally planning on having WLS (specifically VSG) after watching my successful recovery with relatively minor complications and successful weight loss. She was going to wait 6 months after my post op to see how things are progressing for me before making a decision to attend a WLS consulatation. Regardless, her latest decision is to not have WLS for a couple reasons. 1. Slimes and throwing up: She didn't like all the slimes and throwing up I went through when adjusting to the solids phase. It was mainly my fault because I am a fast eater and it took me a while to learn to "hear" the full signals. I had to learn how much to eat, how fast to eat and what types of food my sleeve an tolerate over time. Regardless, she didn't like seeing me in the bathroom so much after eating. I am better now, but still have issues with eating stringy things like roast bean or string green Beans in addition to fatty meats. Truely, it feels like dumping syndrome. I do try to explain to her that not everyone slimes and throws up and most of the time, it was my fault. 2. Auto-immune disease: She has at least 1 auto-immune disease. The one that she has requires an infusion of remicade every 6 weeks. This is one expensive infusion. It is called Ankylosing Spondylitis. You can follow the link for more details. It is basically an auto-immune disesase that attacks all the joints and there is no cure. When we talked to the surgeon during one of my pre-op visits, he said that people with auto-immune diseases might have more complications, but did not go into the details. She might also have PCOS. We do not know yet and will find out soon. This is where I could really use some advise from others. She has about 150 lb to lose as we both ended up in the same weight range at our heaviest earlier this year. Maybe it is because of life stresses? Who knows. The fact is that her extra weight may be contributing to other complications like high blood pressure, pregnancy issues, lack of desire to be outdoors like walking and hiking and on and on. There are plenty of reasons here alone that would make sense for her to consider it. She has tried manu diets (as I have), but has never lost more than 10-20 lbs on them. Atkins, weight watchers, etc. I've had fairly good results from the diets because I am very focused when something needs to be done, but then I lose my focus and the weight comes back. Hence, WLS was the only tool left for me in order to stop the up and down of weight gain and weight loss. She used to be "thin" (size 12) in high school, so I am pretty sure she remembers what that is like. She was a pretty hot girl in her younger days. In college she was slightly overweight, but still very hot and sexy (we got married then). We both put on a lot of weight in the last 12 years of our marriage. I don't hold the weight against her (never have), but I would like her to be healthy to avoid future weight-related complications. The weight does not cause her to be unhappy about her life (mainly family is what makes her happy). She is usually in a positive mood and certainly brings happiness and well-being to my life. I would like her to consider WLS because it is life-changing and truely opens up a lot of opportunities that did not exist before. However, I don't want to push her into something she is against. Any thoughts?

Hello All! My name is Kimberly. I am 24 yrs young, married with no children, and currently a pre-Nursing student. I am 5'7, 354lbs with a BMI of 55.4. I started the lapband journey just over a year ago. I have Humana EPO, and they have been terrific. To qualify I had to have: Medical records with recorded weights for the past two years, (one a year was sufficient), Letter of Medical Necessity from my PCP, and 6 consecutive months of nutrition/exercise advise from my PCP (each month I went to the doc, she typed in something along the lines of "advised Kimberly she needed to lose weight, follow low-carb high Protein diet and exercsie 3x per week..yadda yadda yadda). I turned all of that into my insurance and received an approval less than a week later! (This was after my father, who is the primary insurance holder, forgot to renew me on his insurance last January..thus having to wait another 6 months until his open enrollment, then another 3 months for my insurance to become effective again, so this prolonged everything by 9 months :-/) But alls well that ends well, and now I am anxiously awaiting my surgery date. I am having it January 25th with Dr.Rehnke at the Palms of Pasadena Hospital in St.Pete, FL. I start the Optifast on January 11th, and really am NOT looking forward to it. What helps me is the fact that my mother had the surgery with the same doctor a few years ago, so she has a bunch of tricks that she has passed on to me. One of which is to buy a BUNCH of different flavored extracts, like banana, Coconut, Almond etc. to add to the shakes. I'm hoping that will help with the variety. I guess the main things I'm nervous about are: 1.) I have bad acid reflux when I don't eat. Will I have this while on optifast? 2.) Anesthesia. I've never been under before, so I'm frightened of what my reaction will be. 3.) Just generally nervous about something unbeknownst happening to delay or prevent the surgery such as bad preop testing, complications in surgery, and various of other possible scenarios that have to come to mind. I want this so bad, I feel like I've been dreaming of it for a very long time, and now that my dream is being realized I'm afraid I will wake up! I look forward to continuing to post as I experience this new journey in my life and I look forward to reading all of your stories as well! Happy New Year!

