Newbie Questions

[tking66 0]

Hi.

I am going to my seminar Thursday! I am very new to the idea of the sleeve. A friend of mine at work had the Lap Band and I was considering this until I did some research on the sleeve. I know that there are alot of you that had the Lap Band first. What type of problems did you have with the Lap Band? I have a few other questions. How long were you off work? Did you have drains? My husband had Gastric bypass several years ago and he came home with drains that he kept in for 7 days. Thanks!

Tina

[Joiebean 53]

I had the sleeve and yes, my doctor uses a drain for a week post surgery. His reasoning was that if you are going to get a leak, more often it happens in that first week and why not leave the drain in place to ensure a first line of defense in case that does happen. That way, instead of being an immediate emergency, the drain can collect any leak and they don't have to rush you into surgery so fast. They have a little more time to plan what the best course of action is. It's really easy to maintain it and the only part that sucks is when they take it out. It doesn't hurt so much as it will be the absolutely strangest feeling ever. Like wanting to throw up, pass out and get the wind knocked out of you at the same time.

As for work, I took off 2 weeks, but ended up needing an extra 1/2 week. I went back to work on Thursday, which was nice to start getting back into the swing of it and then have the weekend to rest again.

[Chimera 644]

I do know that at my hospital support group - they have contemplated the idea of separating the surgery types - especially lap bands from vsg's, because I guess the lap banders often get the band because their insurance wont cover the vsg and there is some negative energy there. I am pre-surgery, but when meeting some of the folks there I can definetley feel that vibe..which is kinda crazy.

[kittenkate 186]

I had always intended to get the LapBand only because it was reversible but after meeting my surgeon he explained that with the amount of weight I needed to lose that I would be better off with the sleeve. I had never heard of the sleeve before so I did some research and determined that it was, indeed, the better option for me and I am SO glad that I went with it instead of the band. If you have a lot of weight to lose I would go with the sleeve definitely.

To be honest, I'm not even sure what drains are but I know I didn't have them. I was off of work for about 10 days but to be honest I probably only needed a week. I recovered really quickly and had no trouble going back to work. I work in an office though so I sit most of the day, it depends entirely on what type of work you do as to how long you should recover before returning.

[Lissa 2,631]

I researched the Band as well, thinking that was what I wanted until I went to my seminar. I quickly changed my mind and went with the sleeve instead. My surgeon said something that really made up my mind. He told us that the band is better for people who have lower BMIs but that the sleeve is better for people whose problem is sweets. Sweets were my downfall pre-op, and could be post-op if I don't make myself control them. The sleeve provides excellent restriction for me. Even if I think I want sweets, I can only eat so much before I'm too full to eat more, which minimizes the damage I can do.

There is a lap band talk site just like this one, and I spent a ton of time there doing my research. I felt there were a lot of people there who did not get the results they expected from the band, and there were a ton of people who had revisions. I had one shot to get this right and I feel like I have gotten it right with the sleeve.