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Hi Headhunter! I attended two different seminars for two different doctors. The first one I almost went with, but as soon as he finished his 30-minute lecture he was out of there! He had about 10 minutes of questions and then he was out of there! He left the rest of the answering of questions up to some other staff. They were talking about all of these things that the insurance did not pay for such as the psych eval, which would have been 250 dollars. Nutritional consult with their nutritionist another 200 dollars, their "own" preop diet 200 dollars, postop diet 150 dollars. All of that the insurance didn't pay for. So, I called my insurance and asked about covering psych evals, nutrition consultations etc, and they told me yes they do. The NUT and the psychiatrist would have to be covered by my insurance, but they would cover it. I didn't like that about that doc. So, I attended another seminar with my doctor I have now. VERY meticulous during the seminar ( although he was a little late due to surgery) but very, very thorough! I asked them up front about the psychiatrist, nutritionist, etc. My insurance covered them all and I only had to pay 10 dollar copay each time. Except for the NUT class and that was 50, but still lots cheaper than the other doc. Also, my doctor has not lost a lap band patient. I don't know about bypass, as I didn't ask that. But, he is very careful and makes sure everything is safe for the patient before doing any surgery. I am on medication now for a peptic ulcer, but I can still have the band placed. He said once I am banded for a few months he wants to do another EGD to check things out down there. He stressed how important it is for me not to indulge in alcohol, NSAIDs, aspirin or even caffeine due to my ulcer situation. He sold me the first time at the seminar and I felt comfortable with my decision. I hope that answered your question If you want to ask me anything else, ask away.

I was banded October 1, 2008, flipped port happened soon after. I was ignored for months by my first surgeon about the flipped port and abdominal pain. After 6 months, I started looking at getting a revision to the sleeve. I found a surgeon who agreed it needed to come out, and was able to have the revision covered by insurance due to the tubing of the band actually tugging on my stomach and causing increasing pain. Plus, I had 2 fill attempts under fluoro that were unsuccessful due to the flipped port. I had my revision on June 3rd. On June 5th, a leak was found during my last leak test with gastrographin and the cat scan. The top portion of my stomach was damaged by the band, and had weakened the tissue. I was immediately sent to the OR for the leak repair. After the leak repair, my lungs would not recover. I landed in critical condition on a ventilator for 3 days, and spent about 4 days in ICU. Finally moved to a regular surgery floor, and was released on June 12th with a pic line (kind of like a central line catheter) in my left arm, and went home on TPN for the next 10 days. The TPN was discontinued, and the line was pulled on the 24th of June. I started Clear liquids. I left with 2 JP drains in my abdomen, and while at home I had a home healthcare nurse come in every few days to change my pic line dressing. I had a follow up on July 9th where a UTI was detected. Levaquin antibiotics, and I went home. I had family over during that week. They left on Saturday July 11th. On the 13th, I was taken to the hospital again because of severe abdominal pain, cramps, and I knew I was dehydrated. They did a leak test again, and there were 3 Fluid pockets/abscesses found, no leak. 2 in my abdominal cavity, 1 in my pelvic cavity. Unfortunately, I was admitted for treatment. I had to go to a interventional radiologist so they could place a different type of drain in my abdomen. Unfortunately, they could not reach the one in my pelvic cavity. In hopes the antibiotics would resolve them, I was hospitalized for 1 week then released. I went home on 2 antibiotics, 2 anti-nausea meds, and pain meds. I had follow up appointments a couple of weeks later with more ct scans, and the drains were eventually removed. I have been off all anti-nausea meds for about a month, and have had no further set backs in my recovery. The most challenging aspect for me has been eating and getting in my Protein. But, every day has gotten a bit easier. I am now able to eat 3 small meals a day, and protein is still my arch nemesis, but it's getting better. Even with everything that I endured with this surgery, I have zero regrets. I know that the band would of continued to damage my stomach. Every day brings a new challenge, but I know that I made the very best decision to have the band removed.

Welcome! I was a self-payer too and it was worth EVERY penny. I wasn't interested in gastric bypass either. I originally wanted lap band but my surgeon recommended VSG. I am SOOO glad he did as I LOVE my sleeve. I hope your insurace comes through for you but if it doesn't and you have the means to self pay then go for it.

