Band2Sleever

Wow! Good for you @@Ree That is amazing progress just 3 months out from surgery. And, what a great suggestion to try on jeans as a marker of your progress. What a brilliant way to overcome the moments when your mind plays tricks in you and you can't "feel" the progress anymore. Thanks for posting. I will remember thus one for when I'm postop. In still preop at that moment.

Only you can make a decision for you @@Ivowtodoit Have a read of the "Band to sleeve revision" forum and ask people there for their experiences. http://www.bariatricpal.com/forum/394-band-to-gastric-sleeve-revisions/ Sounds like a tough decision and you have lots if things to weigh up. What's things are most important to you? - having an implanted foreign body for life - having part of your stomach removed and this is irreversible - having to have more surgery to fix problems I chose the band first time round because nothing was cut out or rearranged and there were no Vitamin and mineral deficiencies. At the time I hand the band I was advised that it was for permanent weight control (so although it's possible to remove it, it shouldn't be viewed as reversible, if you see what I mean). Whe I had my band put in I'm guessing it was early days and not that many patients had run into problems at 10 years out it more. But now that lots of people have had the band in for longer we are seeing longer term problems (like people having to have it removed). My story is that I had a band for 10 years and got to normal BMI and maintained it oh joy the maintinaing at the new lower weight really was the best part (true it took quite a lot of effort, but if I gained a few pounds all I had to do was cut my intake for a while and do more exercise and I could CONTROL my weight... and that felt good, and I felt like how I imagined "normal" people do about their weight... it's no big deal!). However, after 10years my band mechanically failed and I had to have it removed (this was a total of two unwanted surgeries... number 1 surgery to fix the failure which didn't work, then number 2 surgery to remove the band). Since then has been my far the worst experience for me because i have regained my weight and am obese again ... I don't feel "normal" any more and I am really struggling to controls weight. So that gets me to the point where in sheer desperation I am facing number 3 surgery (gastric sleeve). I am at peace with my decision for this now and just want to get on with things. Talk to different doctors who can do different types of surgery as they have their own biases and preferences for certain surgeries. And, talk to people who've been through different surgeries themselves as they have their own biases and preferences too. I used to be very positive about the band, and in a way I'm grateful fur the 10 years weight control it gave me. But now I feel anti the band because if my personal terrible experiences with it later. Who knows how I'll feel about the sleeve? Only time will tell. Good luck with your journey whatever you decide.

Here's the link: http://bit.ly/1hRAoMM .

Great original post by @@fabfatgrl back in 2007! And more recently added to by @@kjhack Personally, I feel completely mid-sold to. The band was sold to me as a permanent surgery. In my experience it has not been permanent and I've had to have 2 more surgeries and am awaiting a further one. I completely agree with your point ... where are the TRUE longterm results with lapband? My impression is that by 10-15 years out 1/3rd or more patients have had their bands removed for various different reasons like: - weight regain - unacceptable symptoms - severe complications (like erosion, slip etc) - or mechanical device failure. I had mechanical device failure at 10 years out ... so clearly this influences my thinking and I am declaring this here for the sake of transparency. I was sold the device as a PERMANENT weight loss tool. I was advised that it was not intended to be reversible and once you have it out in you should think if it as being a lifelong solution. Instead what I experienced was a TEMPORARY result and will have to have for 2 more surgeries (which I never should have needed of it really was permanent). I am now preop conversion to gastric sleeve - as having had my band removed for mechanical failure I then regained all my weight until I'm obese again I don't think we've heard the last of lapband failures and how patients have been misled by the manufacturers about the supposed success rate and as you say the lack of complete data on what happens in the longterm .