When I was in the hospital I lost pretty much all my hair due to the complications of WLS. I used only biotin for my hair and Now my hair is back and thick but curly. It used to be straight! But I am a happy camper. This is the last bottle I am going to take for now. As I feel I won't need it anymore after this one is empty.

of you are vomiting a lot it could be a complication, or it could be that you are eating too fast, or taking too much food in with each bite. or both. or eating too much in volume. or not waiting long enough after you drink to eat. thats why its good to talk with your doctor's office. they can advise you if you need follow up with the doc. could be an issue or could be your learning curve.

So I am here @ the dr office 1 week and a day before my surgery and I just feel like I am all over the place! I watched the video with all of the risks n possible complication that can go on during or after surgery, n although the risks were all rare it got me thinking.... "What have I gotten myself into?!! Then I hve to tke a breath n regroup!! Ok, I'm back!! Spoke to the nurse n that part of it was not too bad, now I am waiting to speak to the surgeon. I'm glad I took the day off because its a lot to process all @once!! I'm just really ready for this to b over... #NoTurningBackNow

oh, I know I'm not getting the lapband. After the surgeon refused to do it and I got over the rejection, I started really reading about it and decided not to do the band. I just need to decide if to do the sleeve, just scared of costly complications. You have done so good, I enjoy reading your post

I am a 49 year old female with a BMI of 35, high blood pressure. For years I have been wanting a lapband but neither my insurance nor my husbands would cover it. Since the kids are now out of school my husband said if you really want this then do it. I talked with a surgeon in my city and then went to Houston to see one that my friend had used. I was all ready to get it scheduled and then when he heard that I wanted to lose 50-60 pounds he said, no I'm not going to do it because you will not lose that much weight and you will be wanting a revision in less than 5 years. He wanted me to do the sleeve and I said no and he still wouldn't do the lapband. Now I am a self pay and this is a real good surgeon. So after crying all the way home I started thinking why would he say this to me if its not true. I believe that you can search these forums and find the responses that you want to find, I always mostly read to good about lapband. I have to say that I can't find too much negative about the sleeve. My only problem is that I am so scared of complications since I am a selfpay. I don't want my family to have financial problems because of me. My husband says whatever I want to do he is behind me but added that he really doesn't think I am big enough to have the surgery, just exercise and follow my diet. Oh of course, I hadn't even thought about that. Anyway, I read these forums daily and just can't decide what to do, its not the money, its not having to deal with eating small portions, its just being scared of a leak. I just want to cry every morning when I get dressed cause I look so fat.

I am leaning towards the sleeve because of that reason. I have done a ton of research and have noticed there are so many more complications with the band. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Hello all, I am getting ready to begin the process for getting the sleeve hopefully. I have my first appointment this week with my Medical Doctor and psychologist. I hope I can get approved for real. I haven't been to the doctor in years almost 10 so I am scared with what they may say and if that may have any complications. I'm 480 6'6. I am pretty active. I just started back working out. Been playing basketball 2-3 times a week. Don't have as much energy as the competition lol. Any tips on how I can be successful??

I think you will be fine being away from home barring any complications, however, be prepared for the fatigue you will feel with little activity

Can you have Greek yogurt and sugar-free pudding? How about cream of wheat and creamy Soups? I have to be honest -- I modified the puréed stage. I couldn't handle puréed foods, so I talked to my nutritionist. And since I hadn't had any complications, no nausea, no vomiting, I went right to soft foods. I still kept things really soft -- well cooked veggies, moist meats (lean ground beef, rotisserie chicken, roasted turkey). And in fact, after 3 months I still eat this way. Works for me. Good luck!

First get to know your surgeon by research...is s/he reputable? how many RNYs and sleeves has s/he done? what about complications? Get those questions answered and if s/he is a good surgeon then listen to why s/he wants you to have RNY. There may be a good reason for it. It will all depend on your statistics and co-mobidities. I suggest you listen to his/her reasons first then ask about the sleeve. Ask why s/he doesn't think the sleeve will accomplish your goals. Explain you have researched the sleeve and feel that its right for you. Explain why you feel the sleeve is right and not RNY.

It is good to hear you are doing well. I too have been playing with doubts and insecurities. Mostly for just the surgery part. I am nervous and scared. Although I don't doubt I will be successful after the surgery. I'm just scared of complications during the surgery.

Hi all, I'm paying for my surgery myself but I just found out that my insurance company will NOT cover any complications from my Lap-Band surgery. Has anyone else had to make this decision? I'm freaking. I'm finally ready to do this but having to pay for emergency treatment could ruin us financially. Please give me some input. Thanks!

