Hello everyone,-i used to be indecisive and now i'm not so sure !! (joke) but hey ho i AM undecided...i met with my surgeon in December,with a view to having a gastric band,however he felt that a 'sleeve' would be more appropriate for my age and body shape(ultimate apple-my doc says i resemble a lemon on matchsticks-cheeky bugger!) The sleeve is £8.000 band is £6,000......i am booked to have a band next week on 22nd jan.The thought of surgery constantly affects my bowels-but am i making the right decision on my choice of op ?The cost is irrelevant -i have watched both ops on you-tube and to be perfectly honest its foreign body/indigestion etc versus your redundant gut being sucked up and expelled from your body thru a tube and plopped in a bucket !!! Surgery is the ultimate "cheat",but i'm afraid i'm an english cow-constantly grazing ! am sat with a big glass of merlot and a hunk of brie at this very moment ! Although i'm scared I AM going to get this done.My surgeon says sleeve gives better weight loss and less 'hassle' than the band (reflux,vomitting.infills,defillsetc) but its the total permanancy of the sleeve that worries me...would the 'belly in the bucket ' haunt me ? or the quicker loss make up for it or would i be better worrying about the 'foreign body'? Call me potty-but i am worried about possible psychological probs..is it just me or has anyone else had these weird doubts---purleeze-someone out in cyberland tell me what to do-soonas !!! sorry for waffling on a bit !! THANX in advance

You aren't alone in you concerns, but I can tell you firsthand that the band sucks. Talk about psychological issues: food gets stuck, you can't eat, you puke unannounced, pain with eating, having to eat junk food because good food won't go down, fills with huge ass needles being dug into your body hoping you'll find the elusive spot for restriction. Slowest and lowest weight loss. Most long term mechanical complications.

Well, with the sleeve you get none of that crap. It maybe permanent, but at least you can eat, and not have to worry about being part of that 1 in 4 band patients that needs another surgery within the first 5 years.

Read here more, and decide which best suits you. I can tell you that at 19 months post sleeve, I do not miss that big stretchy part of the stomach.

Do what I did. Google "gastric sleeve regrets" then google "lap band regrets." The difference will become clear. Hardly anyone regrets having the sleeve, but tons of banders say they would do things differently if they could. I had the same doubts until I did this. I'm getting the sleeve on the 24th.

Hello everyone,-i used to be indecisive and now i'm not so sure !! (joke) but hey ho i AM undecided...i met with my surgeon in December,with a view to having a gastric band,however he felt that a 'sleeve' would be more appropriate for my age and body shape(ultimate apple-my doc says i resemble a lemon on matchsticks-cheeky bugger!) The sleeve is £8.000 band is £6,000......i am booked to have a band next week on 22nd jan.The thought of surgery constantly affects my bowels-but am i making the right decision on my choice of op ?The cost is irrelevant -i have watched both ops on you-tube and to be perfectly honest its foreign body/indigestion etc versus your redundant gut being sucked up and expelled from your body thru a tube and plopped in a bucket !!! Surgery is the ultimate "cheat",but i'm afraid i'm an english cow-constantly grazing ! am sat with a big glass of merlot and a hunk of brie at this very moment ! Although i'm scared I AM going to get this done.My surgeon says sleeve gives better weight loss and less 'hassle' than the band (reflux,vomitting.infills,defillsetc) but its the total permanancy of the sleeve that worries me...would the 'belly in the bucket ' haunt me ? or the quicker loss make up for it or would i be better worrying about the 'foreign body'? Call me potty-but i am worried about possible psychological probs..is it just me or has anyone else had these weird doubts---purleeze-someone out in cyberland tell me what to do-soonas !!! sorry for waffling on a bit !! THANX in advance

seniorsleever,

That is a great idea! I just searched for a variety of VSG failures or revision and could only find 1 person who wasn't very successful with the VSG. The doctor suggested putting a band around the "banana" stomach? Everything I found dealt with people having bands or RNY converting to VSG.