Hello! Congrats on your decision! I was banded on 12/21/2010. The only person that knows about my surgery is my husband. I am close with my family but everyone is at their ideal weight and no one has struggled like me. They may have been supportive but I know they would say "it's the easy way out" (which this journey has not been easy at all). No one in my family even knows that I had surgery. The only thing I had to worry about was people at work. I told them I needed to have my gall bladder removed. My surgery date worked perfectly because I am a teacher. I missed 2 days of work abs then was able to recover over Christmas vacation. Since surgery I have lost 47 pounds. It comes off slowly for me and I exercise regularly. Since the weight is coming off slowly (verses gastric bypass) no one has any idea I had weightliss surgery. It's a personal choice but I am a private person and that is the decision I made. Good luck to you in your journey! It is worth it!

My band was removed June 2011 and my revision is 6-27. I was 213 and down to 134. Now I am 170. I hate it. Can't lose despite following a very strict 1200 cal diet. Can't wait to be on the losing team. Congrats to all revision people!!

Hi I jsut got my band to sleeve revision on May 29th. Recovery is good so far and I'm looking foward to going on this journey with other band to sleevers. I only lost 25 lbs with the band so I'm worried the sleeve won't work either but I'm following the plan well so far so hopefully i'll get to goal. I didn't have any problems with the band, it jus didn't control my apetite. My doctor said they sleeve would help with hunger so I'm hoping he's right. So far I've had no hunger bit its only been a few days since surgery. I also noticed the side effect that i'm not "hot" all the time anymore. I saw that someone else posted about this and its true! I love this side effect, especially since its summer in Texas for me! I look foward to getting to meet ya'll :-)

I told doc that I wanted the bypass but now leaning toward the sleeve surgery. I am so afraid that if I lose weight I will gain it back cause I live to eat and eat long after I am full.

5 years ago I found myself 24 years old, 322 pounds, and minserable! I decided to have the lap band surgery with the help and support of my family. I successfully lost 90 pounds and my GERD, but couldnt keep up with the frequent and expensive band fills and eventually gained back 25 pounds and the GERD returned. I became demotivated and couldnt stick to a diet long enough to make much progress. Then, last year by eldest brother had the sleeve gastrectomy and went from being 280 pounds and unhappy, to an active marathon runner and happier than I can ever remember seeing him. Not to mention how handsome he looks! Needless to say, that inspired me to do my homeowork on revision surgery and reach out to my "family bariatric surgeon" Dr. James A Davidson (he complete my mother, father, brother and my surgeries). I was concerned that after my emergency gall bladder surgery 3 weeks ago that I would have to push back my surgery due to the weight loss as a side effect of the gall bladder illness. I started a protein shake diet to boost my health and it worked, Dr Davidson approved my bloodwork results and I had surgery on January 13th! The surgery was slightly longer and a bit more invasive since he had to first remove the lap band equipment, so it feels more painful than I remembered. On the bright side, the staff at Forest Park Hospital (Dallas, TX) were very compassionate and informative and the hospital itself is beautiful. I left feeling prepared to handle any issues that might arise and very optimistic. Its only 3 days post-op and I am feeling better everyday! I cannot wait to see my progess in a few weeks, months and especially in a year. I am also starting to put together an action plan. I want to participate in a marathon, learn to scuba dive, buy a bicycle and join a gym! All the things that I was either too embarrassed by my size or just too overweight to do!

Just got my date today. march 27th. I was going to do the bypass and te surgeon recommended the sleeve. I am worried I won't lose enough weight with the sleeve. Advice?

OK lemme think on that..... Pro's are easy ---- weight loss, more energy, clothes are fun again, "eat to live instead of live to eat" mentality is great Cons....well it was really hard at first - had to focus to learn to chew chew chew and eat the rights foods that wouldn't get stuck....I find it annoying when people would say "well you had surgery ___ months ago, why haven't you lost more?" as folks think the lapband is like the gastric bypass and you should get skinny in no time....but really, other than the occassional day that I feel ultra tight (which happens due to high humidity, female hormones, being dehydrated...) and I cannot manage to eat much, most of the time everything is great now, as I don't have to focus so much on chewing, etc. It IS different for everyone, though.....no two people are exactly alike....so you have to choose what is best for you. You will need to be diligent in eating the right foods, exercising, and getting your fills in order for it to work for you. Good luck! Kim

I was banded with plication in August 2012. I have had two fills so far. I have not lost any weight since November. I follow my diet, exercise etc. Now I am having pain in my stomach and left side around to my back. It gets worse when I eat. I went throught Dr. Wilkenfeld in Conroe and am finding out that he doesn't really care about you after your surgery. Is it too soon to consider another surgeon and possibly a revision to sleeve? Will another surgeon even see me? I wish I knew what I know now about him before using him and having the lapband. He talked me out of the sleeve and I wish I had just changed doctor's then.