Hello @@nancy322 Good luck with your decision. Only you can decide. I'm not sure that asking people more than 6 months out gives enough feedback, . I'm preop too, and am more worried about what happens at 5 years out and 10 years out! From what I've read, and please bear in mind that that this is not formal research just what I've picked up from the forums (so there could be all kinds of problems with this... as people with bad experiences might not post about them)., people seem to report the folllowing experiences: - first few days post op posts about pain and difficulty walking to start with - first 6 weeks postop posts about worrying if it's worked or not and also about psychologically adjusting to liquid/puree diet (but appreciating it's only temporary) . There seems to be varying experiences of whether people feel NO hunger at this stage or are VERY hungry and struggling on the liquid diet. Some posts at this stage about very serious complications such as having a leak and needing to be in hospital for 6+ weeks - first 6 weeks to 6 months postop very varying experiences, and people seem to be saying they have less hunger at this stage and are doing well with eating much smaller portion sizes. People seem to be saying they are losing lots of weight by this stage (although at very different speeds... there are posts by fast losers and slow losers, and from what I can understand men generally lose faster than women! There are lots of posts about stalls, but to my understanding this seems to be part of the normal process of weightloss. If you were to draw a graph it wouldn't be a gradual straight line down, it would be more of a stepped line with little plateaus or stalls along the way being NORMAL. (There are a tonne of posts about stalls!) - several years out... I find it harder to understand what people are saying at this point. There seems to be a honeymoon period of up to 3years or so when losing and maintaining a lower weight is not too hard (it takes work, but if you put the work in you get results).my impression is that after 3 years or so people begin to have some weight regain and it becomes much harder to keep the weight off (have a read of the veterans forums about this, and around veterans talking about their struggles longer term and using 5:2 diet to get things back on track... so it taking much more effort at this stage). My worry is what happens at 10yeara out? What if I've had part of my stomach removed, lost weight for a few years, then gradually gain it back and am no better off 10 years down the line weight wise. I find this one very difficult to answers. Maybe ask your question in the veterans' form too? Good luck with your journey. I hope you get all the help and support that you need.

edited - duplicate posting

Good luck @@The Laughing Cat I had a band for 10 years ... got down to normal BMI and maintained it, yay! ... then band failed mechanically and I had it removed... and regained weight and am obese again Going through preop assessments, hoping for a surgery date for sleeve soon!

Wow! You look incredible. 103pounds is amazing How are you finding hunger levels 1.5 years out?' Thanks Betty

How are you doing @@rensterness? Sending you healing thoughts

Athletic... this is one of my favourite NSVs si far. Love this @@CowgirlJane good for you

I love every single one of these NSVs @@proudgrammy

@@kath17 There is a specific forum for "Band to sleeve revision" in case that's useful background info for you. http://www.bariatricpal.com/forum/394-band-to-gastric-sleeve-revisions/

@@kath17 There is a specific forum for "Band to sleeve conversion" in case that's useful background info for you. http://www.bariatricpal.com/forum/394-band-to-gastric-sleeve-revisions/

Hi Kath Poor you. It sounds really distressing and dispiriting for you My experience is that I'm waiting for a date for revision surgery (gastric sleeve) and feeling frustrated and demoralised as right now my weight is increasing and increasing. The reason for this is that I had a band and it worked well for 10 years and I got to a normal BMI! Oh joy, true joy. But then the band failed mechanically and I had to have it taken out. Without the band Ive regained weight and am back up to an obese BMI again, which I am finding really frustrating as I'd been at a healthy BMI for so long. I so want to get a chance to turn things around again and get my life back with a more normal BMI again by having the sleeve. It is so demoralising to be gaining weight again (despite tracking diet and trying to reduce intake and increase exercise... this worked so well with the band, I find it excruciating that I can't manage to do it without the band). Right now I feel like I've failed. I am having assessments with dietician, psychologist, endocrinologist, surgeon (again) and waiting to get a sleeve date (possibly April, but not confirmed yet). I don't know whether to be more scared about not having a surgery date, or more scared about having yet more surgery when I get a sleeve date! Good luck with your journey and making a well-thought through decision about what to do next. It isn't easy, and you have my sympathies.

Fantastic list @ Love the two below... and when you finally do walk past her don't react. It will be so satisfying if she basically doesn't exist!

