I was banned in 11/09 and got it taken out 02/12 and got the sleeve 05/12, I miss my band because it made me be so much more restrictive on what and how I ate, I was successful with it losing 90 pounds but I was very disciplined. I had problems from the beginning, I was always going in to have fluid taken out and still struggled with getting food down and not stuck, turns out the band had slipped big time, so out it came. The sleeve doesn't restrict the types of food I eat, like I can eat bread and pastas and they go down fine, I can eat faster and nothing is going to get stuck but I get full fast and usually only eat 1/4c at a time but I'm hungry every 2hours. Even with the problems of the band, I miss it because it made me control myself.