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Here's some of my story! I had my surgery on march 27th 2012 I paid cash in full cause my health insurance don't cover! Starting weight 268lbs now 173! I'm feeling great about my loss! I've had stalls at times but I just stopped worrying and in a few weeks back to dropping. I had no problems with surgery at first no leaks no complications. a few weeks post op I had sharp unbearable pains went to hospital for pain Control they came to think it was the internal stitching healing! I'm 5hrs from the hospital I had surgery at. Other than that everything was going great my back problems much better energy level better feeling more confident and happier! The last month or so my Bp bottomed out starting having orthostatic blood pressure! Got dizzy when I stand. went back into hospital to help increase my Bp and lower my heart rate, it was high because my Bp was low! So anyway I'm on salt tablets and a pill to help retain water! I don't drink enough but I've never been a big drinker! Lol so my cortisol levels are low everything else low side of normal. I'm seeing a endocrinologist to help know what's going on just waiting on rest of test to see if its from surgery or if I have had these problems and no one knew it was my adrenal glands! So anyway I'm loving feeling skinny and happy I want to lose 13 more lbs and the good news is my bmi went from high 40s to 27 so I'm happy! If anyone has any input on the fluid or cortisol levels that would be great! Hope everyone great happiness and success!

Well, I can understand a lot of what you're talking about. Most assuredly you're in a better place for pregnancy (at least as a doc would view things) being more than half a year from surgery. And some doctors will let their patients try to conceive even sooner post op. My twins were nearing the same age when we decided to get pregnant, too. I didn't want too much of an age difference, so I really do understand that part of things. If there isn't a fertility concern I would wait one year post op but that's me. I had issues eating for more than a year post op. It wasn't until the six months prior to my two year anniversary that I could eat more normally, skip shakes if I didn't want them and had my Vitamin deficiencies under control. Would a healthy and happy pregnancy prior to that time been possible? Absolutely. Other people have done it and had no real problems or complications. A lot depends on where you are in your diet and overall health. As far as baby weight, unfortunately, very few folks have come back to update post op. It could be that they're too busy or that they're ashamed because they haven't been able to lose it. I do know that of the handful of regain posts I've seen, some of them were ladies that had babies post sleeve. But I think that the same principles that apply to maintenance/loss prior to a baby apply afterward and that a lot of this can be avoided if you're healthy, don't develop bad habits or go completely off track because you're pregnant and if you've got the emotional food issues under control. I've had a perfectly normal weight gain with my pregnancy and anticipate no real issues shedding the weight afterward, though I do expect it to go slowly much the way losing my last twenty pounds to goal went before I got pregnant. This is really something you should weigh and consider after seeing both your OB/GYN and your surgeon, to see what they have to say. Good luck, ~Cheri

The latest data, is showing about 25% of Banded people will have complications within the first 5 years.....not 1%, your mixing statistical data and types.

Is this at the incision sites, or is it deeper, like where your stomach is? The fact that it goes away is a pretty good sign. It's likely that you sleep in an awkward position, or maybe you toss & turn a lot which creates extra stress on your incisions. But with some of the complications we've seen lately, from twisted stomachs to leaks that caused some miserable experiences I do have to say, if this is not distinguishable as incision pain go see your doctor. And if they seem dismissive, don't hesitate to get a second opinion.

@"mbrinmn" I am in the Deep South and the cost of living is lower. $13500 takes care of it all. Glad u had a good experience. Ive had a few friends go to Mexico with no probs whatsoever. I'm just worried about being in the 1-2% and having a major complication like a leak. No other surgeon is going to be as motivated to "fix it" like the original surgeon. I guess I'm scared that no one would want to touch me after going out of the country for surgery. There's so much fear of lawsuits in the medical field.

It really don't seem like you ate alot of food. some of the foods were bad choices. Your first six weeks with the band is the time your body needs to adjust to this new foriegn object. The post op diet is so that your body can adjust without complications. You have to be careful, because you can cause yourself to vomit, which could lead to band slippage. The most important thing is getting back on track.

