crystal525

This is what happened with me and the band..... i decided to have the band because i was obese. i was obese because i ate way too much food. not because i was a sugar or carb addict. I did not have a sugar and carb addiction before the band. I repeat... too much food too often. After i had the band I had nothing but problems. I could not eat meats, poultry, eggs, vegetables or fruit without it coming right back up. so what does one do eventually, eat what stays down. which is slider foods, sugar, carbs, etc. I am having a revision to the sleeve soon, which my doctor says he has seen way better results for the people that had the band and had problems, and switched to the sleeve. Meanwhile he unfilled my band so I can eat , how how i had missed these healthy foods! So my plan is that when i get the sleeve , I will still eat healthy as I have been since the unfill and i will be restricted to the amounts i can eat and be successful. It sounds like some people dont understand how and why some of us with the failed lapband/self experience ended up on the failing end. Good Luck to all and good luck to me! :-)

I don't believe that information to be true. The sleeve is all what the band promised to be but could not deliver. I revised from the band to sleeve on May 22nd and it was the best thing I could have ever done for myself. For years I suffered with trying to eat properly with the band and ended up in pain and vomiting almost at every meal. That is no way to live. I went to my surgeon here in the states about a revision and he told me that he no longer suggest the band to anyone due to the chronic failure his patients were having and suggested that I move forward in revising to the sleeve. He didn't do my revision but that was due to insurance. In 4 months I have lost 35 pounds which is way more than I lost in that amount of time with the band. My dr removed as much scar tissue as he possibly could so that he could give me a proper sleeve. I have not had any issues and wish I would have gotten the sleeve in the first place.

The information from my surgeon was not based on a study, but rather their own observations. It is true that SOME people take their bad habits learned from life in hell (lapband) into life with the sleeve. I spent alot of time reflecting on that before my surgery and retrained myself. I know these things will cause failure with ANY weight loss surgery:
1. grazing; eating small amounts all the time - you never really get satiated
2. eating slider type foods that allow you to get too much food in without feeling restriction. I am quite sure i could eat a whole bag of cheetos, so I don't even go there.
3. consistently eating too large of portions - over time causes you to lose that feeling of restriction and increases your capacity
People who have not been banded do not really understand this - but for me the band trained me to eat poorly because I was avoiding pain! Dense Proteins often hurt! With the sleeve, I do not have that experience AT ALL. I need to keep my portions small and eat high quality food - Protein and green veggies with limited amounts of fruits, high carb veggies and other low nutrient/high sugar/carb food.

I know I am able to "eat around my sleeve" by knowing which foods go down easier where I don't feel the restriction. It took me awhile (at least 6 months) to learn which foods did not give me restriction. Perhaps revisionists have already learned how to eat around their band and carry the habit earlier into their sleeve life.
I don't know, but that would be my guess if it were true. I believe our success in reaching our goals, assuming we were sleeved correctly, are directly related to how close we follow the guidelines.

Ask him what he bases that % on.
My surgeon told me the risk of leaks and excess bleeding were about twice that ofa virgin sleever... but still in single digits. If 20% is HIS complication rate for revisions, I would look for a new surgeon.
I would ask how many revisions he has done. I really believe my success is at least partially due to a veryexperienced surgeon - he had done alot of revisions before me...

Just received surgery date August 5. I was hoping for something sooner. I won't complain at this point.

Thanks for the responses. I think with the band, in some people, your hunger is never satisfied fully so it's easy to start over eating later in the journey. I'm just hoping that when I get my band out next week I can keep some control .... ugh.

It looks nice!

Hi everyone! I'm new to the group and hope it helps to have others similar to me to share my journey with. I was sleeved on January 14 and am down 23 pounds. I probably now weigh the amount that I did in the picture I posted months ago...lol. Good luck to all and hopefully everyone keeps posting here!

