Lap Band to Sleeve on 8/14

[Sanders001 10]

Hi everyone! Long story short ... got lap band 10 years ago and did okay but not crazy great. I went from a size 16 to 8. In April 2016 I got a mommy make over and in December 2016 started gaining weight thanks to menopause. If I hadn’t been overweight before and stressed about it I would have probably only gained 20 pounds but I freaked out causing my hormones to go crazy. So now I am a size 16 again and going in for a revision. I worked my ass off to get to a size 8 but those who knew I had lap-band tend to forget all those nights I spent at the YMCA instead of happy hour and think the band did all the work so this time I don’t want to tell anyone. My brother and SIL know but they have 2 babies and it would be really hard to go. My sister, Dad & step mother and my daughter tend to tell everyone who will listen my business. My doctor is 2 hours away so I’d like to stay at a hotel and Uber to the hospital. Has anyone gone through this alone?

[Matt Z 4,139]

1 hour ago, Sanders001 said:

Hi everyone! Long story short ... got lap band 10 years ago and did okay but not crazy great. I went from a size 16 to 8. In April 2016 I got a mommy make over and in December 2016 started gaining weight thanks to menopause. If I hadn’t been overweight before and stressed about it I would have probably only gained 20 pounds but I freaked out causing my hormones to go crazy. So now I am a size 16 again and going in for a revision. I worked my ass off to get to a size 8 but those who knew I had lap-band tend to forget all those nights I spent at the YMCA instead of happy hour and think the band did all the work so this time I don’t want to tell anyone. My brother and SIL know but they have 2 babies and it would be really hard to go. My sister, Dad & step mother and my daughter tend to tell everyone who will listen my business. My doctor is 2 hours away so I’d like to stay at a hotel and Uber to the hospital. Has anyone gone through this alone?

Good luck! There are more and more stories about banded folks not being able to get the sleeve, I was one of them, and more and more reports about folks not being able to be revised in 1 surgery do to scar tissue caused by the band. I was lucky enough that my surgeon kept working, even though the surgery took WAY longer than it should have. Over 6 hours for an under 3 hour surgery. There was just a post today from another Band to Bypass revision that the doctor removed the band and that's it due to scar tissue. I mention this because you stated your surgeon was 2 hours away and you were going this alone. Just want to make sure you fully understand that there is a real possibility that your doctor will open you up, and only be able to do the removal. We can hope that doesn't happen, but you should at least be aware and prepared for that possibility.

[Sanders001 10]

Thank you, Matt. To be honest I hadn’t even thought of that possibility.