Thinking Of Getting Rid Of My Band For The Sleeve.....advice?

[Sarah35 1]

Hey everyone. I was banded November 2008. I have lost, gained, lost, etc etc. I am currently at 187 and my GW is 145. I have been approved for the financing and want to take out the band and have the sleeve surgery. Anyone else done this and had luck? Thanks!!!

Sarah

[Sarah35 1]

Great to hear.....I really HATE this band. I just can't seem to decide if I want to stick with my doctor here in Washington or fly to Mexico and save thousands!

[Wheetsin 714]

Lots of people having it done, just a small percentage of which is reflected here.

I had my revision surgery about 5 weeks ago. I didn't mind having the band, but it slipped and was not conducive to a healthy life (though I was given the option of keeping it.) The GERD alone was worth having it taken out.

I will say that so far there are a few minor similarities: some of the sensations are similar. And having had the band, you're ahead on the behavioral changes around chewing, portion size, etc.

In practice they're like night and day. My PsyD asked me to talk to him about the differences so that he could use the information to speak with other revisions. I pointed out some of the nicer differences such as:

• No "time of day" restrictions. With band I had a window around 2 - 5 when I could comfortably eat. Anything else was a guessing game.
  
• No food intolerances, so far (but I'm still just a sleeve pup). On the band I couldn't really do chips (which was OK, I don't really like chips) or raw nuts, mashed potatoes, or scrambled eggs. Didn't mind giving any of those up, but it's still the principle.
  
• No stoma to clear, so horrid pain when you can't ("PB"s hurt me like crazy)
  
• I can take pills! (PBed on a Tylenol once, PBed prednisone elixir out my nose once - OUCH)
  
• I can drink Water. Whenever I want! <- this got so old with the slipped band. I would have a certain sort of pressure when something was having a hard time clearing the prolapse. It would sometimes last for days. During those days, I couldn't reliably eat or drink anything. Sometimes I would be hungry, and just couldn't eat. I would be so thristy, and couldn't drink. I would have a killer headache, but couldn't swallow the pain killer.
  

I haven't yet experienced vomiting or even nausea with my sleeve, so I don't know if these will change down the road, but right now (based on the info available to me) I would say the band seems preferable in these ways:

• "PBing" (let's face it, that's a load of crap) was mostly just thick saliva. Never vomit. Sleeve seems to be vomit. Yuck.
  
• When bandsters have to "PB" they can typically control it somewhat. If I knew I was going to yak, I could "control" it and make it to a bathroom. Except for the one time I was completely blocked. Seems that with the sleeve, it kinda just comes and you can't do much about it.
  
• It is reversible. Yeah, that's also a weakness, but it's one of the only things keeping the band as popular as it is.
  
• So far my weightloss with the band was a lot better, but I'm not even 2 mos out so we'll see. There's really nothing that logically supports that being the case, tho.
  
• I do dearly miss chugging fluids...
  

None of that bottom list touches the top list, though.

[kenbr14 12]

My wife got the band 10 years ago and till today throws up at times because of food getting stuck. After seeing her struggles over the years when it came to my surgery I chose the sleeve and boy am I glad I did. I'm now 9 weeks out and have not vomited once. With the sleeve you can eat just about all foods as supposed to the band some foods will always get stuck. just one example I can eat Pasta or lomein already with no issues and she can't even after all these years. Don't get me wrong there are a lot of similarities but just go to the section on here on revisions and see the comments there. Good luck on your decision. Oh btw I have already lost 51 lbs!!

[topgun 63]

Are your weight gains the fault of the band or your fault for not following the program? The band has been successful for some and there are people out there who swear by them (as opposed to swearing AT them). Fix whatever is broken so, if it's the band's fault, then go for the revision. If your eating habits are the problem, then why undergo surgery? Even with the VSG, you have to make it work... it won't do it all by itself. Best of luck on whatever you decide.

[CamarilloCA 41]

I also had the band in 2008 and had revision surgery a month ago. I hated the band. I threw up blocked food at nearly every meal, and I was hungry all the time with the band. I chose food that would stay down, which was usually unhealthy food that I wouldn't have normally chosen just so I wouldn't be hungry anymore. There were so many things that I couldn't eat with the band -- healthy foods, high Fiber foods. I looked at my band as surgically induced bulimia. I did lose some weight with it but just about 10% of the weight that I needed to lose, and it eventually came back.

I know that there are some people that have been successful with the band, especially people who normally eat large portions, but I wasn't one of them.

Like others have said, I am only sorry that I didn't do the revision surgery sooner.

Edited to add: I have the sleeve now, and I have not thrown up once since the surgery. I can eat healthy foods now, and the weight is coming off.

[RickM 1,747]

I will second topgun's advice on really understanding the your problem - is it physical failure of the band (slippage, erosion, etc.) or incompatibility of the band procedure with your physiology/psychology? The different procedures have different characters which make them compatible with some patients and imcompatible with others. If it's a physical failure of the band, then the sleeve is a sensible revision; however if it's a problem of compatiblity with the restrictive nature of the band, then another restrictive procedure may not be the best fit for you. Look carefully (as you are doing here) to understand how the two procedures differ, and how they are similar, in how people use them to lose weight. It may be that a more malabsorptive procedure like the DS may be a better fit; few people like the idea of the intestinal rerouting, but sometimes that's what is needed to get the weight off and keep it off. The bands are often sold and chosen based upon them being a simple and quick procedure, and this is also an attraction for the VSG, but that doesn't mean that they are necessarily the best choice for an individual in the long run.

In our support group meeting last night we were discussing a patient that they had on the table yesterday who had previously revised a band to an RNY, and when that didn't work was getting the RNY revised to a DS - three WLS over about five years. This is something that you would like to avoid, so do all the research that you can and do a lot of soul searching on understanding yourself to make the best decision that you can.