I was very nervous to start with. However, with any WLS you can have problems and complications. I knew several people who took the bypass aproach, a couple have lost weight only to gain it back, one is doing perfect, one lost weight, but is having a hard time with keeping levels in balance due to in ablility to absorb nutrients. I talked to my doctor. I ask would I have to replace my band one day, he said possibly, just like some people have to have a second knee replacement if they live long enough. I may not ever have an issue, I know some people who have had their band 15 years with no problems. Once I reach my goal weight and have good restriction I won't have to go see the doctor nearly as often. My doctor likes to have patients come in about once a year once they get to maintance unless they are having a problem. For me the band was the right choice. I wanted to loose weight, but I didn't want to have problems absorbing nutrients. If a day comes and my band has to go I will reevaluate along with my doctor to see if I get a new band or go to the sleeve. But, that day may never happen so I am not going to worry about it for now.

I gained 65 pounds during my first (and only because of extreme complications) pregnancy and had a 4 1/2 pound baby. And he was born two months early. If I didn't gain so much weight he would have been smaller and may not have made it. That was 10 years ago. My goal weight (150) is my pre-pregnancy weight. I've got a long way to go. It is doable, I just have to be patient. I do fit into clothes from three years ago, so I guess that's something to be happy about.

Probably a good reason to do the weigh in's once a week or so. Human's are complicated. We can retain stuff and let it go rather quickly. BTW, for the record: Each day, on average, people produce 1 ounce of poop for each 12 pounds of their body weight. The average poop is 2.5 pounds.

I did not have a liquid pre-op diet. They just wanted me to do a reduced calorie diet to "shrink" my liver. They didn't even suggest high protein, low carbs, they never have even for post-op. He said my liver looked fine during surgery and I was 356 pounds at surgery date. i had no complications during surgery, very little bleeding and didn't need a drain! But, I think I was pretty healthy going in to surgery even with such a high weight. I didn't really stick with any diet pre-op but I did try to cut a few things out and not eat as much. I am sure I was consuming 5-6000 calories before my surgery on a typical day. I did eat Taco Bell and McDonalds a few days before surgery. I just felt like I needed to enjoy those things one more time since I was never going to eat them again. Probably a bad idea and irrational thinking, but luckily my surgery went fine and I healed fine and I have had to complications.

I hear so many people say surgery was literally a breeze, I'm sure it will be. I just have this notion that I rather panic, and have a smooth recovery, than be cool and calm but have complications. This is the point of no return -deep breath-

Whew, the first four weeks are now behind me! I've been doing quite a bit of reflecting on my experience so far, and here are some of my thoughts: 1. I've lost 27 pounds! I'm so excited by the numbers on the scale. Still wearing the same clothes though. I have a box in my bedroom already labeled "too big", and I can't wait to start filling it with clothes to give away! 2. The first few days sucked way more than I expected (too much vomit!), but after that it's actually been a pretty easy recovery. I'm meeting and often exceeding my Fluid and Protein goals. 3. I'm surprised that I don't miss junk food. I don't mind when my kids eat ice cream in front of me, or when we order a pizza. I'm mostly content with my tuna, or scrambled egg, or hummus, or cheese. However, I am starting to tire of the soft foods I've been eating and am looking forward to getting the docs okay to start trying a greater variety of foods. 4. I really want to take a bubble bath. I'm thinking I probably could at this point, but I'm such a stickler for the rules that I'm not going to do it until doc says ok. Since I was self pay, I really want to avoid any possible complications that will cost even more money! 5. Before surgery, I didn't really want to tell anyone. Now I'm so excited about my new, healthier lifestyle, that I want to shout it from the rooftops to anyone who will listen. I have not had any negative reactions from the people I've told. If they had negative opinions about it, they've kept it to themselves, so that's good. 6. I think I may be lactose intolerant now. Ive switched to soy milk, but yogurt and cheese don't seem to bother me. Not sure if things will stay this way, or if it's just part of my healing process and it will go away with time. 7. I've started a small garden, I've been walking every day, and I have TWO vacations planned in the next 4 months - Mexico with the kids, and New England fall colors with the husband. Life feels great right now and I haven't regretted the surgery once! Thanks for reading. This site has been very helpful for me so far, and I plan to stay connected here as part of my commitment to a new lifestyle. Christi Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I haven't had my band to sleeve revision surgery yet, but had to have my band emptied earlier this year due to complications. Good luck to you!

I went alone also, in fact I was there with BlackBerryJuice. The three of us who were having surgery on the same day, met as Ernesto picked us up at the San Diego airport, and became "littermates." As BBJ says, we took walks together, compared notes, went to the pharmacy together, and did quite a bit of socializing, along with people who had their surgery the days before and after we did. Since Aceves keeps his patients for three nights (which was one of the factors that helped me decide on Mexico), we had several people to keep us company. I had a friend who was willing to come down with me, but I read on these boards that a lot of people said their friend or family member didn't have a lot to do, and in fact a couple people mentioned that they were a little too focused on worrying about their companion. So I decided to go alone, and it was the right decision for me. The hospital staff was VERY attentive, Dr Aceves and Dr Campos came by several times a day, and I had zero complications or problems. If you're thinking of Aceves, I would recommend him without reservation.