My Revision is one of the best things I've ever done for myself.

[Patti Sue 1]

Congratulations!!! You ROCK!!!!!!!!!! I am thrilled for you and can't wait to be there too!!!!!

Patti

[LilMissDiva Irene 3,282]

Hello old friend...I'm so happy and proud of you! You finally found what you were looking for and success. I'm too looking at revision - the band hasn't worked for me either. I'm back up to my heaviest weight and have strugged a lot in the past two years (first year with the band were great). I'm scared of the change but am researching and trying to make the best decision for me. My biggest worry is if I will screw this up too...

Leslie, I've missed you so much!! xoxo

I felt the same way too when I was looking into this, and it took me over a year to finally take that plunge. I was so scared of failure again and was really the number one reason I didn't tell everyone I was getting a revision. I mostly just said I was having my band removed. I was terrified of going through that feeling again of everyone saying... oh look at her... TWO weight loss surgeries and she still couldn't do it. Well that's not the case this time!

The sleeve runs circles around the band and is everything we wanted out of it but never got. I finally realized that it wasn't ME after all - it was the band. You are going to be amazed my friend and PLEASE PLEASE keep me updated on how you're doing! I'm very interested to follow your progress. Whoohoooo!!!!

[KristeyK 3]

@ Jennet, HELLO!! I always love to talk to revisioners because we can all truly understand each other. The truth is no, I didn't really get a lot of negativity from LBT - however I was treated very harshly at OH. To this day I don't really spend any time over there at all. They were so rude and demeaning, however this is how I see it. No one likes to feel like they went to all the trouble with surgery just to find out that the chances of them needing a revision down the line is extremely high. For that would mean they made a wrong choice... who ever wants to admit that? It took me a few years to finally admit that *I* had made the wrong choice. It wasn't a good feeling.

To date my feelings are exactly the same, I am totally head over heels for my sleeve! I have been stalled for a few weeks but to be honest I've not been giving it my all either. I've been doing good but not as good as I could do. I think I crashed from a few months of going insane with my routines, however I'm now slowly getting back in to them. So I anticipate things will start moving on the scale again soon.

I have decided to make a conscious effort to not abuse myself anymore, for that is how I got to over 300 Lbs!! I know as long as I'm doing the right things the weight will come off. It still is, for I know my face right now is thinning even more and my clothes are fitting looser again. Just need for it to show up on the scale.

I also need to find a better balance on all aspects of my life too, and that has been a challenge for me so far. I'll get it down eventually...

Good luck to you! You will love your sleeve NO DOUBT!!

@ Daisy, I would like to personally thank you DAILY for your guidance. You were what finally got me to take that final step to have my band removed and get something that actually is helping me! I will always appreciate your help.

Believe me, I am MORE than glad I'm over here!

Thanks, LilMissDiva, for your reply. I haven't gotten the sleeve yet and am only just starting my investigation of it. The more I investigate, the more questions I have.

When I got the band all I wanted it to do was to control my hunger. And I would do the rest. I am a fairly complient patient. I follow the rules. So I eat healthy, exercise, chew, etc.. but the band has never controlled my hunger.

I have seen some posts from those who got the sleeve and were disappointed that it didn't control their hunger. As I found with the band, there are no guarantees how a WLS will work and I would hate to self-pay for the sleeve only to find out that it doesn't control my hunger either. But I do think my problem has always been the hunger hormones as I can feel my bottom stomach almost asking for food to fill it. I guess I'm thinking that if I got rid of most of it it would control that.

There are those on LBT that keep posting that the band (pouch) works by putting pressure on the vagus nerve making your body think you're full - at that it doesn't work by restriction and that the food doesn't actually stay in the pouch that long. I don't think it ever worked like that for me - so either my vagus nerve isn't where it's supposed to be or that whole theory is a crock. Because I have seen a video from a bariatric doctor who says the opposite - that the band increases grehlin and hunger. So, who knows?

