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Getting cold feet before surgery day arrives is quite common, and so is "buyer's remorse" after surgery. You're contemplating a huge change in your life, and making the "right" WLS choice can be overwhelming. Sometimes I think that's aggravated by doing so much research online - you're overloaded with information and it all seems confusing. I've had both the band and the sleeve, so I'm uniquely qualified to respond to this thread. I'm going to quote from a post I made on a band-to-sleeve revision forum recently, but first I want to address a few specific things you said: For as many 'happy' band stories that I read about, I see as many or more disasters: slime, dumping (whatever that is), a lot of pain - Whether eating problems like sliming, stuck episodes, or PB's (food regurgitation) are a disaster is up to the individual. None of those events are life-threatening, so I don't consider them disasters. Unpleasant? Yes. Inconvenient? Yes. Painful? Sometimes. As painful as having your foot cut off? Probably not. We all have differing tolerance for pain. Edited to add: also, most of those side effects can be prevented with careful eating. Dumping syndrome results from rapid gastric emptying in sleeve and bypass patients because the stomach is too small to store and begin digesting food before the food hits the intestines. It causes a rapid rise in blood sugar levels that can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, lightheadedness, and a general feeling of being ill for about 30 minutes (in my case). Dumping is more likely to happen when you eat something high in sugar or refined starches, but can also result from eating too fast or overeating. I've never heard of it happening to a bandster, but I guess that's not impossible, especially if the bandster is diabetic and therefore more sensitive to blood sugar fluctuations because their pancreas can't keep up with the food being consumed and digested. slipping, having to get the band removed, etc. Almost all of these disaster people have said they needed WLS, and revised to the sleeve. Every one of them wished they had gone with the sleeve in the first place. I have a strong suspicion that they feel that way because their experience with the band was unhappy, not because the sleeve is intrinsically better than the band. When they had their band removed and revised to the sleeve, the euphoria they felt was a bit like the relief you feel when you stop banging your head against a wall. Now, as I said before, I've had both the band (which I loved) and the sleeve (which I don't love), so here's a summary of my experience so far: I was banded in September 2007. I lost 100% of my excess weight (90 lbs) in one year. I had a minor band slip (cured with a complete unfill and 6-week rest period) and a port flip (fixed with outpatient surgery) and loved my band. When it was properly adjusted, it drastically reduced both my physical hunger and my appetite (desire) for food. Food just did not taste as wonderful to me as it had in the bad old days. I also experienced the early and prolonged satiety that is the band's #1 claim to fame. Unfortunately, I lost my band in April 2012 because of damage from 20+ years of silent reflux, which my band may have been aggravating. My surgeon and gastro doc agreed that my band had to come out, so I opted to revise to the sleeve in the same procedure. That didn't happen because my surgeon couldn't pass the bougie (the sleeve "calibration" tool) through my esophagus because of an undiagnosed stricture, so I was bandless until my 2nd attempt on August 16, 2012. I had thought that the sleeve would be a good 2nd choice for me because I wasn't crazy about the malabsorption aspect of RNY or DS, because one of the best features of the sleeve is that the reduced stomach size drastically reduces production of the hunger hormone, grehlin, and because the idea of a surgery that wouldn't require fills to achieve optimal restriction was appealing. Unfortunately, it didn't work out that way for me. I am now ferociously hungry on an hourly basis no matter what, how much, or when I eat. I have to eat 8-10 times a day in order to keep my blood sugar steady. I've had to start taking metformin for my type 2 diabetes after easily managing it with diet and exercise for 7 years. I've discovered that sleeve patients can dump just like gastric bypass patients. It gives me miserable symptoms of nausea, dizziness, drenching sweats, and fatigue. That happens not just when I eat something with sugar in it but also when I eat so-called healthy foods (Protein bars, milk, cottage cheese, yogurt, Protein shakes, most fruits). I've become anemic and have to take an Iron supplement twice a day in order to give me enough energy to function. Turns out that micronutrient malabsorption isn't unique to RNY & DS patients. Also, since my sleeve surgery I've developed a gastric bleed. When doing an EGD to locate the source of the bleed, my gastro doc discovered a gastric polyp (probably the cause of the bleeding) and duodenitis (inflammation of the duodenum), neither of which were present when I had an EGD 3 months before my sleeve surgery. Finally, I've discovered that sleeve patients can have "stuck" episodes just like bandsters do, and for the same reasons (in my case, careless eating). I'm not able to be objective about my sleeve at this point, and at 5 months post-op, it's probably too early for me to decide it was a mistake. But even if I decide it was a mistake, I'm never going to get that missing chunk of stomach back. It's gone forever. I do know that I absolutely refuse to go back to the land of obesity, and I'm grateful that my sleeve has helped me avoid that. I've lost the 30 lbs I had regained after losing my sleeve, and that is wonderful thing. One difference between my band surgery and my sleeve surgery is that my sleeve surgery was much harder to recover from. My surgeon says that any revision surgery is difficult because she's not operating on a "virgin" belly. I thought that the slow recovery was due to my age (59) because an older friend (age 61) who revised to the sleeve at the same time also found it difficult, but I met a younger woman (mid 30's) in my surgeon's waiting room whose sleeve was her 1st (and we hope last) WLS was also finding it difficult. I think the length and ease of recovery is also related to the patient's age (I'm 59), pain tolerance, general health, and amount of time spent under general anesthesia. My surgeon keeps band patients overnight in the hospital for one night, and sleeve and RNY patients for 2 or more nights. I hate being in the hospital but I was a mess even after 2 nights there. After my band surgery, I felt fine after one night in the hospital and was bored and restless and ready to go back to work (I worked at home then) within 3-4 days. After my sleeve surgery, just lifting a glass of Water to my lips was a struggle. I needed the whole 3 weeks my surgeon insisted on off work, and even then I was dragging. The other thing I want to say is that while my food capacity now is small (depending on the consistency of the food), my desire for and enjoyment of food is like it was before my band surgery. I feel like I get way, way too much pleasure out of eating. I believe that food tastes good for a reason (to keep us eating enough to survive and perpetuate the species), but that extreme enjoyment is a very mixed blessing. I constantly have to fight with myself to not take another bite so as to prolong the pleasure of eating. With my (adjusted) band, I did have some intrusive food thoughts, but nothing like it was in the bad old days. Well, the bad old days are back now. I think about food far too often for the good of my weight management. I wish I had a happier story to report. I've been told that I'm not trying hard enough to like my sleeve because I loved my band. That may be true, but I sincerely wanted the sleeve and sincerely wanted it to work. I know plenty of ex-bandsters who love their sleeves. Ask me again in a year or so, and I may be waving the sleeve banner. And as the advertising hacks would say, "Your mileage may vary." Jean

