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Deb, I wish I could offer you more advice; I had checked with Medicaid and ColoradoHealthOP, and they actually don't cover Lap Band--only sleeve gastrectomy and gastric bypass. I'm really impressed you got Aetna to cover it, and I hope that works well for you. I would say to just exercise even if it's uncomfortable and log your foods really carefully. Joining Weight Watchers (and not using your weekly flex points) might be a way to stay on track during this pre op period. Remember, it's tough, but this is only temporary. It should get better! Good luck

I was banded in 2008 and got 24/7 acid reflux in 2011 after having my son. Only time no issue was when my band was empty. So got revision on 6/18 and a month out and no issues thank god. It's so nice to not have to deal with it.

Evry person is diff but my surgeon was very clear that if I had acid pre surgery he want to do a bypass and not a sleeve. I didn't have any presurgrru ever

I had bypass surgery on jan 19. I lost 18 lbs on my 2 week preop diet. I came home from surgery the next day. I was super bloated and had gained 18 lbs..took 3 days to lose it..walking and even burping helps w the gas

I would talk to your psych doctor about the issue of your meds. (Are you planning to be on these meds long term, is there another med? Could this dose be less at some point down the road etc.) You could definitely lose 100 lbs. with either surgery. And I agree with the other poster about GERD. Many people are getting revisions due to GERD

I picked bypass because of how much I had to lose! I started at 340. My surgery weight was 311on 4/23 & I'm currently 276. Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

I have a doctor in mine This is a revision surgery I have a sleeve I want to get gastric bypass

I'll tell anyone and I really don't care if they don't like it or agree with my decision. I cant live a lie or keep secrets, and why should I? I'm saving my own life, it's as simple as that. I've certainly tried to loose the weight without the surgery but I haven't been able to keep it off. Plus, I've thought about having WLS many times but never really believed I could or would. And then one day a coworker told me he had bypass years ago, out of the blue. He was very matter of fact about the whole thing. I respected his openness. It inspired me to believe I could do it as well. I hope someday I might inspire someone the same way.

You go gurl!! I know you will succeed as I will too. Can you answer this for me? I am still not 100% on the lap band or gastric Bypass. I know that this is a decision I have to make for myself. but can you tell me why you opted for the lap band and not the other? and why was UC davis so against the lap band? I told myself I would concentrate fully on getting rid of the 10% weight loss before worrying to much on which procedure to do. But I really would like to know more from other peoples opinions. Thanks

Are your weight gains the fault of the band or your fault for not following the program? The band has been successful for some and there are people out there who swear by them (as opposed to swearing AT them). Fix whatever is broken so, if it's the band's fault, then go for the revision. If your eating habits are the problem, then why undergo surgery? Even with the VSG, you have to make it work... it won't do it all by itself. Best of luck on whatever you decide.

I also had the band in 2008 and had revision surgery a month ago. I hated the band. I threw up blocked food at nearly every meal, and I was hungry all the time with the band. I chose food that would stay down, which was usually unhealthy food that I wouldn't have normally chosen just so I wouldn't be hungry anymore. There were so many things that I couldn't eat with the band -- healthy foods, high Fiber foods. I looked at my band as surgically induced bulimia. I did lose some weight with it but just about 10% of the weight that I needed to lose, and it eventually came back. I know that there are some people that have been successful with the band, especially people who normally eat large portions, but I wasn't one of them. Like others have said, I am only sorry that I didn't do the revision surgery sooner. Edited to add: I have the sleeve now, and I have not thrown up once since the surgery. I can eat healthy foods now, and the weight is coming off.

Hi I am Darrell. My story is a little different. I got diagnosed with gastroparesis and within a month i had gastric-bypass. I had no counseling, no information about what life would be like afterwards. I am about 100 pounds overweight so the weight loss will be great, but that was not my primary reason for getting the surgery. I had one visit with a nutritionist. It seems that most of you had a lengthy process to go through to get your surgery. I am 12 days post op and really nervous about what the future holds. Has anyone had any type of similar situation?

I cheated on week 2 after my lapband 4 yrs ago. I ate a Burger King cheesburger. The fear of a staple line leak after my revision 6 mths ago was enuf to keep me on 4 weeks of full liquids and 4 weeks of soft. In fact, the nurse had to talk me into eating Jello the first week cuz I thought it was too solid. Plus my husband is the food Nazi and I know he woulda tattled on me to my dr... Good luck with ur surgery!

Have you talked to your surgeon about this, as they would be the most familiar with the absorption quirks of the procedure (though a pharmacist should also be familiar with it as the RNY is pretty "mainstream". Generally, time release meds (and a lot of the psych meds are time release) can have problems depending upon their delayed release mechanism. My wife has a DS, which has a different malabsorption scheme than your bypass, but she still has to research how a new ER med works and whether that is compatible with her anatomy.

I am having a revision on the 17th. The band has given me severe reflux with aspiration pneumonias . Time to get it changed. You? What's your interest?

