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This was also my first Thanksgiving with the band. I think that I got caught up in the "pile your plate" syndrom the others had. Even though I only took small bits of what was there, and still only had half a full plate, I ate less than half of what was on my plate. It wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. Then again, being less than 48hrs post op (for a port revision) and on pain meds might have made a difference.,. )

Wishing you the best peachie! Are you getting another band? Or revising to the sleeve?

Just had my revision on the 4th and am still recovering. It's defiantely correct that the sleeve is much tougher to recover from than the band. But, so far it's worth it. I can already tell a difference. I had problems from my band from the beginning. The sliming, the vomiting, the pain. Turns out that my band surgeon put a metal band around my stomach instead of a beveled plastic band (what he was supposed to do). The metal band had cut a groove into my stomach and the band had adheased. Luckily for me, the groove and adhesion was in a part of my stomach that was going to get ut out anyway. My sleeve surgeon said that in a year or 2 I was going to have a real big problem. So, I now think that the sliming and vomiting your seeing isn't normal and could indicate a problem I hope not. But, I was lucky and decided to get mine revised before my issue got very serious. I think it's very worth it to revise.

I recieved the lap band in Oct. of 2010 and initially lost 50 lbs with it. Family emergencies and stress lost me my focus and I gained almost all of it back. I could not get pass the first fill of my band without complications on regurg, nausea, and vomiting. All we did was fill, take out, refill, take out, etc. I have reached a point and my surgeons agree that I need to do something because this is not working for me. Feb. 20, I have a meeting and a decision will be made in regards to the band and a possible revision. I am scared and concerned. Have already started to research more on the sleeve and am trying to learn from others who have gone through this. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Luv the Cadbury Mini Eggs. They r like crack. However, like u, I could devour a whole bag in 1 sitting pre surgery (2009 I got the lapband. Last July I revised to the sleeve). Even just last year (banded but had all my fill removed for a slip) I could eat about 1/3 of a bag in 1 sitting. I also bought a bag when I first saw them (those and a bag of Starburst Fav Reds Jellybeans). I just opened the bag of jellybeans a few days ago (where I ate about 6 of em) and I still have about 2/3 of the bag of Cadbury eggs in my nightstand (where I stash my nightime snacks). And it's been since before Valentines Day. Thank God for the portion control that the sleeve gives me. I feel so in control when I open the bag of chocolates and can stop at 5 of em. Now I enjoy them much more than when I swallowed them without even tasting them. So I'm in ur corner when it comes to the "Easter crack"!!! Luv em 2!!!

When I started this process, I weighed 235. I set a goal of 150 for myself. When I was in college, I took a full load of classes, worked full-time and worked out 2-3 hours EVERY DAY at the gym. With that schedule, I weighed 150 and was a size 10. I thought that if I got THERE, then I would be at my 'best.' Well, I got to 150 and knew I wasn't done. So, I revised my goal to 143, because that put me at a healthy BMI. 143 came and I have still been losing, and I knew I'd eventually get to the 100 pounds lost mark. I MADE IT!!!! WOO HOO!!!

My surgery is a week from tomorrow, July 9th. I too am excited. I'm on day 7 of my liquid diet and it's going well. Each day gets better. I've stuck to it...haven't cheated. I also had to complete all pre-op testing prior to a surgery date. My surgery is a revision. I had a lap band in 2009 and lost over 80lbs until I had a complication and had to have it removed. I thought it could be replaced but that wasn't the case. After a year, I gained most of the weight back. My surgeon suggested the sleeve and feels I will have better success. I think I could have lost a lot more weight from the band if I didn't have complications but I'm so grateful that I have a second chance. Good luck to everyone here! God Bless you all! We're all in this together!

