band it or sleeve it ??

[rockdutchess82 2]

I decided in December i would do WLS it would be a band or a sleeve and i cannot help but bounce between the two and i have to know by March???

I've got input from long time banderS even joined this version of forum talks for sleevers...i must admit this forum rocks! Along with researching

I am ready to be successful but feel like the sleeve is more guaranteed yet despite what they say invasive, but i have to loose this weight.

What was your deciding factor?

[JARS517 54]

Have you considered Lap Band with plication? They band you and then fold part of the stomach in and sew it to make a smaller stomach (similar to the sleeve.) I am having this procedure on Monday morning.

[Shanna H 30]

I had the gastric bypass (not sleeve) in 2003. I didn't lose all the weight I wanted and decided to do the band. So far, I am all for the band and wished I had done that to begin with. It is truly a "tool" and encourages you to change your lifestyle of eating. It is important to follow the doctors orders and get the exercise in (which I am having difficulty doing because I have two bad knees) but I still try. Good luck with your decision!

[lmattera 17]

I've been debating between the 2 also. I like the band because there is no re-routing or removing things, but I heard the sleeve reduces sweet cravings (I have a huge sweet tooth) and the part of the stomach removed is the part that controls hunger cravings (I don't know how true is this, this is just what someone told me). If I could get rid of cravings I think that it would be more beneficial than just restriction. But 2 people I have talked to that had the band said the first month was miserable, They couldn't keep anything down. I go to school full time so I can't take that much time off to recover, so recovery time is a factor too. But I know whatever decision I make as long as I'm committed to change I will be successful.

[DELETE THIS ACCOUNT! 12,703]

Actually nothing is guaranteed. Not Gastric Bypass, not the Sleeve, and not the Lap Band. All three require you to change your eating habits for a lifetime. You can also fail all three if you choose to continue to eat unhealthy.

No matter which you choose, be prepared to do the work. WLS is just a tool not a magic fix for fat.

I chose the band because it didn't re-route my internal organs or remove portions of them, it's reversible, no malabsorption or dumping, and very quick recovery time. Plus, far less risk of serious complications.

I've lost over 175 pounds in the year since I was banded. Getting the Lap Band was the best decision I've ever made for myself.

[honk 780]

I've been debating between the 2 also. I like the band because there is no re-routing or removing things' date=' but I heard the sleeve reduces sweet cravings (I have a huge sweet tooth) and the part of the stomach removed is the part that controls hunger cravings (I don't know how true is this, this is just what someone told me). If I could get rid of cravings I think that it would be more beneficial than just restriction. But 2 people I have talked to that had the band said the first month was miserable, They couldn't keep anything down. I go to school full time so I can't take that much time off to recover, so recovery time is a factor too. But I know whatever decision I make as long as I'm committed to change I will be successful.[/quote']

I have to wonder if your friends are exaggerating a little bit. Were they in the hospital for dehydration? If not then clearly they were able to get liquid down. I wish people wouldn't dramatize their experience so that others think that being the banded is a nightmare. Knock on wood in 2 and a half years I have never vomited. I've had limited stock episodes and I've never PB'd.

[☠carolinagirl☠ 18,721]

I decided in December i would do WLS it would be a band or a sleeve and i cannot help but bounce between the two and i have to know by March???

I've got input from long time banderS even joined this version of forum talks for sleevers...i must admit this forum rocks! Along with researching

I am ready to be successful but feel like the sleeve is more guaranteed yet despite what they say invasive, but i have to loose this weight.

What was your deciding factor?

seeing the scale at over 336 pounds, not being able to walk far or wondering do they make clothes bigger than size 30..that was my deciding factor along with being able to push my new granddaughter around the block.

i did not want the bypass as i was too scared and my dr felt i should have because of my size and high bmi...so he told me of the latest thing, the plication with the band..he stressed i would have to change everything about my life..in order for it to work..for me to lose weight, id have to help the band by eating better foods, and in my allotted amounts and follow the guidelines..i think its successful, any wls if you really want it and do everything you can to make it happen.

its not a magic cure all but it will work

[laurigee 545]

I, like Missy, chose the lap-band because it didn't mess with or remove anything internally and could be easily removed if necessary. I didn't want to alter anything in my body unless it was the last resort! I will not lie, it was hard in the beginning until everything gets where it needs to be, and if you don't follow rules, like myself, you can gain weight back! But I have been as high as 296 and as low as 155. In 6 years I have never been over 204. Which is still over 90 pounds of consistent weight loss! The only reason I gained my weight was not because of the band, but because of myself. I lost track of taking care of myself when my dad died of cancer and my 24 year old niece died unexpectedly 6 months later. Eating out, eating fast, and not exercising was the culprit not the band! IMETTERA.....as far as people not being able to keep things down, that seems to happen to people that are more aggressive with fills. If that would be a concern of yours, you could share that with your surgeon and I'm sure they could prevent that from happening. My recovery time was very short. I had surgery on Thursday and back to work on Monday! Good luck with whatever you choose, have no regrets, and give it your all.