I've had the same band experience as you. Reflux, pouch dilation, vomiting in my sleep. I also had periodic fevers and flu-like symptoms for years that they couldn't explain (which my doc thinks my body was rejecting the band...). I had my band out in April 2012 and have gained nearly all my weight back. Started gaining as soon as I started having problems. I'm getting my sleeve on Jan. 14. I think all of us revisionists have the same feeling of hoping this is not the band all over again. I had my band placed in 2008 and you rarely heard anything negative. I regularly review the complications forum. I'm scared of leaks and being able to not eat anything...I threw up a lot with the band so I know what that's like, but I also knew I could remove the band. The sleeve is irreversible and I think that's my biggest fear. But I'm doing it...

Mine was 5 hours! But I was a previous band patient with lots of scar tissue to be cleaned up and had a hernia to repair! Surgery at 730am. Out a little after noon. In recovery until about 5pm (don't remember exactly...). Home after 2 nights in hospital. Could have went home after 1 night but aside from being so far from the hospital (nearly 70 miles) I hadn't had a bowel movement....lol. Was thankful for the extra day of rest because that one extra night was a huge difference in a reduction in the amount of pain I had right after surgery.

I'm very proud of you. Sometimes we all have to realize that WLS is not brain surgery and there isn't a switch that turns the emotional side off in us. My weight was stalled but I knew my problem was that I hadn't had a Protein Shake since my first 3 weeks and I hadn't been eating enough. Sometimes we know what to do but it just takes time for our head to catch up. We'll all get there eventually...kudos to you for having the courage to tell us all what you ate, for being accountable...ALOT more people do but never admit to it, and especially not here. Good luck and keep us posted on your journey!
Crystal

Trust me...you are not alone! There are many of us here who feel/felt the same way! Welcome...

Hi fellow Jan alumni!
At week 5 today. Last week only 2.7 lbs but these pics are nice

The nausea meds work on the dry heaving too. I dry heaved almost every time I started drinking my Protein. I started taking my pill before drinking and that solved that. But--I was able to sip and get in most of the 64 ounces by day 4 I believe. If I don't get it in it's because I don't have the desire. I need to do better on the protein...just having trouble stomach-ing the shakes. Should get better now with mushies hopefully.

Hi everyone! I'm new to the group and hope it helps to have others similar to me to share my journey with. I was sleeved on January 14 and am down 23 pounds. I probably now weigh the amount that I did in the picture I posted months ago...lol. Good luck to all and hopefully everyone keeps posting here!

Hi everyone! I'm new to the group and hope it helps to have others similar to me to share my journey with. I was sleeved on January 14 and am down 23 pounds. I probably now weigh the amount that I did in the picture I posted months ago...lol. Good luck to all and hopefully everyone keeps posting here!

I'm going to be in the hospital all weekend on heavy antibiotics. All not other incisions are healing great. The infected incision is still open along with the 2 holes the infection caused.
I am a rare case everyone. I just like letting ppl know what can happen. I had issues with the incision from day one. It hurt horribly and I never had a good day. After my one week follow up I was told I looked fine even though there was still a lot of pain. Within days the infection spread mind you I had no fever just a red belly.

Did they give you a spirometer? That's helped a ton with my breathing.

I did c25k about 3 years ago and it helped me drop weight quickly. I definitely recommend it. It's a great thing to see your progress too. Going from only being able to run for seconds to being able to run for 15-20 mins without stopping! Makes you want to keep going! And, yes, I was definitely more comfortable doing it in my home at first than in the gym.

I did c25k about 3 years ago and it helped me drop weight quickly. I definitely recommend it. It's a great thing to see your progress too. Going from only being able to run for seconds to being able to run for 15-20 mins without stopping! Makes you want to keep going! And, yes, I was definitely more comfortable doing it in my home at first than in the gym.