Wanting to check in and see how some of us who didn't revise to other surgeries are doing since band was removed?? I've lost 10 pounds of the 20 re-gained in the two months after my band was removed in March. I do 60 mins of cardio --yes, 60 -- almost every day and average 1800 calories or less... that got the 10 pounds off...but plateaued for about a month...it SUX... to be putting so much effort into with no results... NO WONDER I quit so many times before and ended up obese! On the advice of my former nutritionist, who I called for advice on kick-starting things here, my doctor put me on Metformin, which apparently helps the body process glucose/carbs more efficiently rather than storing them as fat (haven't been eating many carbs as it is, based on their advice)... Nutritionist said she had clients who had a hard time losing weight and went on it because of glucose intolerance and started losing weight when they weren't losing before... but didn't help me at all... Really discouraged, and seeing that discouragement trickle into my eating habits. The old "why bother" head games. It's just sooooo hard to stay motivated when you have no progress... My son is going away to his dad's for two weeks and thought that might be a good time to try Jenny Craig or similar program and see what happens...since I won't have to cook for him... (Weight Watchers is always a bust for me.) Anyone lost weight after being de-banded? Maintaining even? It just kills me that I'm still 10 pounds heavier than I was the day my band was removed. I could be 10 pounds less. (Based on losing 10 of the 20 I quickly gained back.) Trying not to focus on the #$%^& numbers on the scale and just eat right and feel good. But, it would help to have progress!! Advice, comments and encouragment welcome!! Elizabeth

Hi! I got my LB in 2007 n just got it removed 3 days ago due to complications arising from a tummy tuck in May 2017. The LB is a good weight loss resource tool but it won’t work alone if it doesn’t first click in the mind. I ended up developing GERD n ANEMIA from it but nothing serious. For now I’m going to give my body a break from all these surgeries b4 I consider any more revision to my body. Good luck to a u new with Bariatric surgery

I can't eat after certain hours either. I can usually drink later than 8, but if I eat, it will cause coughing and some reflux of acid during the night. By the way, I have had 2 slips, and the lst one I had to have a revision to my band. I now have had to have a small amount removed, which took care of most reflux problems. Karen

