Are There Any Old Gastric Sleevers?

[kimmr 5]

I'm a bandster with a slip and I'm considering the sleeve. Are there any old sleevers out there? I know the procedure itself isn't much more than 5 or 6 year old, but where are those people?

How did you make the decision to go to a sleeve, not knowing what it's like in 15 or 30 years?

I'll point out the obvious....I basically went with the band not knowing what it's like in 15 or 30 years (cause those people don't exist, either), but I did it under the guise of being 'reversible.' Of course, now I've come to find out that the band can do all sorts of damage and has a massive failure rate.

How do you know that the sleeve isn't going to stretch and you won't gain everything back in 10 years?

[UXgrrl 29]

People have been getting partial (even full) gastrectomies for decades... it's only been in the last 5-6 years that it's been being performed specifically for weight loss purposes. People have had severe ulcers, stomach cancer, etc. and have been having parts of their stomachs removed and the only significant side effect was weight loss.

In your research you might have come across the fact that the sleeve gastrectromy for WLS was originally done as part of the D/S procedure... then they started doing it to "step down" patients who were too obese to withstand an open surgical procedure since the VSG could be done laproscopically...

Personally I felt most comfortable going with the sleeve from the very beginning because it just seemed so "clean and simple". Combined with what I knew my personal food struggles (simple overeating) it made the most sense for me. I wasn't happy about the presence of (another*) foreign object in my body and I didn't want my intestines messed around with, since I already had an uneasy truce with them. From past attempts at diets, I knew that if I could lose enough weight in the beginning I could trust myself to stay committed to continuing.

I also wanted something permanent. I honestly believe that I was born with a stomach too big for my metabolism. I've struggled with weight my entire life. Now I feel that I've corrected a situation that has done nothing but get me in trouble for as long as I can remember.

(* I say "another" because I already have an artificial hip implant, which someone reminded me of when I explained my "foreign body" argument. Personally I didn't think they were equivalent but the jerk I was speaking to apparently did.)

This is a tough decision. Honestly, for me, having the decision to have WLS of any kind was much less of a hurdle than which procedure to have. One some level, any kind of surgery requires a leap of faith and a trust in something bigger and more powerful than you are -- God, the universe, whatever it is to you. At some point the risks are outweighed by mounting evidence that your other weight-related problems are not going to be resolved on their own. That point comes at different times for different people.

Please let us know if you need more information to make a decision either way... there is a wealth of knowledge and experience on this forum, and we're happy to answer questions.

Best of luck!

[kimmr 5]

You're totally right, UX, I know you are. It's just that I never get to 'talk' to someone with a VSG that's 10 years old. I don't know how to find those people. And clearly, they won't be poking around on a WLS website, because they wouldn't have had that surgery for weight loss.

I don't know, I'm just so gun shy. I research and thought about it and finally committed to lap band to be done with my weight problem once and for all, and now here I am dealing with it again. I'm self pay, too, so that doesn't help matters. I don't want to screw over my kids' college funds.

But man, I'm terrified of gaining everything back. I lost 90 with the band, but have gained back 20, and I'm definitely not slowing down. I know the rest is on it's way back.

My poor psyche is so freakin' fragile. As I explained to my husband, I've never loved myself more than I did when I was moving along smoothly with the band. And now.....it's all back to the same old feelings of crappiness.

[kekerene 35]

The below link might be helpful to you in understanding how long Gastrectomy surgeries have been performed. They were just performed for different purposes, not WLS as UXgrrl stated. I had the band too, and all the complications it caused, and then it slipped on me as well. I could not get that thing out of my body fast enough, lol. I now have the sleeve and I am soooooo much happier. Best decision I ever made.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastrectomy

[kimmr 5]

Keke...did the band work for you? Did you gain everything back (assuming you had lost)?

[Shellyac 22]

I think the short answer is that you don't know if the sleeve is going to stretch (but if does I think that there is only so far that it can go). You just have to take a leap of faith but take as informed of a leap as possible, that's what I'm doing by having the band with plication next week.

