First Blog. Please Read.

Welcome Tiffany.......I had the lapband 2 years ago and I had about 170 pouds to lose. i lost around 90 with the band and then I hit a wall that would not move and my band was at full fill. I wanted to have the sleeve but my insurance said no so I went to Mexico and on Dec 11 I have the band removed and a sleeve done. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I have lost 29 pounds in 4 weeks and I am on cloud 9. My first question for you is how much weight do you need to lose? The band is fine and reversable but you still have problems as you do with the sleeve. I wish that I had done the sleeve in the first place 2 years ago and I would have been where I want to be a long time ago. I would be glad to chat anytime and answer any more questions that you have.

I've been scouring every inch of this forum since December 6th, and I have not heard ONE good thing about the lap band until Anderson right above me here. Use the search bar above and put in lap band and start reading. This may give you another look at the lap band vs. sleeve. Many, many, many band to sleeve conversions on here. All are soooo happy with it. Just fyi. I don't personally know much about the band. This forum is a good resource for real life experience.

hey tiffany,

I am 4 weeks post op today, and i am soooooooooo happy that i got the sleeve. I too haven't heard very many good things about the lap band, and i did a lot of research before i got my surgery.

I don't want to try and sway you either way because it really needs to be your decision, but personally I just don't think the lap bad is a good idea. I guess to me adding a foreign object into your body just doesn't seem right to me, and the risk for it just didn't compare to the pros of the surgery in my view and it seriously didn't match up to the weight loss that people expected.

with all the literature that i read thru, with the sleeve you can lose almost the same amount of weight as you would with gastric bypass, without all the complications.. Dont get me wrong there are a lot of risks with any surgery, it just seemed that this had the least amount when done correctly and had the greatest benefits.

I personally love my sleeve. Im 5'7" started at 238.1 day of surgery and 4 weeks out im 216.8 as of this morning. Im not quite sure how much you have to lose, but in my situation i also started with a lot of muscle and since ive been an athlete all my life i know how to push myself in the gym. the higher BMI you have the faster you will lose the weight.. and although i weigh a lot my BMI was around 35 to start so its a little bit lower than a lot of peoples, but i still have to work my butt off.. and as long as i do that my sleeve will work its butt off too.. lol.

Good luck in either adventure that you take, but know that everyone here is really supportive no matter what you choose!

BTW.. sorry for the novel.. lol

I have heard nothing positive about the lapband either. I personally know a woman who has had nothing but complications and vomits at least once a day. She has had to have it repositioned twice. Twice at an out of pocket expense of $36K each time because she was self pay and her "insurance policy" that came along with the surgery expired a month before the first slip. She is always getting colds and never has any energy. Add to that her weight loss of about 2 lbs a month. She finds ways to get in the calories (slider foods and starbucks and beer and shakes and ...).

Watching her go through this, my research, and my constant hunger drove me to choose the sleeve. I think it was the best decision for ME. My surgeon stopped doing the lapband because of it's high complication rate and high revision rate.

All this being said, it definately needs to be your decision. Make it an informed decision by doing a lot of research and looking up complication rates. Don't let any one person's story sway you one way or the other.

I went through the whole process, even pre op for the lap band. The doctor and his staff weren't supportive and I felt very uncomfortable allowing him to do the procedure. During that journey I also saw several co-workers who had the lap band procedure and didn't do well. They would lose the weight and then regained it back plus more. I am glad my doctor was such an a... because it made me research other doctors. After intensive research and speaking to my doctor I am satisfied with the decision of having the sleeve surgery Jan 20th. Good Luck on your choice.

I originally thought I wanted the lap-band also until I went to several seminars and heard about the maintenance of it and then the amount of people who do revisions to a VSG. RNY seemed a bit much and I wanted to do the leasts amount possible that was permanent, low maintenance, and got results. Although I felt like I physically assaulted my body taking most of my stomach out, I don't think I'm going to miss it or the hormone it produces that makes me hungry. You have to do what feels right for you. You'll know once you do all the research which of the proceedures feels like the right choice for you. Good Luck!

Do what feels right to you.

Sleeve me please!!! No male obsorbtion issues. No dumping. No rerouting, just snip and heal. lol

Maybe a little, (actually a lot) more than that, just less all the issues.

Thank you guys for your stories!! Good luck with your weight losses/Surgeries!! I appreciate you guys writing back to me!! On the lapband site noone did =( lol but i have made my decision I am going to get the Sleeve and my first appointment is on Feb. 10th I will keep you all updated!! Thank you so much for your support!!