Great post @@butterfly2014 I looking forward to these ones especially too

@@sassypants your photos are incredible! I am blown away and speechless!!!!! And you deserve every single one if those exclamation marks It must feel so good. Well done on your progress. I bet it was hard work. Keep going and wishing you all the best for continued success

@@sassypants your photos are incredible! I speechless. It must feel so good. Well done on your progress. I bet it was hard hard. Keep going and wishing you all the vest for continued success

Your progress is incredible! I can see why he's asked to use you as a patient testimonial on a poster @@JanetPRN It's in the surgeon's best interests to promote how well he's done... or should I say how well YOU have done. However, I agree with @@sassypants . It is in YOUR best interests to have some control over how your images are used. If you are happy to be on every billboard in town and in websites and TV slots that is fantastic! I'm not saying don't do that if that's what you want to do. But, it is worth protecting your interests and only releasing your photos with a clear agreement of HOW and WHERE they are going to be used. If it's posters, where will they be displayed? When you release then us it clear that posters in a defined location are the only use and are there clear limitations on additional uses? If this matters to you it would be with taking legal advice as I can't advise you what to do or how best to protect your interest whatever route you take. A totally open-ended agreement would make me very nervous, but maybe that's just me

Wow! Your photos are incredible @@megpie And well done for losing more than 100pounds. I am so happy for you. And, I realise it's expensive going through lots of jeans sizes, but at least you're going in a good direction I've written on another post on this forum about the opposite experience... not funny. My posting on this is in the "What was the straw that broke the camel's back?" thread, if you're interested! http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/219831-what-was-your-final-straw-that-broke-the-camels-back/page-56#entry3406504 I am sorry to hear you've lost your jolliness. Do you think this is changing at all with time? And, what do you think this is due to? Is it an adjustment to being and feeling smaller? Is it to do with feeling like you don't have to cover up for your size any more? Sorry for my questions. I hope you don't mind. Keep up the great work.

Wow! Your photos are incredible @@megpie And well done for losing more than 100pounds. I am so happy for you. And, I realise it's expensive going through lots of jeans sizes, but at least you're going in a good direction I am sorry to hear you've lost your jolliness. Do you think this is changing at all with time? And, what do you think this is due to? Is it an adjustment to being and feeling smaller? Is it to do with feeling like you don't have to cover up for your size any more? Sorry for my questions. I hope you don't mind. Keep up the great work.

You have my sympathies @@shelly:) I had a band for 10 years and got to maintaining a healthy normal right. It was fantastic! I felt normal. I got on with my life Then the band failed mechanically and I had to have it removed. In one year I have regained the weight back to being obese again :\ so unhappy with this. It feels like my normal life has vanished from under my nose. I am converting to a gastric sleeve. I have a possible surgery date in April, but need to complete all my preop checks, so am not letting myself believe it yet.

My final straw was... buying YET another pair of jeans. I love wearing jeans when I am a normal weight and this was quite recent, about a year ago when I was very successful with the lapband reaching a normal BMI. But, the band failed mechanically and I had to have it removed. Within one year I regained all the weight and am obese again Every time I bought a new pair if jeans as I went up the sizes I would say "This is ENOUGH. I am not going up another size" but, slowly but surely I did, with no sign if stopping. One day I put on some fairly recently bought jeans and, YET AGAIN, they had become too tight only a month or so after buying them. This was my breaking point... the straw that broke my camel's back... the jeans that tipped me over the edge... I looked at myself and I just knew that I couldn't fight it any more So, so sick and tired of being obese. And it feels 100 times worse because I know what it's like to feel normal when I was a healthy weight with the gastric band. I'm now awaiting a date for a gastric sleeve. Going through checks with psychologist, dietician, endocrinologist, and any other ologist they tell me to... just ask me, I'll be there! I have just been given a possible date in April, but am not going to start believing it until it is definitely confirmed after all my preop assessments are complete. Hmmmm, probably won't believe if until I'm in the operation room being given the anaesthetic. Although I'll probably be so scared by that point that I will be worried that I'll run away screaming! So, on that basis I probably won't be able to believe it until after the operation. So, I am very much looking forward to joining the losers' bench with @@green*eyed*girl and @ in April. Here's wishing good luck to both of you

Wow! Incredible photos. Losing 120pounds is amazing. Keep up the great work. Since surgery, what is best things that have happened to you and what are the worst? How are your hunger levels? Kind regards Betty

What a tough experience for you. Well done for keeping going I agree, a well-worded letter outlining what has gone wrong and the impact this has had in you would be a good step. My view is to keep it reasonably short. Very long letters that go into lots of detail are not as effective as a shorter letter which doesn't go overboard on detail. Good luck and keep us all posted