Search the Community

Aside from complications, you should be just fine. You're fairly low bmi, so I assume reasonably healthy (ass-u-me, I know). If I had to, and could have guaranteed staying in the office, and not having to go out into the field, I could have easily gone back to work on day 5 or 6, with the only difficulty being making sure I got my liquids and protein in appropriately and I would have been in bed within about an hour of getting home.

What really matters is comorbidities associated with being fat. If your liver is fine, if you don't have advancing diabetes to a point where you take insulin, have some type of heart condition, etc., I don't see the urgency to get an RNY done. Even with me I had 3 surgeons (my surgeon in particular who, after speaking to many people who work with him, noted he LOVES the RNY) all convince me to go sleeve mainly because my liver fibrosis stage 3 and diabetes (which are definitely a big health risk) were very much under control and quickly improving. Post-op the VSG gives you more freedom without the RNY side-effects, plus the inherent risk to both the RNY surgery, which is greater than VSG, and the risk/complications later on if you require any major surgery in that area, should always be taken into consideration. People in the private industry who push certain surgeries may be doing so for their own benefit and not yours. If your surgeon recommends bypass get a list of why and possibly get a second opinion. If it's based on general assumptions rather than your personal conditions (if any) then it's doubtful that's much of a necessity. Bypass is supposed to be for people with more serious issues necessitating the increased risk of complications. That's why for people aged 50+ I see it's very much more often RNY. Keep in mind too that any good surgeon will offer a follow-up on a VSG so that in the case it doesn't work out as planned an RNY is still an option. This is the case with me.. am offered RNY after 1 year if I don't like the way the VSG is going.

I was sleeved on 8/21 and talked to my surgeon for my 6-week last Monday (9/30.) I explicitly asked him about coffee, and he said it was fine as long as I make sure to sip some extra Water to make up for the diuretic effect. The way he explained it, the "no-coffee" restriction is more important for gastric bypass patients due to the re-routing of their intestines....obviously that doesn't happen with our surgery. That being said, I'd tell anyone to respect what their own surgeon told them to do. If I hadn't asked, I'd be under the impression that I'm not allowed to have it. But my surgeon was quite clear. I then asked if there was any food or drink that I should always avoid. While he of course wants me to stick to healthy eating, he said that unlike his gastric bypass patients, there's nothing in particular that will make me sick or cause complications.

I asked tons of questions... Besides their stats on leaks/death I asked the following. Is the surgeon around after hours if a leak is found at the ER? If he thinks the sleeve is right for me? Hospital stay? If they use a drain? Size they use, since it can be anywhere from a 28-40? How long before I can pick up my kids? What has he seen as far as complications and their protocol? How much weight I should expect to lose? If they allow gas X and mouth spray post op? If they do a leak test? I know I asked a lot more but I don't have the paper in front of me.

This does sound frusterating! However, you do need to LIVE through bleeding and complications first.....then you can have the luxury to lose weight. Please be kind to yourself. Don't lose sight on what's most important! Trust your body to know when it needs to protect itself.

Welcome Nana! Don't be too afraid. The band is a wonderful tool, but it's still life ever-after. Some folks have some minor complications, setbacks, etc, but most are able to move through those and do what they set out to do which is re-gain their lives with better health, etc. Good luck to you!

I'm going through this right now. I posted on another forum and have copied and edited it a bit below and hope I can help anyone in preventing this. As far as your question, yes you can get the pouch back to normal but you and you only can make that happen. It's difficult, but, it can be done. If the pouch is really stretched badly they will un-fill you and place you on liquids for a period of time. My doctor told me 6 weeks of liquids. Holy smokes!!! Here is my post from another thread: Under floroscopy my doctor told me that my pouch was bigger than it should be. She told me that I would get a warning this time, but if next checkup showed the same, she will un-fill me and I will go on liquids for 6 weeks. For now I have been instructed to measure my portions. I did get a slight fill, so, I'm thinking that I'm not that bad yet. I keep a loose band because my allergies and drainage cause the dreaded lapband cement on the pouch that is only dissolved by drinking lots of hot liquids and is very unpleasant, thus I have to be a bit more careful with my portions. I have decent restriction and my portions have been at least 1 cup of food and sometimes 1.5 cups, however, I got into the habit of not chewing well and eating too fast. I rarely got stuck because of my loose band. In my opinion, not chewing well and eating too fast is what caused the dialation. I was also doing way too much exercise and was feeling more hunger and I would eat way to fast and not chew well with the hunger I felt at times. Someone asked about symptoms. First of all my weight loss stopped for months. My weight would go up and down by 6 lbs. and went on like this for at least 8 months. I tried increasing calories, longer work outs etc. etc. and nothing! My biggest symptom was more hunger in between meals and was getting hungry every 2-3 hours. The most obvious symptom that I should have never ignored was feeling satisfied (full) and would get that uncomfortable feeling of "no more" at meal time then all of sudden I would feel a thump in my pouch, due to food going thru quickly, then I could eat another meal if I chose to and honestly sometimes I would. I thought this was because I needed a fill, however, this was not the case and Doc said that a enlarged pouch of course holds more food and will push everything down quickly. Since being warned I have gone on liquids 2 times consisting of 4 days of Protein drinks and 1 can of Soup a day. In addition, I have modified my drinking and wait 1/2 hour before a meal and 1/2 hour after a meal. I now feel a huge amount of restriction and can only handle the 1/2 cup of food at mealtime. So, yes you can reverse the stretched pouch. I will continue to do the liquid thing at least every other week for a while just to be on the safe side. Since doing this I have lost 10 lbs. Lesson learned? If something doesn't feel right get it checked. I knew something was wrong, but, I was embarrassed to see the doctor because I had not reached goal. I think the biggest disappointment is first myself and second, being banded is high maintenance, but, we are the culprit to our own complications in most cases. I still love my band though! Hope this helps anyone who may be experiencing some of my symptoms and have ignored them. jake

