mich

I can relate. My husband is wonderful, and we have been together since high school ( in our 40s now). It was April when I decided enough was enough, I'm so sick of living with the daily struggles/pain of the band. For months he was resistant, he thought if it needed to come out, fine, but then I should go without. He loves me and wants me around. He has good points. When I got the band 5 years ago, they said it stayed in forever. Now years later its a different story. If I get sleeved, what are they going to say about that 5 years from now? We have talked about it many times since April. I told him everything about my appointments with the psychologist, nutritionist, and then the surgeon last week. He has slowly come around to where he is ok with it. I think it goes against his ( and many other men's) nature to watch the women they love put themselves in harms way. And that is how he sees surgury. I remember when I got the band, he was supportive, but restrained and quiet. Post-op, when we got home, he was so happy and smiling. I was whining, "what have I done"! And he was cheering me on saying how great it was going to be. I was so confused, he hadn't shown any excitement before the operation. But now that it was over, and I was safe and well, he was so happy for me. My advice, small relaxed talks, but change the subject if he gets nervous. Give it time and he will come around.

Hi everyone. I am tentatively scheduled for August 19, pending insurance approval. I will be having band to sleeve revision in one surgery. I spoke with my surgeons office today, the office manager was super nice. She is submitting today and thinks it will go well. August 19th sounds wonderful and would work for many reasons. I'm happy, excited and nervous! Good luck to everyone on your pre-op diets and surgeries!

I'm sorry to hear about everything you have been through, are still going through. I hope you get some answers. Keep us posted. Your post is in the band to sleeve revision board now. Welcome!

Good luck to you on your healing and transition. One day at a time, and yes it will all be worth it in the end!

I am also waiting on insurance approval. It came pretty quickly for my band approval. I wonder how it will go for the revision. How is your process going?

Thank you for your story. If I may ask, number 11 on your list has me curious. I would love to hear about why the mental is so challenging. I'm in the process of band to sleeve revision and trying to learn as much as I can. Thanks.

I'm still banded, but curious about the replies. I do wonder about weight gain after band to sleeve for the reasons you mentioned. Foods I can't eat now, I'll be able eat post sleeve. Congratulations on being so close to goal.

Beautifully written. I'll be reading this again when the time comes for my liquid diet.

Maybe the meds? Painkillers can make me very sick. Glad it's nothing serious, hope the rest of your recovery goes smoothly.

Beautifully said. I'm keeping you and your daughter, all your loved ones, in my thoughts and prayers.

Thank you! Congratulations on your surgury. My instructions for post op are 4oz every hour (alternating clears and Protein supplement), from 8 am- 10 pm. If yours are similar, I can see why it's a struggle to get it all in. It must be constant drinking! My memory must be fuzzy, because I don't remember that with the band. Glad to hear the pain is less. Good luck with your continuing recovery.

Hi everyone. Just a post to share my story. I was banded in 2008 and have had a love/hate relationship with this band ever since. It took a year and a half, and a dozen fills to get it right. I did lose just over 50 lbs and have kept it off. But my eating for the last few years seems terrible to me. So many healthy foods I can't tolerate. Eating out is miserable. Travel is the pits. The fickleness of this band boggles the mind! Sometimes I can eat my portion fine, the rest of the time I'm stuck and vomiting on two bites. The constant tightness in my chest and pressure when I eat. And don't get me started on the heartburn! I never had it pre band. and it has been constant these last 5 years. I am so grateful for these years of weight loss, but I am so ready to try the sleeve. We took a family trip to Disney in April and I ended up in the bathroom vomiting at almost every meal. I think our flight went up to a very high altitude, and the band was mad at me for the whole trip. I knew I had been having more vomiting episodes, but this just made it very clear in my mind that I needed to do something. When I got home I immediately went to my hospital website to see if they are doing sleeve now, they are, and I made an appointment that day. I was very interested in the sleeve back in 2008, but it was not performed at my hospital then, and no insurance coverage either. I did spend some time considering having the band removed and not doing another surgery. When the band was put in I was told it was for life, now it's a very different story. Based on that I can't help thinking that 5 years from now there may be a different story with the sleeve too. But in the end, I can't go back to 255 (at only 5'2"), and I'm pretty sure that is what would happen. So far I have met with my surgeons assistant who recommended me for revision. The psychiatrist and the nutritionist. I now have an appointment on July 18 with my surgeon. I am thinking there are tests he will want to do. And I am nervous about getting insurance approval. But one step at a time. I am hoping to have the revision in the next few months. We'll see. LapBandTalk and this site have been so amazingly helpful through all these years. It's been great to be able to read all the stories of other people going through this revision process. So a big thanks to all of you!!

Thanks for the update. It's always so great to hear from people post-op. I have always wondered about the heating pad thing. Does the heat help with the pain? Like topical pain relief? For my band surgery I brought so much stuff with me that I didn't use, so I would like to avoid that again. But I read so many posts about heating pad love, I just might have to get one. Wishing all of you a good recovery!

Congratulations on a date! That is such a great feeling. I'm looking forward to that! It must have been so hard to wake up to that disappointment. Summers always seem to go by so quickly. I bet it will be here before you know.