At this point in time I am not looking to lose more weight. I just want to not be hungry all the time and I want to not gain weight. I have a lot to think over and some decisions to make. Thanks for you reply.

Good luck to you.

I really do love how our bodies work. I took pathophysiology for my major and LOVED it. I can tell you that they are both correct. When we're banded, the food we eat SHOULD stimulate our vagus nerve to trick us into being full. (I emphasize should, because it can also be VERY easily stimulated to make us vomit on a regular basis.) However, said nerve doesn't tell our stomach to stop making ghrelin, which is the hormone that, as you already know, makes us hungry. *IF* I don't throw up a meal, I feel BOTH. I know I am full from where my band restricts me, but my stomach still says "FEED ME" and growls for at least an hour after I eat. (Sometimes it never stops!!!) I wish I had known this tidbit of info before I got this stupid band. I wish I had listened to my dear, darling surgeon when he asked me at LEAST 10 times, "Are you SUUUUUURE this is what you want?" (I have since told him that I will be more than happy to be his poster child for those who are getting the band....LOL!)

@Irene...thank you SO MUCH for your OP. I now know that this is indeed the right course for me to take. I have been suffering with this band for three years now...I will NOT make it a fourth. Now I'm just hoping that everything goes OK if I am approved for this surgery, because I only have a week off from RN school! EEEEK! Continued success to you!

[justtjohn 0]

Great Post, thanks.

My experience with the band was very simular. I am nervous about getting sleeved, because the band was such a miserable experience... But thanks to you, and am feeling less anxious about it.

[LilMissDiva Irene 3,282]

Great Post, thanks.

My experience with the band was very simular. I am nervous about getting sleeved, because the band was such a miserable experience... But thanks to you, and am feeling less anxious about it.

Hi John! No worries, I felt the same way when I was about to get my revision. The whole lap band experience for me was a miserable failure! I didn't tell anyone unless they needed to know. I wanted to make sure this one would actually work out for me first. Now pretty much everyone knows which is fine. I wrote this even a few months ago, and my story is even MORE TRUE today!! I LOVE MY SLEEVE!!!

I believe you will too!

[CowgirlJane 14,259]

I know this is an old thread, but I am so glad it came to the top!

I can relate to absolutely everything stated already. I have always been a big eater. I didn't really have a sugar or carb addiction, so I thought the band wojuld be a good choice... I just needed help with eating less... with not being so hungry.

Over time, I feel that having the band for 10 LONG YEARS has actually created food issues. I am much more of a sugar craver now. I am much more food focused then I ever was - like always thinking about food. And, like everyone else, the healthier food just tends to cause me pain. Even after all this time and with no Fluid in the band for ages, I still have to eat small quantities of dense Protein but swear can eat unlimited amounts of certain foods. sigh

When I did have restriction - I went from hungry to in pain without ever feeling satisfied. It messes with your brain and emotional state, I don't think humans are meant to experience that.

My band has slipped, and it has to GO, but I have three big worries about the sleeve (well, 4 if you count failing AGAIN, but we won't talk about that right now!)

1. Reflux/acid - I never had it before banding and now it is part of my life. I hate it. I fear it will get worse with the sleeve.

2. Never feeling satiated. I have spent my whole life, basically being hungry. With the band, it was worse due to the pain and hunger combination. I fear somehow just feeling bad all the time with the sleeve and of course it cannot be reversed.

2. Risk of leaks due to damage caused by the band. Thank good ness I have no erosion, I guess I will know more when they take the band out to see just how bad the scar tissue is. My doc wants to do 2 surgeries to reduce swelling and scar tissue to reduce this risk

Anyway, I am 47, ,morbidly obese and getting co-morbidities. I want so much to be a healthy weight - there is so much I want to do in life!!!

