Hi All

I am new to this and actually a bit nervous writing on this forum as I have never done it before. I was hoping to hear from others that have had the lapband in the past and now have done the sleeve.

I am getting my band removed in couple of weeks and getting the sleeve done. When I went to the dr I was really nervous that he would tell me that I no longer qualify for any surgery anymore because my BMI is too low. Lucky for me (I guess) my BMI is 32- still can't shop in regular clothes stores where I live. :wink0:

To cut a long story short, I have other medical problems and with out hesitating he said that there is no way that he will let me go with out anything to protect me from becoming morbidly obese again.

Is there anyone out there that can tell me their experience. I really want to hear from you - especially those that started off with low BMI (even though it is still in the obese catagory)

I want to hear the good and the bad.

Hi xbander!

I'm sorry I don't have any answer or comments for you, just wanted to say Hi and Welcome. :wink0:

I'm pre-op for the sleeve and pretty nervous also. I have several banded friends, 2 of which are absolutely miserable with it, they've had tons of complications and problems and pretty much convinced me to look into other WLS options.

I think there are a couple folks here that have had band to sleeve revisions, hopefully they can help you out.

There's quite a few of us on here who had band to sleeve revisions.

I had my band removed on June 3rd after only 8 short months. I lost initially then complications prevented decent fills, and I started gaining.

I couldn't be happier with the sleeve. I have restriction, I am learning to eat to live, and not live to eat.

I never had the band but wanted to say welcome!! There are several people here who revised. I bet you will hear from them soon!

I'm not a revision from band, but I wanted to welcome you to the forum. There are several here who have revised from the band to the sleeve. I'm sure they will chime in and answer any questions you have.

Good luck!:001_wub:

Hi, I had the band for two years and then revised to a sleeve 6 weeks ago for reasons very similar to yours. I had already lost 7.5 stone with the band but after it slipped for the second time knew that it had to come out. The NHS in the UK agreed to fund my revision as I had other health issues and was already gaining weight again. It wasn't a very difficult decision for me to make as I had to be honest with myself. I knew that I would gain all my lost weight and after researching the options decided that the VSG was my best option.

So far all is good but I am only 6 weeks out. I have lost another 2 stone (including the pre-op diet) in about 8 weeks and am down to my lowest weight in 12 years. I think my BMI was about 36 when I was operated on and now it is 31. I am still in the obese category but for reasons similar to yours had the operation more as a preventative measure as well as, obviously, to lose some more weight.

I am very optimistic for the future now and aim to steadily lose my remaining excess weight. I think it may be a bit slower than for those who have had the VSG as their initial surgery but that is ok! (sorry I am getting really distracted now by my son but I hope this helps and feel free to ask me anything you want)

Good luck,

Helenxxx

Hi Guys

thanks for the welcome notes and words of encouragement.

I can not tell you all how obsessed I am with getting the sleeve. We were at a wedding now and I just have such stupid thoughts going thru my head. "I am the fattest person here", ,"My husband should be embarassed of me". Getting paranoid that people are looking at the fat girls plate on the table and thinking to themselves - "she shoud not be eating ALL that."

Don't get me wrong, nobody makes me feel the way I do about myself, it is just me!!!!!

I am really looking forward to getting the sleeve and starting eating to live and not living to eat (as Tiffykins put it.) Obsessing over everything that goes into my mouth all the time.

I wanted to ask, with the sleeve do you feel like vomiting if you have eaten too much? Can you only eat and drink later in the evening - that is what is happening for me with the band. My band is even empty now and I still vomit nearly every day.

I also wanted to know that even though I need to lose at least 15kg-25kg in order to be in a healthy weight range if it is still likely to happen as soon as I have the op seeing as my BMi is 32?

The other thing too is that my husband is not very supportive of me having the op. He says that I should be happy just the way I am and if I do however want to change the way I look that I should use WILL POWER. Personally, I don't have the mind over matter thing.....