[gingersnap 11]

Great board! I find everyone's perspective so interesting. I had my band removed this past September and I can so relate to one of the posts above that it seemed to be "medically induced bulimia". I was constantly struggling to keep food down. Then the band started to tilt and a tilt led to a slip and the slip led to an emergency surgery to have it removed. Now I'm without my tool and trying to calculate the risks of having another surgery. I'm wanting to go to VSG but my band removal surgeon cautioned me because of the scar tissue. To do the VSG you have to cut right through the thick scar tissue and it causes a greater risk of a leak. With RNY he can cut around it. I have a lot of faith in him, he has done 3,500+ WLS and did a band to VSG surgery yesterday.

For those Band to VSG patients out there what did you surgeon's say about the increased risk of a leak due to scar tissue? Did they recommend RNY over VSG?

[CamarilloCA 41]

Gingersnap, my surgeon did a revision surgery on me from band to sleeve. My surgical report said I had extensive adhesions between the left lobe of the liver and the anterior gastric wall. Those had to be removed to even access the band. I also had an obstructing scar ring circumferentially obstructing the upper gastric cardia of the stomach. Both the port and the lap band were surrounded by scar tissue and causing problems for me after four years in my body. I'm glad you got rid of yours.

I think you will be successful with the sleeve. There is a risk of a leak, I think, but I think that is fairly rare. In the hospital, they do a leak test before you are released.

Sarah, I think you will be successful also, and I'm not sure why there are some posts asking you to closely examine your failure with the lap band when there are so many other people on this forum who have gone through exactly the same failure with the band and revision to sleeve (including me). The sleeve is so much different than the band. The sleeve is a much more reasonable tool with less complications. Don't let anyone discourage you from doing this for yourself. Yes, it is always a good idea to do self-examination and figure out if you are an emotional eater, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't have the sleeve and learn how to deal with that issue at the same time. I think probably all of us are emotional eaters of some sort or another. I also think that just because the band wasn't working for you doesn't mean that the sleeve won't either. The band never worked for me, but I've had the sleeve now for a month, and I've lost 20 pounds -- something I couldn't do with the band.

[gingersnap 11]

CamarilloCA

Thanks for those encouraging words. I believe the band failed me I didn't fail the band. There is a huge increase in the number of band problems out there. I guess it's just not meant to last forever. I predict that (my opinion) at least 90% of people that have the band will at some point in their lifetime need to have it replaced or removed due to a complications.

I think the VSG is a great surgery and so is the RNY. I feel fortunate to have both of them available to me. As I go into the vetting process I want to gather as much information as possible form all sources and make the right decision for me.

[CamarilloCA 41]

Hi Gingersnap, I agree with you 100%. I might even have gone with a higher number and say that 99% of all people with a lap band will eventually have to have it removed or replaced. It is a foreign body, and the body's natural inclination is to isolate it from the rest of the body by building scar tissue around it. This and all the other things that can happen -- such as erosion, hiatal hernias, ulcers, slips, etc. -- make it a temporary solution or tool at best.

Congrats are in order to you, however, for losing 140 pounds with the band. You certainly did not fail. I think the questions of failure that I was referring to were being directed at another poster or the original starter of this thread (Sarah). That is actually whom I was talking to in the second part of my post. Sorry for the confusion. I would never say that someone failed with the lap band; I would say instead that the lap band failed that person.

I'm sure you will do what is best for you.

[ChaChaBurch 60]

I had the band in 2007 - lost about 45lbs in 7 months. Then everything started going downhill. By 2009, I couldn't eat anything without getting stuck - EVERY SINGLE TIME! Soon it was just junk food in order to get something in my tummy. Obviously, I gained it all back. I had the sleeve on 3/22/12, and haven't looked back. The Surgeon said I had a tremendous amount of scar tissue, but he was still able to remove 85% of my stomach - no leaks - and I have never been happier. No more getting stuck, having problems drinking, and back to eating "normal" healthy foods. For me, this was the best thing I've ever done.

[ChaChaBurch 60]

Also, if you are on Facebook, you should look up a group called "Failed Lap-Bands and Realize Bands" - it's a group of folks who either had the band and got the revision, or they currently have the band and are working on getting a revision to another kind of WLS.

[gingersnap 11]

I had the band in 2007 - lost about 45lbs in 7 months. Then everything started going downhill. By 2009, I couldn't eat anything without getting stuck - EVERY SINGLE TIME! Soon it was just junk food in order to get something in my tummy. Obviously, I gained it all back. I had the sleeve on 3/22/12, and haven't looked back. The Surgeon said I had a tremendous amount of scar tissue, but he was still able to remove 85% of my stomach - no leaks - and I have never been happier. No more getting stuck, having problems drinking, and back to eating "normal" healthy foods. For me, this was the best thing I've ever done.

Really encouraging to hear that your Sleeve is much better than the LapBand. I had a love hate relationship with my band that turned to hate the last year. What I regret is that my insurance does not cover the VSG only RNY. I have to go to a Military Treatment Facility to have it done. I've been waiting around for insurance to start covering it and I'm done waiting. I'm done waiting on getting my life back, and done living without my tool.

What did your surgeon tell you about the risks due to scar tissue? Did he do anything differently?

[Sarah35 1]

Thanks everyone! I did not fail my band, it failed me. I started at 234, dropped to 160 and then it has slowly gone up. I am now 187 or so. I cannot eat anything healthy. EVERYTHING gets stuck. I hate it. I want to live!

I am looking into Mexico....anyone have any ideas of doctors down there?? Thanks!