Then I would review both the sleeve and bypass forums and formulate my own opinions base on the information garnered about each particular procedure. I would even browse the "Band revision" forum as well. It is unrealistic to rely on someone's evaluation of the benefits or negative aspects of a procedure they did not have. The two procedures are inherently different and you need to make an unbiased decision on which one will meet your expectations and capabilities. Not base it on what someones prejudicial views are due to their choice or the particular forum that is being represented. In other words. Just simply ask why someone chose their procedure in the bypass forum and again in the sleeve forum and not to compare the two procedures. They've already chosen or had the procedure.......exactly what do you think they'll say. Good luck.

I cant believe you lost sooo much. I would love to hear about your story!!! Maybe start a new thread. With my old band I definately contributed to the `slip` because I always pushed the limits with my eatting. I still went from 105 kilos to 65, nothing to sneeze at, but I didnt put effort into following the rules. For some reason the weight just came off even with me eatting junk & drinking with meals etc. My problems really started when I kept getting more fill to speed the weight loss or to compinsate for my lack of effort. ie instead of revising what I was doing incorrectly, I just wanted more fil. So being too tight eventually caused too much pressure from the pbing & it caused the band to fail. I plan to remember & learn from this 2nd time round. However, this new band has different signals than the old one. I can feel things getting stuck & then make their way down! That never happened with the old band. I can eat everything from chicken to california rolls. I dont know if its because the new band tollerates more food types or because Im not tight enough. It is interesting though to have a second chance, I hope I can make it work......because you know, of course I had to tell everyone in the world about being banded, & I am getting lots of comments!

Ok, so i had a port revision about 3 weeks ago, and for some reason, my surgeon felt the need to add some fill to my band when he was in there. We never discussed him doing this, so i'm very frustrated that he did. I have had about 5 'sticking' episodes, and had another one tonight. I'm eating super small bites, and I feel like I'm eating slowly. I'm so frustrated, and I'm so scared to get a fill because of everything that I've been through. I had to have the port revision because i had a huge infection (which is most likely from fills)..... so now i'm super nervous!! HELP! WHAT SHOULD I DO?!?!

There are excellent surgeons in Mexico - but I think that it is a misrepresentation to say their patients get better results. These boards have alot of patients of certain Mexican surgeons - when you go out of country you don't have as much "in person" support so the boards are a major source of info and support. I think the key is to have a good surgeon, and that the patient finds a way to get proper education and support - through whatever means. I was blessed with insurance to cover my revision to sleeve and the local practice I went to boasts pretty good stats. I certainly feel I have done very well.

Hi Toni good luck with ur revision. Curious though did ur doc make u lose 30 pounds before surgery? That seems like a lot.

You look great! I feel like I can't win...I had the sleeve on 3/6/2013 and was 224, mind you I dropped 11 lbs on that 1 week liquid diet. I am now 196.5, I cannot seem to get the scale to move fast enough. I work out and do everything I think I should do. Can anyone relate? I don't know if it is also b.c I am a revision and my body has done this before. I had the lab band for almost 6 years and dropped 130 lbs. That of course was removed and I got the sleeve. Any suggestions??

It's possible to have a revision but you need to figure out why you are not losing first, and the answer is not just that you had the wrong surgery. It's still calories in and calories out to SOME extent, although i do understand that its complicated, the facts are still the facts. Are you tracking your calories daily? What do you stats look like? How much do you have to lose?

I am currently pre op, but will be sleeved on Monday/ I think the choice of surgeries is one that you make in consultation with your surgeon. I have been in a six month program. I came into this thinking I would get the band. Probably because in my mind it was less invasive, could be reversed and did not require rerouting of my digestive system. But along the way my opinion changed. As I talked with the surgeons and began to learn more about each type of surgery, the sleeve seemed the right choice for me. It appears to have the same results as the RNY Bypass, which is still the gold standard. But the rerouting was an issue for me, as were the absorption concerns. The surgeon agreed with my choice. In his opinion, RNY was reserved for high BMI patients. Mine was 45 entering the program and is now under 40. At the Center of Excellence where my surgery will be done they are not recommending the band due to the high rate of complication and the amount of revisions that are done. For me, removing most of my stomach, but allowing the natural digestive process to occur was appealing. There are plenty of people that are very satisfied with their type of surgery and can give you their rationale. It really is a personal choice, along with the advice of an expert in the field gastric surgery Good Luck!!!