Hi All, I was sleeved just over 6 months ago and I am struggling with the "Perfect" goal weight. Here is the deal...I have a history of failing every diet I have ever tried. (I know this is a lifestyle change not a diet..yada yada) I have a little success then I quit, that has been my life. I chose this surgery so I couldn't fail. Now I am feeling like a failure again. I have lost 80 pounds and feel amazing. I feel thin and beautiful and love wearing new clothes. I am about 20 pounds from my goal of 150 pounds but feel really good where I am at. My doctors still tell me I am overweight, my Nut wants me to increase my calories to lose more weight. I jog the soccer fields 4x a week and I think my weight is set at about 170-173 depending on the time of day. My husband says I could maybe lose 10 more pounds but definately not 20. I don't know if he is being nice or telling the truth (I know we are having happier "married couple time"). Here is the point of my rambling. Given my history of giving up, am I in denial like I was before surgery about my weight? Should I try harder to lose more weight? I went from a 22 to an 8. I am 5'6 1/2. I just feel like I am never going to hit everyone's perfect number for me. How can I lose this much weight and still feel like a failure...like I am doing something wrong ALL THE TIME. I feel like I have been chasing this magic number for years and I am finally in a place I am happy with, but no one in the medical field thinks I am healthy yet (*cursing stupid BMI chart*). My question to you all is have you struggled with the perfect goal number? Have any of you adjusted your number up? Should I trust the doctors/NUT and increase my fitness to 6X a week to lose more weight? I am attaching my before pic (never been shared before) and a pic taken with my amazing hubby this weekend for a visual reference. ***Note to pre-sleevers*** My sister is a photgrapher and insisted she do a shoot the weekend before my surgery. I was crying I was so embarressed. Now I am really grateful to have these photos. Have a friend or family member do them...you will be glad you did later. Disclaimer: I cant find the spell check, so please ignore any errors.

I can not believe that is has been two weeks since I last Blogged! Time goes fast when your have RESTRICTION! Yep! I have it! I went to see Dr. Feiz on 7/29, a week po and I was a wee bit nervous to say the least because I knew that I was going to have a fill! Everything went perfectly! It was such a great feeling to know that my band was working! I now know that I have an 11cc band and it is filled to 7cc now. I can eat pretty much everything that I allow myself to eat! I can feel the restriction but No BPing! Some times a wee bit nausea but it goes away really fast. I find all of this to be great since I really never had it before!!!!! The very very best part......I am down another 6 pounds making it now a total of 53 pounds! 12 more pounds and Onderland there I will be and over half way to my goal! Dr. Feiz would have given me another fill this last week but I opted out. He was really trying to get me to a goal that I had of wanting to be down to 199 by next weekend when we are going to Monterey for a Big Car Show weekend, BUT, when I get back I will go in and get another fill. Technically that will be my fourth fill then hopefully I will have found the "Sweet Spot". God this band is wonderful! A side note to anyone out there who is having faulty Band problems....I am checking into having the Ethicon or Realize people be responsible for all my medical bills since the Port revision. I believe they have already made a deal with the hospital for this last surgery but I am going to try for the port revision also. So far the second surgery is totally 3500.00 more out of pocket! My DH is not happy! If anyone needs updates on that part of my journey please email me and I will be happy to let you know what is happening! Life is so Very Very Good!

I can not believe that is has been two weeks since I last Blogged! Time goes fast when your have RESTRICTION! Yep! I have it! I went to see Dr. Feiz on 7/29, a week po and I was a wee bit nervous to say the least because I knew that I was going to have a fill! Everything went perfectly! It was such a great feeling to know that my band was working! I now know that I have an 11cc band and it is filled to 7cc now. I can eat pretty much everything that I allow myself to eat! I can feel the restriction but No BPing! Some times a wee bit nausea but it goes away really fast. I find all of this to be great since I really never had it before!!!!! The very very best part......I am down another 6 pounds making it now a total of 53 pounds! 12 more pounds and Onderland there I will be and over half way to my goal! Dr. Feiz would have given me another fill this last week but I opted out. He was really trying to get me to a goal that I had of wanting to be down to 199 by next weekend when we are going to Monterey for a Big Car Show weekend, BUT, when I get back I will go in and get another fill. Technically that will be my fourth fill then hopefully I will have found the "Sweet Spot". God this band is wonderful! A side note to anyone out there who is having faulty Band problems....I am checking into having the Ethicon or Realize people be responsible for all my medical bills since the Port revision. I believe they have already made a deal with the hospital for this last surgery but I am going to try for the port revision also. So far the second surgery is totally 3500.00 more out of pocket! My DH is not happy! If anyone needs updates on that part of my journey please email me and I will be happy to let you know what is happening! Life is so Very Very Good!

