CowgirlJane

okay, <sigh of relief> So, when they said no erosion after that endoscopy I know that is the final word! my band is slipped about half way down the stomach, can be seen clearly on the floroscopy so I didn't need to do the CT.

Congrats on getting the date set! What made them decide to do the CT scan? I have had a band for 10 years that is slipped. They did an endoscopy and told me I didn't have any erosion. I am curious how erosion is typically diagnosed.

I have felt some anxiety starting with just researching WLS. When I feel anxiety, I tend to eat a bit more. I felt like I was gaining a ton of weight over several months, but when I finally got brave and weighed, it wasn't THAT bad. I have now started tracking what I am eating and just trying to be "sensible". For me, the tracking helps me have that feeling of being in control. BTW, I tried both fitnesspal and livestrong.com So far, I prefer the livestrong.com tools for food tracking. I am not a big believer in the "last supper". Heck, I have done all sorts of weight loss programs and the reality of it is that you will be able to eat again! The point with the surgery is that at first your food is very very restricted. Once you hit maintenance, you should be able to enjoy small, healthy portions of normal foods. The last supper idea makes you feel like you will never eat again and that just isn't the case.

I am terrified too, but I KNOW you will be fine. Once you get past that initial healing, I am sure you will be so happy with this wonderful tool to lose weight! Our thoughts and prayers are with you..

You know the saying, "everything looks like a nail to the hammer" I think we DO need to listen to advice from the surgeons that is why maybe it is even good to talk to more then one as they have their biases too. My sleep apnea doc pushed me to look into the sleeve. I have not had good results with the band and just was never comfortable with the gastric bypass. This whole pouch thing is for the birds, a smaller stomach is more appealing to me. The first surgeon I went to didn't like the band, felt it was a big money maker but not the best for the patients. He does the gastric bypass and the sleeve, but felt that since I had already "failed" at a restrictive only procedure that he would recomment the bypass. I put all my investigation on hold (this was last year) as I just don't want a bypass. By chance, I had an encounter with someone who was pretty jazzed about the sleeve and asked me to give it a closer look. I went to a second surgeon, who has done alot of revisions to the sleeve to see if he thought I had good prospects for the sleeve. He really did. He also gave me a real shakeup over the complication rate of for revision from the band to any of the other surgeries. (just another lie about the band, it is reversible, but it comes with possible problems due to scarring etc). I felt both more positive and perhaps a little more scared after meeting with the second surgeon as I was pretty naive about the problems caused by having a band implanted for 10 years. My personal opinion is that ALL of the surgeries require a great deal of patient compliance to be successful. The bigger you are, the more that is a factor I believe. For people with 50pounds to lose, they get to goal really fast. I have a BMI of 48 or 49 so I know that I will really need to work to get to a "normal" BMI. I am thinking that the sleeve and gastric bypass have fairly similiar results - the weight comes off pretty easy at first so take advantage of that and really work it! After that... it slows way down... and eventually, you really have to watch your diet to keep the weight off. No free ride, but I am sure hoping for something better then I acheived with the band. Anyway, I think you are asking good questions - keep checking it all out and maybe consider a second opinion.

I totally agree with you on the importance being on the long term risks. One of the reasons I went with the band was the relatively low risk of surgical problems - of course the long term issues were considerable.... Anyway, just another interesting tidbit of info

Thanks for the inspiration! I too am very scared/worried about this surgery.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21803660

I finally got a date to have my band removed, Sept 1. Just this last weekend I have been having some tooth discomfort and I thought.... dang... i bet i need dental work. I seem to remember hearing that you shouldn't do dental work near a surgery date. Does anybody know more about this?

My PCP had not heard of the gastric sleeve either. She was fairly anti-WLS previously, but has recently changed her mind. Her reason? She has had several patients in the 40-60 age range, that were 100+ pounds overweight just up and DIE in their sleep. She tells me that being so overweight, and being middle aged is a deadly combination. She would prefer that I lose weight without WLS, but, most importantly is to get the weight OFF.

The port isn't near the bellybutton. I will tell you that my port scar was very different then the little keyholes for the laproscopic surgery - the port scar was more of a thin line. I think the people in the docs office are just saying band since that is what they mostly do...

Well, my insurance has approved both surgeries, but I am having trouble figuring out a good window to take a bunch of time off from work. I am also having some scheduling challenges on the homefront I am so looking forward to having the band removed, but I am still pretty nervous about the sleeve - I have decided to proceed, but I feel like I want some things in life settled before taking on such a major thing. I have been gaining weight (up 5 pounds in 2 months) ever since I started seriously investigating the sleeve, so I absolutely must do something! I am having some challenges on the homefront due to my husband having a serious health issue he simply refuses to address; this has been going on since mid June. I wind up feeling guilty about planning to have the sleeve, and asking for the family help and support while in the meantime he is getting sicker. It is a strange set of emotions and I fear proceeding with the surgery until this is sorted out. I am frustrated because I don't see any progress on sorting this out - feels like long term limbo.