I would take a good look at what your eating ect.. I am a slacker In the exercise department (that will change next week finally!) I still lost 60 lbs In 4 months even w/o any exercise. I do track everything that goes in my mouth though and I'm extremely caution of what I eat. Maybe you do need a revision...better discuss that with your DR!

Hi. i am getting my revision from sleeve to RNY in 12 days so I don’t really have much info to give. But congrats on this decision and keep updates

I have 18 scars on my abdomen. Had 5 from the band placement, 4 lap sites, and one big incision for the port. Gained 3 more for the revision, he used 2 of my old lap sites, and the port incision during the revision, gained 2 more from the leak repair, had 4 drains placed during my revision recovery, 2 after the leak repair, and 2 for the abscesses that developed 6 weeks out. Gained 4 more lap sites and one in my bellybutton (that is not visible) with my gallbladder removal and when he did an exploratory to remove adhesions and scar tissue from my abdomen this past February. Honestly, I could give 2 poops about the scars. Between the scars, and little white stretch marks, my stomach looks like a road map of Texas. They're all light, pale pink with the exception of the drain sites, those were open for weeks on end, and they are a bit of a rosey, mauve? color maybe? I guess they don't bother me, I don't do anything to minimize them, and I know that I'll lose some of them when I have plastics done. Overall, I really don't let scars bother me. I inherited moles from my maternal gradmother, I've had several removed by freezing and some cut out, and have those scars, plus 2 knee surgeries, a horrific c-section scar, my arm is scarred up from when I broke it in 4th grade and the lady that cut off my cast, burned with me with the cast cutter back in the late 80's before the cutters were safer and didn't hurt the skin. My daddy told me "scars are like scratches on my truck honey, they just add character, and make for a good story typically". I guess I just always lived with that mindset on scars.

I had over 100 lbs. to lose and I originall my had the sleeve. Didn’t lose anything(in the end), developed extreme GERD, & felt no restriction over time. i ended up having a revision 7 years after my sleeve after resetting my sleeve, 5 day sleeve test, kept diet etc. I am only 15 days post op my revision to bypass but glad I had it. I feel for me, that the malabsorption and restriction is what I need versus just restriction from the sleeve. And the recovery was exactly the same for me for sleeve and revision; as well as operation time (about 3 hours each) everyone’s experience is different and it’s about how compliant you are as well. I feel for me dumping syndrome is a slap in the face to let you know that you aren’t suppose to be eating this or that. I see that there’s a lot of leniency for this with sleeve sometimes. And personally that’s something I can’t handle i will never say that one surgery is better than the other but for some people bypass is better than VSG and vice versa. I have seen some amazing results with vsg and I have seen some horrible results with bypass that scare me. It is a tough decision for sure

I already lost 110 lbs with the band but the band needs to come out now because of problems and nothing passing through even after removing all fluid. My surgeon recommend bypass but I am more for a sleeve. The insurance just came back and approved removal but not revision since my BMI is 28. How shortsighted. They did not even pay for my band initially since I was overseas and that insurance covered it. I do not really want to loose that much more weight since many people already ask me if I am sick or anything since I have been loosing so much in the last 4 years, and especially the last 2 years. If I could maintain my weight without the band I would be happy but I am not sure I have the willpower and most stories I hear or read say that people will gain back their weight even between removal and revision.

Well, I looked at this grup, and thought, "one day I will join them", I checked my ticker yesterday, and only had 1lb to lose to qualify, I weighed again today, and I can join!!! So I'm 5 months and a week (or so) out, I have lost 51lb, and am already lighter than the goal I had set at my initial consultation last year, but am 30lb away from my revised, and far more sensible end goal. Looking at the average rate of loss the last couple pf months it will realistically be another 5-6 months before I get to goal, which I do find a bit depressing TBH, however as I said a year ago I'd have killed to get down to 188lb, and now at 184, I guess I see the bigger picture and know there is still some of that road to travel. It is great to be able to consider myself to be on the "final stretch" though that has made me smile!

I got the revised surgery (from band to sleeve) on 8-10. I'm able to get the liquid in but I'm so tired of broth. I tried eating some Refried mushy beans and IT HURT. I know I shouldn't have cheated but damn!

