aliceinthegardenofpearl

More afraid of getting it done and then having the same rate of success I had with the lapband. And just afraid of major surgery in general and having stomach rerouted instead of just banded.

Hi, I've just come back on these forums after a long long hiatus. I am like you. I had my lapband inserted when I was 23 years old back in August of 2022. I felt back then that was the safest and least invasive treatment option. I did not have success with the lapband. The most I lost was 12 pounds and then after that I stalled and gained. Today I'm 227 pounds but have a BMI of 36, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, Type II diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. I also didn't have the best relationship with my surgeon when I told him "I don't think it's working" when I told him at my one week post surgery check up because instead of losing I had gained 7 pounds. Long story short, he told me it was my fault because I was sneaking burgers, pizza, and coke when my family was asleep at night, which was farthest from the truth as it took me hours to down 30 ml of liquids and could not get solid food down 7 days post op. I ended upgoing back to him 2 months ago after not seeing him for 12 years due to having pain in my upper left quadrant of my abdomen. I can only describe it has a burning sensation, like burning on the inside, and I felt strange when I would turn my torso, in the that specific area. Now the pain has subsided but now the area is numb. He scheduled me for an endoscopy which I will be having on december 15, 2022 to see if the band has slipped or eroded. However, he told me that since having my lapband put in, they found out it's only a temporary gadget that should be removed in 10 years time. He spoke to me and suggested converting to a gastric bypass but I voiced my preference for the gastric sleeve, if I were to get a conversion. He told me because of my comorbidities and my unsuccessful journey with the band that a gastric bypass would benefit me more. Now I'm scared to get revised due to having my insides removed and rearranged compared to the lapband being reversible and afraid that I will get the bypass and end up failing again. That would be devastating. It's a decision that weighs heavy on my mind. Back when I was 23 I just wanted to be pretty but now that I'm 36 I just want to be healthy. I guess I'll see how the endoscopy goes this week and talk more with him about converting to the bypass.

Hello My name is Jenny. I had my lapband inserted in August of 2010. I was 23 at the time and the lapband was popular at that time. Plus my mother was a big influence on me choosing the lapband over the gastric bypass at that time. I just recently been feeling a burning sensation where the band is located near the head of the stomach and pain when during my torso. The pain is gone now but lasted for about 2 months now the area is numb. I went to my original surgeon 2 months ago and we scheduled an endoscopy which will be done on December 15th, 2022. When we were talking he brought up that in the 12 years that I've had the lapband that research showed that the lapband was only temporary and leave in time was only 10 years and so is suggestion, whether the endoscopy shows erosion or slippage is to take out the lapband altogether. However, he suggested converting to a gastric bypass. I'm deathly afraid of a gastric bypass and suggested a gastric sleeve (in my mind, it's safer) but he said that with my health (BMI: 36, high blood pressure, metabolic syndrome, PCOS, high cholesterol, diabetes type II) that the gastric bypass will give me better results than the sleeve. I did not have any success with the lapband. After my one week checkup post-op, I had gained 7 pounds which was due to swelling and the doctor (same surgeon I'm still seeing today) accused me of eating hamburgers and pizza and drinking soda at night when everyone was asleep. I remember my mother was in the room with me and he turned to her and asked "well let me ask you ma'am? does she have her own room?" and my mother replied "well of course she does?" and he asked her "do you go to sleep before her and she stays up late?" and my mother replied "yeah, she's 23. She goes to sleep a little later than me." and he told her while was in the room "well, there you go. she has no one to monitor her at night. she's eating pizza, burgers, drinking soda." When the reality was I couldn't even get down a medicine 30 mls of liquid post surgery. So I never went back and so my post care suffered since I never sought after care from him or his facility. I don't think he remembers what he said all those years ago though and as I've grown older, I've gotten over it and want to start anew. Thing is I'm for converting to the gastric bypass but I have PCOS and my hormones are all over the place and it's very hard for me to lose weight when I do try. When I change my eating habits, my blood work gets better (H1C decreases, blood pressure decreases, sugar levels normalize) but my weight does not budge. My question is..... Has anyone had the same experience with the lapband and failed with it due to PCOS or any other hormonal imbalance. I've had my thyroid checked 10 times and it always comes back normal. But i've been told I have metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance and assume I have PCOS. Did those that had gastric bypass have success with weight loss even when they had PCOS. I don't think I can handle another failure especially when i'm willing to go under the knife to have my insides permanently and voluntarily re-arranged.