evstarr

I'm two weeks out as of yesterday. i go back to work on Monday. I've lost a total of 21 pounds.. but it's not going to continue this fast. My doctor had a long talk with me. He said that they have no explanation for it but you will go a week, sometimes two, following the rules and you may not lose anything... then all of a sudden you will drop more than a pound or two. He said to be patient and only get on the scale once a week.
I'm going to do what he says to do and try to stay optimistic. When I had lap band surgery it happened the same way - Just keep the faith... none of us put it on over night - although sometimes it feels that way - it's not going to come off over night either.
This is something that is permanent .... be patient.. drink, drink, drink and concentrate on Protein intake and just relax.
Good luck.

Interesting.. You know... I do remember him telling me that he was doing one when he removed the band before he did the sleeve. I had to do a swallow test before I had my surgery. I can't remember what I was called... but you had to swallow this stuff that was like a diluted sprite with pop rocks in it.. while you swallow it they do the xray. The radiologist is in the room and watching and telling you what to do... how to turn etc.
I think the EGD must be so they can see the inside of the stomach and make sure all is ok.

I can tell you they do not like to do the band removal and the sleeve at the same time. I was fortunate because I know my surgeon personally and he knows I will run to him or call him if there are any issues. He told me before my surgery that he would do it only if it was safe to do it once he got in there.
He explained that about 5% of the cases they can't do it at the same time.
My advice is to possibly see if there is another surgeon that will try to do them at the same time. The other thing is that you all are not wanting to do the EGD - well, that's what provided me with the ammunition I needed for my insurance to cover the revision surgery. As long as you have something to support the need to have it done, in addition to your weight gain then you'll probably be able to get it approved. The doctors know what they need to do to get the procedure approved.
The one thing I will tell you is the sleeve is very different. Be prepared to be super tired and weak for a week or more.. it may not be the same with you. I'm used to being able to bounce back fast. I haven't had real pain, the drain was a pain and it was in for 12 days.. and that made it a little difficult to do much. But.. it's not bad.

I had the band in 2008 and had one issue after another. In about 2010 we opened it up all the way and I still had an issue now and then. Mostly with reflux and with swallowing. I had pneumonia back in April and had to have a chest x-ray. My pcp told me that I needed to follow up with my surgeon or go to a gastroenterologist because the radiologist reported something showing up around the band. I went to my original surgeon and he said it was just an air pocket or something but he wanted to do a swallow test. I told him I was interested in doing the sleeve and he changed the test to a different swallow test. It showed that there were motility issues. I had been feeling nauseated for six months or so constantly just not super bad. We then went on the trek of getting Insurance approval and all the preop stuff.
I had surgery on June 2nd. It was a success. There was swelling around my band so my surgeon put in a drain. I go back for my first post op visit on Monday. I'm not really hungry. The only issue is being really weak and tired.
For me, the nausea in the hospital was pretty bad. But they kept me really drugged up so it was manageable. Once I got home and the drugs were out of my system the nausea has gone away and I feel pretty darn good.
I hope you have great luck!