Hello all...my name is Di. I am in the information gathering part of my journey. I got my ins. approval (they just started covering WLS this year)!! I went to first seminar to meet the drs and staff, for info and Q and A. session. I went in thinking Lapband and came out thinking VSG...maybe. Another option presented itself and now I feel unsure. My first appt. with surgeon on April 26th so I'd like to get as much info going in as I can. He said the VSG is recommended for folks with a 50+ BMI but can be done on 40+ with co-morbidities. I have five. I'm not crazy about the ports and fills with lapband surgery but it's not enough to make me decide against it. I've been trying for three l-o-n-g years to get my ins. to pay and now they are so I'll get it anyway I can. But if I have options and an opinion then I want to make the best decision I can for me.

I want minimal down time. Sedentary is not for me. I had a complete hysterectomy and was up within hours and home in 2...walking the dog within a week and feeling ready to resume my life at 2 weeks...work included. I had to be out for 6 per my dr. So sitting isn't my ideal.

Anyone have any good practical advice or info to help me make a good informed decision, I am proactive in my healthcare and options so I want all the info you can share.

Hope I get to know many of you, that I find some friends and mentors as I start my journey. It's nice to be here and look forward to getting to know as many of you as will respond.

Many thanks.....Di

Welcome Di

I'm fairly new myself. You'll find this to be a very supportive group of people. I too was interested in the lap band first and ended up deciding on the sleeve. You just have to put the time in and trust in your decision. One thing that was really helpful was to browse the lap band boards as well as the sleeve boards and get an idea of the struggles that people were having post op with each procedure.

Either way the path is full of challenges... you just have to decide which ones you can deal with.

Take care

Stacey

i recommend the sleeve as well. the success rate is higher and the recovery is faster too. if you need any more information, don't hesitate to ask. i actually had my surgery in Mexico, with Dr. Aceves and I highly recommend him. :thumbup1:

thank Stacey and Mary for the nice welcome. My surgery will be done in Knoxville TN and I have my insurance approval. I don't know if the decision will be mine or the doctor's so I want to learn as much as I can. He seemed very excited about VSG but I don't know if I'll be a good candidate. Guess I am putting the cart before the horse. Did you have to go through a six month dr. monitored diet plan and psych eval. Since I've been on diet meds (phentermine and Meridia) for 2 years they say I probably won't have to do the six month diet since these years were closely monitored by 2 drs. because of HBP. But since I've waited this long, I'll do whatever they require.

What all did you have to do before surgery?

I personally don't think the LapBand is a good choice. Of course everybody has differing opinions. There are way too many problems associated with it with a very high rate of having to have a repeat surgery to either fix it or remove it for me to be comfortable with it. The having to go back and have fills and unfills is just absolutely not for me.

When I started researching my options, I knew the sleeve was the perfect option for me.

My insurance policy does not pay for WLS ever so I'm self paying and I got my clearance from my PCP today so I'm just waiting for a date. Should be sleeved in a couple of weeks!

goodlife, I agree with you about the band and I have one. I don't know anyone personally who has actually reached their goal with the band. But at Lap Band Talk website you can find lots of people who were able to make the band work for them and they have reached their goal and are so happy with the band they think it is their best friend. So obviously the band is good for some people.

Unfortunately you have to get the band to know if you're going to be able to work with it or not. And then if you do have problems, you're right, you must undergo another surgery to either correct the problem or get it removed.

I got mine in 2006 and am scheduled for revision surgery to the sleeve later this month. I am very nervous and have read all kinds of great stories and some fairly scary experiences about the problems with adjusting to the sleeve since your stomach is sensitive and swollen after surgery. But the one thing that seems to be consistent across the board with the sleeve is that people do lose a significant amount of weight. If there are people who have not been able to lose weight with the sleeve, I haven't seen their posts.

So it's a lot to think about but I'm with goodlife... and everything I have experienced and read leads me to believe that the success rate is better with the sleeve.

Whatever decision you and your doctor make, Di, I wish you the very best outcome!

Welcome Di!

I initially thought band, mainly because it was supposedly reversible - and then the more I read about it, the more concerned I became. The fills, unfills and port just seemed like a hassle.

The sleeve has been so easy - just an amazing tool. I was also up and around a few days after my hysterectomy, and was on vacation within 3 weeks! With the sleeve, I quit taking pain meds after day 3 and went back to work 4 days after my sleeve surgery. I was tired but didn't have any pain.

The mental adjustment has been the hardest for me. I was much more addicted to food than I realized. However, when the scale moves, it is all very worth it.

I would absolutely do it again!

Good Luck with your research!!

I have had the band since 05' and initially lost about 55lbs however I fell into the 40% category of those who do not lose or "fail" with the band. I threw up a lot and every time I tightened the band I couldn't eat with out throwing up and when we loosened it I gained weight.

