tebowfan

I drink premier Protein shake everyday, and even have tried the bars, I like the shakes better, I also like grape frost Isopure, I plan in buying more isopure in prep for my surgery along with sugarfree pop sickles , I already have the chicken flavor unjury on stand by, 14 days and counting now until my May 5 surgery.
Khmer congrats on your surgery I'm glad your doing great with your recovery I can't wait to join you.

Hi everyone, my surgery is scheduled May 8th. I got my Protein Shakes today Bariatric Advantage.....YUCK. But I'll make it work, I got one chocolate & one vanilla. I did my fast track appointments today so I did my psych consult, nutrition consult and fit consult all done now. I only had to do one support group.... I'm getting really nervous but excited. I start the shakes Thursday, anyone else scheduled for the 8th? This forum has been so helpful I hope I can find a buddy!!

Anybody have a goal in mind? Does your bariatric surgeon have a goal set for you? I think in terms of sizes I am currently an 18 and my dream size would be an 8. I was a 24/26 at my largest. The weight chart my doctor uses puts me at weighing between 125-135 for a healthy bmi at 5'4. My surgeon would like to see me between 150-160. The nutritionist I saw actually took into account my body frame by examining my wrists etc. She said I have a large frame and said I should weigh between 140-150. Anyhow in my mind 160 is good 150 is better and 140 is best. So how about you all?

Okay, caffeine withdrawal has kicked in and I have a wonderful headache. I am hoping that these will pass in a few days.

Sorry to hear about your problems. I had a RNY 11 months ago. I choose this method because it had the lowest rate of revisions. If I undergo surgery once, I do not want to repeat this process ever again. In my Support Group meetings, I have meet several people who had lap bands that then underwent RNY revisions. In one case, the individual sustained damage to his stomach because the band moved back and forth and eventually started to wear away his stomach. In another case, the woman had the band installed too high, which caused her to be unable to eat even the smallest portion of foods. This then lead to all of her teeth falling out due to lack of nutrition.

Ok so happy surgery day to those that had it today. I pray everyone had a good surgery and resting and building strength for the road to the new you. My surgery is one week from today. The nerves are starting to work overtime so right now I am staying busy by gardening, cleaning, rearranging the furniture and completing my finals for school! Wedding anniversary is today, but my cake went on my nose for photo sake not in my mouth! Lol, im ready we can do this!

I did not know she had VSG ... I wonder if she is lurking on the boards amongst us ... @@LipstickLady ... is that you?

Hello, thank you for writing about your experience. I am awaiting a revision from band to bypass. I am scheduled for the end April as long as it's approved. The sleeve was already approved but the doc recommended bypass cause we discovered I have Barrett's esophagus and bypass is the better choice since the sleeve can make it worse. I am getting more scared by the day. Scared I won't lose much weight and it's such a big surgery. I am also positive in thinking a lot of things I already don't eat, Pasta, bread, sweets. The real big disappointment was not getting the sleeve & scared the bypass won't work.

i had the revision too. i never heard of removing the band pre surgery tho. my doc removed it at the same time he did the rny. no point in going thru an extra surgery. he just unfilled my band about 2 months before surgery.

I understand how you feel. I am awaiting a revision approval, but I also told others and I later wished I hadn't. The reason I wished I hadn't is because they watch me around food. I feel like all eyes are in me. Plus the word spread to people I definitely wouldn't have wanted to know.
As for you friend who is writing these post, I would send her a private message if you don't feel like you can do it in person and tell her she is hurting you with these posts. Also, include the wisdom of words people have posted on this thread. Otherwise, some friends are temporary friends just delete her or change the settings where you don't get her posts. Some friends aren't forever friends. My heart goes out to you!

hi - i had the lap band for six years - lost 100 lbs which was great but it was mostly due to not being able to eat or keep anything down. In 2010, i developed acid reflux real bad and had to get all the Fluid taken out - he would put a little back in, but i would immediately start back with the acid reflux - it got to the point, i couldn't sleep laying down anymore, so he gave up - i got depressed, went back to my self-medicating with food and quickly ballooned back up to my previous weight. In June, I went to talk to another doctor about revision - he pulled records from my previous doctor documenting attempts to work with the band - had me attend weight management classes for three months, performed an endoscopy and said my esophagus was scarred and my insurance company approved the revision. I think most of the insurance companies are understanding that the lap band does not work seeing how many revisions there's been and seem to approve. Good luck - i wish i had the sleeve done first - the lap band is terrible - i've already lost 40 lbs since my august sleeve revision.

