BAND EMPTIED, HOPING TO BE SLEEVED MAY 28TH

[mcm1512 2]

Greetings! I am new to VSG Forum, and I would like to share a bit of my story with you all. I was banded 3/2010 and lost about 60lbs post op due to the liquid diet. After I was back on solids, I quickly gained that wieght back and was labeled a failure by my family and my friends. I kept at that weight for three years and have finally had enough. In 11/2011 I stopped eating ALL fast food (I was addicted) after seeing "pink slime" and watching a few documentaries of what actually is in the food that is "fast". In 3/2012 I started a vigorous workout program of extremely intense cardio, 65 minutes a day for 6 days a week. I did this until I hurt my back in 9/2012 and I had come down to my lowest weight ever of 322lbs.

Since 9/2012, I have not been back to the gym less for a few days here and there. I have suffered a massive dive back into depression. The band did not help me lose any weight at all. The only way I lost weight was by working my butt off (literally) at the gym. I am working my way out of a depression now, and hope to return to the gym next week (I have been saying that for a month). I finally decided that I needed to get my band taken out because I was tired of getting stuck and choking and hiccuping and throwing up at every meal. I wanted to be able to eat like a normal person. I wasn't getting proper nutrition because I was eating sliders to eat around the band to avoid the negative side effects. I made a consultation with a wonderful surgeon and here I am now working my way through presurgical clearence with cardio, pulminary, gastro, etc.

My current surgery date is scheduled for May 28th. I hope they can get it done sooner, as I will have all of my clearences done well in advance, but I will try to be patient. I am most looking forward to not choking or sliming or being stuck again. The pain of that is horrific.

So here I am back at my presurgical lapband weight, probably even higher now that my band is emptied for the endoscopy which is scheduled for next week, waiting to see if this revisional surgery can possibly help change my life. I am praying that it can because I can not and do not want to live life as a 400lb 27 year old anymore!

Thanks for reading, I appreciate every single entry here, it helps me better understand what I am getting in to and that is something I wish I had better understood before I decided on the lapband in 2010.

Michelle

[magpie30 187]

It will change your life! And all for the better! I'm so excited for you and can't wait to hear about your progress! It's a tough journey but well worth it and i know you can do it! on a side note, just remember that you can gain weight back with it if you eat a lot of slider foods, it's a tool not a cure. i sometimes have to remind myself of that when i want pizza, or ice cream, or other not so good for you foods. Just keep that in mind and you will do great!!

[stefaniwg 172]

I totally understand what your going thru. I am revising from band to sleeve on may 31st and I cannot wait. I got my band in July 2010 and lost about 45lbs in a year and a half. But within the last year I have gained about 20-25 of those pounds back. This is also due to slider foods just so I won't vomit. All healthy food make me vomit (dense Protein and fibrous veggies). Everything else goes right down. I have never gotten to that "sweet spot" so those 45lbs was all me not the band! I am confident that the sleeve will work for me. I'm sure you will be successful with it. Good luck on your journey!

[mcm1512 2]

Thank you for your response, I see that you are doing really well with your surgery and that gives me great encouragement. Everything on this site is so informative and I so appreciate everyone sharing their stories so that I may learn and make my process easier! Congratulations on your loss so far and keep going!!

[mcm1512 2]

I totally understand what your going thru. I am revising from band to sleeve on may 31st and I cannot wait. I got my band in July 2010 and lost about 45lbs in a year and a half. But within the last year I have gained about 20-25 of those pounds back. This is also due to slider foods just so I won't vomit. All healthy food make me vomit (dense Protein and fibrous veggies). Everything else goes right down. I have never gotten to that "sweet spot" so those 45lbs was all me not the band! I am confident that the sleeve will work for me. I'm sure you will be successful with it. Good luck on your journey!

I am in the same position as you - all food I eat is sliders, noodles, mashed potatoes, etc. carbs that go down easy so that I don't have to deal with throwing up or getting stuck. The pain is unreal! It's like literally being stabbed in the chest until that food passes through. I went three years every month for adjustments having them stick me with the needle, take some Fluid out, put some Fluid in, lose 2lbs this month, gain 3lbs next month, this is the normal process, blah, blah, blah. I finally had enough! After all, I was paying $50 a month in copays to be told I was losing less weight than I would have on weight watchers! The band was NOTHING like I was told it would be. I am hoping that the sleeve will be what it is said to be. From what I am hearing from those that have gotten band to sleeve revisions, the sleeve is what they thought the band was going to be like. That would be a miracle for me! We have our surgery dates so close together, I hope that we can stay close on our journies and support eachother through this!!

[mcm1512 2]

Thank you for your response, I see that you are doing really well with your surgery and that gives me great encouragement. Everything on this site is so informative and I so appreciate everyone sharing their stories so that I may learn and make my process easier! Congratulations on your loss so far and keep going!!

It will change your life! And all for the better! I'm so excited for you and can't wait to hear about your progress! It's a tough journey but well worth it and i know you can do it! on a side note, just remember that you can gain weight back with it if you eat a lot of slider foods, it's a tool not a cure. i sometimes have to remind myself of that when i want pizza, or ice cream, or other not so good for you foods. Just keep that in mind and you will do great!!