We have developed abnormal relationships with food. We eat to cope. We eat when we're bored, happy, sad. Food can be a lover, a friend. The biggest problem with this is that food works really well and really quickly in these situations and we gain weight. If we only ate when we were truly hungry we'd all be thin. We also train ourselves like dogs to be hungry all the time. This is not true hunger. This is phantom hunger. If we eat in the mini-van, in front of the computer or in our chair in front of the TV, what this does is that every time we are in the mini-van, in front of the computer or in our chair in front of the TV, we are HUNGRY. This is not true hunger. This is phantom hunger and we've gotten really good at it. A major help is to only eat at the table so that it is the only thing associated with food. If you go up to a dog and say, "wanna treat?" they will go absolutely bizerk because they associate this with food coming in. There are many terms for phantom hunger - emotional eating, mindless eating, non-hunger eating, etc. This is the hardest thing to solve. The keys are to recognize our triggers and to identify sources of deep-seated psychological pain and address them so the phantom hunger will go away. The best book I've seen on this is called "Shrink Yourself" by Dr. Gould. True hunger is a physiological NEED for food. It is patient. Any food will do. There is no associated guilt or shame. Phantom hunger is a DESIRE for food. It is impatient. There is a specific craving. ("If I don't get chocolate right now I will harm somebody" etc.) It is a reaction to a stimulus. It is associated with guilt or shame. The easy test to see if you suffer from phantom hunger is if you can't stop yourself. Phantom hunger is the most complicated aspect of weight gain and therefore the hardest part of successful weight loss. It comes from many different things in each one of us. We all have this. Skinny people have phantom hunger but they control it. A great example in Dr. Gould's book is an overweight woman whose life's dream was to get paid to sing. Unfortunately, in high school, a boyfriend made fun of her singing and this hurt her deeply emotionally. Every time this psychological pain came up, she ate. She struggled to lose weight. When Dr. Gould identified this and encouraged her to sing again, she finally agreed to sing at a friend's wedding and she received many positive accolades after. This led to a job as a music teacher in an elementary school - she was getting paid to sing. Guess what? She lost weight successfully. She solved the source of deep psychological pain and therefore eliminated the source of phantom hunger. Another example is women who were sexually abused as children. Food treats the pain and obesity is an outer protection against abuse. This is very difficult to deal with alone and typically requires the help of a professional to bring this to the surface, deal with it and treat the source of psychological pain and phantom hunger. You see similar situations in unhappy marriages and basically any source of real stress. The secret in all these things is to deal with the source of pain and also find non-food ways to cope with them. All this is easy to say. This is the most difficult aspect of weight loss. Finding a psychology professional that deals specifically with weight loss can be helpful to tipping the scale in your favor. An interesting test in Dr. Gould's book is to ask yourself who you are jealous of and why. He sees many patients who can't pinpoint their source of psychological pain so he asks them who they are jealous of. This is how he identified the source of pain in his singing patient when she told him she was jealous of a friend who was paid to sing. This is a tiny amount of information on a very complex topic. You can do the nutrition and fitness stuff perfectly and still not lose weight if there are issues in the brain stuff category. Ask yourself if you suffer from phantom hunger and if you have difficulty stopping yourself. Consider working with an expert or reading Dr. Gould's book. Positive self-talk is another important topic in this discipline and I go into detail on this and more on YouTube. Search Watkins Weight Loss Class. I hope this is helpful. Weight loss surgery makes all this stuff much easier but it is still important to be smart in the disciplines of Nutrition, Fitness and Brain Stuff. I wish you all the greatest success in your weight loss journey. Remember the importance of buying yourself a really nice present when you reach your goal. Brad Watkins MD

Hi, I had RNY on June 25th, and have had absolutely no complications.....none! Now, I thing I am in the minority, but I have done everything my doctor suggested, and I am sure that has helped. This is a rough surgery, but my point is, not everybody has a hard time. Prepare your body, and follow directions to a T. Good luck!