I recently went through the process with Lovelace Westside and had an overall good experience. There were some annoying points, but for the most part it was just fine. First, Dr. Smith was my surgeon. I went to his seminar and since Dr. Sanchez was going to be unavailable for a month or two that's ok. Smith is based out of Ft. Worth and comes in once or twice a month for surgeries. He has the most experience with somewhere around 1500 completed. He trained Dr. Sanchez and now that she's at the 150 mark she does most of the Albuquerque area surgeries now. For complicated patients with high BMI they both are there just in case. Dr. Smith did an excellent job. I have never had a surgery (and unfortunately I've had more than I would like) with such a low amount of pain and quick recovery. His stitches are extremely well done too, which I appreciated. Overall the process on surgery day was over quickly and just as advertised. The only issue I have was with one of the support staff. Specifically the social worker they have to do the mental health evaluations. She is rude, doesn't know what she's talking about, and makes a lot of threats to you while you're in the office. It's the "if you don't do such and such I'm not going to approve you for surgery" type comments that she makes over and over that get irritating. Waiting for other patients I've heard some more colorful complaining about her. If you just answer her questions and get it over with it's usually painful. Everyone else from the front-office staff, to the dietician, to the post-op care PA are phenomenal to work with. They were very friendly and got every question of mine answered. Be prepared to be told everything about 6-10 times over the course of your "journey" with them. They have you look at a website that has everything, then for the next 3-4 months while you're going through the "journey" they will tell you it again, and again. The process has been working. I've lost about 20 pounds since the surgery and it is very easy. I strongly recommend this process to anyone. One thing to keep in mind is that they are now doing some form of bariatric surgery in Santa Fe at St. Vincent's now. I'm not sure if they do the lapbands or the gastric bypass, though.

Hi, my surgeon did the band/sleeve revision in one procedure. I was under for 3 hours so waking up took some effort. Like ambc35 my recovery took a little longer too. I took off two weeks and I needed the time. I was pretty tired and there was a fair amount of pain where the port was. I've had absolutely no problems since returning to work 3 weeks after surgery. I don't have kids so I can't speak to that. I have a dog and that forced me to walk every day after I came home from the hospital. Walking was the very best thing I did for myself to speed recovery. My weight loss is slower than I'd hoped. I wish it was more but I'm not too discouraged (yet). I think it's a combo of my starting weight and limited pre-op calorie consumption. I couldn't keep down much I was banded because I threw up practically every meal. (Sorry for the TMI.) Would I do it again? Absolutely. Stats: Surgery July 28, 14 Pre-op 212 Now: 183 Goal 140

I too are having revision from band to sleeve. Had the band done in 2006 too many problems. Insurance was very good and approved the revision less than 30 days. My revision is scheduled oct 20th. Feeling nervous. I just don't want the hunger pains that i had prior to the band.

I had the bypass and don't have trouble at all. I crushed it for a week then started taking whole pill. Still works good. I had surgery 11/14/16

I am very happy to be here and have enjoyed reading this site over the past few weeks. I would love to get down some of my thoughts and hear any feedback anyone has for me. I tend to write essays so I apologize for the length. I am scheduled to meet with a surgeon in two weeks. I also have the psych eval and nutritionist appointment as well as some medical tests that day. The hospital is almost two hours away so I'm packing as much as I can into each trip. I have bcbs fep so still have the 3 months supervised program which has not started. I weigh 278 and have been around this weight or higher (highest around 300) for at least 10 years. I am 35, normal weight as a young child but as soon as I hit puberty quickly became obese. I am not saying it is all genetic, but I know that is part of it. My parents and brother all suffered with obesity or morbid obesity. My brother had gastric bypass surgery several years ago, and to make a long story short he had complications, and died two years after the surgery at age 30. This was not from the surgery but was medically fragile since the surgery. My parents blame the surgery although I do not. They have made it clear that they would be very, very upset if I chose bariatric surgery. Despite this, I have considered this for years. I try to base most of my major decisions on good data. I know that long term weight loss in significant amounts (like, 100 lbs) is quite statistically improbable. I have successfully kept 20-30 lbs (back and forth in this range) off for 6 years. Despite that I am concerned about my health. I have high blood pressure and take three medications to maintain this. I am in the prediabetic range for blood sugar. I see my dad with worsening neuropathy from diabetes type 2 despite really hard work on a very low carb diet. My paternal grandpa lost 3 of his limbs from this disease before he died. Despite being fairly young my knees are starting to hurt when using stairs. I worry that I won't have very long ahead of me. I honestly have come to terms with how I look and while being thinner would be nice, that is not a major motivation for me. Sickness and early death from health consequences of morbid obesity terrifies me. I work full time as a clinical psychologist at a Veterans Affairs. The work is my passion and I would not want to do anything else. However it can be very stressful. It is also very cognitively and emotionally demanding and therefore exhausting while being super sendentary. My salary also supports my family (son and sahd husband). I have recurrent major depression. I am doing very well, taking medication and when needed connect back with therapy. I always live with the fear of depression relapse due to fear not being able to keep up at work and how hard the last one was on me and my family (4 years ago). Fears: will such low amounts of calories allow me to have sufficient cognitive energy to do my job well? Will the mood effects bring on another episode of depression? Should I hide having surgery to my parents, which feels dishonest, or tell them the truth and live with their anger and fear of losing their only remaining child? Will I be able to regularly engage in moderate exercise which honestly I haven't done since my early 20's? If you made it to the end, thank you. I don't expect answers to the above questions but feels good to tell them to people who might relate. Any thoughts welcome. Any experiences of going through this while maintaining a demanding job are appreciated.