Thanks for the tip!

genepha

Thanks so much for your swift replies girls,its so nice to know there is someone out there who knows and can advise either way...Have only confided in 2 girlfriends(my family would worry so) both are horrified by the 'sleeve'-even though one of them has a band and is contantly 'productive-burping !' she is happy with it regardless it has taken 2years to lose 40lb.her skin looks fine tho-i'm worried quick weight loss will leave me resembling a sharpay!! will i lose my wrinkle free fat girlie looks!!!(im 56!!) mind you-ive mulled bariatric over for 5yr now-always thinking i could do it alone,now im too tired of the guilt obsession and total fear of food ..am so happy ive only got surgery decision left. I'm sure it will be the right one with your help ladies-thanks again..Gay

I belong to a weight group. Our therapist has had a lot of experience with the lap band and gastric bypass. her lap band patients have not done particularly well -- always hungry, constatnt adjustments frustrated and depressed. I also just started the evaluation process for weightloss surgery. The hospital I go to is a very prestigious one in in Boston. For what it's worth, the psychiatrist said the surgeons there no longer recommend the lap band.

Hello everyone,-i used to be indecisive and now i'm not so sure !! (joke) but hey ho i AM undecided...i met with my surgeon in December,with a view to having a gastric band,however he felt that a 'sleeve' would be more appropriate for my age and body shape(ultimate apple-my doc says i resemble a lemon on matchsticks-cheeky bugger!) The sleeve is £8.000 band is £6,000......i am booked to have a band next week on 22nd jan.The thought of surgery constantly affects my bowels-but am i making the right decision on my choice of op ?The cost is irrelevant -i have watched both ops on you-tube and to be perfectly honest its foreign body/indigestion etc versus your redundant gut being sucked up and expelled from your body thru a tube and plopped in a bucket !!! Surgery is the ultimate "cheat",but i'm afraid i'm an english cow-constantly grazing ! am sat with a big glass of merlot and a hunk of brie at this very moment ! Although i'm scared I AM going to get this done.My surgeon says sleeve gives better weight loss and less 'hassle' than the band (reflux,vomitting.infills,defillsetc) but its the total permanancy of the sleeve that worries me...would the 'belly in the bucket ' haunt me ? or the quicker loss make up for it or would i be better worrying about the 'foreign body'? Call me potty-but i am worried about possible psychological probs..is it just me or has anyone else had these weird doubts---purleeze-someone out in cyberland tell me what to do-soonas !!! sorry for waffling on a bit !! THANX in advance

I work with 4 people who have had the lap band and one who has had the sleeve. The one with the sleeve is always , has kept it off(115) and can eat anything she likes. Now out if the 3 with the band 1 just got it but throws up a lot. Another has had it 3 years and is always having to get fills or get them removed. Not to mention she has gained alot back. The other 2 are lighter than before but still way abouve their goal weight. In fact another coworker made a rude comment not get what the other girl had because it looks like it wore off! That right there made me 100% I was right .

I hope what ever you have done that it works the way you need it to and I wish you luck.

I had the band and I 100% back what TIffykins said. If you do lose weight, you will more than likely gain it back. I have had just about every complication there is and I feel so much better to have that thing out of me. I love my sleeve. At ten years out there are studies from other countries that say the band has a 85% failure rate. If I had known about the sleeve when I had the band, I would have picked the sleeve in a heartbeat. You are putting a foreign object in your body and you have no idea how your body will respond. Plus, you can get a defective band like I had and have all sorts of issues. Right before my revision, I could barely swallow. I wish you the best with your decision. I went into my lapband surgery with high hopes, yet it let me down in every single way. On the other hand, my sleeve has been exactly what I wanted. I have restriction and control over food.

Hello everyone,-i used to be indecisive and now i'm not so sure !! (joke) but hey ho i AM undecided...i met with my surgeon in December,with a view to having a gastric band,however he felt that a 'sleeve' would be more appropriate for my age and body shape(ultimate apple-my doc says i resemble a lemon on matchsticks-cheeky bugger!) The sleeve is £8.000 band is £6,000......i am booked to have a band next week on 22nd jan.The thought of surgery constantly affects my bowels-but am i making the right decision on my choice of op ?The cost is irrelevant -i have watched both ops on you-tube and to be perfectly honest its foreign body/indigestion etc versus your redundant gut being sucked up and expelled from your body thru a tube and plopped in a bucket !!! Surgery is the ultimate "cheat",but i'm afraid i'm an english cow-constantly grazing ! am sat with a big glass of merlot and a hunk of brie at this very moment ! Although i'm scared I AM going to get this done.My surgeon says sleeve gives better weight loss and less 'hassle' than the band (reflux,vomitting.infills,defillsetc) but its the total permanancy of the sleeve that worries me...would the 'belly in the bucket ' haunt me ? or the quicker loss make up for it or would i be better worrying about the 'foreign body'? Call me potty-but i am worried about possible psychological probs..is it just me or has anyone else had these weird doubts---purleeze-someone out in cyberland tell me what to do-soonas !!! sorry for waffling on a bit !! THANX in advance

Hiya Gayci...