I backed out of the surgery 2 times. The 3 rd time was the charm. Fear can be nasty sometimes. For myself I had to get in touch with what I was afraid of. When my fears of not having the surgery and what my life would be like without the surgery out weighed the problems with having the surgery it was easy. Gosh I hope that makes sense. Let me try to clarity this. The first two times I was afraid of the procedure and what complications I might have after ward. Then after time had past and I had lost and regained the weight several times other fears developed. This time my fears were ..what if I continue on the road.... this extra wieght will slowly immobilized me. The fear of living a more and more shallow.life out weighed everything else. Oh my I hope that makes sense and helps.a bit. Best Wishes to you.

I was banded on April 3, 2014. I'm down 44 pounds and feel wonderful. I've had two fills and no complications or problems at all. It's been the best decision I've ever made.

I would get a second (and even third,) opinion on any kind of revision surgery. Partly due to the added complication in doing revisions, and in the wider range of underlying problems that may create the need for a revision. Different doctors have different experiences (even if they are equally "experienced") which can give them a different perspective in solving a problem. On these forums, we certainly see some come through who have hiatal hernias repaired post sleeve; there is also wide variation with amount of sleeve experience that surgeons can have, given that it has been gaining popularity rapidly, so many surgeons are not as experienced with sleeves as they are bypasses. This leaves many in the situation of not really knowing how to correct a problem that occurs with a sleeve, and instead stay within their comfort zone and revise to a bypass instead of fixing it. So, in short, you may be in a situation where some surgeons can correct the hernia fairly easily while others would have difficulty, or it may be something that no one can correct without doing the revision. We forum lackeys can't make that judgement, but that is what second opinions are for. Good luck,

I stayed one night, but my surgery went super smooth with no complications.

Sleeved 12-19-16! 3 night stay, I had complications! Lots of vomiting from the meds, couldn't do the swallow test because of the vomiting, that is why I had to stay. Most of my pain was from the vomiting. Was off work 6 weeks. Just again because of vomiting. To this day I still have troubles with vomiting. Think I may have a sliding hernia causing the vomiting and severe acid reflux. But I have to wait 6 maths to a year before we can fix it. Dont worry I am one of the few with complications! Other wise I feel great and have losted 56 pounds, and went down 4 sizes. Doctor assures me that I am missing at a healthy rate. I am truly happy and love my sleeve, just not the thing causing the heart burn and vomiting!!

I am happy and scared at the same time! I am so scared of complications!

1. My insurance covers either procedure as long as I'm approved for wls. 2. At only 27 I am concerned that lapband is not permanent enough since I would have to rely on a foreign body lasting inside me for hopefully 60+ years. - Even the manufacturers and FDA knows that the band will not last a lifetime. It's only listed for 10 years, I'll try to find the specific links for you. 3. The sleeve is totally permanent (scary). In my humble opinion, the band is not reversible. It can be removed, or unfilled, but once that thing is suture around your stomach, your anatomy is forever changed. 4. One of my biggest factors is that I plan on having more kids and I'm worried that the sleeve will not be compatible with pregnancy. There are successful pregnancy patients on Obesityhelp that have had the VSG, and have delivered healthy babies. Once you hit goal, your surgeon will help you determine when you can TTC. 5. I am a huge puke-a-phobe (this is a concern with both surgeries). Puking with the band is horrific and so uncomfortable. Puking with the sleeve isn't the same, it's like this creeper piece of food coming my esophagus, and I spit it out. That hasn't happened in months because I've learned how to eat with my sleeve. With the band, things get stuck and you never know when or what is going to cause you to puke. It's especially an unpleasant experience when eating in public and you have to rush to the bathroom because on that particular day, mashed potatoes didn't go down, and then you can't eat anything else because the stomach tissue swells. 6. I am totally ok with eating tiny portions, but the lapband seems way more restrictive on the kinds of food you can eat. With the band, some days I could stuff, and the next Water wouldn't go down right. meat always had to be slathered in a condiment or gravy of some sorts because my band didn't like meat, and it didn't matter how it was cooked or prepared. I could not eat any bread products with the band that was total trainwreck with my band. With my sleeve, I can have about 1/2 of a fajita size tortilla with cheese on it, or the inside of a super light yeast roll. I'm not a sandwich person so I don't eat sandwich bread. I do enjoy pita bread, but it's about 1/4 of a pita pocket with cream cheese and deli meat sometimes. Some other information about the band vs. sleeve. With my band once I lost restriction (the initial swelling with the band surgery), I never felt full, I was always hungry, but couldn't eat things some days so I ate slider foods which is completely counterproductive, but I had to eat. I had a flipped port, and could only get 2 fills post op, and then in February, my surgeon could not access my port. I was miserable, and in constant pain with band because the flipped port caused the tubing to actually tug on my stomach which in turn damaged my stomach. You won't get restriction with band until you get enough fills, and that could take months. Not to mention the unfills you may have to endure to find the "sweet spot". It's a lot of maintenance. With the sleeve, it's instant restriction, plus with ghrelin hormone out of the equation, the ravenous hunger is gone. I'm 8 months out and still have zero hunger. I still have to remind myself to eat. The risks with the sleeve are more common immediately following surgery such as leaks. But, with the band, the list of complications is long and can occur fairly early out, or a couple of years post-op flipped ports, esophageal dialation, stretched pouches, erosion, slippage, and those are the most common. Some have asked me why did I have the band. It was approved by my insurance, my mom has a band since Nov 2007 (and now she pukes 2-4 times weekly), I really thought I would be one of the lucky ones (so not the case), I needed surgical intervention, and I was so against RNY. I knew all the complications, but honestly thought I could be successful. Luckily, when I decided to revise, I found out that a military base close to us did indeed perform the VSG. I left my civilian band surgeon and transferred all my stuff to a military surgeon. My insurance (Tricare Prime) approved my revision immediately. I am not the type of person to really regret anything I've done in my life. I don't regret my decision to get the band. It taught me a lot about myself, and I did pick up some good habits with it. I do wish that I would not had of complications, and I wish I would of known that the VSG was approved at our neighboring base. But, I see a civilian PCM, so I get kicked to civilians for all of my referrals. Just my ramble. I hope that helps.