[CowgirlJane 14,259]

Oh, I also wanted to mention the "forum politics". 10+ years ago it was yahoo groups "Bandsters" and then later "smart bandsters". This was really focused about people being banded outside the country and then the initial usa surgeries too.

People who weren't very successful were either openingly, or indirectly, criticized and implied or directly stated to be "non compliant". Well, if I was so perfect at compliance even when starving, I would have been able to make a million diets work and wouldn't need the help of WLS.

I remember somebody who had erosion, and after she was gone it was basically implied that it was her fault for "keeping her band too tight".

I remember getting alot of my info from that support group - what a HUGE mistake. I went through the paperwork that I got at the time I was banded. The brochure from BioEnterics LapBand actually had a paragraph saying something like "you will probably have to have this removed, don't count on it as a permanent implanted device". I don't remember it, but I know I read it because they had me sign a paper about it. I am guessing that someone on that online forum talked me into thinking that was just CYA talk. Actually, I think it was an absolutely true statement, and they new it a decade ago!!!

So, I am gunshy.

I am more scared of this surgery. I don't know why they call it the sleeve, when it should be "partial stomach removal".

Even so, I feel that I have tried everything else and I need help to get this weight off!

[LilMissDiva Irene 3,282]

Hi cowgirl!! Welcome to VST! J I'm so glad you found us!!

I agree with you, I was NEVER addicted to sugar pre lap band. It was rare for me to eat candy, Cookies, cakes, ice cream, etc. In fact I probably drank maybe 1-2 sodas per week. Of all the sugars I’d say soda was the one I had most. I was more of the salty/crunchy type snacker. I’d choose a bag of Doritos over sweet biscuits any day!

After banding however, I was addicted to all these and then some. It was such a miserable time for me. I hated being in pain, so I did everything I could to avoid it... thus, leading me to “soft food syndrome”. Then once you become addicted to these foods, IMO it’s pretty much all over for the lap band experiment by then. I did gain ALL OF MY WEIGHT BACK that I’d lost with the band. Thank goodness I had the good sense to start over before I’d gotten back up to my highest weight ever or even higher. I know it was more than possible to do that at that point. Imagine my shock as that happened since so many blindly would think it was not easy to gain weight back with the Lap Band. What a joke!!! I know better now, and I’m better off for it too as it will help to keep me in line with my sleeve.

The difference now is that I CAN eat healthier foods!! I’m once again slowly but surely getting back to the old me. I can eat good healthy dense Protein, lettuce, cheese, all fruits and veggies, even lightly steamed broccoli!!! I never have ANY issues with these foods what so ever. The only issue is that I can’t eat a lot of it… which is the point of the surgery to begin with, so I’m ok with that. I’m just glad that one bite doesn’t make me feel like I have a whole grapefruit stuck in my chest and I’ll have a heart attack at any moment.

Another great thing I’ve gotten from my sleeve is that my hunger is pretty much gone! Of course I feel hunger from time to time, but it’s usually when I *should* feel hunger (it’s meal time!!). Not like my band where I’d feel hunger pangs immediately after or even DURING eating (no one would know how this feels unless you’re a previous lap bander… its crazy stuff). It’s usually 3-4 hours later and really depends on what I’ve eaten in my last meal. If I eat majority of dense solid Protein I really don’t even get hunger pangs for nearly 6 hours or more later. Sometimes never, I just happen to have my next meal and I’m good to go.

I did get reflux with my band too. I did have my band pretty tight because that’s honestly what I thought the sweet spot was supposed to be. The reason is that not only but the previous “fill” was less than a quarter cc and I could still eat too much. I kept it like that for about 6 months I think, and with never losing my true physical hunger I ended up getting the soft food syndrome at that time. Anyway, back to the reflux, I would get what is known as “night cough”. It was awful… ugghhh...

