timetobefree

You are such an inspiration! You look amazing, and your hard work has definitely paid off!

I got my band the day before Thanksgiving three years ago, so I'm fine with skipping the meal again. I don't really care for turkey anyhow, and not eating means I can focus on football instead!

Let's get to know each other before our surgery...I'll go first. My name is Amy (37 years old). I live in central FL with my husband and two kids, 3 yo DS and 4.5 yo DD. I work in IT doing technical writing and operational readiness. I love photography and have a small side business, and when I'm thinner, I really enjoy running and spinning. I was banded in Nov 2009 at 374 lbs. From my banding until Dec 2011 (2 years), I lost 198 lbs. I was thrilled! Despite the occasional vomit and inability to eat certain foods, I was still 99.9% happy with my band. Right after Christmas this year, however, I got a terrible upper respiratory infection. I coughed and coughed and coughed. I coughed until I puked, which caused a slip. I got a complete unfill in early January. Once the slip was fixed, I started getting fills. But then my band developed a leak and slipped once again. Since the surgeon I was seeing was less than helpful, I found a new surgeon, Dr. Domkowski, who finally treated me without acting like I was crazy, as my last surgeon did. Based on his recommendations and test results, we decided to do the removal and sleeve in two separate surgeries. Dr. D removed my band on August 3, 2012. Because of the extent of damage done by the band, including scarring and pulling the fundus through the diaphragm, I am waiting around four months to be sleeved. I'd love to be banded on November 25, which would have been the three year anniversary of my band. I've gained about 70 lbs since December. Sigh. The good news is my surgeon is not at all concerned about my weight gain. He is 100% convinced that I'll lose it all once I'm sleeved, since I was so successful with the band. I'm a bit of a goody two-shoes, and I followed the rules to a "T", and I intend to do the same with the sleeve. I hope the next four months fly by!

Congrats! You look amazing! And that short dark hair is so becoming on you!

Hi! I am hoping to be a November sleever. I just had my band removed yesterday, and my surgeon wants me to wait about 4 months to be sleeved. I am hoping to sneak it in around Thanksgiving, so I can take less time off work. Can't wait for Nov to get here!

I just had my band removed yesterday, and the surgeon had to remove a fair amount of scar tissue (his words). The band had also pulled my fundus up through my diaphragm. I'm waiting about 4 months for my sleeve, which doesn't thrill me, but I know it is safer. It is disappointing to hear how many people are having trouble with their bands after 2 or so years. I'm honestly glad I didn't have more damage than I did.

I just had my lap-band removed yesterday. The first two years were great - nearly 200 lbs lost. Then a slip, leak, and another slip. It did such damage to my stomach that I have to wait four months to revise. Scar tissue and it pulled my fundus up through my diaphragm. The wait will be worth it, and I don't totally regret the band. I don't know if I would be brave enough to do something as invasive as sleeve had I not done the band first. The most painful part is I am self-pay for all of this! It's getting quite expensive. But totally worth it.

I knew going in that I would not get the sleeve. My doc could tell from the upper gi that the band was too messed up to do it in one surgery. My insurance doesn't cover bariatric, so I have been self-pay the whole way. $11,000 for the band, $5200 to have it out, and it will be $15,000 for the sleeve. Hence the reason DH and I are both driving cars with 100,000 miles on them!

I just had mine out this morning. It was a cakewalk compared to having it put in. Minimal soreness, not even enough to need pain meds. I will then revise in about four months. Good Luck!

My band came out this morning. It was fairly easy as much as surgery can be easy. Surgery at 9:30 am, on my way home at 2 pm. No pain meds needed at all, even immediately post-op. Moving a bit slow, especially sitting down/getting up, but this has been WAY easier than getting banded. There was a fair amount of scar tissue that my surgeon removed. The band had also pulled my fundus (left portion of the stomach) up through my diaphragm, causing some misshaping that needs time to heal. My surgeon still wants to wait four or so months to revise to the sleeve. I know it's for the best, and I'm fine with waiting, although I of course would like to get started sooner. But waiting is the best way to reduce complications, and I just need to remember that this is for the REST of my life, which means four months are just a blip on the radar. I could possibly get sleeved around my three year bandiversary, which would be late November. On bland mushies today and back to a normal diet tomorrow. I still can't believe I am band-less!

