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I never actually considered wls and only had heard of the gastric bypass from some weight loss shows I have seen. In January '08 I spoke with my pcp about my weight and he brought up the lapband as an option to lose weight. He gave me a referral to the surgeon. I held onto the referral for about a month while I did some research on the lapband. By the end of February '08 I started the process of getting the lapband.

Welcome to both of you!!! I found joining the MONTH group is very helpful since you are both in October -- I didn't see an official one like we have for April -- but go to this location: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f98/ These individuals are in the same frame of mind as you -- also check out the month previous to see where you are going (i.e. September's). Or the local group - such as: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f67/newly-banded-williamsburg-31233/ Readers Digest version of my story -- goes like this. I did my research for bypass surgery and decided that is what I wanted to do - but scared I couldn't (no diet soda and such OMG!) - so early Sept 06 (@339lbs) I started eating as if I had surgery (including no soda's) - did my seminar - read books and online. By Thanksgiving (310 lbs) I was convinced - I can do this - but due to self pay knew it would be after February - so I drank my diet soda's in limits - still watched what I ate but no stressing if I goofed - especially due to the holidays - Thanksgiving - Christmas - New Year's - Superbowl (LOL). March 1st I went back to Consult with Dr T (@ 310lbs)- and asked if I qualified for LapBand due to my size - he said absolutely! So I made the surgery date 4/9 - and went back to my mentality of eatting as I have had the surgery (last ditch to be sure I can do this.) Lost 10 more lbs. Started my optional preop diet - lost another 7 lbs (293 lbs.) Since surgery lost 40lbs in 22 weeks (5 mo's)!!!! Slow and steady - that is what they (Doctors) want -- and boy oh boy am I doing that. I would be glad to help and assist the two of you --- if you have questions -- ask away! BEST WISHES - and many Hugs for your new journey!

Hi Robin, welcome to the boards! I haven't had my sleeve yet but I'm scheduled to have it in 2 days. Needless to say, my nerves are a bit frazzled right now. I'm not sure about the out patient VSG but I'd say staying at least over night just to be safe. My husband was very set against me having this when we first talked about it. I've been overweight for 20 years. I used to be anti-WLS. Not for others, but for myself. I remember telling my husband probably 7-8 years ago when I would read about gastric bypass people, "Man! I would never do that. That's crazy". Well about 3 years ago is when I started to consider it for myself. I only looked into the lapband. I knew for me, I couldn't do the bypass. Anyway, I told my husband and he was like, "No way. You can do it on your own". So I agreed I would give it a real effort to do it on my own and I did. I lost 70 lbs in 2 years. Not the fastest loser or anything but I felt really good and thought I had this problem under control finally. But I was just kidding myself. I started to gain the weight back in the last 9 months and I've gained 50 lbs of it back. Just that fast! So I told my husband 3 months ago I wanted to have the VSG. He tried to scare me out of it. Especially going to Mexico. He was not being supportive at all. In fact he was really making me upset with some of the things he was saying to me. I finally sat him down and told him, "I'm doing this with or without your support. I love you and I need you to be by my side for this..." there was a bit more said, but you get the point. I basically told him the things he was saying to me were not nice and in fact I felt they were mean and if he loved me, he would want the best for me. Since then he's completely changed, at least outwordly towards me. He's supportive. He holds me the few times I broke down and cried in fear and assured me that everything will be okay. I think if you talk to your husband and tell him you are doing this for your health, maybe he will be more supportive. I mean, you can't eat cake and drink beer if you are dead from being obese. Ya know? Whatever happens, good luck to you. Sorry this post is so long its just that I can completely relate and i'm sure many others can as well.

Don't be alone. There are hundreds of us on here who have been where you are. I am not a band to sleeve revision, but I know what it's like to have no familial support. It sucks. But we're all here to have a natter with if you're feeling crappy or despondent. You never know, we may even be able to raise a smile or three. I know it's not nice to feel like an island - but you're not an island. You have us mad lot backing you up. Whether you like it or not x

i had surgery in 2009 started off fine lost 40 lbs within the first 4 months i was excited! in Novemeber of 2009 i moved to nyc (from MA) i lost insurance and everything went down hill! i stayed steady at my weight 230. Got my insurance and looked for a new DR and no one wanted "someone elses bander" in March of 2010 i found out i was Pregnant Gained normal pregnancy weight climbed to 260. The last filled i recieved was in december of 2009.During my pregnancy i wasnt unfilled. December 2010 i gave birth to my first child healthy little girl!! Finally in January after complaining of having trouble eating i was referred to a DR that would take me. She Did a swallow study and it showed that i have a dialated esophogus =0( i was never treated for my lapband during my pregnancy. i have about 4cc's in my band that i learned to eat around. Im not gaining besides the weight i gained while pregnant but not loosing either. After 3 years in nyc i decided to move back to MA and am going to see my DR who banded me on April 19th. Im ready to do what needs to be done i admit i cheated alot but have cut that out and started making healthier choices. In ny i was offered the option of switching to another form of surgery which i objected to. i love my band and it worked for me i guess im just wondering if theres any one out there who has dealt with or is dealing with this similiar dilemma? IS another surgery (bypass) the only option?! I feel like a failure and feel ashamed that i have failed my lapband by neglecting it. please feel free to get in contact with me i could use a buddy or two!

