moonchild1968

It helps to know that. Glad that your surgery went well and that you are recovering well, too. Thanks a whole bunch for your reply.

Hi All. April 18th over here. Scared, but ready. I look forward to hearing your success stories and sharing mine with you. Let's do this!!!

AMEN.

I'm breathin'. I'm breathin'. WOO SAAA !!!!

OK. I did.

Lory2922. Thanks and you're right. We'll get past it just like so many others and I can't wait to post and encourage a newbie that comes behind me. I'll keep in touch.

Freaking out over here. Less than two weeks to go from band to sleeve and having a hard time silencing my fears about the sleeve not working for me and nervousness about surgery itself. I want and need this surgery. It's time to finish what I started over 5 years ago when I got the band. I'm just....afraid I guess. I don't want to fail again and I want my surgery to be as smooth as it has been for so many of you. Surgery scares me. Please tell me that I'm not alone with these feelings. So many people are so gun-ho about the surgery and I'm only gun-ho about the weight loss lol...the surgery? Not so much. I changed my surgery date twice. I am not changing it again. It's time. What is keeping me somewhat grounded is the positive outcome for sooo many, the low complication rate, my facility is a Center for Excellence and my surgeon is rated one of the top surgeons in the country. My rational mind knows that my worry about surgery is blown out of proportion. I mean, I'm big but I'm not unhealthy. My surgery outcome should be fine. I just need to calm down, but I'm having a hard time doing that. Please help. Thanks.

Congratulations to you!! Hope your nausea ends soon.

1.Get out the front door and on my way in under 45 minutes. 2. Go bike riding with my son. 3. Put my undies, socks, and shoes on without cursing. 4. Fit through every doorway without turning sideways. 5. Walk or run a 5K 6. Touch my toes 7. Nab a husband and have him wrap his arms all the way around my waist and have room for more. 8. Get out and enjoy life without having the weight in my way. 9. Everything Salsha said and #8 and #10 of Women in Me's comments.

Congratulations. I go in on April 18th and can't wait to get this party started, too. I'm looking forward to all those things and more. We are beginning an exciting journey. SWEET!!

lol @ acidy skinny b***h.

Just recognizing where you are right now is huge...and coming here for support, too. I wish I'd come back for support before I regained after losing some weight with the band. Preparing for a revision now, I've decided that I need a 3-prong approach to weightloss. Mind (support groups/counseling), body(exercise), spirit(for me it means prayer/positive self-talk/meditation). The psychologist who runs my surgeons support group gave the group this food for thought: You owe it to your pre-op self to take care of her/him. Once you lose the weight, don't forget her/him. Remember, to take care of that fat person by never going back there." For me, it was a powerful and motivating image. Bottom line, I can't ever forget that there's a fat girl inside that needs me to take care of her forever. Hope this helps. As usual, take what you can use and leave the rest. Good wishes.

Hi. Glad things went well for you and thanks sooo much for posting. I can't get enough of reading everyones post op experiences. It helps so much. Two more weeks and I'll be a post op poster, too. Hopefully helping someone else. Hope your taste buds are cooperating now. Thanks for the chapstick reminder.

Sorry you're having this problem. Doesn't sound like much fun. I am pre-op band-to-sleeve. Is this a common side effect for sleevers or even just converters? Do you know?

Congrats! You should be recuperating by now. Pray all is well with you and happy surgery day.

From what I've read, you're doing great. I await more responses from those who were sleeved already and around the same time, but hey, keep up the good work. I can't wait to join you on the losers bench.

Hi. Wishing you a safe surgery and easy recovery. I'll be sleeved on April 18. I'm so ready to get this nervousness behind me and start my new journey. Congrats and good luck.

I was unfilled in December 2012 because I was having such a hard time with adjustments, again. I've always had a hard time getting the right fill. My surgeon unfilled me because he knew that I was leaning towards a revision and the since the band wasn't working for me anyway...... My sleeve date is April 18. I have zero restriction and no intolerances. So, I've gained a lot. I'm ready for my 2nd chance at permanent healthy weight loss with the sleeve.

