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This a decision that is ultimately up to you. I was originally going for the bypass but when I learned about the sleeve and also learned more about the potentially unpleasant side effects of the bypass (dumping syndrome) I opted for the sleeve. It has changed my life! The bypass is considered the gold standard of weight loss surgeries because there are ling term studies showing it has good results. Any surgery is a risk and all weight loss surgeries can be defeated if one doesn't embrace the life style changes necessary for long-term success. Get as much info as you can and make your decision based on both that and you gut feeling about what is best for you. (Pardon the pun!)

I have some bad news for you ... The sleeve is not going to keep you out of the Burger King drive through ... or McDonalds ... or Dairy Queen. I know this is going to come across as harsh, but that is not my intention. I'm just a tell it like it is guy, so, I hope you can see that. The sleeve is not a magic bullet to keep you from eating bad foods. It is ONLY a tool to help you eat less. I am a year out and I can eat anything, and do, in small portions. It is EXACTLY what my expectations were. The sleeve is not gastric bypass where dumping syndrome occurs with too much sugar. It is a restrictive procedure. The quality of the food is determined by you. Early out, most people have swelling and sensitivity which gives them the impression their sleeve rejects foods, but this passes with time and the responsibility to make good food choices lies solely on the person. You are most likely a person whose swelling reduces quicker than most. This means you are going to have to transition into the mode of responsible eating a little sooner than most. Sorry ... honeymoon is over. Time to get to work on making the best food choices for your body.

I had Gastric Bypass Sept 2016. Started at around 330lb and was able to lose and roughly maintain 100lb weightloss. I also have Hypothyroidism, with new diagnosis of Hashimoto's, and PCOS. My weight has increased MAJORLY since having a Pannilectomy in November 2021. I've tried lowering calories even more, upping protein, engaging in more activity, weightloss medication to suppress appetite. Anything and everything I could think. Ended up consulting with my weight management doctor and we proceeded with a Partial Gastrectomy sinxlce they said there was a TINY sliver of stomach that they could still remove to maintain the pouch integrity. They confirmed my pouch was not stretched. So I had the Partial Gastrectomy on Monday. I didnt have any pain, just mild discomfort due to the laproscopic incisions. My stomach feels absolutely fine. I've not needed any pain medication outside of Tylenol. I've also been put back on the post-op diet. With all that being said... I feel suspicious of my lack of internal discomfort. My ability to handle 2 to 4 oz of fluids with absolute ease. More so that I am STILL getting hunger pains. It truly almost feels like they got in there and decided to not remove anything. My husband said that the status of "Moved to the OR", "Surgery in Progress", and "Moved to Recovery" was 25 to 30 minutes. This is supported by the board they post on and the texts. Just dont know if I am being crazy or not. Is this normal??? Sent from my SM-G975U using BariatricPal mobile app

@@frogftsh I start with 1 oz. of Wellesse liquid calcium citrate with breakfast (it tastes really good) and 2 fast dissolve Biotin 5000 mcg. Then 2 hours later half of my Opurity (for bypass and sleeve patients) chewable multi-Vitamin, again quite tasty. At dinner I take another ounce of liquid calcium and 2 hours later the other half of the multi. I also take liquid Lyrica and Gabapentin 3 times per day for my nerve condition, 2 prescription pills that I have to grind and mix with applesauce (gross) and 10mg of fast dissolve Melatonin at bedtime. Oh yeah, I forgot, I also give myself a B12 shot once per month. It seems overwhelming at first, but you get the hang of it pretty quickly!

Depending on your original starting weight I think and where you carry your weight. My girl friend had Gastric Bypass in her late twenties - she was about 330'ish before surgery , granted gastric you lose weight faster so that probably has something to do with it too, but she definitely does have some loose skin around her midsection and "bat wing arms" as well as some loose skin on her thighs. However, she is not going to have plastic surgery anytime soon. Loose skin is inevitable I think.

Monica, congratulations on your revision; happy healing! You say you would have been stuck with the band but I really can't believe there is even 1 person on this planet that will be able to keep their band as a lifelong weight loss tool. Even people with no outward problems/complications suffer extensive stomach, liver, scarring and adhesion damage. I hope the band will be banned soon; I will be telling anyone who will listen about the horrors of the band. I feel so much better now that it is out of my body; I really had no idea just how miserable I had become. Anyway, I'm happy for you and knowing that there are good band to sleeve revisions gives me hope. Gas dissapating prayers goin' out to you! And Thank you to everyone for the "love" that is so freely outpoured; this is just the best, shiniest spot on the whole internet!! Y'all rock!!