Like you said there isn't any long term data on either the band or the sleeve. I think it will be a long time before there is solid data on the band because the procedure is still evolving. As for the sleeve the best I have been able to find is results for patients about 6 years out but the good news is that the sleeve has been a deemed an acceptable primary weight loss surgery (it was previous recommended as either as the DS first step or for patients with a BMI of 50) As a result there should be more patients getting the sleeve and thus more follow-up data. When looking at info to help you make your decision make sure that you put more weight on the published studies because while there is a great deal of knowledge to be gained from individual experiences, they may not by typical and you don't want to compare your success or failure to them but it's better to see how you compare to a group average

What it will basically come down to is how compliant of a patient are you. If you had no problem eating correctly on the band, then you should have no problem with the sleeve. I think that the trap that WLS patients who regain weight fall into is that they don't have put in any work after surgery or that they can eat what ever they want and the "tool" will do all the work. As long as you don't do that you will be fine with what you choose

[kekerene 35]

Keke...did the band work for you? Did you gain everything back (assuming you had lost)?

I am 5'4 and I started at 232 lbs with the Lap Band and the lowest I got was 170 lbs (62 lb loss). I was hoping to get to my goal of around 135-140 lbs but never got there with the band. I gained about 10 lbs with the band after about 3 years and I was at about 180, then I got pregnant. My doc deflated my band so I could keep food down while pregnant and I gained a whopping 80 lbs for my pregnancy. Got up to 260 lbs. After having the baby I lost 20 lbs which put me at 240. We tried to inflate my band again to help me lose but I could not lose a pound to save my life. I was stuck at 240. After several months of fills to my band with no success and no weight loss, my doc took an upper GI x-ray and found that my band had slipped. This was in May 2011. I knew at that moment that I wanted the band out. I was tired of throwing up food, gaining weight, and all the other problems the band gave me. In June 2011 I flew to Mexico and had the band removed and had the revision to the sleeve. I went to Mexico because my doc here in the states had no experience in band to sleeve revisions and I was cash pay. It has been 6 months since my VSG surgery and I am down 60 lbs. I am finally back down to 180 and still losing. I don't throw up food anymore and I feel alive and healthier than I ever felt with the band. I have really believe that with the sleeve I will be able to reach the goal that I was never able to reach with the band.

[LilMissDiva Irene 3,282]

I am 5'4 and I started at 232 lbs with the Lap Band and the lowest I got was 170 lbs (62 lb loss). I was hoping to get to my goal of around 135-140 lbs but never got there with the band. I gained about 10 lbs with the band after about 3 years and I was at about 180, then I got pregnant. My doc deflated my band so I could keep food down while pregnant and I gained a whopping 80 lbs for my pregnancy. Got up to 260 lbs. After having the baby I lost 20 lbs which put me at 240. We tried to inflate my band again to help me lose but I could not lose a pound to save my life. I was stuck at 240. After several months of fills to my band with no success and no weight loss, my doc took an upper GI x-ray and found that my band had slipped. This was in May 2011. I knew at that moment that I wanted the band out. I was tired of throwing up food, gaining weight, and all the other problems the band gave me. In June 2011 I flew to Mexico and had the band removed and had the revision to the sleeve. I went to Mexico because my doc here in the states had no experience in band to sleeve revisions and I was cash pay. It has been 6 months since my VSG surgery and I am down 60 lbs. I am finally back down to 180 and still losing. I don't throw up food anymore and I feel alive and healthier than I ever felt with the band. I have really believe that with the sleeve I will be able to reach the goal that I was never able to reach with the band.

Yayyy Keke!! You're doing EXCELLENT!

Kimmr, you got some excellent responses here. Consider your choices wisely of course. All I know is that my band did NOT work for me, whether I worked it or not. I was an excellent candidate for the band, but was never able to find the sweet spot... I had over 20 adjustments in the 2.5 years I had it.

I lost 50 with the band and once I gained back to within pounds of my Band weight I decided to stop the insanity. Since being sleeved I have lost to my goal and far beyond, and honestly I still haven't reallys stopped losing yet due to my workout and eating habits. Save for this month of course being Christmas and all kinds of other personal holidays.

Good luck to you!