Anyway, I have spilled quite a bit.

I would love to hear from you guys more.

Hi Helen

your message has really helped me.

Are you feeling well? How different does the sleeve make you feel physically? Do you feel like a normal person. Can you eat all types of food and is it really just a feeling of fullness in your tummy that your just not hungry anymore?

How many kids do you have? Recovery from the op was quick? How did you balance being a mum after the op?

As you can see I have quite a few questions for you, that I hope you don't mind answering.

You sound as if you are doing so well!!! I can't wait to be in your shoes. I just have to do the pre op check ups and as soon as I have finished them - which is with in the next 2 weeks, my Dr said that he can pretty much op on me straight away.

I have made my decision 100% and have no doubts, but I am still pretty nervous.

The way I am trying to think of it is that I am giving my body a fresh start. I will have a new tummy and I won't give it junk any more

Love to hear from you and see how you go. My goodness, you are no longer in the obese catagory - YAY for you!!!!

Hi xbander,

I am doing fine so far but I am only 6 weeks out. There are quite a few people here who are band to sleeve revisionists who have been at it for much longer with brilliant results and who are very encouraging. Some people do encounter complications and it is important to consider those, but on the whole the results are good and most people are fine. My surgeon, who is experienced in revision surgery, talked to me about the operation, explained the risks and did tell me that if there was a lot of scar tissue he wouldn't do it if he considered it to be too risky. I was nervous and did have have a few pre-op doubts, but after losing so much weight already, I knew I had to do it for myself and my future health. There is no way I can control my weight by way of willpower as I suffer from severe stress and depression which at times is so debilitating that I don't care about what I eat and don't care about what I am doing to myself. In other words I would have eaten myself to death regardless of other voices in my head telling me it was silly, I should eat healthily etc.... I think we know ourselves too well and it is easy for other people to say we should exercise will power blah blah blah but for most of us we have been there, done that and worn the t-shirt and after how many years (at least 30 or more) we still have issues surrounding eating. I know what is healthy and what isn't and could run my own club but can I implement it myself? No! And a lot of the reasons behind that is that at times I just don't care and then when I do care I just sit crying because I am fat and ugly.

Anyway, so far the sleeve is similar to the band in that you can be sick if you eat too much and so far I am not finding the warning signs easy to detect but other more experienced 'sleevesters' can advise on that. What I don't have is constant pain in my back and chest, very little indigestion (I do take a PPI though), NO reflux, which was a major problem for me with the band plus I am optimistic that I will eventually be able to eat lots of healthy salads etc with little problem.

The problem for me at the moment is since progressing from the liquids to solid stage I am craving a lot of sweet foods (I have even gone from 2 splendas in my tea to 3!!!) and that I have to be careful of as they go down fine (especially chocolate and cake) but they are adding to my calorie intake. I am hoping that once I am eating a more regular and varied diet that these cravings will diminish.

What else? As far as i can see from most peoples' experiences (not all) recovery is fairly quick after the op. Mine was slow but that was because I had 2 major surgeries in one as I had open surgery and had all my stomach muscles stitched up and restitched (another story) so that was very painful and took a while to recover from, but as far as the VSG bit was concerned I recovered quickly from that with no problems or complications. Yes, I have a family and that was a bit of an issue as my son is autistic and stresses a lot, but extended family helped out with him and he hasn't been too bad during the holidays. My husband has been very supportive and never told me not to have the op as he, like me, knew that I would only eat myself to death if I didn't have it. My 20 year old daughter was initially against it but that was only because of what she had read in the media etc. and didn't want her mum having more surgery. Now that I have lost more weight she is telling all her friends how fab her mum looks!!!

I don't know what else to tell you. As I said there are a lot of people here who have more experience than me of revising from band to sleeve but so far I have no regrets and am confident that despite having some cravings now and then, long gone are the days of binging on wine, crisps, cheese and anything else I can lay my hands on and going to bed feeling utterly stuffed and miserable!

