From a size 22/24 to a 4/6, Band to Sleeve

[WASaBubbleButt 41]

Wow... where to start?

I knew things were out of hand and I knew I couldn't do it on my own. No matter how hard I tried I just couldn't get the pounds to go away. We all have a moment where we know we have to do something and my moment was at work. I was working in a hospital and it was a very small hospital. We had a patient that we estimated to be around 800#. She was in ICU and we had to have two beds chained together to hold her.

She was quite ill and she was unable to turn herself. On the night shift we did not have enough strong staff to turn her every two hours. We had to call the fire department every two hours and have them come and help us turn her.

We had to do a procedure where we had to thread a tube in her groin artery. trying to get to her groin was no easy task. We just didn't have the strength to lift her stomach fat away so ... we called the fire dept again.

I'll never forget it, one fireman was on his knees pushing up on her gut fat and another fireman was on the other side holding her gut fat back. The guy on his knees was shaking and sweating trying to hold the massive gut out of the way. There were two police officers watching from the doorway (they come anytime the fire dept is called) and they were gagging and ready to vomit with what they were seeing.

That was my moment. I realized that the lady I was looking at was my size at one time, there was a time when she weighed 252 just like me. But she just got bigger, I was getting bigger by the day. Would I be that person one day?

I knew I didn't want bypass, I heard of the sleeve but there were no long term studies and I hadn't heard of the band. I think I was preparing myself for bypass and trying to talk myself into it. Then on 11/6/06 I discovered the Lap Band. I spent 18 hours a day researching the band. At that time there wasn't really a great deal of info on the negative side of banding. Today there is a great deal of info and such on the down sides of banding, there wasn't so much 2-3 years ago.

I researched everything I could get my hands on, I had a friend in Mexico that is a surgeon help me with my decision. I did nothing but research and read anything related to the band. I knew the rules, I knew I could do it.

So one month later on 12/6/06 I was banded in Mexico.

I knew four days after surgery I made a mistake. I lost weight not because of the band, I lost weight in spite of the band. I could either eat an entire steak with potatoes, salad, and desert or I couldn't swallow my own spit. I really questioned if my doctor did something wrong as everyone else seemed to be doing well. I thought it was just me. I went to two bariatric surgeons and they both said the band was perfect, the surgeon did a good job. Then I went to a GI doc for an endo and he... well, he had no idea what he was looking at. But I showed the video of the upper endo to a GI surgeon that knows about banding and he said it was fine, perfect as a matter of fact.

So it was me. Or so I thought. I tried and struggled for 18 months. Finally at 14-15 months post band I couldn't eat any solids at all. I was on liquids for 4 months. I had my revision from band to sleeve on 6/3/08 and as of today I am 2 days shy of a year of being sleeved. OMG, sleeves are the best thing ever! I can't believe how much I struggled with the band when I could have just had the sleeve to begin with.

I've lost 132#. Today, life is just easier. It's so much easier being a thin person than struggling as a fat person. My entire life has changed, my attitude, my outlook, my perceptions of those around me... everything has changed.

I have learned so much about myself. I have discovered I *am* capable of doing damn well anything I want in life. If I can lose 132# I can do anything. I went from being a couch slug to a runner while I was losing. I just got back to running a week or two ago and feel great. I couldn't run 1 block before WLS, today I can run several miles a day. Anywhere from 4-8 miles depending on how lazy I am that day.

If you feel like you are the only person in the world that can't lose weight, you aren't. It's a hard journey but one well worth the work.

[MacMadame 81]

If you feel like you are the only person in the world that can't lose weight, you aren't.

Amen, sister!

[Elisabethsew 50]

ahhhhhhhhhhhh... I love success stories and I want to be one too.

[clisi 0]

Great post. Thanks for sharing!

[debestmath 1]

Love your story. Awesome ending. When did you start running? Was it soon after surgery, or after several pounds of weight loss? What motivated you?

[WASaBubbleButt 41]

Love your story. Awesome ending. When did you start running? Was it soon after surgery, or after several pounds of weight loss? What motivated you?

Ohhhh noooo, I couldn't run at my biggest. I did powerwalking and increased the time daily. Then I started running. I know some people love it, I hate it. But it's a necessary evil. ;o)

Running at a heavy weight is a great way to cause damage to your knees. Walking is a lot better.

[MacMadame 81]

I started running pretty soon after surgery. I don't know what got into me. :thumbup: I was around 175 by then, I think. (It's so hard to remember. That's why I have a blog.)

I was around 161 when I signed up for my first triathlon.... and I was definitely running then.

[Lisa B 0]

WOW! What an awesome success story!

I understand your band issues... and I'm attending a seminar on Wed night to determine which direction I'm going band or RNY.... My Gutt instinct is the Sleeve- It's safer, and no re-routing.... And by looking at this board, very very successful!

[downtownjulibrown 0]

Thanks so much Wasa. Your story saved me from getting the band. I was to be banded on 06-18-09. I changed my mind about the band 2 weeks before my band surgery. I will be sleeved tomorrow morning at 7:30 am. Sheesh that was a close call!!!!