The leaks is a real concern with the sleeve. Make sure you do your research on it. Our chances as revision patients go up too, so know your risks. I didn’t have a leak THANK GOODNESS!! However I did struggle a little bit more than the average virgin sleever. I had pain when I swallowed and it took me a little longer to fully recover than others. I did have a fair amount of scar tissue so my surgeon really had his work cut out for him. However, I didn’t have any real major complications so I’m very thankful for that.

All the best to you in your new journey!! It for ME has been the BEST THING I’ve ever done for myself regarding my health and weight loss. Right now I’m just starting to get into Size 6 pants and Small shirts. At my very heaviest I was wearing 28W/3-4X. I can run for an hour straight!! I can keep going and going and never get tired. The sleeve has given me my life back!!

Keep in touch and let me know how you’re doing. J

[Jennet 0]

Oh, I also wanted to mention the "forum politics". 10+ years ago it was yahoo groups "Bandsters" and then later "smart bandsters". This was really focused about people being banded outside the country and then the initial usa surgeries too.

People who weren't very successful were either openingly, or indirectly, criticized and implied or directly stated to be "non compliant". Well, if I was so perfect at compliance even when starving, I would have been able to make a million diets work and wouldn't need the help of WLS.

I remember somebody who had erosion, and after she was gone it was basically implied that it was her fault for "keeping her band too tight".

I remember getting alot of my info from that support group - what a HUGE mistake. I went through the paperwork that I got at the time I was banded. The brochure from BioEnterics LapBand actually had a paragraph saying something like "you will probably have to have this removed, don't count on it as a permanent implanted device". I don't remember it, but I know I read it because they had me sign a paper about it. I am guessing that someone on that online forum talked me into thinking that was just CYA talk. Actually, I think it was an absolutely true statement, and they new it a decade ago!!!

So, I am gunshy.

I am more scared of this surgery. I don't know why they call it the sleeve, when it should be "partial stomach removal".

Even so, I feel that I have tried everything else and I need help to get this weight off!

Cowgirl and KristeyK - I SOOO identify with everything you posted. First, I have to say I have been off this board for quite some time. I left the LBT forum completely in March. I found that those for whom the band works were too judgemental to those for whom it didn't and were often very harsh. I would come to the defense of the strugglers and it just became too much, so I left.

Anyway, I am totally unfilled in my stupid 4cc band and since March I put on 10 lbs (I maintained for 15 months after being unfilled - well actually before then too as I wasn't losing with the band). The 10 lbs was because I actually got sick from going on NutriSystem foods. I thought I had the stomach flu but it was their food and I got terrible diarrhea and ended up at the doctors. I had to go on a liquid only diet for two days and I was so hungry that when I went off I overate some - not a lot but enough to put on 10 lbs over 3 months. Now I am on WW online trying unsuccessfully to take it off.

The sensation of pain upon eating certain foods (or when I was overfilled) never translated into anything close to satiety - my bottom stomach still felt empty and hungry. It still does. I struggle with hunger every day. What a way to live. If I were losing weight it might be worth it for awhile, but I'm not.

I just talked to a friend who got the band last fall. She's lost about 20 lbs, can eat anything she wants after 3-4 fills. She said she is hungry too.

I think the band is misrepresented to people. I think those for whom it works keep theirs too tight at their own peril.

These are the people who drink their Breakfast and lunch. For others for whom it works - well their eating has changed so drastically that they've lost a lot of weight. They were just eating so many calories and so much junk and fast food that just eating healthy caused them to be successful.

I don't have any more room to go with my selection of food. Everything is healthy - low fat, fat free, low sugar, sugar free, lite, diet, low calorie. I have counted calories, done NutriSystem and now WW online. I am just so sick of it all.

I haven't discussed the sleeve with my doctor because I don't think I can afford it and I don't know his experience with band to sleeve conversions and he is already my second doctor (I left the idiot doctor who did my surgery - that's another horror story) so I don't think another doctor would see me if he's not very experienced.

So, while I'm sorry you guys have had the same problems that I have, I feel validated that I am not alone.

Thanks for your posts.

I