Good luck,

Helenxxx

With the sleeve you can eat whatever you want after the post op diet.

I do have trouble telling when I am full. I have to stop eating by looking at the portion and knowing how much I can eat. If I eat until I am full at the table, I am too full and uncomfortable 15 min. later.

There are a lot of us who are band to sleeve revisions and we are all thrilled to be rid of the band.

As far as I know, there are only a couple of people who have trouble eating early in the day. I have been able to eat and drink

right away from day 2 of surgery. I had to force myself to slow down when I was in the hospital, because I was supposed to only drink 2 oz every 15 min. I could have easily drank whatever they put in front of me.

Feel free to ask anything. We are all glad to help.

I revised to the sleeve after I gained 15 lbs back from having my band unfilled. I was a self pay though.

I wanted to ask, with the sleeve do you feel like vomiting if you have eaten too much? Can you only eat and drink later in the evening - that is what is happening for me with the band. My band is even empty now and I still vomit nearly every day.

I also wanted to know that even though I need to lose at least 15kg-25kg in order to be in a healthy weight range if it is still likely to happen as soon as I have the op seeing as my BMi is 32?

The other thing too is that my husband is not very supportive of me having the op. He says that I should be happy just the way I am and if I do however want to change the way I look that I should use WILL POWER. Personally, I don't have the mind over matter thing.....

Anyway, I have spilled quite a bit.

I would love to hear from you guys more.

I have never overeaten and had the urge to vomit. I pretty much stick to 2-4oz of food and with that I am satisfied. I can pretty much eyeball that amount so I haven't technically been measuring anything that I eat.

I started drinking as soon as my feet hit the floor. I wait to eat anything solid for about an hour. I just started setting an alarm on my cell phone for every 3.5-4 hours to remind me to eat. I literally forget to eat some days, and I know my nutritional levels will drop if I don't start taking in more calories.

My husband is naturally thin, and lean. He can eat anything and never gain a pound. Even though he met and married me at my heaviest, and loves me regardless of pant size, he was concerned about me having the lapband surgery. His main concern was that I would "change" on the inside. He was more concerned with the mental and emotional aspects of weight loss surgery. Luckily, my mom had lapband in Nov 2007, and talked to him a lot. He knew I struggled with my weight my entire life, and had seen me "diet", listened to me vent about the Weight Watchers meetings I had attended, and he knew that I needed surgical intervention to get healthy. I am extremely blunt, and to the point. One day, he was on a tangent about me having surgery. I looked at him and said " you told me you wanted to grow old with me, well I'm not going to live to be 60 at this rate, and 60 is not old to me." Least to say, he started being more supportive, and understanding that I was having this done for myself, and for my future health. We would also like to have a child in the near future. I told him I would never get pregnant at my pre-op weight. I would have nothing but problems, and it isn't fair to conceive a child and give him/her an unhealthy body to develop in.

I had my revision to the sleeve while he is deployed because I could not live in pain every day any longer. I was miserable for over 6 months with the band, and while he was worried about me going through surgery, he was supportive, and knew that I was making the best choice, not only for myself, but for our family.

I'm sorry for the ramble, but having WLS is not about being skinny. It's about losing weight, and living a longer, healthier, and more productive life. Getting skinny is just a bonus. I just laid out the facts for my husband. I told him about my family history of heart disease on both sides. My maternal grandmother had 3 strokes in 2 years and 2 heart aches a few years ago, my maternal aunts have all suffered from some sort of HBP, or other cardio vascular issues. My mother had HBP until she lost 75-80lbs with her band. Diabetes is/was a huge concern for me, dying of a heart attack, or having to take a pill everyday for high cholesterol. The co-morbidities are so scary, and so inevitable with being obese. If you ever want to talk, feel free to PM here. . .

