SheLand

Awesome job ! I can def see a big difference keep up the hard work

Wow you look great !!!

Awesome job ! I can def see a big difference keep up the hard work

The place I’m going doesn’t require any special pre op diet either

My personal experience :
Had lap band in 2009 lost 75 pounds. I have since gained it back BC eating grilled chicken lettuce apples fruit basically anything healthy gets stuck I vomit (not like regular vomit it’s weird like your food is stuck your spot starts coming back in your mouth any way it’s awful. So u Learn that basically all healthy good foods get stuck but Desserts and pastas and milkshakes give u no problems.
Now I’m back up the 75 pounds about to have lapband removed and sleeve preformed.
I decided on the sleeve as my doctor feels it’s the safest and will help me without all the major risk of gastric bypass

My personal experience :
Had lap band in 2009 lost 75 pounds. I have since gained it back BC eating grilled chicken lettuce apples fruit basically anything healthy gets stuck I vomit (not like regular vomit it’s weird like your food is stuck your spot starts coming back in your mouth any way it’s awful. So u Learn that basically all healthy good foods get stuck but Desserts and pastas and milkshakes give u no problems.
Now I’m back up the 75 pounds about to have lapband removed and sleeve preformed.
I decided on the sleeve as my doctor feels it’s the safest and will help me without all the major risk of gastric bypass

I had surgery on a Friday and was back to work the next Thursday. I am a vet tech so my work consists of 10+ hour days on my feet, bending, squatting, lifting, etc. I was up shopping and sightseeing days 1 and 2 postop, traveled via plane and car days 3 and 4 and was grocery shopping, getting my hair cut and plowing my driveway day 5. So if I was working from home I probably could have gone back within 1-2 days.

Tomorrow is 5 weeks postop for me. They told me not to start eating normal food until 6 weeks and I have a NUT class on January 3rd. However, I have stopped pureeing my foods and am tolerating it fine. I kind of mash up my veggies and fruits that they allowed me for this 6-week period, not totally pureed, and then chew my chicken or Protein like shrimp/fish really good. I have not moved onto beef or nuts, etc., yet.

Isn't it strange how each DR has their own guidelines. I had to drink Protein Drinks for 2 weeks before my RNY and then for 4 weeks after. I was so afraid to eat!! I didn't want to mess up my last hope!! That is just how I felt. I definitely couldn't eat a steak, I still have problems with beef. Have a great evening.

I would recommend against the lap band. I had a lap band for 10 years. Lost a lot of weight at first but only bc I was vomiting everything I ate. So I learned that I could eat ice cream and other “slider” foods. I couldn’t eat healthy foods bc they would get stuck. I hardly ever felt a restriction, no decrease in appetite, and i regained all of the weight. My surgeon doesn’t even do lap bands anymore either bc they have such a high failure rate and lots of complications.


Lap band 10/2007 revised to RNY 12/22/2017
HW 270
SW 263
CW 257

stay away from the lapband. Most surgeons refuse to do them anymore because so many people have had problems with them. Both sleeve and bypass are good surgeries. Your particular medical situation might make one or the other more appropriate for you, but either one is a good choice.

You are so brave and I love this post. I had the sleeve done on Wednesday and just got home today. Sending positive energy your way!

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This might be asking a lot but I am pre-op and I am so worried what my stomach will look like after the surgery and weight loss!! I am 5'6 and 244 lbs. I am 28 years old so maybe my body can tighten up over time. I am just so worried what I will look like naked after I loose 100+ lbs. I really don't want plastic surgery or to have to always wear shape wear. If you are willing I would love to see before and after pictures of bare stomach!! Please and thank you!
To start it off I will show my current stomach (so not hot!). Can't wait to share my after pictures!

i Wasn’t never high BMI but had lap band in Mexico and gave me complication só removed band on 12/15 and had sleeve just wondering if anyone else have this lower BMI and if you still loose after sleeve surgery?

Here's my heaviest and then my most recent pic from last Saturday. 104 pounds lost so far! Never going back!

 

VSG 10/11/17 HW = 360 SW = 292 CW = 256 GW = 220 (6'5")

I jumped on the scales today and I wanted to see how much damage I'd done over the Christmas period. Thank god, I didn't go backwards and I can actually report a weight loss bringing my total to 45.4 kgs which equals 100 pounds.
100 pounds gone for EVER!
I've never lost this much weight in my life!
I love my sleeve!