I'm glad you are at the doctors. Good luck getting some answers. I always seem to be coughing. But I don't think it's band related in my case. I know that feeling though. Like something that shouldn't have has got into my lungs. Hopefully your body will get it out with all that coughing!

I have struggled with depression and anxiety on and off for 20 years. I have been lucky to be able to manage it with Vitamins. Nordic Natural Ultimate Omega, 2000 IU Vitamin D3, a multivatimin, and B12. This is what works for me. Feeling blue every now and then does still happen. Talking a walk helps, and sit outside in the sun as much as you can. Checking in with you doctor might be a good idea too. Hugs to you, one day at a time.

I know on the Oprah show they called it Addiction Transfer. Try doing a search for that, on this site and online. I have always been very wary of alchohol. I have found myself craving it the way I do food in the past.

It sounds like you have only had one fill. How is your restriction while eating? You can do this. You have a band, and can use it to help you get back to where you were. My loss has been super slow. My own fault of course. I exercise in spurts, I still eat junk in small amounts. Basically the only thing I did do right was go in for checkups and fills. I now have great restriction, and that really does make a huge difference in what I see on the scale.

No bashing here. It sounds like you may have another problem on your hands. Do you think he hit the tube? Do you feel any restriction? I had a fill go missing once, I swear they missed the port completely. But the doctor said something about some fill could have been lost when they withdrew the needle. Sorry about your job, it sounds like a very stressful situation. I am a stress eater as well, and it shows in my slow weight loss. But the fact is that my weight is down, I weigh less than before. The scale goes up and down, but it is moving downward. Go to your doctor and find out why you lost restriction. When you get it back you will feel better.

Penturn, thanks. It's nice to hear I'm not the only one going through hard times. I just keep trying to remind myself that I am making progress. I do remember very clearly a time when I was desperate to get to 40 lbs lost. And now I hit 50lbs lost. It may seem like I have so far to go, but I sure don't want to go back. At one point I made a goal of just getting under 200 by the end of the year. So if I just remember that I should feel very good about being 206 in August. But for some reason I forget that and just see a woman in the mirror who needs to lose lots of weight. Some days I feel smaller. Other days I feel as big as ever, like I haven't achieved anything yet.

Hi Georgia Girl, hope you are doing well. I spoke with my mom, she said the headband broke a while back, she can't remember the name of it, but it was around $70 online. But she found that those hand held back massage things work the same. They kind of look like a bug with 4 legs and they vibrate? She holds it to wherever the pain is, top of head, behind ears. She also suggested lots of Omega 3 supplements. She feels it has helped keep the brain inflammation down. Thanks for the flow rate info, I will be sure to remember that. I remember being so worried about the imitrex shots. She would take another shot early and her doctor kept saying how dangerous it is if you take them too close together. That was why I kept pushing her to try the oxygen. I hope it works for you! My parents actually retired to New Mexico 4 years ago and I think that has been a huge help for her. The steady dessert air pressure, compared to constant changing barometric pressure in MA.

I was doing a lot of research and had encouraged her to do the oxygen. I think she said she had it a few times when she went to the ER because the pain was unbearable. For some reason she did not want to get a tank for home. Maybe she was not impressed with the times she had it at the hospital, maybe she was nervous about a tank at home. But I do wish she would have tried it at home. I read about lots of success with it. I will find out what the headband is and let you know. They are traveling now so it may take me a few days. Take care.

You can do it, don't give up. It feels harder because it is harder this time. Smoking artificially raises your metabolism. Quitting is so worth it! You will live longer because of your actions. But now you will need time to adjust to your new lower metabolism. You can do it, just give your self time, it may take longer, you may need to work out a little more than before. You can get back to your size 10.

I am so sorry to hear your news! My mom started suffering from cluster migraines in 1996. It can be totally debilitating. They have tapered off over the years and she now has mild cycles with long time spans in between, and is on no meds. The drugs are hard. She was on everything from steroids to depakote to lithium. One thing that she was surprised that worked so well was some kind of vibrating head band that my dad found and ordered online. She still takes it with her whenever she travels. Be gentle with yourself, this is a very hard illness.

Thanks for the kind words crzytchr and kimaly. Joiful, my fills are never under fluro. I had surgery and all my fills at a top rated hospital. I did have one fill that went missing, she had a hard time finding the port and must have missed it. As long as it seems like they find the port easily, I would skip the fluro and save the money. I do relate to your frustration. From July 08 to April 09 I lost a total of 10 lbs. That'a it, 10 miserable pounds. I also had 8 fill in that time. But I finally seem to have a good fill and have lost 20 lbs since April. I spent a lot of time thinking about what I would do if it never worked. I figured I would give it the three years, if I could make even some small progress, I would keep trying. If for some reason I totally failed I would look at the Sleeve. Kimaly, I bet you will look great on a bike! We have been doing a lot of that at my house this summer. My husband and I and our 2 kids all set out for a bike ride a couple times a week. It's fun! I found a weights DVD I like, it's only 30 min and even has an abs section. The exercise that I think makes the most difference is running. I can only run for about 60 seconds, I quick walk 5 min, run 60 sec, repeat 3 more times, then a 5 min walk at the end. I thought I was going to do the Couch to 5K program. But after a month and a half I am still on week one. Eventually I will up to week 2.