I can see both sides of this. I think you will still be the same person, so I wouldn't worry so much about that. For me, the question would be how much will a new relationship distract me from the goal of getting this weight off? the honeymoon period for WLs is short, and I plan to try to do everything in my power to not be distracted from that complete focus. Of course, I already have hubby and kids.... so have plenty of distractions...lol

Thanks for sharing this info. It is great to hear that your wife is doing so well so many years out. My thought is that if i really can;'t keep the weight of with the sleeve, i would consider the DS, but not the bypass, for the reasons you mention.

I was diagnosed last year. I use the "nasal pillows" which work great for me. My son (skinny and young so not all apnea is weight related) cant stand that type of mask and does better with something that is more of a traditional mask. I find that you just have to persist (and change masks if you need to). I go through periods of time when i wake up with the mask laying on the bed next to me. It is like i took it off and dont remember it.... it is still worth it to keep trying because most of the time I sleep through the night now (except for one potty wake) and I never used to.

Yes, my biggest problem is that my husband has some serious issues going on right now... so it is hard to committ to when I can take on the necessary changes brought on by being sleeved. I also have some big work deadlines coming up in the fall... so just working out the logistics is a challenge. I NEED to do this, my weight is such a major issue for me (arthritis pain the biggest concern)... but i have to think of my family and work committments too.

I am still trying to get scheduled on the band removal, but i just got word my insurance approved the sleeve! woo hoo!

That sounds perfect, and priced quite reasonably! thank you.

My surgeon essentially gave me a choice, but recommended two separate procedures. Here was the reasoning - the risk of leaks is much higher for revisions from the band then normal sleeve surgery. I knew leaks were bad, but reading some of the recovery stories on this board, I have concluded that sometimes they are REALLY bad. The reason for increased incidence of leaks is due to scar tissue and swelling. From what I understood the scar tissue is both thick and doesn't heal quite like "virgin" tissue does. The thickness means sometimes they don't get as good of a staple line. The swelling is just from having a foreign object wrapped around your stomach. He also said that some times there is alike.. an "encrustation" which he tries to peel away. So, he prefers at least 30 days between because it allows at least the swelling to go down. I am not really sure how much it improves the scar tissue. I thought i read a study that there really wasn't much difference in outcomes between doing it all in one versus two separate ones, but i have decided to follow the surgeon's advice. I am pretty scared of a leak and hope to minimize the odds.

I know it sounds crazy, but about a month ago our whole family decided to start eating more natural foods, less processed stuff, no fast food, no sugary food, really trying to clean up our acts. Not a diet, no counting of calories or carbs, but definately a healthier balance of food. I have gained a few pounds doing this and I am pretty freaked out. I think I am eating a lot more fruit, which can be sweet, but seems like it would be a good replacement for the ice cream I used to have for dessert! My husband lost 5 pounds and (grown sons who are living here have stayed the same but one of them is doing yard work as his summer job so has gotten pretty buff from all the hard work so I don't associate that with the dietary changes). I have been circling around trying to learn to eat low carb. I have done nearly every diet out there, but have never done low carb so I am not educated on it. People on here shared some ideas, but I feel like I need structure - I am just feeling the need for a clear plan. I was looking at the atkins website, and I think I could do that induction phase for awhile. I have NO experience with sticking with low carb longer then about 8 hours, so I could really use advice if this is a good jump starter. I just need structure since my habit is definately to eat higher carb foods... i love good / high quality breads and of course my favorite veggies are the starchy ones... I have a business trip coming up in late Sept and dropping a few pounds would really help my comfort level - fitting in the seat as all my recent gain is in the midsection...ugggh. I am trying to get my band removal scheduled as i just got insurance approval, i am a few months away from getting sleeved and I would like to lose, not gain weight between now and then!

I didn't have great results with the band, but in the early days, the only option was to convert to gastric bypass and I didn't want that, so I just left it in Fluid removed and the band just sat for many years. I was banded in 2001, and weigh more now then when I was banded. I decided to have it removed and replaced with some other WLS a year ago, before I knew it had slipped. I actually think it slipped more recently because i used to have about zero restriction and now I notice I have some. My advice to others is to not do what I did - I should have had it removed 5+ years ago even if it meant no help with keeping weight off.

Were you allowed any Snacks, or was it just the two shakes and the lean and green dinner? thanks!

I checked out my state, eh, i would not say this is a good resource. It listed the 3 surgeons all from the same place, that only does lapbands. I am sure they are fine, but they are not the local "leaders" in bariatric surgery.

Inspiring! thanks for sharing

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/health/study-offers-clues-to-emotional-eating-2516096/