I live in California and in the last year these bill boards started being splattered along the highway stating how the fda approved the lapband for signifigant weight loss and that you too could lose over 100 lbs. Well the truth is, that if you have a lower BMI and very little weight to lose, the band is a decent choice. If you have a lot of weight to lose either the sleeve or the bypass is the way to go. The DOCTORs practice who is smearing the highway with those billboards knows that statisticly they will get the cautious person who fears the other surgeries to get the band and likely a few years down the road also do their revision surgery.

I am scheduled on may 12 for the band extraction and sleeve surgery. If you have great self control and little to lose I suggest doing the band. If you have problems with hunger and have more to lose, I suggest the sleeve over the bypass because it is a lot safer, less malnutrition problems, and with only a difference of 10% less weightloss from the bypass in a 5 year time span its safety wins me over.

Good luck to you and keep us informed.

Hey phat, I think that people who haven't yo-yo dieted most of their life and who are able to exercise a lot will probably be successful with the band. The young, energetic patients with a lot of resolve seem to be able to make the band work for them. But for many of us, we have the same result that you experienced. So it's an intermediate step at best. And who needs an intermediate step anyway when they want and need to lose a considerable amount of weight?

The problem with the band is that you won't know if it is for you until you've already gotten it placed. They don't talk about that, usually. And it's like you said, the doctor won't be all that disappointed if he has to do another procedure on you. And there are many reasons for that possibility. So after living with my band since '06 (I see you were '05) I am not a big proponent of the band. And I guess it isn't too surprising that's what you read most often here at the Sleeve site. All the great and wonderful band stories will be over at Lap Band Talk.

Good luck with your revision in May! I'm scheduled for the 28th of April.

Hello Di and others. I too was really leaning toward the LB but between this site and a friend who had by-pass before VSG was available and his wife who is looking into VSG, I am almost 100% leaning toward the Sleeve. I have a consultation tomorrow with the surgeon and since I'm self-paying I hope to schedule the surgery in mid-June.

Good luck to you!

gatorman, we'll look forward to hearing how your appointment goes tomorrow with your surgeon and whether he suggests the band or sleeve or bypass. Good luck!

I recommend you watch this technical Presentation from SSAT 48th annual meeting discussing a good comparison of the medical study percentages.

The first studies they did on the sleeve, they used larger boughie sizes (the guide they use for stomach size) and higher bmi patients. What they have learned-- then changed by moving into the smaller Boughie size and having lower bmi patients being studied in the last 3 years. I think this is the way to go now for long term results and lack of long term complications like slippage and erosion.

http://www.ssat.com/video/2008/SSAT%2049th%20Annual%20Meeting(3)-Cirangle.htm

One cool thing you see in this is this:

Breakdown of %Excess Weight loss by BMI

35-45 BMI – 82.2%

45-55 BMI – 73.4%

55+ BMI – 52.1%

It actually states the lower BMI patients had the best loss in excess weight.

Edited April 15, 201016 yr by Swiftflow

Yup, this is why I'm going to go with the sleeve--I am a "low" BMI at 36.

Swiftflow, thanks for the information. It is convincing data and confirms in my mind that I'm making the right decision. I haven't had my BMI assessed in a long time so I'm hoping that I'm still in the mid 30 range like I was a couple of years ago.

If I am repeating myself please forgive me. I've been on quite a few threads trying to get infomation. My question is what does your pre-surgery diet consist of? I remember one person saying that they are only doing a liquid diet one day before surgery and nothing from midnight on. I'm not certain if that was you. I am meeting with the dietician this afternoon. I will post the info I get if you are interested. Although you sound like you've done your homework and are well-informed already.

I made this decision just a couple of weeks ago and my surgical date is coming up fast. So I'm scrambling to get my head wrapped around all the things I need to know.

Thanks for the info Swift. I'm going to have my wife look at this too, so I can put her mind more at ease about all the Sleeve.

My story with the lap-band is almost identical to Phatcurves.

I lost approx 70 lbs initially, but it has been slowly coming back on.

Barfing almost daily, with runaway hearburn that wasnt being controlled with a combination of script, over the counter meds and tums (all in the same day).

Plus I started having stomach aches..which I think came from the hearburn creating gas(burps) which couldent work their way out. It would go on for hours just to make

me throw up it was so painful. I started making myself throw up to relieve the pain/discomfort. It started a couple of times a month and they went to several times

a week after each meal.

So, I am waiting a phone call from the doc even as we speak to have the surgery

to pull the lap band out, then wait a month and have the sleeve done.

I have been on this board for about a month, and the knowledge here and the people

are UNBELEIVIBLY HELPFUL! Lots and lots of good info.

Make sure you puruse all the boards there are so many!

Good luck on your decision,

Lisa