[☠carolinagirl☠ 18,721]

I've been debating between the 2 also. I like the band because there is no re-routing or removing things, but I heard the sleeve reduces sweet cravings (I have a huge sweet tooth) and the part of the stomach removed is the part that controls hunger cravings (I don't know how true is this, this is just what someone told me). If I could get rid of cravings I think that it would be more beneficial than just restriction. But 2 people I have talked to that had the band said the first month was miserable, They couldn't keep anything down. I go to school full time so I can't take that much time off to recover, so recovery time is a factor too. But I know whatever decision I make as long as I'm committed to change I will be successful.

-=

the first month you are recovering from major sugery so yeah it gonna hurt, be uncomfortable...def not a mere walk in the park but its part of what happens. i took 8 days total from work off...it will work, any wls, if you change how you eat, think and exercise.

ps, if you follow the guidelines, eat slow, chew alot, no need to throw up...7 months and i havent

[FLORIDAYS 3,040]

My deciding factor was very simple. There is no way I was going To rearrange my anatomy so I chose the band. I was willing to follow every rule I was given to get the weight off and keep it off. So far so good!

[lmattera 17]

Those are good points, yes the first month is all about recovery and getting used to it, so it can feel uncomfortable In the beginning. Also the 2 that had the sleeve that were already complaining about it were friends of my mom, and she doesn't want me to have wls so she may have exaggerated in order to scare me (which won't work, lol).

[☠carolinagirl☠ 18,721]

i pm'd my good friend jean who wrote bandwagon book

she had the band and the sleeve now due to a medical issue not related to the band. i am positive she can offer more insight to this than most.

i am sure she will answer soon

[Jean McMillan 2,973]

I've been debating between the 2 also. I like the band because there is no re-routing or removing things, but I heard the sleeve reduces sweet cravings (I have a huge sweet tooth) and the part of the stomach removed is the part that controls hunger cravings (I don't know how true is this, this is just what someone told me). If I could get rid of cravings I think that it would be more beneficial than just restriction. But 2 people I have talked to that had the band said the first month was miserable, They couldn't keep anything down. I go to school full time so I can't take that much time off to recover, so recovery time is a factor too. But I know whatever decision I make as long as I'm committed to change I will be successful.

That's the first time I heard of the sleeve reducing sweet cravings. Or any cravings.

When my band was adjusted properly, I had very few cravings, very few intrustive food thoughts, and even the flavor of food wasn't thrilling any more. But in the time between my band removal and my sleeve revision, all that changed. Lots of cravings, lots of food thoughts, and every bite of food tasted fabulous again.

I have now been sleeved for 5 months, and none of that has changed. Everything tastes wonderful, I think about food a lot, I crave certain things (including sweets, which I can't eat because they make me dump), and every meal or snack requires Iron will to survive it without overeating.

And unlike my band, there's no way to adjust this sleeve of mine. It is what it is. 75% of my stomach is gone forever, so there's no going back now.

[Jean McMillan 2,973]

When I decided to have bariatric surgery (back in the olden days), I went into it open-minded. A friend was having great success with RNY (gastric bypass), but when my surgeon explained the 3 procedures he did then (Lap-Band, RNY, and VSG), I just had a gut feeling that the band was right for me. It didn't involve altering my anatomy (other than clamping a removable silicone band around my stomach) and the adjustability of it appealed to me. At the time, I also bought into the idea that the band is the least invasive surgery, an idea whose time has passed because all surgery is invasive. So I had band surgery on 9/19/07, a red-letter day in my life.

I loved my band. I lost 100% of my excess weight (90 lbs) in a year. I put my heart and soul into my band and my online community of bandsters, wrote 2 books for bandsters, started work on a 3rd book, met a lot of my online friends in person, published an e-newsletter for bandsters, attended WLS conferences, sat on ask-the-expert panels, spoke at support group meetings...and life was wonderful, until December 2011, when I began having symptoms of esophageal damage from 20+ years of "silent" reflux. My gastro doc and my surgeon agreed that my band could be aggravating my condition and had to come out, so in April 2012 my band was removed and in August 2012 I revised to the sleeve. I have had more medical problems in the 5 months since then than I'd had 15 years, all of them related to my sleeve.

If you can hold back your tears of pity for me for a few more minutes, you can read about my life with the sleeve in my response to this recent thread: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/topic/163124-help-guys-band-or-sleeve-im-scheduled-for-band-feb1/

And if you have any questions after reading that, let me know. If I can't answer your questions, I can probably point you in the right direction. The take-home message here is that there is no such thing as a perfect, effective, risk-free weight loss surgery, but bariatric surgery of any type is still the most effective treatment for obesity available at this time. One day, medical science may come up with a cure, and even some kind of innoculation against obesity. In the meantime, obesity is a chronic disease without a cure, and no matter what kind of WLS we choose, we'll have to fight the obesity devil for the rest of our lives.

[rockdutchess82 2]

Have you considered Lap Band with plication? They band you and then fold part of the stomach in and sew it to make a smaller stomach (similar to the sleeve.) I am having this procedure on Monday morning.

Let me know how it goes....i will ask today....whats the recovery...