Hi. I can't answer your question because I am band-to-sleeve pre-op, too, with a surgery date of April 18. I'm nervous and excited for the new start, too. I hope you get more feedback on this post. Congratulations on your surgery date! Feels good to know that the lapband is coming out and a fresh start is on the horizon, doesn't it?

I've been having band-to-sleeve pre-op thoughts thinking that the surgery won't work for me like it has for so many others...worrying about surgery...worrying about if I will/can comply to the sleeve adjustment....just worrying. I caught myself today and stopped long enough to pause this stinking thinking that I've been going through. I want to succeed at weight loss once and for all and yet a part of me can't even imagine what a life without the excess weight will really feel like. What will I do without my fat suit that made me and others so comfortable? I imagine that I will feel exposed. The other part of me is terribly afraid that I might not lose the weight again. There's so much emotional stuff to work through. Mind, body, soul connection. That's why I visit WLS websites and go to WLS support groups to sort through some of it. Congratulations on reaching goal!

Give yourself some time to heal. I'm sure you'll be feeling better with each passing day. Right now that may sound like a load of it , but hang in there. Everybody says it gets better and it will. Congrats on your surgery. I'm scheduled for band to sleeve revision on April 18. Please keep posting and let us know how you're coming along.

That's pretty much my position, except I am a bit afraid of surgery, but I'm more afraid of failing again. Regaining all the weight from the lapband kicked my emotional butt so badly that I don't want to go through it again and I certainly don't want to go through it publicly. I'm already hiding out socially, hoping that I don't run into people who last saw me at the height of my lapband success. I'm ashamed. I hate that I have to do this again, but I know that I have to do this again to give myself a fighting chance at ridding myself of all this weight and all these aches and pains. My feet and legs hurt. I walk like a fat lady...heck, that's what I am. Anyway, I thought about just getting the lapband out and going it on my own and then I really thought about it and said hell no. I've still got some fight left in me. Consider this" We have a lot of experience under our belt with band. We can use it to be better with the sleeve and take this second chance to take the bull by the horns and let our tool work for us. It's just a better tool. The band is not the right tool for everybody. The sleeve seems less forgiving and more cooperative, but not a magic bullet. Good luck (to both of us)!

If you haven't been compliant, don't let it be a deterrent. Call your doctor to discuss your options.

Hi. You are not alone. I was banded in 2007. I lost 60 wonderful pounds. I was still obese, but it made a big difference for me and I was happy with the weight loss and new found freedom. I think I had the same fill experience as you....fill-unfill-fill-can't swallow my own spit-unfill-eat every and any thing-fill-can't eat anything except slider foods-weight gain. It has been a constant struggle. Once I learned how to eat around my band, it was all downhill. My surgeon advised me to revise to sleeve last year (so you might want to start there if you still trust your surgeon and have his/her support), but I resisted. I didn't want another surgery and I didn't want to acknowledge that the band and I didn't work well together. We (the band and I) failed. It's been hard for me to accept. Finally, September 2012 I started really considering a revision. I went to another "initial" seminar (with the same surgeon) and heard everything all over again. After 5 years, I need a refresher. Long story short (is it too late for a short story? lol), I am approved. I had to get medical clearance again which was no problem at all. My doctor wrote it up better than I could have myself. I did not do psych again, but I did the NUT visit. I was approved so quickly (2-3 days) that it was further reassurance that I needed to move forward with the revision. Approval is easier for those who have been compliant with getting fills, says my surgeon. I got approved, but I put everything on hold, because I was not mentally ready to do it, but I am now. I'm calling my surgeon's office next week to ask them to schedule me. I hope to be in the April Sleever Achievers club. Bottom line, start at the beginning. Pick up the phone and call your surgeon and tell them what your thinking then go from there. Also, call your insurance co. Please update. I will too. Good luck.