[MacMadame 81]

Your story saved me from getting the band.

That's great!

[WASaBubbleButt 41]

WOW! What an awesome success story!

I understand your band issues... and I'm attending a seminar on Wed night to determine which direction I'm going band or RNY.... My Gutt instinct is the Sleeve- It's safer, and no re-routing.... And by looking at this board, very very successful!

Please be sure to go to a doctor that does ALL the procedures. If you go to a doctor that only does bands/bypass he isn't going to tell you how great sleeves are, he's going to tell you how great the procedures HE does are. If you go to someone that does all the procedures maybe they can work with you and focus on your eating habits and help you decide which procedure is best for you vs. which procedure is best for their bank account. ;o)

My band issues are not uncommon at all.

Thanks so much Wasa. Your story saved me from getting the band. I was to be banded on 06-18-09. I changed my mind about the band 2 weeks before my band surgery. I will be sleeved tomorrow morning at 7:30 am. Sheesh that was a close call!!!!

YEAH JULIBROWN! ;o)

Whenever someone asks me about bands I just suggest to them that they find 5 banded people that have been banded 10 years or longer. They do not exist. We hear about them, we see studies about them, but in 3 years of posting on WLS boards I have never met one. There was one person that was 9 years out and she was contacting me about sleeve info, she wanted a revision.

First they came out with the mesh band, that failed. Then they came out with the non adjustable band, that failed. Then they came out with the small adjustable band (what I had) and that failed. Then they came out with the mega adjustable band and not only are people having the same exact problems with the mega band, now they can't even get proper restriction.

There was a doctor posting on the band boards and he said he was talking to a person that works for a sister company to Inamed (Inamed is owned by Allergan and this is a company that is also owned by Allergan). She said that even they know the band will be obsolete soon. They've tweaked it, tested it, come up with every possible option and it still does not work.

Usually about 2 years after surgery the problems really kick in. Reflux, no sweet spot, revisions, etc.

Good for you for thinking through your options! Sleeves are like bands that actually work without all the risks and complications.

[Kristopia 0]

Great post! Inspiring to hear you success stories :thumbup1: I also had thought about the band at the very beginning, but the more I researched, the more I realized that the band did not at all fit my lifestyle, not to mention the higher expense in the long run going back for fills, taking care of issues, slippage, possible erosion, port flipping, etc. and a "mini-surgery" for everything that might go wrong.

I encourage all my friends with bands, and hope their bands work great for them, but it's not at all for me. I want something permanent, that doesn't require me going in for fill after fill after fill (or unfill if it's too tight). I see also the frustration of some of my banded friends who are struggling the first several months after surgery to find their sweet spots.

No, VSG is for me. I'd have settled for RNY if my insurance would have paid (because they would NOT have paid for the sleeve), but they wouldn't pay for anything at all, so I'm getting VSG in Mexico. I ordered my passport on Thursday, so that's 4 to 6 weeks. Meantime, I'm still looking for the money :sad0:

Thanks Wasa - great post!

[NancySmiles 2]

I will tell you now that they didn't have the sleeve option when I had my band in 2004.....BUT if they did, i would have had the sleeve in a heartbeat!!!

Don't get me wrong....I lost 112 lbs with the band, the first 2 years and felt great. Then I had a slip....had it replaced with another band....stupid me!....and then had a leak....

The surgeon, who I work for, said enough is enough how about a sleeve. So here I am 5 years later with a sleeve which I have had for a year.

BUT....I am gaining weight. I was so used to not being able to eat so many things with the band because of things getting stuck, reflux at night, having to vomit when things would not stay down...etc....! After the sleeve I got spoled because I could eat all those things that I had problems with....but what am I doing? I am eating junk!!! Don't worry....I am working on getting back on track! All of these success stories prove I finally have the right tool to halp me lose all of my weight!

Nancy

[Suzannesh 376]

Hi Michelle,

I just love the way you have shared your information and always been there to help people. You have so much knowledge that we ALL have benefited from. You tell it like it is. No candy coating and so many of us needed to hear it that way. What an inspiration you have been for me. I feel like a whole new woman, and I love my life. Thanks for being there when I needed and you were right! Everyone does turn out ok, but we all need to learn that we have to take care of ourselves first! Put yourself first always and then you can take care of the other things you want to take care of in life.

Take care,

[WASaBubbleButt 41]

Hi Michelle,

I just love the way you have shared your information and always been there to help people. You have so much knowledge that we ALL have benefited from. You tell it like it is. No candy coating and so many of us needed to hear it that way. What an inspiration you have been for me. I feel like a whole new woman, and I love my life. Thanks for being there when I needed and you were right! Everyone does turn out ok, but we all need to learn that we have to take care of ourselves first! Put yourself first always and then you can take care of the other things you want to take care of in life.

Take care,

Thanks, Suzanne, you are always so sweet. I know of a lot of people that wish I was more like you. HA!