I had a revision on September 10th with no complications at all. Any surgery has risks attached to it. Maybe review with him what he is afraid of, what complications maybe he is just a fraid to lose you. It has been the best decision I could have made and have no regrets. Good Luck.

Have you considered getting the gastric sleeve? Especially since you are self pay. Don't forget that with the band, you will have to pay for fills until you get to your "sweet" spot. You will also need to have follow up EGDs yearly to check for erosions, etc. Lastly, contrary to what some say, the band isn't always "reversable". I spent nearly $40,000.00 after I had the band dealing with the problems that the band caused (this is not including the original surgery which my insurance paid for). I am not trying to scare you but just think about it. The sleeve is the same thing as a partial gastrectomy, which they have been doing for years for other issues such as cancer, severe ulcers, etc. It is considered "experimental" for weight loss because of the "newness" of doing it for weight loss. Kind of like when they use a medication for one thing and then a few years later find out that it helps other diseases than just those that it was approved for. There are many people who I know that have had "partial gastrectomies" for years. The only problem they have is that they are "skinny". Once you get the sleeve, you are done. No going back and paying for "fills". No having multiple surgeries to correct adhesions and other issues caused by the band. No paying for yearly EGDs. No worrying about finding another surgeon to take care of you and do the fills if you move away or your surgeon decides to "retire" or close his practice. I could go on and on but I won't. As I said, I'm not trying to scare you or piss on your parade so to speak. Just giving you something to think about. This is especially true since you are self pay. Just trying to let you know that there is a cheaper, safer way to achieve weight loss through surgery. Just go to verticlesleevetalk.com and obesityhelp.com to the revision sections/complications section and read, read, read, read before you have your surgery.

Do you have any chance of having a revision to a different surgery? I think the feeling of "I couldn't have this before but now I can" can cause really big problems, because your current situation likely isn't going to change soon

Hello everyone - My name is Jason and I'm 32 --though soon to be rolling over to the 33 year marker. I've been overweight for 24 years of my life and to this point, it's really all I can remember. My attempts at losing weight have been more than I can count on two hands and two feet and I can always succeed at losing 30-50 pounds. Anything beyond that has been a brick wall and it's been very frustrating. I work as an ICU nurse and I see so many patients that make me think "this really could be me in about 15-20 years" because of diseases that are secondary to chronic morbid obesity. I've looked into the options over the past 10 years. My first wife had a Gastric Bypass and saw massive results. My second wife also had the gastric bypass before we were married. I've decided that the LapBand surgery would be ideal for me. I am so very thankful to have insurance that includes coverage for weight-loss surgery. I have completed the pre-op paperwork to start everything and I am really going forward with it. I will be faxing the paperwork in on January 2nd, following my appointment with my PCP to start the required 3-month medically-supervised diet. I am hopeful that I can have my surgery by July. I am truly blessed to have the support of my wife. She is my rock and I know that with God's support and that of my wife, I will not fail. Though, I am doing this for myself. The comorbidies are starting to reveal themselves to me: I have obstructive sleep apnea, hypertention, knee and lower back pain... it's terrible. Weighing myself this morning, the screen told me I was a whopping 347lbs. Enough is enough. I realize this will be a journey and I am pleased to see an online support group for people like us. I look forward in reaching out to new names, new friends, and share this experience. All the best, Jason "The Night Shift Nurse" St. Louis, MO

Months before bariatric surgery, I started making diet & lifestyle changes, such as NO sugar, artificial sweeteners, desserts, processed food, carbonated/caffeinated/alcoholic beverages, smaller portion sizes, no drinking during meals, and minimal bread or rice. This allowed me to lose 30 lbs pre-op. I did not tell my family, colleagues, or friends (except for 1) about my gastric bypass surgery. No one noticed anything different after surgery as I had already been losing weight and was eating less in their presence. This allowed me to focus on myself and not have to deal with negative comments, energy, or misinformation. It worked well for me. YMMV

