I went to an information seminar this week thinking I would definitely be a band candidate, and found out about the sleeve for the first time. The surgeon said he had seen a big failure rate (as in weight loss) with the band--said it's too easy to get around it and many patients just don't lose the weight or can't keep it off. He seemed enthusiastic about the sleeve--both in terms of weight loss and safety of the procedure. He does both laprasocopically. He seemed to think, even though part of the stomach is cut off and it's not reversible, that the sleeve was as safe and more effective than the band. Thoughts? I need to lose about 100 lbs., bmi about 42, in my late 50s. Like to exercise walk and used to ride bikes and horses before I got so heavy. Thanks.

I had originally asked about the band as well until I went to a seminar and learned about the sleeve. I also have friends who had the lap band and are not at all happy with it. The sleeve is the perfect solution! Why wouldn't you want to have the size of your stomach reduced permanently? It is the best thing I have ever done. There are alot of people here on this board who are band to sleeve revisions - lots of problems and lack of success with the bands. Don't even go there. Go with a sleeve and have a lifetime tool!

I was first considering the band as my insurance did not cover the sleeve and it was not talked about much during my seminar. Since I had to do 6 months with a PCP first it was a while before I met with the surgeon. He suggested the sleeve over the band and I am so happy he did. I weighed 232 at my first doctor appointment, I was sleeved Dec 1st. After surgery I weighed 224 lbs. Today I was 179.9. I could not have had this success with the band. I don't have to worry abouts fills, slippage, rejection, breakage, food restrictions. Look over some of the postings from Tiffykins-she had a lap band to sleeve revision. My husband is so impress he is in his approval stage and hope to be sleeved sometime this spring. I have no regrets in removing a huge portion of my stomach.

I orginally had my mind set on the band. But the more I reviewed the band and the more it has failed after the three year mark scares me.. I chose the sleeve It is still to be the less avasive surgey in the weight loss class.. Follow what the doctors say and your chance of leaks are little to none. The death rate is about 1% which is extremely low considering. I was sleeved on the 1st of February and I am doing soo good.. I would do as much research as I could on all the surgeries and then make a education decesion for what is best for you.. I truely would do it again tomarrow with out thinking about it. Good luck and keep us posted

I orginally had my mind set on the band. But the more I reviewed the band and the more it has failed after the three year mark scares me.. I chose the sleeve It is still to be the less avasive surgey in the weight loss class.. Follow what the doctors say and your chance of leaks are little to none. The death rate is about 1% which is extremely low considering. I was sleeved on the 1st of February and I am doing soo good.. I would do as much research as I could on all the surgeries and then make a education decesion for what is best for you.. I truely would do it again tomarrow with out thinking about it. Good luck and keep us posted

Thanks so much for the advice. I have spent the last few days reading, reading, researching, and reading some more. It is scary the seeming disconnect between the advertising for the band and the actual experience of so many. The trend that even those who are happy with it at first become disenchanted is alarming. Which raises the question for me--most of the posts/advice, etc. are for people who were recently sleeved. Is there much experience years down the road, given how new the technique is? Will it lose effectiveness in time like the band does? At least there are no foreign bodies floating around and becoming embedded.

Are there different techniques used to create the sleeve? If so, how so,j and what might be safest? The surgeon in my area, Dr. Jawad, appears to be really exceptional, has done somewhere around 200+ sleeves I think, but has been doing bypass for decades and was an early laproscopic surgeon and of course has done tons of bands. He was quite discouraging about the band. But, there is something about removing 80%+ of an organ and stitching up a big cut which seems inherently riskier and more extreme. In my reading, I have learned about a twist on the sleeve surgery--the plication technique, which sounds like rather than removing a big part of the stomach, it is kind of folded in and sewn tight, reducing the stomach like the regular sleeve surgery, but leaving the stomach intact so it can absorb nutrients (unlike the traditional VSG). But, it seems it is under FDA testing now, and I can't tell if it is really available (safely) in the U.S. (Also it is generally billed as being reversible at any time, though there are also reports that it is only reversible in the few days following surgery). There is mention of a few clinics involved in the studies, but I am having trouble following these references to anything definitive.

I am willing to travel, but get very conflicting reports on the Mexican clinics, some of which seem to be really into the plication. Sounds like some of them are top notch, but how do you tell? Individual surgeons have reports of everything from butcher to savior (for the same surgeon!)

I have an appointment with Dr. Jawad this week. He didn't mention plication in the seminar, but, maybe he knows something about it.