So I had the Lap Band surgery in 2009 (actually called the Realize Band) I went from 235 to 174 and stayed that size for several years but gradually started gaining the weight back. In 2011 my insurance plans changed and the new plan didn’t cover weight loss visits so I couldn’t afford to go as often as I would have liked. Fast forward 2017 I weight 235 all over again and feel like a complete failure. No restriction no nothing can eat the same or more as anyone else. I’m disgusted with myself.
So I finally made up my mind to go see a bariatric doctor (my original doctor has since retired) my new doctor wants an endo and barium swallow test. She said they do not preform lap band surgeries BC they don’t work long term and cause issues and typically need removal.
So she recommends having it removed and the sleeve preform (she says sleeve is safer option) my insurance still doesn’t cover this so the removal and sleeve will cost close to 12,500-13,000 I’m seriously thinking of having it done but terrified that after spending this money it will be a fail too. I’m so scared to fail again I can’t just throw 13k out the window. I read were some people don’t lose that much etc.

My revision surgery did take about an hour longer than usual due to the scar tissue left behind by the band. In general, the band to sleevers have a higher risk of having a leak -- my surgeon said our risk doubles from a 1% leak rate to a 2% leak rate. I'd ask your surgical practice if they have ever had any leaks -- mine (@ UCLA Bariatrics) had never had a leak. They were super cautious with me and kept me on liquids double the amount of time of their virgin sleevers.

I think it's smart to plan for the worst case scenario. I'd recommend asking your surgeon
Their leak rate Are there any special post-op dietary considerations for a revision patient How do they alter the surgery for revision patients -- for example, most band to sleevers end up having a slightly larger stomach due to the damage/scarring left by the band (this is also why we end up losing a little less weight than virgin sleevers)
Revising is scary, but it's also the best thing I've ever done. Life with a sleeve is so much better than with a band.

I had my band removed in 2011 and soon I'll have surgery for the gastric sleeve. I had my pre-op appointment with my surgeon on Friday and he mentioned something I didn't know or realize - that my surgery will take more time because I've had a band, due to scar tissue. And because of that, I have a higher risk of developing a leak near the top of my stomach where the staple line will start.
He said that when band surgery is performed, they sew part of the stomach over the band (pars flaccida technique?) but when it's removed, it's not 'undone'. And that area has scar tissue? Or maybe it's the band itself that causes the scar tissue but he also has to undo that area stitched over?
I knew my original surgeon did that but I had assumed the on-call surgeon undid it to remove the band. He was a HUGE jerk who treated me like an idiot and talked over me when I asked informed questions (anything that seemed to question his authority, it seemed). I just stopped asking questions.
My current surgeon seems to think since it's been so long since the band was removed (and I haven't had any issues) that the scar tissue will have softened quite a bit. (I know he mentioned it to drive home the sipping of Water as opposed to gulps but I'm surprised it didn't come up in our original consultation).
ANYWAY, have any of you gone years after lap band removal and then had gastric sleeve surgery? If so, what was your experience? This bit of info threw me and I didn't think of follow up questions right then and there. I'm just over a week out from my surgery. I'm getting nervous about this and the added risk of complications. I'm a worst-case-scenario kind of person, so... =/

It depends on the kind of foods for me. I'm almost 3 months out. Some things aren't sitting as well, but I can definitely eat 3-4oz of Protein and a few bites of other things. Lots of people have trouble with carbs, I don't. I most certainly can eat nowhere near what I did before, obviously. But I also don't eat so minimally that people think it's weird.

Is anyone as obsessed as I am with looking online at before and after pictures?

I had the lap band back in 2011 lost close to 70-75 pounds
But I have regained it all back
No restriction except I get choked on grilled chicken [emoji849] looking to have band removed and sleeve done in jan

Generally you feel like you can handle more soft foods because when you're first sleeved your stomach still is healing, nerves included so you might not feel the irritation, but it's vital to let your stomach heal. If you must chew, try gum.. I know you're not supposed to, but you're not supposed to eat food either so I'd say choose the lesser of the two evils

Thank you, that is really helpful...and reassuring!