Love your name, hehe. :-) I too have a husband who is not as supportive as I would like. However, a lot of his insecurities stem from his past relationships where two of his ex's had gastric bypass. Now his first girlfriend has gastric bypass about 10 years ago and she didn't have the proper therapy beforehand and she had several issues afterwards where in a sense she went pretty crazy. Their relationship ended, she lost weight, got married and had four kids. His ex-fiance also had gastric bypass and she had a lot of complications and ended up losing weight and leaving him(and also got married right away afterwards). My husband has always been attracted to curvy women and has always thought they are beautiful. He is somewhat concerned that following my weight loss he will not look at me the same way, however that's a risk I am willing to take to better my health. I do feel that he says that only because he is scared of me losing the weight and feeling threatened, I honestly believe he will find me more attractive since he always comments on pictures of me when I was slimmer and says I was sexy. Even if when I say slimmer I mean 260! lol Considering that he had two girlfriends have WLS and leave him, he is VERY insecure about me losing weight. When I mentioned that I was considering Lap-Band he was extremely upset. He kept saying that I was going to leave him and he started to emotionally disconnect from me for awhile. After I explained my reasoning and why I wanted Lap-Band(I have diabetes and PCOS and hope to have children one day) he started to come around somewhat but I'd be lying if I said he changed his tuned. We had a heart to heart and he explained that he loves my personality and how compassionate I am and he is scared that I am going to change as I lose weight. I have a therapist I meet with who specializes in Bariatic Surgery and he went with me twice and put his feelings out there. It was really good for the both of us and he got to express his anxiety regarding my surgery. I am currently one week post-op and I can tell you that we are doing ok, however it's tax season and my husband is a CPA and extremely stressed. I chose to have my surgery during tax season because I wanted him to be more focused on work, rather then my surgery so he didn't drive me insane. Hehe. I have done very well with recovery, however I have babied my husband quite a bit(making him dinner, doing laundry, packing his lunch for work, going to the grocery store, etc) even though I haven't been feeling in tip top shape. I wish he were more compassionate towards me and my healing process, however he has carried the groceries up for me and he has been walking with me every evening. He also has congratulated me on my weight loss so far and made sure to bring me flowers while I was doing my pre-op diet because I was so stressed and upset and also brought pretty flowers after surgery. My therapist told me that since he made it clear that he is not ready to support me 100% in this, that I cannot expect the support from him that I desire. I do appreciate that he is still as affectionate and loving towards me as he was before and hopefully as I lose weight he will understand that I have no intentions of leaving him. I married him because I love him and deep down he is one of the most sensitive and loving men I know. Regardless of how much I love and care about my husband, it was time for me to put myself first. Sometimes I think that this process will make us stronger, but you never know. I'm just taking everyday as it comes right now.

There are a lot of revision lap-banders here and we all are so sorry to hear about the damage you sustained. I am also furious when I see lap-band ads or "medical" shows discussing lap-band. The real problems are never discussed with any sincerity - especially the reversable claim. I would also recommend that you get a second opinion on your damage and possibility for a sleeve - it seems that if they can do an RnY, they can do a sleeve? Take the time to heal and take care of yourself. You will get better!!! Lara

Ask for an EGD to stretch the scarred tissue a bit for an opening--they did this for a friend of mine for GERD. Then, after healing, maybe your revision with VSG would work. good luck! Thank you all for the well-wishes; this board is such a blessing! I'm so sore today; they spent an hour inside me cutting out adhesions and scar tissue so I guess I should expect to be sore. Tiffykins and I share the same surgeon, Dr Michel; I trust his decision, he said that I may still have quite a bit of restriction due to the very narrow scarring (picture an hour glass). It is that narrow scarring that didn't leave enough tissue to create a sleeve; I'm praying that it will eventually stretch just enough to get a sleeve in there. It was the perfect set-up for an RNY with the pouch on top all they would have to do is cut off the narrow scarring, hook up the intestines then Voila! another nutritional deficiency case walking out the door. It sounds like Swizzly lives in a place of good values and common sense; I wish all bariatric surgeons would ban the band! And I can say my quality of life is much improved without the horrible GERD!! I will still be scanning this board looking for people who are trying to decide whether to get the band or sleeve, you can bet I'll be chiming-in with my opinion. Whether you all know it or not, you are my friends that I turn to for a pick-me-up; I know I can always count on being inspired by someone or something said on here so Thank You! I hope to be telling an inspirational story of my own someday (soon I hope).

Everything I have learned & read states that when your band is at the sweet spot, you will be satisfied with 1 to 1.5 cups of food....NOT 1/2 cup. If you eat your lean Protein first, then veggies, then carbs, don't drink with meals, and that keeps you satisfied for 3-4 hours, your fill level is right. Sometimes you do hear 1/2 or even 1/4 cup, but that is closer to the gastric bypass patient requirements. Here is a good guideline for knowing when your fill is right: Adjustments I stole it from a guy's blog, but it is posted in multiple places on the Web. :rofl:

Ok then ignore it! I mean, obviously it works. In fact, during my seminar, the statistics my surgeon quoted showed Aussies to have even BETTER results that those we have here in the USA, and 3 years out losses are equal to, or better than, bypass patients. So ignore that negative mumbo jumbo. The band is just a tool and if you use it properly it will do wonders. If you don't use it, it won't. Just like a hammer...it just lies there unless you pick it up, grab a nail, and wham away! :tongue_smilie: Welcome and good luck to you!