Thoughts? I no longer am considering the band--thanks to everyone for the support and information. I cannot wait to post my own countdown. Your weight loss is amazing and inspiring. I am so tired of being fat, and so discouraged by losing and regaining the same 50 pounds over and over. As I told my doctor, I fear I will die trying to get this under control. I am 57, and would like to think I have a couple of good decades left if I can get beyond the excess weight and related health problems.

Jeff,

Our situations are similar, I am 59 years old and had a BMI of 40 and with 3 weeks post op from sleeve surgery. For months I was considering the Lap Band until I did the research and compared them both, talked to several medical specialists and met with patients who had both surgeries. All folks said go with the sleeve, two patients that had the band changed to the sleeve.

Three weeks post op and I am at one half of my goal started at 275, now at 237 and my goal is 190 to 200. I feel find with no complications, except for a few hiccups now and then.

Hint to the wise, with the sleeve surgery. For success, follow the rules. Oh did I mentioned to follow the rules of the diet plan. If not your body will let you know. Take your time, eat very slowly, very small amounts, and exercise (pace yourself), slow for the first month, and relax and enjoy the you.

Take Care and Be Well

Lash

Jeff,

If your only option is to travel to Mexico, then do it. But if you can have it in your area, then by-all-means do so.

Follow up is very important. But of course you know that. I am in the Houston area and there are several excellent

doctors here.

Take Care and Be Well,

Lash

Hi Jeffrey, welcome to the BEST support website for the Vertical Sleeve...

I just wrote about my recent experiences with Band Vs Sleeve. I was revised on 9/15/10 and to date it is the best thing I've ever done. In going further, we do have a LOT of well established sleevers here who like to continue chiming in. They are all a great help, and none I've seen ever stop Loving their sleeves.

Good luck to you!!

Here is the link to my last 2 progress posts:

5 Months Post Op

and

My Revision is the Best Thing

OK, went to Dr. Jawad yesterday and am planning on proceeding with the sleeve. Does anyone have advice on how much time to carve out post surgery? I am self employed, and can often work from home, but do have things requiring travel coming up this spring. BTW though my screen name is Jeffrey, I am a 57 y.o. woman. And, some of the posts sound like some people experience extreme nausea and diarrhea--it's hard to tell how common it is. And, Dr. Jawad has done about 150 sleeves, but has done thousands of GBS, so should be great with the staples. He has also been doing laproscopic surgery for a long time. He is a Center of Excellence. He said he has had three sleeve patients with leaks (sounds like mostly from early on), and uses a bougie (sp) of 40 something now--had problems with the 30 something being too small, again, early on. It's a little hard to know how to interpret the technical stuff. He has been doing WLS for decades. Does this all sound ok? What an amazing, supportive, informative group. I am scared, but excited!

Thanks so much for the advice. I have spent the last few days reading, reading, researching, and reading some more. It is scary the seeming disconnect between the advertising for the band and the actual experience of so many. The trend that even those who are happy with it at first become disenchanted is alarming. Which raises the question for me--most of the posts/advice, etc. are for people who were recently sleeved. Is there much experience years down the road, given how new the technique is? Will it lose effectiveness in time like the band does? At least there are no foreign bodies floating around and becoming embedded.

Are there different techniques used to create the sleeve? If so, how so,j and what might be safest? The surgeon in my area, Dr. Jawad, appears to be really exceptional, has done somewhere around 200+ sleeves I think, but has been doing bypass for decades and was an early laproscopic surgeon and of course has done tons of bands. He was quite discouraging about the band. But, there is something about removing 80%+ of an organ and stitching up a big cut which seems inherently riskier and more extreme. In my reading, I have learned about a twist on the sleeve surgery--the plication technique, which sounds like rather than removing a big part of the stomach, it is kind of folded in and sewn tight, reducing the stomach like the regular sleeve surgery, but leaving the stomach intact so it can absorb nutrients (unlike the traditional VSG). But, it seems it is under FDA testing now, and I can't tell if it is really available (safely) in the U.S. (Also it is generally billed as being reversible at any time, though there are also reports that it is only reversible in the few days following surgery). There is mention of a few clinics involved in the studies, but I am having trouble following these references to anything definitive.

I am willing to travel, but get very conflicting reports on the Mexican clinics, some of which seem to be really into the plication. Sounds like some of them are top notch, but how do you tell? Individual surgeons have reports of everything from butcher to savior (for the same surgeon!)

I have an appointment with Dr. Jawad this week. He didn't mention plication in the seminar, but, maybe he knows something about it.