Recovery is pretty fast actually, I had my surgery in Detroit and live in SF bay area, I flew there and stayed 1 day after surgery then flew home next day. Its really easy just had to have lap pillow to put between me and the seat belt. as far as throwing up, its been 3 yrs in April since my surgery and i have not thrown up once, with me it goes other end and feel sick but only for a little bit till i'm done with the dumping. However everyone is different. I know my best friend had Gastric Bypass (not lapband) over a yr ago and she is like me has not thrown up once. When your band is to tight, if you eat to big a bite it will feel like it is stuck, when this happens i have to stand up, Take a deep breath and hold it, so i expand the opening a little so it can fall in (I get hickups when its to tight and eat to fast or to big of a bite). Everyone is different in how much they lose and how fast, depends on if your eating right, getting exercise, drinking enough Water ect. Once you are ready to start introducing normal foods again, I was told and have not eaten any Rice, Peanuts (but other nuts are fine) Corn, or bread unless toasted. No Carbonated beverages of any kind. Rice, Peanuts and bread can clog over the opening of the stomach as they mash up together, Corn can also block the hole as the skin doesn't really break down. Carbonation stretches the stomach making it easier to eat more and regain your weight. Hope this helps. and Good Luck with your Surgery and your Weight Loss!

before I had my gastric bypass I drank often. After surgery when I drank again i got drunk much faster. I soon discovered that I was an alcoholic and stopped drinking any alchohol of any kind. I discovered when in alchohol treatment several other people that also had a bypass done. Be careful and be aware when you drink the amts you drink and reasons for drinking. For me food was not my only addiction.

How did you gain it back? Did you stretch your pouch? You just have to start over again. Gastric bypass won't do any more for you than the lapband. I know a couple of people that gained every pound they lost with GB back within 5 years of surgery. Prior to surgery I lost over 100 pounds and regained that plus interest twice. This is my third time losing the weight and I was hoping the band would at least slow down any gain in order for me to get a hold of myself before I gained it all back.

First – I don’t want this to deter anyone from surgery. Everyone’s experience is different. You have to make the decision for yourself. My battle is in no way an indicator of how you will respond, even if you identify with my experience. Don’t let this post influence you to do it or not do it. No one is a poster child for or against bariatric surgery. Anyone who claims to be is doing a disservice to all who struggle with obesity. I was banded almost 4 years ago and I stuck to the program religiously. In 2003 I started thinking about surgery. It took me 2 years to get the courage to do it and was intent on success. Besides being obese I am also a manic depressive. It comes and goes and I have always aggressively perused treatment. I tend to fall in to periods of depression and have to climb my way back. I usually do. The Lapband worked for me. I went from 307 lbs to 230 lbs in just over a year. I was working on the last 20 lbs when my depression returned in the fall of 2007. I immediately increased my treatment so I could stay on course. Treatment wasn’t working. In December of 2007 I lost my Grandmother to a stroke. I spoke to her in the morning, she was fine. By 10PM that night I was in an E.R. She died the following day. Already in the midst of a depression her death coupled with business problems sent me in to a tailspin resulting in the worst and longest depression of my life. This fall will be 3 years and I have yet to come out of it. I changed my course of treatment in 2009 and have improved some, but still have a long way to go. As a result of all of all of my progress has been erased. I re-gained 68 lbs of the 77 lbs I lost. I am back at 300 lbs again, a number that invokes pure horror for me. I am still severely depressed but hopeful my improvement will continue. Logging in to this site is a step for me. I’ve started to consider going back to investigate getting an adjustment. I don’t know if that even is possible after so long. I know that the band doesn’t retain all of the fluid over time, but I was almost maxed at my last fill. I’m not ready to do it yet; any adjustment would be in vain right now. I need to get to a place where I can follow the program. I have also started thinking about a second surgery for a gastric bypass. Apparently this is becoming more common with people who have had not had success with banding. I haven’t made that decision and won’t really consider it until my depression improves dramatically. Bypass is much more dangerous and doing it now would be useless. Either way I am terrified that this will be an ongoing cycle. I have little control of the onset of depression or its severity. I just have to recognize it and fight, but losing a bunch of weight only to gain it back when my brain gets chemically out of whack is a horrible thought. Losing 77 lbs might have been the hardest thing I have ever done. The prospect of doing it over and over is horrifying and does little to motivate me to start again. What’s worse is the new weight came back differently. My waist is bigger than last time I was this heavy. My reflection appalls me. All of that time and effort only to be back where I started, it was so hard to get to a place where I could do it. I don’t even know where that place is now or how to get back there.