I hate to say this, but I'm going to call BS on that doctor. There are very few complications within the first 30 days of Lap Band and statistically speaking, only 8-12% of complications are by no fault of the patient. The rest have complications because of their own poor behavior. As far as the woman going "the doctor could not find a needle that would go into my fat; since I have gained all of my weight back." I'm also calling BS. I started over 400 pounds. I've met people who started closer to 500 pounds. Never, ever is finding a needle to get through the fat a problem. Either that woman is blaming others for her own failure or her doctor was completely incompetent. The Lap Band makes the surgeon the least amount of money of all the WLS. Either that surgeon is only in it for the money or he's an ignorant bafoon. Either way, if I were you, I'd definitely be looking for a new one. Best wishes to you. Sorry you had such a band experience.

After almost a week of researching and talking to my dr's nurse, I think I'm about 98% sure I'm going to revise to a sleeve (last week I was in the ER with a herniated band - totally unfilled). I'd prefer to wait until after my upcoming Alaskan cruise (3 weeks from today) so I don't have to be on a liquid diet and that fits perfectly with my nurses recommendations. She said if I want to have the revision all in 1 surgery (take out my band and replace with the sleeve at the same time), I have to wait for at least 6 weeks for the inflammation to go down, otherwise I will have to wait between the time they take it out and the time they replace it with the sleeve. But until then, I can actually feel everything that I eat. With an unfilled band, I can actually FEEL my band for the first time ever. No pain, I can just feel it. Even Soup. I've done much research on this and found that most people who have had a slipped band and replaced it with another band, have problems with the placement in the future. I'm tired of driving the 6 hr round trip journey for tweaks of my band anyway (not to mention the $160 for every adjustment). I want something permanent. Now, if I could just get a little more support. My husband is very supportive, however my mom, sister, and best friend think I should just leave it out and do it on my own. While I only have about 30 lbs to goal and I could probably (eventually do it on my own) I know I could never keep it off forever. I don't want to risk it to find out. Medicare will pay for a revision now (even tho my bmi is only 27) because of complications. I don't think they'd pay if I gained a few lbs back having it completely taken out. I know myself. In a few years, I'd be 250 again. Never again! So wish me luck! I'll still be on this board till the actual revision (no actual date yet), and will probably check in from time to time to see how everyone doing! Marci

Hello Kt. I am very sorry to hear you have had complications. I haven't experiences spasms but I would be interested in knowing what could be causing this to happen as well. Hopefully the tests will come back and you will be able to get this issue resolved.

I am 12 days post op and told to be on full liquids for 3 weeks so I definatly feel your pain. Don't beat yourself up for the past, but prepare yourself for YOUR future. I have a friend who was banded 2 yrs ago but had to have it removed after 5 months because of complications because she did not follow the Doc's orders. She cried when they had to take it out because she was still loosing wieght. I have deceided come hell or high water I will follow Doc's orders because of this, but it is hard. It is your future and you owe it to yourself. Good luck.

Things are going well with no complications so far. I have lost 95# since I started down the surgery path. Pre-diabets is now in remission A1c is now "normal"!!! I am down to 1 BP pill, 1 chols pill and 1 RLS pill (this will probably never go away). Doc thinks I may go off my CPAP by my 1 year date. Having to lower pressure down now.

I too felt like it was almost like reading my own post, I was banded in 2008, went from HW of 318, down to lowest of 199, then up to 217ish before having band removed last summer cause of the complications of it slipping. I am so excited to being close to gastric bypass surgery in the next couple months. My hip and back pain got really really bad over the winter. Starting to move again in last few months but looking forward to moving even more.

I don't do any lifting on my job and my doctor still kept me out of work for five weeks for a full recovery, though I had zero complications of any kind. It's local norms somewhat, but I do think when possible, people should really take as much time as they need to be REALLY ready to get back to work. Good luck!!

Hi all. I was sleeved on Aug. 22. I had no complications and the first couple of days went well. Things started going downhill on Day 3 post-op and now on Day 4, I am really cranky and uncomfortable. I don't think I feel worse than I did at Day 1-2, it's just I thought I would be getting better by now. I am in quite a bit of pain at my incision sites. It hurts to get up and down and in and out of bed. I'm getting my fluids and Protein in but I still feel hungry. Although I'm sure some is head hunger, I swear that some of this is REAL hunger. And I'm soooo tired. I could sleep all day/night. I'd love to hear some of your experiences - specifically when did you start feeling better? When were you truly "pain free?" Thanks in advance!