Welome and you gotta finish the statement "Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste" - always loved the Stones! I may not be a man of wealth - taste has been very important in my life, and that is why I am here also - lol. Know what you mean on the the pride stuff - up until my surgery 11 days ago, I would do 65 minutes on the elliptical machine at the gym, but if I did not diet - weight would still creep on till I was at a BMI of over 50. I was so embarrased about having WLS, I told as few people as possible that I was having surgery - and only 4 people (wife, mother, daughter and a freind who had gastric bypass) what the surgery was. The truth of the matter is - I do not think "normal" people have ever been as hungry as I got on a daily basis. While I am in a tough situation right now in my recovery (liquid diet phase w/ dumping syndrome - which is rare for sleeves, but not unheard of) - I still think I made the correct decision, just counting the days till I can start having pureed foods so I can get some decent protien. Good Luck and welcome aboard! -Kevin

All I can add to what the others have said is that about half the people I met and still meet in the bariatric center are either having the band removed or revised to sleeve. I am almost 4 weeks post-op with no problems and no regrets, and no, my gall bladder was not removed.

I am 52, off all meds, overall well considering I have gained weight. Surgery wt. 353 3/2003, lowest in 2005 200 and curently 253. I was at 263 two and half weeks ago. Started changing eating and exercising. If I would have dont that from the beginning I would not be in this situation. I am having a total hip replacement next month and tryint to have 25 lbs off. I have 15 more to go before my surgery. I would like to get down to 185-190 as my goal. My bloodwork has always been good since beginning to date. I did not exercise after surgery and after 2 yrs starting drinking diet cokes and eating sweets. I dumped on and off the first 7 years. I have not really dumped over the last couple of years. I have never been able to throw up since surgery. I only have dry heaves and spitting. (sorry for the graphics). My still can not eat large amounts at one setting. More than at first, but not nearly like prior to surgery. I know how and why I gained. I didn't work within the guidelines. The one guideline I did follow to date is not drinking with my meals. I currently am not eating much meat or processed food. Feeling much better and getting around 65 gram of Protein a day. I do lots of grains, whole foods and lentils. I have found the iphone app "My fitness Pal" extremly helpful. I know my body has been transformed inside, but other than large amounts I was back at my old lifestyle. At 52 and hip surgery upcoming I can not live in denial anylonger. I can have surgery, make excuses and lie, but I will not live a good quality of life. I have been blessed with a good surgeon for bypass, supportive family and grace by God. Looking for others who may be in the same boat!! Warrior253

Chanda, I think the Kirsti Alley, had some type of surgery....She might of had gastric bypass....she sure lost her weight really fast...She may not have, but she sure did get the weight off fast...that is why I am thinking gastric bypass...

Thank you Pattygirl and Vanessa for the enouragement and advice! I will take all I can get as this is a crazy new journey. I have my 1 week post op visit next week and see what they have to say about my healing since I am still clueless what to expect Vanessa, hope your surgery goes well! Its nice you and your husband are doing this together and can be supportive of eachother through it all! My husband had gastric bypass 8 years ago- so he was a big help with me the last few days making sure I have everything I need. Sure makes a world of difference with people there that understand!

I choose the sleeve, because to me it seems less invasive. The way I see it, with the sleeve they are removing your stomach. With the bypass, they are doing that AND rearranging things. During the seminar I attended Dr. Baker actually talked about how he'd recommend the sleeve over the bypass for most people. There were a couple reasons he'd suggest the bypass,but I'm healthy overall and none of them apply to me. It also helps that I know people who have had it so they can tell me what to expect.

Beth; I'm having surgery TUES at GWU. I haven't found a support group yet...seems that everyone that was in my pre-op classes at GW was having gastric bypass. Did you not like Dr. Pinnar's group? I have a friend that used him and went to his sessions a few times. I'll need to ask her why she stopped going. I think it was just too far/inconvenient with her work schedule.

Hello all, my name is Erica, my reborn date was Sept 19 2010. I started at 236, went down to 137 and now in at 146... I stalled after a year but was happy with it. Now I am worried because the weight is creeping back on me... suggestions ? Help? Oh. I had a bypass..