Agree with that. I went with 2 people who had Bands and revised one to Bypass one to Sleeve in the last month. But the Band has worked good for me, them not so much. cheri

And so do I. Tell me where I have been nonsupportive of the band? My band did it's job-my body didn't want it in me. I explained why *I* revised to a DS. I don't think I've ever been called aggressive...and I still recommend the band. Like you said~my choice isn't a personal statement about me or anyone else. So don't take it personal, OK? Why shouldn't I tell my story? Should I not be here because I no longer have a band? You don't have to answer. I can probably guess what your answers are. At any rate, I wish you the best with your surgery.

I understand. I initially had my consultation for the Lapband surgery. After reading up on it, I realized that they don't last forever. The thought of having addtional surgeries and possible not conquering my weight problem is frightening....Thus the reason I have changed my mind and decided on the sleeve. I don't like the idea of malabsorbtion. I pride myself on being 44 years old and looking 34 years old or less. I have seen people look aged with gastric bypass. I have also see people have a hard time keeping weight off. What I thought was unfortunate has been my fortune . My insurance company require 6 months of a doctor supervised diet. The mixed bag is that I am perfectly health......great bp, great blood sugar, great cholesterol. I have lost 32 lbs since starting with my doctor 4 months ago by eating all food groups and exercising. The bad part, I have had to wait for a long period of time which causes much reflection. My husband is encouraged. Most of the time, I am discouraged. Starting at 310, I thought the weight would fall off! Unfortunately, it did not. If you are considering Lap band surgery, look into the revisions and why people are getting revisions. I didn't want that band to erode inside of me. Also, I didn't want to go through months of adjustments trying to get a sweet spot to lose the maximum weight

Sorry forgot to add the link to the book....http://www.amazon.com/Recipes-Weight-Loss-Surgery-Revised-ebook/dp/B006GO6F9O

@summerset how are you doing with your revision ? You are almost 3 months out and had the by pass if I remember correctly ? How is your strength at this point ? Are you able to eat solids well and how much are you eating at one time ? Do you feel like you have restriction if you are eating Beef, chicken, seafood, pork ect ?

@Tracyringo Eating seems to be a bit more problematic atm. The MGB seems to be "more forgiving", so to say. But then again maybe I can't remember some issues I had during the first months after MGB. When I eat too fast or too much or too heavy foods I get a stomach ache. Can be from mild to wanting-to-crawling-up-the-walls. I never had that with MGB. However, my stomach is quite a primadonna since years so please take this answer with a grain of salt. The worst are dense high-protein/fat combinations. It's almost a guarantee for at least mild issues and a brick like feeling in the stomach. These things are very individual though. It makes me remember what one of the dietitians said to a fellow patient: "I can't tell you what to eat or not to eat. You have to find out what foods you tolerate or not. I can recommend eating dairy and chicken but when dairy makes you feel queasy and chicken makes you vomit the advice is worth nothing in the end." Regarding restriction: for me it's stronger than with the MGB right now but I guess in some months it will be about equal. Mind you, the revision was less than 3 months ago. Hunger signals are the same, they're very mild. I was supposed to start on solids three weeks after surgery in stead of four weeks. I was quite glad I could progress to solids a week earlier but have to say progression was less easy this time. While I struggled through the liquid/puree phase this time I also don't think it would have been possible to start solids earlier than this. I had awful cravings this time for "normal" foods like tofu with rice, cucumbers, whatever... Some people suggested this was because I was already at a normal weight when I got revision so maybe you're going to experience something similar, no idea. How much I can eat varies from meal to meal and that feels kind of frustrating. What's too much and causing issues one meal might be the right amount or even not enough the next time. In general foods with a high water content (e. g. fruit, raw vegetables) I tolerate best and usually don't cause issues so cherry tomatoes berries and grapes are favorite snack foods right now. I don't eat meat so I can't answer only part of your question. Strength and the like I'm hesitant to reply because I had not only the revision but also another little surgery regarding trocar hernia. The upper abdominal wall still feels strange when I exercise but in the end it was the fifth laparoscopy plus trocar hernia surgery, so I guess I simply have to be patient. I also feel quite stressed and exhausted these days because of work, lots of rather sh*tty 24 h shifts and on-call duties. I'm glad I'm going on vacation on Saturday for two weeks. After that I'm going to re-evaluate what might be surgery related and what might be stress related.