I've said it before but you guys will really be astounded at how much rebound and redistribution there is in your skin/remaining fat pockets in the time from one year to two years post op. I am not kidding. Yes, I'm younger (32 now) but even allowing for that, my skin wasn't exactly resilient before surgery as proven by my stretch marks and the lovely apron my twins left me.
But I still had a consult roughly one year post op and it was very interesting. If I went back now I know I'd need less work than I felt sure I needed at one year post op.
As for mentally adjusting it is a challenge. And while, for the most part, I can see myself more realistically now, it's still a shock to see a photograph of myself and realize how small I am.
Heck, I'm nearly 32 weeks pregnant and feel like a bloated, puffed up cow right now. But it really hit me last night, looking in the mirror while changing for bed, that the only places I've puffed up are my upper arms, face and calves...and it's not much. The rest of me is just baby belly and the same loose skin I had prior to pregnancy. And here I've been feeling kinda down about being so heavy lately.
Face it - we do not see ourselves the way other people see us. I spent years as a big girl wearing a size too small and looking ridiculous for it until I realized how much more comfortable and attractive I'd look wearing the proper clothes. And it took me nearly a year to accept that I really do wear the size I wear and to stop panicking every time I put in a clothing order. Sometimes I still buy shoes in my old size and have to return them.
But I spent most of my life obese and can't expect my brain and eyes to catch up in just a year or so.
It does get easier and better.
I have no doubt that baring your naked body to a doctor to be poked and prodded and measured, would enhance any feelings of doubt or insecurity you had about your body. I know how ridiculously uncomfortable I was during my consult and yes, I went home and did an inventory of everything afterward, too.
You might get down to that eight and you might not. I think all of us will see or read someone's goal weight or goal size and think about how we'd love to be there but we're hindered by bodies that simply will not cooperate. I'll never be a two. I'm very short and my doctor harps on how I should really weigh in the one-teens and I think he needs to stop doing drugs. Because it's not ever, ever going to happen. If I set my goal weight there I'd be destined to be unhappy because it's unattainable.
Losing one size after plastics is probably not unattainable. But it's also important for all of us to take the time to think about what we're saying. Because after years of never being smaller than a 14 (and let's not lie...I had no business squeezing into those 14s) and after spending many years in 18s and 20s, I cannot possibly be complaining about not being small enough, right?
Perspective. You've come a long way. Get the plastics if they'll help you feel great about your much smaller and more fit body. But do not compare yourself to a woman that's 5 feet tall and with a tiny frame and feel like THAT is the feminine ideal. We're all shaped differently. Women that are very tall set their goal weights where some of us had a starting weight - that doesn't make them any less feminine or beautiful or damn sexy once they get to goal.
~Cheri

I'm home and resting. Surgery was Monday the 14th. It lasted 5 hours!!! I had a band which was taken out in April but my surgeon said it was still really bad...lots of scar tissue. And I had a large hernia to repair (probably caused by my band since I had my previous hernia repaired when my band was put in). Now I'm just trying to get my liquids in. I haven't done well with that yet. Each meal in the hospital was only 58 calories!!!
I stayed in hospital 2 nights. The doc suggested staying the second night since I'm so far away. If I lived closer to the hospital I'm sure I would have been able to go home yesterday. But wow what a difference that second night made. I am feeling much better today than I did yesterday. Yesterday I was still in a drug induced fog. Today I washed up and dressed myself! Lol.
Things I've noticed so far: crystal light not going down too well; Soup, ice chips and Jello are ok.
I had no nausea. The hospital nutritionist seems to have linked severe nausea to people who also get motion sickness. She's been suggesting to her patients that get motion sickness to get the patch before surgery...just a thought to those of u with upcoming surgeries.
Lastly, and maybe tmi, since I wasn't passing gas I had to have a suppository this morning before they released me to make sure I didn't have a blockage. It took awhile but I was all good.
Well back to sipping!
Crystal

I've had the same band experience as you. Reflux, pouch dilation, vomiting in my sleep. I also had periodic fevers and flu-like symptoms for years that they couldn't explain (which my doc thinks my body was rejecting the band...). I had my band out in April 2012 and have gained nearly all my weight back. Started gaining as soon as I started having problems. I'm getting my sleeve on Jan. 14. I think all of us revisionists have the same feeling of hoping this is not the band all over again. I had my band placed in 2008 and you rarely heard anything negative. I regularly review the complications forum. I'm scared of leaks and being able to not eat anything...I threw up a lot with the band so I know what that's like, but I also knew I could remove the band. The sleeve is irreversible and I think that's my biggest fear. But I'm doing it...