There are a lot of us revisioners / conversions here! Welcome! My band was removed due to "band intolerance". I had mine for five years and lost a whole 28 pounds! I have had my sleeve for five months and I have lost an additional 62 pounds! I was throwing up multiple times a day and could not eat normal healthy foods. I had to survive on sliders. This went on for five years because my band doctor wouldn't do anything about it. I went to a new program and a new surgeon. Right away they said "You have to get this band out quickly". I had Vitamin deficiency, and gastritis and esophagitis (identified through a scope). There was nothing wrong with my band per se but it and my body just did not get along. Docs tried unfilling the band as well as meds for acid and calming/healing the stomach. Nothing worked. I was swollen inside because my body didn't like the band so having it unfilled made no difference. The doc also said that the constant vomiting would eventually lead to barrett's esophogous ( a pre-cancerous condition) and that I could eventually be dealing with repeated pneumonia. Once we had this info my insurance approved me almost immediately as a medically necessary procedure. Hopefully some others will chime in here that had removal due to band failure or mechanical failure vs intolerance. Do a search here on the boards. There is a section specifically dedicated to band to sleeve revisions. Good luck with your appointment!

Mary,
I had my lapband for 6 years!
I am 4 weeks out from my Revision and down 40 lbs. even if the weight loss ends up being slower ( which is not the case right now) I will be happy because today I ate 1 egg and a piece of bacon without that god awful stuck feeling in my chest and I didn't have to spend 30 min in the bathroom spitting. That alone was worth my revision. I also had sick people all around me till the day of surgery. Luckily I didn't catch it until a week after. You will do great!!! Get that band outta there!!

My surgery is scheduled for April 1st. When I got my date I was so excited and hopeful. Looking to my NRA journey. Mi was so disappointed with the band. Wasted so much time trying to work with it. So here I am so close to The Date. Right now I am wearing a surgical mask hiding away from my husband and daughter who are infested with germs (coughing, sneezing, fever. Hacking up all kinds of mucus). Wondering if the date of my surgery points out that I am having a cruel trick played on me. Will I get to the operating table or will I succumb to this dreaded illness. So here I am on this forum feeling sorry for myself reading looking for encouragement. I'm reading about people who have had the revision feel they art not loosing or loosing very slowly eating almost nothing. So right now I'm thinking what the hell am I doing. Will I loose the weight after everything? Help people. Throw me a lifeline here.

I was diagnosed with severe Barrett's on my preop work up . None of my docs tried to talk me out of my surgery. In fact the bariatric surgeon explained that he would be working on that portion of my lower esophagus to improve the Barrett's situation. I will tell you , pre-op , I snored freakishly loud . From the first day post-op , no more snoring! That was not promised or even suggested, what a great surprise ! Almost 6 months later, still no snoring and my reflux is under much better control than before, almost no symptoms whatsoever . Lots of luck to you.

I have GERD (20+ years even when normal weight) and Barrett's Esophagus. I also had a hiatal hernia which was repaired during surgery. Surgeon first said the only procedure for me was bypass because the sleeve can make GERD worse. I explained I was not interested in bypass or the band. If I could not have the sleeve, I was not having surgery. He sent me for an endoscopy which showed many polyps in my stomach. With this report the ONLY procedure surgeon was willing to do was the sleeve, so I got what I wanted. This was because bypass or a bad would not allow my GI doctor to keep watch on the polyps later.
While in the hospital I had no pain, but did have nausea. A medication took care of that immediately. I was given no special instructions due to having a hernia repair, and I have had no issues at all. I see on here that many have pain and restrictions due to the hernia surgery. The only adjustment we had to make after the surgery was to move from OTC meds for GERD to a prescription drug. I am very happy with my decision to have the sleeve.

Hello there! I was wandering if anyone has been diagnosed with Barrett's Esophagus and, if so, what impact it had on your choice of procedures. I have GERD and a hiatal hernia and during a scope prior to gallbladder surgery, it was discovered I also had Barrett's Esophagus (a pre-malignant condition where the cells of the esophagus begin to change and become more like the cells in your stomach). I have chosen to have the sleeve even though the bypass is still considered the preferable treatment when you have Barrett's. I was just wandering if anyone has been faced with Barrett's and what, if any, information you might be willing to share about your experience. I feel alone in this regard but I know that can't possibly be the case. I'm fairly new to this site, but I have learned so much from everyone already! Anything you can add would be greatly appreciated!

My experience has been different, MUCH more positive. This will show you how everyone is different!
I had the band 8/17/13, and although was quite successful in that I lost 90 pounds, I had issues / partially slipped band on & off for several months. My final straw was when I was on vacation & had to be admitted to the ER because I couldn't eat or drink anything. After a complete unfill at the end of December, I had the revision to sleeve done on Jan 16th.
I had 1 overnight stay in the hospital. I got up & starting walking around within 2 hours after surgery, understanding that it was vital to recovery to walk around & help with gas. I was pretty medicated that 1st night & maybe 1 or 2 days thereafter. Thankfully, not much in the way of pain overall.
I made sure to follow Dr's orders with food intake for the first 3 weeks. After that, I worked with my NUT on what to eat and how much to eat. I've lost an additional 17 pounds & am pretty much on maintenance now.
Don't worry, while it is a journey, it's well worth taking. Wishing you the best to luck.