I just had my surgery 3 days ago. My bypass took three hours do to existing hernias which made it a more complicated procedure.

Hello... I understand both ways. It can be scary either way because its a surgery but for myself it took me three years to decide on the lapband. The Lapband can be reversed if complications make it necessary but the Gastric Bypass is not, knowing this made the Lapband my choice.

I also think that your weakness might be partly because of the effects of surgery. I couldn't have gone back to work so soon, since I was still needing a daily nap by day four or five. So, hopefully you can really, really rest during this three day weekend (that I hope you have off). Also, it makes sense that you're going to feel weak when you cut your typical caloric intake by half AND you're recovering from surgery. Try to take in a little more calories because it's so important for you to heal correctly. Think about how tough it is for your body to heal properly if it thinks it's in starvation mode. That being said, I know it's difficult to get in a lot of food early on, especially if you're on mostly liquids. Therefore, I would suggest taking in more Protein and making sure that you're well hydrated and that you are replenishing electrolytes. Gatorade isn't hugely popular it seems, but it really helped me with staying hydrated. I never felt dizzy or "out of it," which are common symptoms of dehydration. Take care of yourself! The last thing you need are complications!

Hello my name is Mz. Y. I just had surgery yesterday, October 16th. It was both exciting and frightening at the same time. Everything went well! :rolleyes2: No complications. I did have to have hiatal hernia repair, so I am very sore today. I look forward to the days that come. My transformation has just begun!:thumbdown:

Hi dream, best of luck. i chose band for same reason. I liked that is was reversible in case of complications. I didnt like the idea of cutting away anything. You will do great. And if you have any questions or concerns we are here for you.

Saturday night I woke up at about 11 PM and my stomach was soaked and through my pants were soaked I called the surgeon to let him know that I had serous drainage. As a nurse I know that this is common however I have never seen it so bad in all my years of nursing. So he stated to just put a dressing over it and it should be okay. So the next morning I wake up still draining. By after noon is was draining so bad that the dressing was soaked within ten mins of changing it and I don't mean just wet I mean soaking through pants shirt and hoody. So my husband said I think u need to call the surgeon back. Long story short he said met me at the office on a Sunday which was wonderful since he was in the operating room all day anyways he said. So he looked at it and said everything looks okay and it may take a few days to stop draining. Today it's still draining super bad. I've been nauseous today a lot and now started with diarrhea. I'm hoping not related . I just don't wanna develope seroma. Or any infection as a nurse I do great with patients but not with my kids or myself bc I fear the worse. Lol. Which I know co workers have told me they're the same way when it comes to them or they're family probably bc of all the things we see in patients. Anyways I'm still soaking through dressings like crazy changes them atleast ten times today already. They have me comming back in tomorrow morning. I guess my biggest fear is that everything has gone sooooo smooth is this where I start having complications? Has anyone else had this? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I had my vsg/gallbladder surgery on January 10th 2017 @ 2pm. I had a couple complications during surgery which required for me to have a laparoscopic AND open surgery. I woke up from surgery with a pain score of 20+. The pain was so serve that I just wanted to be knocked out the whole time. I was given morphine(the whole hospital stay) which is a pain med I was already on for going on 6 years (chronic back pain/6 slipped disc)but just a little extra(which I was hooked up to a med machine)through my iv. So I followed instructions and walked as much as my body would allow me. I couldn't even sleep in the hospital bed because I was having issues breathing (when laying flat) and I couldn't keep getting in and out of the bed to go potty so I slept in the chair(recliner) that was by my bed. I stayed in the hospital a total of 3 and 1/2 days, with no meds. I feel better everyday(thank god) but now that I am almost two weeks out I'm still having some pain but its way better than before(its around a 6 or 7).... Sent from my LGMS550 using the BariatricPal App

i'm doing about the same as you minus the complications. however, i am extremely tired and dizzy. did you have this and if so when did it go away. i hate that burping feeling.

I have researched and considered doing the lap band surgery for a couple years off and on. I am 28 years old 360 pounds. I am on medication for high BP and I have sleep apnea. I have been up to 395 and down to 315 in the past couple years. I am good at losing weight, HORRIBLE at keeping it off... The main thing that makes me nervous about the Lap band is I'm selfpay and the cost of complications etc.. I have been talking to Dr. Curry in Cincinnati, Ohio through e-mail and will be setting up a consultation soon. If all goes well I plan on saving money throughout the year and having the surgery at the end of this year. This forum has taught me so much, thank you guys for your stories, honesty, and helpful hints. This has painted a very clear picture of what living with a lap band truly is like.

I am 3 months post op and down 35 lbs. I have had no complications and just got my first fill a few weeks ago. Today I had a very weird fluttering feeling around my band. It felt like it was spasming. It didn't hurt, just made me nervous. Has anyone had this happen to them. It only lasted about 30 secs but happened about 3 times in 30 mins. I also hadn't eaten yet so it may have been my stomach growling? Any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks!! -Mandy