I'm not a revision patient, but just wanted to say that as long as you keep on top of taking your vitamins, deficiencies are pretty rare. There are some people whose bodies don't absorb oral iron well who have to get occasional iron infusions, but most of us absorb it just fine. Otherwise, I really don't hear about deficiencies except for people who don't keep on top of their vitamins. I don't think that lack-of-restriction thing is universal. It probably depends on the person.

'' It took me somewhere between 20-25 minutes, no liquids. I'm quite good about no liquids. Now, at dinner, I had 4 small grilled shrimp, about an ounce of pork and less than an ounce of thin cut grilled beef (we went out for vietnamese) and I was STUFFED. That was about 4-5 oz total, that seems more like it. I guess cottage cheese and the soft brie were just a bit more sliderish than I would have guessed. Dorrie -- I would kill to feel restriction after 4-5 bites. Wow!! I am seriously wondering if I am going to have to be one of those people that revise to RNY in a couple of years.

So sorry you are still dealing with this. Maybe check airfare for Houston and come see my doctor. He is awesome and does revisions and special cases. Have you looked into the family leave act at work?

If you do the Sleeve you are going to run the risk of having to have a revision. I was approved for my surgery despite having acid issues because I DON'T have GERD, but rather something called EOS. I was going to have issues with acid whether I had Bypass or DS (which involves a sleeved stomach). My disorder is an allergy disorder and the acid is worse 1. when I either eat or am around what I'm allergic to, 2. at night, or 3. if I eat something acidic. I only take my acid reducers at night. However, I wouldn't necessarily recommend the Sleeve to someone who has GERD. Trust me, weight loss surgery is no joke and it's a bumpy recovery in the beginning. The gas, the liquid diet, the puree stage, etc. Having to go through the 2 week pre-diet all over again if it doesn't stick the first time... You have to look at everything and then ask yourself if you are willing to take the risk of having to do it all over again if your GERD gets WORSE. In the end, the choice is yours, whatever that choice may be because it's your life and YOU are the one living it, not someone else... I wish you the best of luck on whatever choice you make!

Juniper, I’m in the exact same place. I had severe reflux and had all the fluid taken out of my band. I quickly gained 20 lb over the 40 I had gained back over the last 2 years or so. I am approved for revision to bypass and am hoping to have it near the end of Feb. I had the exact same question . I would get stuck with the band and could either tough it out or eject the stuck item. I often chose eject and am wondering if you can do the same after bypass.

Hi mommabird, I doing really well. I had a revision from the sleeve. I only stay in the hospital overnight. I was walking right after surgery and so far every if going well. I also had a hernia repaired. I've lost a few pounds already

Since having the revision i crave extremely spicy food! But, and its a big BUT i soon developed GERD once i was onto normal foods and i cannot touch spicy stuff in any way .. Im a little sad about it but i can live with it as it is *shrug*

Well, yesterday I turned 50& today I started the pre op diet. My surgery date is 10/24 and I must say that i'm optimistic. I'm a revision patient, originally fitted with an unsuccessful Lap band. The band resulted in four additional corrective surgeries. I ended up in the ER where the band had to be removed. My ER surgeon is now my bariactric Dr & one of the best in this field. Lucky me!! I'm optimistic because this time I have a great Dr and i'm much wiser. I've scheduled counseling to deal with all of my "stuff", I plan to start learning yoga, and finally, I'm working on a nutrition overhual. I'm going to attack obesity from all levels. If anyone can lend insight to the counseling, yoga, & nutrition please chime in because i'm open to receive!

I had a slipped lap band that I had to have removed and a revision done. I also thought I wanted a sleeve but my surgeon strongly recommended a bypass because I already had terrible GERD before my lap band. I took his advice and have been very happy with the decision. It's your choice, but be well informed before you decide. Good luck!