Thoughts? I no longer am considering the band--thanks to everyone for the support and information. I cannot wait to post my own countdown. Your weight loss is amazing and inspiring. I am so tired of being fat, and so discouraged by losing and regaining the same 50 pounds over and over. As I told my doctor, I fear I will die trying to get this under control. I am 57, and would like to think I have a couple of good decades left if I can get beyond the excess weight and related health problems.

A couple of points on this post. First, the sleeve isn't a malabsorptive surgery, so the plication offers no tangible benefits for that. Also, the "traditional" (so to speak) sleeve removes the fundus of the stomach. The fundus is the portion of the stomach that produces ghrelin, the hunger causing hormone. Since my sleeve in July, I've never once experienced the slightest bit of hunger. With the plication, you'll still feel hunger. I think not being hungry has been a huge part of my weight loss thus far.

Best of luck making your decision, though.

A couple of points on this post. First, the sleeve isn't a malabsorptive surgery, so the plication offers no tangible benefits for that. Also, the "traditional" (so to speak) sleeve removes the fundus of the stomach. The fundus is the portion of the stomach that produces ghrelin, the hunger causing hormone. Since my sleeve in July, I've never once experienced the slightest bit of hunger. With the plication, you'll still feel hunger. I think not being hungry has been a huge part of my weight loss thus far.

Best of luck making your decision, though.

Thank you so much. It's interesting. I had my appointment with Dr. Jawad on Tuesday. He mentioned the same thing. He plans to go soon to observe and learn the surgery, but since hunger is a big issue for me, it seems wise to go ahead with the gastric sleeve rather than plication, even if plication was readily available.

I finish my pre-op testing (gallbladder ultrasound, cardiac clearance, and nutritionist visit) on Monday, then will schedule asap. Went to a support group of his on Thursday night, met two sleeve patients--the five month out woman was really happy with her choice, and one woman was 3 1/2 weeks out. Feeling great, no problems, and already over 20 pounds down.

I am ready to take the plunge with the sleeve. The bypass and band patients there seemed to have more management issues. The sleeve people just sounded and looked better and happier.

More later, and thanks everyone.

I too was going to do the band until 2 weeks before. I was an avid browser of this forum and the more I read, the better I felt about it. The success rate is so much higher and I wasn't going to do this without making sure I didn't fail. I went back on the road one week after my surgery and I just came back. I was on the road for two weeks total. This was going to be my true test I felt and I had no problems. As far as the nausea and such, if you over do (especially eating), you will get negative reinforcement in the form of nausea. It wasn't pleasant my first time and now I know better. I don't have hunger pains anymore but I make sure I try to eat regularly scheduled times, just very small portions. After 20 days from my surgery, I'm down 57 lbs from my high weight and 38 lbs from my pre-op weight. I'm consuming between 400-600 calories per day on average and not hungry for the first time in my life. My wife wants to do this now.

Thank you so much. It's interesting. I had my appointment with Dr. Jawad on Tuesday. He mentioned the same thing. He plans to go soon to observe and learn the surgery, but since hunger is a big issue for me, it seems wise to go ahead with the gastric sleeve rather than plication, even if plication was readily available.

I finish my pre-op testing (gallbladder ultrasound, cardiac clearance, and nutritionist visit) on Monday, then will schedule asap. Went to a support group of his on Thursday night, met two sleeve patients--the five month out woman was really happy with her choice, and one woman was 3 1/2 weeks out. Feeling great, no problems, and already over 20 pounds down.

I am ready to take the plunge with the sleeve. The bypass and band patients there seemed to have more management issues. The sleeve people just sounded and looked better and happier.

More later, and thanks everyone.

I too was originally interested in the band. My insurance forced a 6 month nutrition and weight monitoring routine upon my desired plans so I spent a LOT of time reading. Blogs, posts, stats on the band, etc. My husband decided he wanted WLS also a few months after I started my journey. He wasn't convinced about the band and begged me to research the sleeve. After a few weeks of intense research, we both decided we wanted the sleeve. He is due to be sleeved next month.

I don't know much about plication, but I know for me I wanted something permanent. I agree with Go Kart that a huge piece of my success lies in the fact that I am never hungry. It's really impossible to tell someone how it feels to not have hunger. In my previous life (pre-sleeve) no hunger meant that my tummy was achingly full. But being sleeved doesn't feel like that. There is just not an interest in food like there was before. I like the taste/look/smell of food but to be able to eat a small amount and know that I'm done, is just life-changing.

I don't think you will regret your sleeve one bit. I know I don't!