I only weighed myself a couple times/month in the beginning. I can actually remember each one.... day 1 of preop diet, day 11 of preop (to make sure I was losing what my surgeon required) surgery day postop day 5 (when I returned from Mexico) postop Day 11 (New Years Day) 6 weeks, 7 weeks, 10 weeks, and 3 months. Don't even know if I had the infamous 3 week stall! But I do know I gained 3 pounds between weeks 6 and 7 and still weighed the same at 10 weeks. Then randomly lost 13 pounds by the 3 month mark. Not weighing myself drove one of my friends crazy. She had bypass 8 years ago and she weighs daily. She couldn't believe I never knew my weight when she'd ask. It was fun torturing her ???? Ever since then I've weighed once/week so I have something to post on the challenges on here. I don't own a scale, so I weigh at work on the dog scale (after Breakfast and coffee), fully clothed with shoes or boots. No clue what my actual naked weight is. For me, NSV's mean so much more than numbers

When I got my lap band I went 3 years without touching a soda. But then I discovered if I poured it waaaay up high over my glass most of the fizz came out of it and I started drinking it again. I'm having issues with my band, but a barium swallow shows no slippage or stretching of my pouch. I've always contended that you'll burp out all the excess gas before you'll stretch your pouch, and it appears that it was true in my case, but as Briswife15 sez-YMMV. See what your surgeon recommends. Now hopefully soon I will be getting a revision from a lap band to a RNY and if the surgeon says "no fizz" I will drop it in a New York Minute!

Hi, I am six days post op and feeling okay (except a little dizzy). I still have over a week of liquid diet let per doctor's plan--- but getting so sick of the sweet protein shake options. I have ordered a bunch of protein soups. Hope everyone one in August is doing well!

LOL yup. Tore revision came up. Interesting. Never heard of that before.

@AvaFern. Thanks for the response. I do work a desk job and was hoping to take only a week as I did for the bypass. I live in Canada. Panni Is covered by our provincial health system. Anything else isn't. So panni it is. I am considering additional surgery later on my dime. Like arms and thighs. We will see.

Can I ask why you had to reverse a Bypass? I've not heard of that. I'd also love to know what you took that helped your hair regrow. Wishing you the best of luck with your next surgery!

I started my journey to get approved for roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery through Oklahoma Soonercare (Medicaid) insurance two years ago. It has been a lot of paperwork, a lot of doctor visits, nutritionist visits and dieting to get that final approval! I received that phone call I had been waiting for last week! I now have a preop visit with the actual surgeon in March 2014. I am happy to share how I got approval thru Soonercare to anyone interested! It's not easy but can be done!

I have some questions for those GB veterans out there or anyone else that may have this info. And....maybe nobody can give me this answer except to ask my surgeon, but I will give it a shot. Based on the below information: that came from http://www.bariatricpal.com/page/info/roux-en-y/roux_en_y_gastric_bypass.html Do these specific hormones stay decreased permanently after surgery? or can they increase over time many years later? For those veterans, do you have increased hunger over time years later? The reason why I ask is because I have known a few people who have gained weight after bypass and was curious as to why and wasn't sure if it was related to feeling that hunger again similar to pre-op and if it was hormone related. Hormonal:1 2 changes in your hormones after RYGB can decrease hunger. Ghrelin: a hormone that causes hunger and whose levels decrease after RYGB PYY: (neuropeptide YY) a hormone that reduces hunger and whose levels increase after RYGB GLP-1: (glucagon-like peptide 1) a hormone that reduces hunger and whose levels increase after RYGB

My surgeon no longer does the band and encourages people to not get them from other docs either. He recommends the sleeve usually, but does perform the bypass