I had the gastric bypass procedure on November 25th, 2014, so my journey is only beginning!!! But I can tell you a few things that I wished I had known prior to beginning the surgical steps. The first thing that I would have done differently is that I would have slowly eased myself into a protein shake for breakfast every morning, or maybe occasionally for my lunch. The reason why I would have done this is because (for me) the pre-op diet would have felt like less of a mental "shock" had I been already doing this for a period of time. Now that I have been drinking the carnation drinks for six weeks, I find that I love them and I crave their taste and texture. Now I can't say that about ALL of the protein shakes because well I think all bari patients can agree, not all of them will appeal to you. Finding one that works well for you is IMPORTANT. As far as motherhood goes, I also have two children and I was definitely more concerned for how they were going to handle this that I was concerned about myself. The oldest child is really the only one that even noticed that things were different, and her main concern was "Will you still sit with me at the table while we eat, even if you're only drinking?". I worried that I would feel left out while they all ate a real meal and I had a shake, but it has not felt that way to me at all. During my pre-op diet I was allowed broth, and some steamed veggies once a day for the first five days of the diet, so I saved my veggies for dinner time, added them to broth and viola! I had soup with my family while they ate. After surgery, you will feel tired for a few weeks as you recover. This is considered a major surgery, and weight limits are usually placed at 10pounds or less for the first few weeks so you will need to line up help with the little ones but it definitely can be done as you will be feeling better in no time. About the pain level, my dearest friend in the whole world had the sleeve done in June. I was there with her and she had issues with pain control. I watched it all and I STILL went through with my surgery. Why? Because being overweight is painful every day. I knew that I was strong enough, and I believe that you are as well. Two weeks ago, this friend and I were hanging out and she asked me how it compared to child birth as she has yet to have children and I have already been through it. She said she feels less scared of child birth now because she made it through that surgery. I told her I didn't want to scare her but childbirth is hands down much harder than WLS and I would definitely do this over again if I had to choose between the two. After my surgery, I actually requested that my pain medication be discontinued as I wanted to walk and the medicine made me dizzy every time that I stood upright. I knew it was a side effect of the medication as I am a medical professional. The doctor of course agreed to allow them to stop the medication and within a half hour I was up walking. Walking moves the gases used in surgery which causes the most discomfort in my opinion. The hardest part, as others here have already told you, is all mental. The learning, educating yourself, and the convincing your brain that you are NOT being deprived of joy by not eating as much as you used to, or WHAT you used to. There are other joys besides food and you will find them. Good Luck, you're already doing the right thing by reaching out! This is a GREAT place to start!

It's when some food goes straight through you. I have this problem with milk post-op. I can drink regular milk and be in the bathroom (TMI) pooping it out in minutes. It's NOT common for sleevers, but it is common for gastric bypass and RNY patients. Mine is because I'm now lactose intolerant.

I'm 11 days and 14lbs post op and feeling great! I can't believe how fast and what a breeze the surgery was! I did not do a revision so a litte different situation in that respect but any of the questions or anxiety I may have felt before is behind me and I'm so excited for my future! You came to the decision for many reasons and with a clear head I'm sure, before the anxiety of the "moments" before set in. You can do this! Get your desk cleared and your stuff done so you can focus on YOU during the time you've taken off for recovery. Luck to you!! :)

personally I wish people would stop bashing one or the other wls.. they all have drawbacks. I know people like to have a contest to see how they have the best wls but honestly it gets old . The lapband has been very successful for many people. There are veterans on here who have lost hundreds of pounds and are living a healthy life. There are people I know who have had the bypass and are doing fine. The success of each depends on the patient. I have people in my support group that have had complications and issues with the sleeve and others who have done fine. so please people it's not a contest and if you can't just say I had "such and such" and I am doing fine without bashing or criticizing others decisions than don't say anything. It gets tiresome and frankly that is why many people quit posting and quit visiting this site.

Thanks Chelly, I really think I need to do what's best for my diabetes which is bypass, and I suppose I'll have doubts right up until they knock me out! My endo really is pushing for bypass....

I get the hiccups when i had my original surgery in 2002 I told myself the Dr installed an alarm! Here i am 5 days post op revision and my alarm still kicks in when I'm full .

Oh noooooo.... Scary that her first thought was miscalculation and was willing to bypass a leak. Did you happen to notice the color of the Fluid, was it yellow or cloudy- a classic sign of a leak typically. Hope it really was miscalculation or ?? I dunno..just not a leak

I had diabetes and had the gastric bypass surgery and haven't taken a med for it since the day of the surgery. I just had my A1C done this past week and it was 4.7 I know that it is scary to make this decision but I'm glad I did in the long run. At first I was going to have the sleeve but I also had Gerds and with the sleeve it can get worse so I didn't want to take that chance and also diabetes doesn't go away with the sleeve like it does with the bypass. I know that you are thinking about the lapband and all I can say about it is that I know people that had it and wand up changing afterwards to bypass. The final decision is yours and I wish you all the luck in the world in whatever you decide.

Kristina I think everyone has opinions like navels but I don't necessarily want to keep reading the same drivel about which WLS is best. If you are happy with your Bypass or whatever good, otherwise don't tell me that the Lapband is bad.. I am tired of the "know it alls" telling everyone else the horror stories or whatever. I signed up for lapband discussions and that is why I don't go on the other sites and tell them I think it was wrong for them to have their stomach's rearranged or cut out.. I say whatever works for you is just fine... don't care if you think I"m right or wrong.

Hi All... I live in Winthrop, little town seven miles north of Boston. I had Sleeve surgery in May 2012, and had a revision to RNY in March 2014, because of severe reflux. I did not need to lose more than 15 pounds with the revision. I had both surgeries at MA General, and the awesome Dr. Meireles. I went from a size 26 to a size 8 . I've definately had some bumps along the way, would I do sleeve again...in a heartbeat...would I do RNY again, probably not.