With no complications, you should be fine - just drink all your liquids, and put your feet up, and nap. The big risk is dehydration.

Hi, I am just beginning my journey! My doctor is Francis Teng, MD, out of Las Vegas, and I have been following his work for almost 6 years. I have my consultation on the 15th, seeing the psychologist and nutritionist next week. My insurance is not paying, so I'm doing it all myself, with a little help from my mother. LOL! But, I have a 12 year old daughter who is at weight loss camp now and she has been there 2 weeks and has lost over 13 lbs so far. I want to set a good example for her, because she is doing it for me. I have entertained the idea of weight loss surgery for years now. My brother had the bypass done last year and has lost over 150 lbs. He had so many health problems so the surgery probably saved his life. I was set on having the same surgery when I learned more about the lap band. I like the idea of losing slowly, no cutting, less complication/risk, among other things, so I decided to go this route. I have about 140-150 lbs to lose. I would be ecstatic with 100. I found this site yesterday and I'm looking forward to learning from everyone here.:thumbup:

I was banded on 11/31/06 and its had its ups and downs. but you would have never caught me saying anything until now. I would highley recomend a different size band. That band was dropped here in the states do to being defective, and I can believe it. The Thursday before GOOD FRIDAY I was admitted into the Hospital for a slip. The band was strangled the esophagus, wich was squeezing on all the nerves, wich caused a serious of seizures. "no I don't have a seizure disorder" after the 6 th. one my Heart stopped, and I died, they started CPR then Jolted me back after 4 minutes. I'm GLAD to still be here with no complications either. I was told that the old 4 cc band is a 50/50 chance that it will either fail or not after 5 plus years. To the above people that it has lasted, I wish mine did to, but its not ment to be. I feel like I been kicked in the chest by a mule, and I'm Black, and Blue Everywhere, so yes i hurt, but i'm very lucky to be alive. If I could give you a piece of advice, I would say pick another size, and save yourself a headache, and heartache. I have to make arrangements for complete removal, and I feel like i'm having my heart cut out. But I got a second chance, and i'm not blowing it. So avoid the problem period, and don't pick a band that was dropped by the FDA, get your moneys worth, unless you like to gamble. I was offered the new band, but I didn't want to get cut again. I should have done it.