Thanks everyone for your kind words. I am pretty well set on having the bypass surgery. My sister did it several years ago and has made a total life transformation. Have been reading up on both the bypass and the sleeve surgeries, and just feel that the bypass is more of what I’m looking for.

I've had my band for 13 years. Yes, I "throw up" almost regularly. Can't eat bread hardly, fruits, french fries, etc. I lost 50 pounds and 18 months ago had a tummy tuck. The placement of the port has cause me ALOT of pain the last 9 months! It is now trying to poke through. A stitch has come through and I've also lost another 25 pounds. I'm so happy where I am weight wise and only have 15 pounds to go! Now I'm talking with a surgeon about removal. I'M SCARED TO DEATH! I DON'T EVER WANT TO BACK TO BEING OBESE EVER AGAIN!!!! Not even overweight! I've only read posts of other people removing the devices and gaining a BUNCH of weight!!! I'm thinking of revising, but 13 years is a long time to have something foreign in your body! I'm thinking of just asking him to move the port... Thoughts?

i have a question if a person has the bypass or staples etc ...can they still become pregant and has a healthy baby ...I know with the band you can

When you have the bypass do you have a drin and when is it taken out and does it hart when they do.

I'm so excited !! May 7th with Dr. Aceves. I'm having a sleeve to bypass , can't wait

I gained 6 lbs, but my first visit was last Sept!! I should have been done in June. My surgeon's office messed up and never scheduled the nutrition classes I needed. My bypass surgery is on Monday, 10/22. My surgeon scolded me, but I bit back and told him about his staff and their error, which they had admitted why everything was delayed. Also, since I started this I've seen my daughter pregnant and have her baby, my son got married in April, and my daughter got married in May. All in another state, so I traveled by car a lot! I developed a DVT from the traveling, which has since resolved. I've had steroid injections in both knees and my neck. He scolded me and told me I owed him 6 lbs by my surgery date. Whatever!! It could have been worse. I'm down over 11lbs today and ready for Monday. Sent from my SM-G930V using BariatricPal mobile app

So yesterday I had to leave work early because I almost blacked out. I felt weak, faint, a little dizzy, and just plain bad. I was so afraid of going back to the hospital that I left work early and just went home to lay down. This happened after lunch and I thought it was the Soup I ate (maybe it had too much fat or oil or something) anyway I go to work today and after I came back from break I started to have the same symptoms again! I was freaking out thinking this was way serious and ended up calling on of the surgeons on call. The guy I spoke with wasn't my surgeon but I gave him a run down of everything and he said since I didn't have a fever, abdominal pain, or diarrhea it was nothing to come to the ER for. He then suggested that because this has been happening after I ate at work and then resumed standing up(for the rest of my shift) he said either my blood sugar is very low or you may be dehydrated(But he ruled out dehydration because I had gotten in all my fluids). He suggested I drink a couple of ounces of apple juice which I promptly did and I felt a little better but the symptoms returned! I drank a little more and low and behold, my symptoms were gone and I felt good as new! I really hated this happening at work though, because my boss(the assistant manager, anyway) wanted to know my business(Only my manager knew I was out for surgery). She then commented on my weight loss and asked me if I had gastric bypass! Luckily someone else was there in the room and immediately shut them down. (It's none of their business, the point was I don't feel well and I wanted to call my doctor). I was thankful for the other woman thinking it would be completely ridiculous(Word at my job spreads like wildfire, they thrive on rumors). I then gave some BS VAGUE story about my esophagus and how I can only eat certain things so as not to irritate it. After about an hour and a half I was able to resume my work shift! I have never in my life had issues with my blood sugar. I wasn't even "pre-diabetic" pre-op. So just be careful fellow sleevers!

I had the band to sleeve revision too. My surgery was on feb 16. I had to do the preop diet for 2 weeks prior. I have lost a total 17 pounds since 2/2 . I started at 242 preop , 233 day of surgery and 224 as of today 2/25. Sent from my SM-N920V using the BariatricPal App

So, I've posted comments about making broth-bases in a few threads.This is a correction/ revision to what I've posted about making beef broth from bones. I posted that I don't skim the fat off the broth after boiling, because there's a negligible amount per serving in the finished product (Soup or au jus) if you make a big vat. It's been a long time since I've made beef broth, so I thought since I've been posting about it and it's that time of year, I'd make some. I do save and freeze steak bones and when making beef broth from these bones, it's true, the total fat is negligible per serving when making big vats from these. Since I don't eat that many steaks and my household has shrunk with the kids on their own, there's just not enough bones to make beef broth with- so I buy marrow bones. *HERE'S THE CORRECTION: I'd forgotten, marrow bones do have a LOT of fat that leeches into the broth. I definitely recommend skimming off the fat at the end of beef marrow-bone, broth-production, before freezing. Sorry if I misled anyone. It wasn't intentional.