I have the sleever and paid £8000 for it, it was probably the best money I have ever spent! I am in Wales btw!!

I too, first looked into getting the band and went to an 'open evening' type thing where they showed all the options and the sleeve won hands down. I like the fact that it is permanenet; I feel like it is a commitment to myself and to my health that I can NEVER over eat again!

The sleeve is a great tool to help you lose weight, there is no cheating ...lol... still gotta work it and make the right food choices. I am pretty much half way to goal now, and I am a SLOW loser..lol... It's all good!!

Real results......After a 5 year study of a group of people (forgot how many) had the LapBand...OVER 35% HAD THE BAND REMOVED!!!!! I found this buried in the lap band website. I followed the directions to a "T" and my band was out in 3 months.

Since you are paying cash, protect your investment with the sleeve!!!!!!!!!!

to all you wonderful girls--thanks soooo much for taking the time to try and alleviate my decision miseries over my ' FAT' OP !! between you all and your fab advice,i have decided to have a sleeve.I went for a bowl of soup with my banded friend today and after she threw it up (and i told her about you lot-my new little helpers) she actually confided that she is terrified 'it will slip'!! and also she wish she had heard about the sleeve....and about the "belly in the bucket" thoughts-my other pal has had a full hysterectomy and said she has totally come to terms with missing a couple of body parts !!My surgery booked for this coming saturday (22nd--eeekk!!!).

my surgeon also took the time out to ring me last night-he wanted to know my decision by tomorrow(tues).I told him i was veering toward the sleeve-and as he strongly recommended this op in the first place,told me i wouldn't regret it.He also said 75%of his 'older ' patients,had had bands replaced by the vsg.Well girls -all reasons for having a sleeve safely on board am just off now to write out-who can have what-JUST IN CASE !! i've never been in hospital and have only had a bit of gas at the dentist-so am afraid i'm crapping it !!!! If i come out safe on this side,ill be back in touch with y'all for some support on the journey...thus far youve all been amazing (espesh tiffykins wh replied immediately and senior sleever(good luck girl) THANX " ALL xx

I went through TWO bands in 3 years and suffered greatly from complications! The second band slipped when I was 37 weeks pregnant and made for a traumatic delivery. I don't miss my band ONE BIT and will be getting the sleeve in a few months. I learned a lot through my lapband experience and will carry over the good lessons learned..but I REALLY won't miss having foreign objects in my body, having food get "stuck" and being in miserable pain and having fills. Tiffykins summed up a lot of what I went through. So bye bye band..hellllllooo sleeve!

p.s coops-you look really slim now-you sure you have another 52 lb to go??? you got a pixie complex !! ta luv anyway-thanx so for your imput !!!i have welsh connections,my aunt from mountain ash(nw) and i have mates in maesteg and caernafon(llanrug).i'm originally from manchester but have lived in jersey for years(channel islands) having my surgery with Dr VanDen Bosshe in southampton,apparently he in top 3 bariatric surgeons practising in the uk..Wish me luck kiddo-and good luck with your final 52....

amybaby-this is weird!! you must be in america,coz its 02.30 am in the uk.i work evenings as a taxi driver so im a night owl-do my catching up in the early hours with a glass of red nightcap!! think my upside down lifestyle responsible for my jellybelly !! hopefully after saturday-not being able(i believe)to eat as well as drink---cheese will not accompany my late nite glass of chill out !! all jokes aside-i feel terrified but elated my tussles with food may be a thing of the past,its taken me long enough to get here..your journey sounds horrific and i presume your child escaped unscathed...retiring to beddy byes pretty soon and can only give you good wishes for when you get to sleeve-up -cheers Gay