Thank you for your response, I see that you are doing really well with your surgery and that gives me great encouragement. Everything on this site is so informative and I so appreciate everyone sharing their stories so that I may learn and make my process easier! Congratulations on your loss so far and keep going!!

[Pixie Dust 526]

Hi mcm! I haven't been sleeved yet. I have my first appt with the surgeon next Friday & at that time he may possibly give me a surgery date. I'm hoping for summer. But I did want to wish you the best! I think just coming on this forum, you'll get so much positive feedback & encouragement that it's the best place to be if you're sitting on the proverbial fence!

Don't let anyone discourage you or call you a failure! They are not friends & if family calls you a failure, then you need to find different relatives! I "divorced" my family & have "adopted" some wonderful friends as family. That was the first dead weight I lost & haven't felt better or looked back!

I hope you find all that you're looking for & that all your dreams come true!

[mcm1512 2]

Hi mcm! I haven't been sleeved yet. I have my first appt with the surgeon next Friday & at that time he may possibly give me a surgery date. I'm hoping for summer. But I did want to wish you the best! I think just coming on this forum, you'll get so much positive feedback & encouragement that it's the best place to be if you're sitting on the proverbial fence!

Don't let anyone discourage you or call you a failure! They are not friends & if family calls you a failure, then you need to find different relatives! I "divorced" my family & have "adopted" some wonderful friends as family. That was the first dead weight I lost & haven't felt better or looked back!

I hope you find all that you're looking for & that all your dreams come true!

Thanks darlin', you're so very kind! I am finding a lot of information here that I am really finding to be useful. Going into my second surgery, I have something to compare it to, and seeing as they have an entire thread dedicated to Lap Band to VSG revisions, I can clearly see that I am not alone. I think the disappointment is more inside my own head than openly expressed by others I am close to, but I know deep inside that they are extremely let down that I did not make the first surgery work for me. They feel like I got a vainity surgery done and that it should have cured me instantly of my obesity. It's such a difficult concept for them to understand, but it is incredibly embarassing to see friends and family who know that I have had the surgery and have not seen me in a while and now see me at my presurgical weight again. I know it is awkward for them and awkward for me as well. I feel like a failure every time something like this happens. When I used to go to my doctors office for a fill or unfill, I would be waiting in the waiting room to be called in the back and another patient would ask me when my surgery date was. It was mortifying - this was when I was 2 years out from my surgery date. I wanted to rip my hair out! It was so frustrating and no one was listening to me! I am so thankful now that I found a new surgeon who actually has my concerns at heart and wants to do the best surgery for ME and not just make money at a "band factory".

[Pixie Dust 526]

Thanks darlin', you're so very kind! I am finding a lot of information here that I am really finding to be useful. Going into my second surgery, I have something to compare it to, and seeing as they have an entire thread dedicated to Lap Band to VSG revisions, I can clearly see that I am not alone. I think the disappointment is more inside my own head than openly expressed by others I am close to, but I know deep inside that they are extremely let down that I did not make the first surgery work for me. They feel like I got a vainity surgery done and that it should have cured me instantly of my obesity. It's such a difficult concept for them to understand, but it is incredibly embarassing to see friends and family who know that I have had the surgery and have not seen me in a while and now see me at my presurgical weight again. I know it is awkward for them and awkward for me as well. I feel like a failure every time something like this happens. When I used to go to my doctors office for a fill or unfill, I would be waiting in the waiting room to be called in the back and another patient would ask me when my surgery date was. It was mortifying - this was when I was 2 years out from my surgery date. I wanted to rip my hair out! It was so frustrating and no one was listening to me! I am so thankful now that I found a new surgeon who actually has my concerns at heart and wants to do the best surgery for ME and not just make money at a "band factory".

OMGosh....I do hope with all my heart that it works out for you this time & I do believe it will. That's exactly why I don't even plan to tell anyone. Naturally my husband knows, God knows, & I've told 2 of my friends out of state & a neighbor (who talks to no one & isn't friends with any of the other neighbors) in case I need help with my youngest son, but that's it. No one else will ever know. I don't want the pressure of everyone asking me how much weight I've lost or how long before I lose all my weight & watch me for every bite I take. No thank you. Has anyone on this forum used the same surgeon you will have?

[mcm1512 2]

OMGosh....I do hope with all my heart that it works out for you this time & I do believe it will. That's exactly why I don't even plan to tell anyone. Naturally my husband knows, God knows, & I've told 2 of my friends out of state & a neighbor (who talks to no one & isn't friends with any of the other neighbors) in case I need help with my youngest son, but that's it. No one else will ever know. I don't want the pressure of everyone asking me how much weight I've lost or how long before I lose all my weight & watch me for every bite I take. No thank you. Has anyone on this forum used the same surgeon you will have?

I'm not sure, I just signed up - I will have to search. I was lurking on the Band to VSG page for quite some time, but I haven't checked any other topics, I guess I should. I personally know someone who has had surgery by my new surgeon but hers was not a revision and it was RNY, she did lose all of her weight and started out at my same weight (389lbs) but that's all I know about him other than his practice is completely different than my original band surgeon's practice which was in and out, wham, bam, thank you ma'am. I feel much more comfortable here, like I can really research the options I have and take my time making up my mind about which surgery will be best for me.