Guys

I can not tell you how informative your messages have been for me. All of you are absoloutely amazing. I am getting so excited to get this "thing" out of me.

Today at work was one of the few days that I didn't have to excuse myself and go and vomit after lunch but still I couldn't help but think to myself that soon I will be able to sit with everyone and not worry about that anymore!

Also, this evening I went and did one of my pre op check ups. Now I have only about 5 more to go - but my surgeon said that in less than 1 month I will have the sleeve done.

After reading your messages and going thru other peoples posts I am feeling more and more confident that I am doing the right thing. I still wonder why this wasn't offered previously. Honestly until recently I never really heard of the sleeve. Why is it that none of the weightloss shows or documentaries even mention it?

I don't want to be skinny, I want to be healthy. I have RA and take lots of medicines, this excess weight that I carry really puts a strain on my joints and makes things alot worse for me.

I am so relieved that from what I have read here that most people a. don't feel hungry, b.know when to stop eating c. don't vomit and feel pain (by the way I get terrible pain in my left shoulder - I thought something was wrong with me - but now I know from other posts that I am not the only one!

I am so looking forward to being in social food situations and being "the same" as everyone else.

Don't get me wrong, I totally get it that I will be restricted but I will be full in my tummy - like normal people.

Yay - now I am counting down the days. By the 15th SEP I will have done my final pre op check ups and then I will get the date for the surgery.

I am so glad that I can talk to people here, I really don't have anyone around me that understands what it is like to have the struggles that I have had all my life.

Thanks so much.

BTW, when I read that some people even forget to eat ..... I thought oh my goodness, can that ever happen to me? Every moment that I have I think about food - I really hope that food stops being my whole life.

I think most sleever like their decision of getting the op but one thing alot of us struggle with is HEAD HUNGER. There I said it, that awful monster that creeps into every diet we have ever been on. Lots of comments on this forum about head hunger but no one but NO ONE can tell you how frustrating it can be to deal with after WLS. You just have to experience it for yourself. Its the one thing they cant remove. Its so embedded in some of our minds that it will haunt us at every opportunity. Yes, they get rid of the grehlin producing part of the stomach but they leave our cocky brains intact. Thats the part that we use when we are dealing with stress, a bad day or just uncomfortable situations. The ones we would have that caused us to unmindfully eat a bag of chips and half gallon of ice cream watching a movie. I dont want to discourage anyone from the sleeve. I still love mine. Just want you to keep head hunger in mind.

Edited August 27, 200917 yr by Ruthi

Hi Ruthi

I know that my biggest problem is head hunger!!! If it wasn't for head hunger I wouldn't be in the situation that I am in today. How do you control it? What do you do when you sit there and eat, know your not hungary and still can't stop? That is my biggest fear. You know you hear of people that no how to cheat - how do I stop myself from looking for it?

Hi Ruthi

I know that my biggest problem is head hunger!!! If it wasn't for head hunger I wouldn't be in the situation that I am in today. How do you control it? What do you do when you sit there and eat, know your not hungary and still can't stop? That is my biggest fear. You know you hear of people that no how to cheat - how do I stop myself from looking for it?

Just from my experience, my head hunger has decreased substantially. The most difficult times for me is when I don't hear from my husband for days on end (he's deployed to Afghanistan). I find myself wanting something to eat, but I end up journaling or writing him an email to tell him how we're doing back home. It is mind over matter, but the sleeve makes it look so much easier. I rarely find myself with the fridge door open searching for something to "snack" on. The sleeve will make it easier. I haven't been truly hungry, and find it's easier to stay away from the refrigerator.

The sleeve is only going to allow you to eat just so much food at a time but you will still be able to eat soft foods easier and in larger amounts than more solid foods so that part will come down to choices. I feel the best way to head off head hunger is to find out what triggers this reaction for you. Lots of times its emotional stuff or just habit but thats an individual type thing. Then substitute the eating behavior for something else. Hope this helps