Hi. Sooooo - I had a band fitted in 2006 and had it worked great for 16 years; I went from 280lbs to 91lbs and it was great. My band slipped a year ago and i've regained quite a bit of it back. I'm having a bypass on June 1st and I do sometimes think 'will this work a second time around'? have a great surgeon here in the UK and I was satisfied the bypass was the best option for me. I'm going to give it my best shot as I know I cannot go back to how I was before. This has to work as there isn't really anywhere else to go from a bypass. Are you having a revision?

Oh that's great ! It says a lot that you are returning to him, that makes me feel even better! I was banded also, I did very well until I revised to the sleeve and Iv struggled ever since, it didn't work for me at all I'm revising from sleeve to MGB.

I told 'everyone' both times - when I had the band and now the sleeve - and part of me regrets doing that. I nearly didn't tell anyone about the sleeve op as I knew what kind of reaction I would get but ended up having too as I needed family support in caring for my autistic son. Do NOT listen to anyone else. You know yourself that you need to do it and why you do. The people who badk on and on about it being drastic, risky, the easy option (!!!) are mainly those who have never had an issue with food, do not have other issues in their lives (in my case extreme stress and depression) making dieting virtually impossible - by that I mean being able to get up the energy and motivation to embark on it and stick to it and as Bearded said, those who believe everthing they read in the media. All surgery has it's risks and at the moment bariatric surgery is the favoured one to have a pop at. Do what you think is right and ignore everyone else if you can. Most people supported me in the end as they agreed that I would only gain all my weight back if I didn't have the band to sleeve revision, but there were the odd few who couldn't bring themselves to wish me well and all I say is 'stuff them!' because I know I will be nice and slim, happy and healthy and generally a better and more understanding person. Helenxxx

Congratulations on following thru to revision to the sleeve. I truly enjoyed reading your journey!! I am 59 & hope to get my surgery date later this month if approved. Thank you soo much for sharing, soo encouraging!!

I have Cigna - because you have a medical complication - I don't believe they need anything else. Because I'm looking to have the revision due to band failure (not to mention it' causing me acid reflux) - I have to start from scratch - 90 days and meet with nutritionist, psychiatrist etc..I'm pissed because me insurance plan is changing with Cigna after the new year where right now they will cover 90% and after 1/1 it's only 80% and I won't hit my 90 days until 1/1/15.

Does gastric dilatation limit the success of sleeve gastrectomy as a sole operation for morbid obesity? http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16469218 Research Study http://www.weightlosstriumph.com/does-gastric-dilation-limit-the-success-of-sleeve-gastrectomy.html further discussion of research results Great news! This research indicates that dilataion (stomach streching) does not necessarily lead to weight gain. In fact, most of the research that I've done (scientifically based) parallels the results of this study. The reason I've researched this topic is because my capacity has increased after one year post op and sometimes wonder if my stomach is dilated. I don't think my eating behaviors caused dilatation because I can only remember 3-4 times that I ate to the point of discomfort in the past year. Even if my stomach is dilated, I can still keep the weight off. The surgery did its job by helping me lose over 150 pounds and now I have to put my effort into overdrive during the maintenance phase. For me, this maintenance phase is actually harder than the weight loss phase because it is less structured and I really have to watch my portions because my stomach can hold so much more than before. The article recommends revision surgery through bypass or duodenal switch if the stomach becomes dilated. However, according to Dr. Weiner (well known bariatric surgeon, search on youtube for his videos), most patients that undergo this revision only lose an average of 15-25 pounds afterward. He often notices (during the revision surgery) that many patients DO NOT even have a dilated stomach. FYI: Dilation (stretching) does happen, but mostly to larger sleeves. You are going to have many people tell you that it just can't happen, they are wrong. This seems to have a great deal to do with how much of the fundus is cut out. The remaining fundus can stretch up to four times it's original size. Research shows that about 50% of the ghrelin is still produced in our bodies. I can also attest to the fact that my hunger and cravings are about at 40% compared to before surgery. I've read that most sleeves hold about 2 ounces after surgery but will eventually hold 4-6 ounces. This means that it is normal for the sleeve to enlarge 2-3 times its original size over time, despite not overeating. Really, what counts is NOT the size of our stomach, but what we put in it. I've seen patients regain weight no matter what their sleeve size. It's interesting to note that I've lost much more weight than those that boast at meetings that they are full after a few tablespoons. Even if your capacity has increased, the key is to stay positive! You can and will be successful! Further info: http://myaceinhand.blogspot.com/2012/01/bougie-size.html