Hey, A week ago I got a gastric sleeve like the first 4 days I was in a lot of pain. I have a low tolerance for pain, the gas pain was sharp and made me miserable and the surgical incision spots were sore. When I look at my stomach I think it looks more ugly then it looked before. I feel hideous and feel like I’m not gonna get results because all I’m doing is drinking water and sip on a protein shake and take my vitamins. I’ve already been tempted to eat unhealthy foods. The other day I chewed some chicken but I spit it out because I’m not trying to cause myself complications. I guess I’m just venting I also feel weird in the sense that I’m waiting to see myself skinny. Is it normal to feel like? How did y’all feel your first few weeks. Did you have doubts were u happy were u tempted to eat crap? Did u eat it how did you feel?

I'm still pre-op, but I'm 51 years old and my feeling is that I've been eating for more than 50 years and I've eaten everything I need to eat. I've been struggling with my weight since I was NINE, and although I've never been huge (never even reached 200 lbs, but then I'm only 5'2"), I have worried and fretted about every bite that went into my mouth, and every ounce on the scale, for more than FORTY YEARS. So when I found out this surgery was available to me, I jumped on it like a drowning man jumps on a lifeboat. Honestly, I can't imagine anything about the restrictions of this surgery being any worse than what I've been through up to now. Even if I were restricted to Protein shakes and chicken soup for the rest of my life (which I know I won't be), for me that would be a fair trade-off for being slim and healthy. As for complications, I know they happen but if they do I will get through them and it will still be worth it. I guess everybody has to do the cost-benefit analysis for him- or herself. For me, it's a no-brainer. I just envy those of you who have the opportunity to do it while you're still very young!

Hi All! I have asked loads of food questions but is it just me or did anyone else kinda obsess over all the food and big meals you are going to miss out on? I keep thinking I will be miserable watching everyone around me eat whatever they like and I will be living on Protein shakes and Soup the rest of my life. I worry about complications and leaving my husband and 2 very young kids alone. I worry about having the surgery and waking up and thinking what the hell have I just done. I have asked it before but, does anyone regret having the sleeve surgery? I have searched all over the forums and I cannot find anyone so far who regrets their choice. Nor have I been able to actually find anyone who has dies from it. (In my mind, I'm sure I would be the first) I could use a little reassurance. Surgery date is 2 weeks from today.

I was self pay- and have had no complications. But my doctors office said that those few patients that have had complications - the insurance company has paid for them. Hope this helps!

HI there, my name is Kari and I am 24 yrs old. I was banded on November 3, 2006 by Dr. Carl Sunby in Madison, WI. I had some complications and was unable to get a fill until this past monday March 11th. The biggest complication was that the larger incision got infected, and I mean infected. My Dr was worried that the band had been exposed to the air because you could see all the way through to my inside (lovely i know) and if that were the case there was a possibility for internal infections and all that. It took almost 3 months of packing wet gauze into the incision and keeping it all clean for it to finally heal. Unfortunately I have a really ugly scar now but I guess it could have been much worse. I have had a really frustrating time because my Dr kept telling me not to do too much exercise especially nothing abdominal and so I haven't really lost much weight since my surgery. But like I said I finally was able to get a fill a couple of days ago, which was also fun because with all the scar tissue he couldn't feel the port so we had to schedule another appointment to try it under the xray machine, so hopefully I am on the right track now. I am happy to be apart of this website and hopefully will be able to meet some new people. Good luck to you all and take care

And I went back to my prenatals, small, only need one a day, a little water in the mouth, toss it in and down she floats! Nice, easy and it's over until tomorrow! Loathed Flintstones taste, hated grinding pills, thought Bari-Melts weren't all that melty, felt like flavored sand in my 👄, a complication I did not need. Only concession I still make is dissolving my big White Carafate into a slurry in a medicine cup and drinking that.

Good morning all, just a quick question. Are there any sleevers here, (other then my buddy Tiffy, how is sprout?) who have been out now 2-3 years? How's it going with ya'll now? anyone gained back a bunch of weight? anyone have complications like strictures or anything like a closure due to scar tissue and needing a stent to reopen the "stomach"? Brittle bones and breakages? Just questions, but very valid ones. Hope to hear from someone soon!