DebH

I went from band to sleeve as well as a hiatal hernia repair in one procedure. I was in hospital over night and back to work on day 14. So to answer your question, as for me I don't think my post op was any different. Even the post op diet was familiar because I had already done it with the band. I am back to a pretty vigorous work out schedule and after I got back into my work routine some if the lethargy I initially felt subsided greatly!

I had my VSG 3/20/13, so today is day 8. My Dr. Told me there would be some nausea but I was totally unprepared for the extent and intensity of the nausea that I experienced. On top of that I had a hospital roommate who had no food restriction and tons of company who kept bringing in food. The smell of the food and even coffee that they brought her put me over the edge. I spent most of my time in the bathroom hugging the bowl with dry heaves even to the point of rupturing blood vessels in my eyes. The Dr. Did not want to release me because I was not able to take any nourishment but he finally relented. Once home I took the anti- nausea meds and was able to relax more which helped the pain, which for me was secondary. I woke the next morning still with a little nausea but so much better. By day 4 it was gone. I still have some sharp gas pains at times but so much more bearable without the nausea. Hang in there it will get better.

I was previously banded but had the sleeve on 3/20/13. My doctor also kept talking about by-pass by I have mild kidney disease and did not want to risk kidney stones or worse. After surgery, which was planned for 2hours but took over 3 hours, my dr told me there was a great deal of scarring from the band and a hiatal hernia that he had to repair before he could even do the sleeve. Do your research and go with what you feel will be most helpful and healthy for you. Good luck!

I wanted to thank you all for the very good information you have shared with me over the past several months. I did finally decide to have the band removed and converted to the sleeve, just this past Wed. 3/20. Ihad a rough couple of days but feel like I am coming out on the other side of the surgery part. While I hate the liquid diet weeks I know that I will get through them and am trying to stay guardedly optimistic that I will have more success with the sleeve than I did with the band.

Your story sounds so familiar. I was banded 10/2010. I had no problems the first 14 months, but only lost about 45 pounds. Then I began having increased reflux and I would also go from being able to eat nothing and throwing up if I did, to eating an enormous portion of something that I wouldn't have expected to be able to eat. I then gained back about 20 of the pounds that I lost. OUCH! My doctor began to talk to me about a revision to the sleeve. I knew that the band was hurting me, physically and emotionally but to be honest I was scared of another procedure where I would experience failure. It took me over 6 months to decide to have the revision. When the doctor went in I had severe gastritis and esophagitis and pre-ulcerated lesions, as well as the band having come up too high and the presence of a hiatal hernia. I just had surgery this past Wed. 3/20 and what was supposed to be less than two hours was close to 4 hours of surgery for him to clean out all the scar tissue, repair the hernia and do the sleeve. I was in pain and nauseous for the first two days but yesterday and today I am feeling much better. I don't know if this will be the answer for me, but I knew that I had to get that band out even if my insurance didn't approve the band, but fortuantely they did. I feel skeptical but guardedly optimistic that this will be a better procedure for me and I hope that it works well for you too!

While I at the same stage as you are I am not sure of the answer. In reading many of the posts on this site it does seem that a lot of doctors will take out the band and do the sleeve procedure at the same time as long as there is not any erosion of the stomach at that time. I am scheduled with the gastro Dr next week to arrange for an endoscopy to determine the state of my stomach. I think that will determine if both procedures can be done at the same time.

I appreciate the feedback that I have received. I am still not 100% decided but at this point I am proceeding with the pre-surgery doctor's visits in possible prepapration for the conversion surgery. I am convinced that I can't keep the band on with the increasing discomfort it is causing me and I am indeed sure that without it I would probably eat significantly more so in some ways I do not feel that I have a choice. Even if I don't lose anymore I, at least should not gain if I keep my same routine. I also think that with the sleeve I would be able to eat more healthy foods like salad and vegetables which have been a roadblock for me these past two years. LOL I never thought I would miss salad!

Jane, That is exactly my dilemma and I thank you for your honest and candid response. My doctor recognizes how little I eat but repeatedly cites that the sleeve will reduce appetite and cravings, but that is not my problem. He also states that recent research shows that metabolism slows with the band and metabolism will rise a bit with the sleeve. However, I already have an autoimmune thyroid disease and minimal metabolism as it is, so I can't bank on the sleeve increasing my metabolism all that much. I am having more and more discomfort with the band and feel that eventually I will have to have it removed either way, just not sure if I should go for the conversion. I feel very comfortable with my doctor, but I have to admit a part of me thinks he is just looking as the profit he will make from an addition procedure.

I appreciate your response, but I have been following a very disciplined diet. I am eating 800-1000 calories a day with 60-90 gms of protein a day. People have told me that I should eat more calories, but my doctors and nutritionist do not feel that is the issue because I am getting most of those calories through protein. I journal everything I eat/drink and my exercise on a program on my IPad. However with the band I have trouble eating most all vegetables and fruits so I basically live off of Protein drinks, greek yogurt and chicken, fish or meat in very limited quantities. I eat very little carbs and when I do, I remain gluten free because I feel that I also have a sensitivity to that as well. I have no trouble drinking and drink anywhere from 64-86 ozs of fluids a day. As for exercise I do P90X, Insanity, elipticle machine, supreme body, yoga and bicycling. I get one of those in 4-5 times a week. I am definitely not a couch potato as I am able to get this exercise in while also working full time and having other outside of work commmitments. I am not looking for magic and have no problem with willpower and accountability. That is why I am having such difficulty with the decision to convert because I don't want to go through another surgery only to not see results again. No matter how much I look to everything I have done correctly since my band surgery I can't help but feel like a failure.

I am approaching my 2 year anniversary with the lap band and have only lost 30 lbs which occurred in the first 3-4 months. Needless to say I am yet again feeling like a complete weight loss failure despite eating next to nothing, exercising regularly, and following up closely with surgeon, nutritionist and endocrinologist. Now my surgeon tells me it is not me that failed, but the band, and he is suggesting that I convert to the sleeve. I am not yet convinced that this will be any better for me. I was never an overeater prior to the lap band and was guaranteed that the band would work which it didn't. Now I am being told that I will have success with the sleeve, but I just can't understand how it would be any different since I hardly eat anything at this point anyway. I do not know if I am physically and emotionally up for the issues that would occur if I went through with this surgery and failed yet again. I would appreciate any feedback from others that may have had similar experiences and how you came to decide on the conversion.

I was banded Oct. 2010 and my loss has b een extremely slow. But about your pain. There is a possibility that it could be gas. I have had episodes of very bad pain on my left side, so bad that if it was my right side I would have thought I had appendicitis. After having this happen several times I finally tried taking Gas-X when it occurred and it went away so I guess it was a huge gas pocket. Now as soon as I get a twinge I take the Gas X and feel better much faster. Just an idea. I do also get a pain in the middle of my upper back if I eat too fast.