Well, I took my next baby step towards this procedure. I went to my PCP for the first time in 1 1/2 years, for one reason to finally be put on medication for high blood pressure and to discuss WLS. The ironic thing is, I had been avoiding this doctor becuase every time I went to see her, even if it was for a cold, etc, she would wiegh me then get on my case about my weight. I never wanted to go to her. Well, she never even mentioned my weight yesterday, which was ironic because I borught it up to her. She is very willing to back me on this, and told me to let her know if I needed a letter of medical necessity. I told her the two seminars I would be attending tomorrow (Hackensack and Morristown, NJ) and she gave her opinion about them. I did notice that she doesn't really know much about these surgeries. She was getting confused with the gastric bypass and the lap band. I am glad I had researched so much before going to see her. So tomorrow I am off to find out more. I still don't know what I am going to do, but at least I will be armed with information to make an informed decision. Sonia BTW....are any of you on/been on a diuretic for high blood pressure? If so, how often do you really go to the bathroom? Being a teacher, I don't have ready access to the bathroom. It's not like I can say "Ok 7 year olds, take care of yourself for a couple of mintues" . Just asking if anyone knows. Thanks!

i found a third story different scenario. Thanks for all the replys! I have had problems with the band from the beginning! 2 days after the Surgery I was admitted back into the hospital! I could not even keep my own saliva down. After a week in the hospital I had lost 25 pounds and of course I could not even have a drink of water! All I had was an IV. When they took a picture of the band it was not quite placed where it is normally on most patients but they felt that it could work! For the first 2 months I was on mostly liquids and soft foods. All together I have lost 45 pounds! I have never been able to keep down chicken no matter how many chews I chew. I have vomited almost everyday since I went to solid foods, 3 months after surgery. I don't think I have lost alot of weight because I will eat ice cream many times after I vomit to soothe my throat. At first I thought it was me, maybe I was eating too much or not chewing enough. Then my best friend had the band done it April and she is DOING GREAT!! We can sit down and she will eat more than me, same kind of food, and her band is tighten and mind is completely empty and I will still vomit. So I realized that the band is just not working for me! This had caused me to have bloody ulcers and I am on a double dose of previcid. The Drs have decided that my band needs to come out. I was hoping they just revise it but the Dr says there is no guarantee he could do that! Thats why I have decided on the RNY. I refuse to go back to my old weight. For all you bandsters to be: my Dr says that my case does not happen very often! Like I said before, my bestfriend is doing great and she hasnt vomited once! Best of luck to everyone!!!!!!

I had gallstones 7 months after my bypass. At my surgery (which was open) my surgeon palpitated my gallbladder checking for grit - but I was all clear, so he didn’t remove it. I had given him pre-surgery go-ahead to do so. I had reached my goal weight - but rapid weight loss is correlated with gallstones, so it is a known possibility. I have also never heard of an increased oancreatitis risk...

My GERD required bypass. It has been fine. I am happy with the results. BTW - my sleep apnea is now resolved and I don't need Cpap anymore!

Ok..i had the surgery on Monday.. Was drinking fine at the hospital.. But ever since yesterday I get chest pressure that really really hurts.. I also cannot keep much down. Seemed as though the liquids I am drinking sits on my chest.. Then comes that feeling of pressure. Then a couple of minutes later Ithrow up what I just drank. Has anyone expected this.? Are the chest. ,pain due to gas. I am taking nexium and gas x strips. Are all these symptoms normal.? Btw I had the band to sleeve revision.

Hey everyone! I'm sure there are many posts on here for revision but I'm in need of some help. I'm 7 years out of VSG surgery and am embarrassed to say I've gained everything back. The only excuse I have is life got in the way. I've been in touch with my surgeon and have been discussing revision surgery. My issue is, I do not have the same insurance (Aetna) now that I did when I had my original surgery. I'm having a hard time finding an insurance that will cover a revision. My current employers' plan does not even remotely cover anything bariatric wise so I'm hoping you fine people can give me some info of where I can turn. I thought I found a decent multiplan but I've since been told they do not cover bariatric surgery either. Thank you all for your time.

I have two more nutritionist appointments to go before I get a date, all my other pre op tests are done...and I find myself thinking "what if I would be better off with gastric bypass?". My only reasoning behind that is for faster, guaranteed weight loss. Has anyone else experienced this? I really had my mind set on being sleeved, now I'm second guessing.