Wheetsin, I think I had the same name on LBT. It's been a while. My update: I saw my surgeon again this morning. There was some confusion, as I thought they had rescheduled my surgery for 8/24 (instead of 8/31). But it was really scheduled for SEVEN/24. Um, that's next Tuesday, and for a variety of reasons, I just cannot make it work. The big one is I am out of town for work. The next available option he had was 8/17. which was 3.5 weeks later. Fortunately, my surgeon is awesome. He worked me in on 8/3, so I don't have to move heaven and earth, AND I can get it done sooner. The bad news is my band is EFFFED UP! For real. If you've seen your band on film, you know it should look like a slash, '/'. Mine is a perfectly round, big, open, 'O', Yep, it has not only turned, but it has flipped and twisted. Which means my poor tummy is being drug up and through the O and then back down. Not good. He said he's seen worse though. I am thankful for once that my overachieving ways didn't have me in first place. He can't believe I don't have any restriction based on the band's position, but I really don't. Oh, also, my band has ZERO Fluid in it, even though it should have 9cc. Yep, it is a mess. I wonder if he'll give it to me as a souvenir! Sooooo, it's bad enough that I have to wait at least FOUR MONTHS between surgeries for my poor tummy to heal. BUT because he is seriously the most awesome doctor ever, he reassured me that I am NOT to worry about weight gain. He wants me to focus solely on letting my tummy heal. He said he doesn't care if I lose 10 lbs or gain 50 lbs between now and my sleeve, he just wants to see me healed. He said I will get it all off and then some with the sleeve. In fact, he insisted I will be sitting in his office a year from now asking for plastic surgeon referrals because I'll have lost so much weight. It seems impossible, but I know it is true. Whether I have the surgery now or in a few months, a year from now, it won't really make a difference. A lower risk of complication is worth it in the end. There you have it - the latest and greatest from this battling bandster. I have finally stopped crying. I'm still not happy at the prospect of being restriction-free for an additional five months or so, but it is what it is. I didn't have restriction for about six months with the band, so I just need to get in that same head space and do what I need to do. Thanks for reading if you've made it this far!

Hi! We are in very similar boats. Just found out my band has to come out first, then who-knows-how-long until I can get sleeved. I keep crying - I'm pathetic! I've already gained back soooo much weight. I am in day two of low carb - determined to lose a few or at least maintain until it's sleeve time. Hang in there!

Not such good news. I have another slip. :angry Right now, I am scheduled for 8/24 for band removal. The surgeon's office is calling me back about when I can do the sleeve. I can't stop crying. I don't want to go through surgery twice, it's more expensive, and that's just that much longer that I have to battle this stupid hunger. Oh well, at least I am getting this thing out before it causes any more damage!

I am a long-time member of LBT, although I have read these forums for quite some time. Just thought I would share my story as I go about a likely band to sleeve revision. I was banded in Nov 2009 at 374 lbs. I had a long road to restriction, but once I got it, I rocked my band. To be perfectly honest, I probably kept it a bit too tight, but I LOVED the lack of hunger when my band was on the tighter side. For the first time in my life, I did not think about food 24/7. It was awesome! I followed the rules to a "T", and the weight slipped off. From my banding until Dec 2011 (2 years), I lost 190 lbs. I was thrilled! Despite the occasional PB and inability to eat certain foods, I was still 99.9% happy with my band. Right after Christmas this year, however, I got a terrible upper respiratory infection. I coughed and coughed and coughed. I coughed until I puked. The cough lingered and turned into terrible reflux. After about two weeks of the coughing and reflux, I went to my primary care physician, because even drinking the tiniest bit of Fluid caused me severe back pain. Long story short, I was diagnosed with a slip. While "they" claim it wasn't the coughing, I have no doubt that the severity of my cough caused it to slip. I got a complete unfill in early January. After not eating or drinking for weeks, I'd lost 200 lbs total. I was looking awesome! But the unfill was heavenly - I could eat! And eat I did, unfortunately. Once the slip was fixed, I started getting fills again. By late May, I was back up to 8 cc in my 14 cc band. I had good restriction, but I needed a bit more. I went in for one more small fill, and when I walked out, I had ZERO restriction. I went back later that week, and my surgeon was only able to remove 4 cc of the nearly 9 cc that should have been in there. He put the 4 back in along with 5 more. I walked out with ZERO restriction once again. Despite his claims that "bands can't and don't leak", a little googling proved that bands leak quite often, so I found a new surgeon to discuss my options with. I've gained back more weight than I care to admit. I finally met with the new surgeon yesterday. I had an Upper GI to confirm if I just have a leak or another slip. If, fingers crossed, there's not another slip, I will have the band out and revise to sleeve in one surgery on 8/31. If not, I'll have to do two surgeries. I was self-pay the first time and I will be this time as well, so my fingers are triply crossed that there is not another slip, because I'm not sure two surgeries are in our budget. I am fairly confident there is not, based on the immediate lack of restriction after that fateful fill, the fact that I have NO slip symptoms like I did last time, and because the Upper GI surgeon did not see evidence of a slip, although my surgeon will make the final determination. He is supposed to call me today with my results. I was the biggest fan of the band until six months ago. I had such tremendous success, but I am not willing to go through this again. A slip and a leak, and all of this making my waistline grow and my wallet shrink. I just want something more permanent and reliable. If you've made it this far, thanks for reading! I'll update when I hear from my surgeon. A