I'm now almost 4 months out from having a LapBand to VG conversion and I would like to summarize my experience.

Positives

1. "Caught food", Sliming, etc is almost a non issue. I have had it happen ONCE off of overcooked eggs, and one other time off of chicken was not chewed up well enough, both times I tried to drink Water afterword. This is in contrast to the same issue that would happen several times per week, sometimes several times per day with the band.

I can now eat chicken (even white meat!) , pork, beef, bread, raw vegetables, citrus, etc, (All of these would get caught with my band during proper restriction) without worying where the nearest bathroom is. I do stay away from overcooked eggs (mostly scrambled) though.

2. Back pain is completely gone! My surgeon concurs with my belief that either the port or band was setting off a few nerves which would cause referral pain to my back.

3. Very little hunger. What hunger does exist is taken care of nearly IMMEDIATELY after eating.

4. Alcohol makes me DRUNK very fast and with very little of it, but I hardly drink anyway.

5. NO food RESTRICTIONS (after a while). The first 10 weeks I had some pretty undesirable dumping effects from fats and sugars, even from basic Protein shakes. Most of these effects have disappeared.

I still dump from very high sugar content foods (maybe more than 25grams of sugar), but this can vary. For instance, I have eaten a Drumstick brand sundae cone and haven't dumped, even though it contains quite a bit of sugar. I can also eat approximately 4 oreos without dumping, yet if I were to immediately "chase" it with liquid, thus "washing it through", I would most likely dump, at least if it were early in the day. For some reason, dumping is worse in the morning.

Dumping seems to occur in about 10% of VG patients, and is assumed to go away. I suspect it will disappear completely within a year.

On a related note, I get tired of many artificially processed type foods such as oreos, snack foods, etc. For some reason, my senses of taste have changed and have become extremely turned off by artificial flavorings. Many such products will make me queesy, but they will not make me dump.

Also, if I eat and then "Wash through" the food, I am not hungry again like I was with the LapBand. As far as I can tell, it is next to impossible to "Wash through" any solid protein source or fruit/vegetable... I have yet to do it, the water simply goes through around the food.

6. I CAN BURP!!! No more "stuck air" that has to take the long way out. I have virtually no gas now, unless of course, I eat a gassy food like bell peppers.

Negatives:

1. Acid reflux. I ABSOLUTELY MUST take a proton pump inhibitor daily, otherwise I will have moderate heartburn. This effect is supposed to fade over 6-12 months as the pouch stretches, but I have had little to no stretching as of yet, and am becoming annoyed with this side effect.

2. Initial dumping. As I stated earlier, this effect is mostly gone, but it can sneak up if I eat junky/processed/fast food. Or items with alot of sugar and then "chase them down" with water or such. Dumping seems to occur in about 10% of VG patients, and is assumed to go away. I suspect it will disappear completely within a year.

3. It can be difficult to drink fluids. One must CONSTANTLY remember to drink enough Fluid, BEFORE eating, otherwise you may subject yourself to dumping induced by washthrough, or worse, the water may come back up.

4. You may be fatigued for up to the first year after surgery, this comes from the severe caloric restriction and weight loss. My first 10 weeks were hellishly draining. I no longer have energy problems as long as I get my 150grams of whey protein per day and FORCE myself to eat enough each day.

OVERALL

I am totally satisfied. I am currently at 223, the slimmest I've ever been and am still losing weight. Mind you, the lowest weight I ever attained via LapBand was 238, and that was with a constant "I'm starving" sensation. That physical sensation is now gone.

While it was VERY easy to "out eat" the band, it is fairly difficult to outeat my VG, sure it may be possible with carb laden foods that compress down to nothing when chewed, but overall, the physical desire eat, AKA hunger pangs, have simply been removed.

Related to this last point, I should reiterate the fact that I must FORCE MYSELF to eat enough protein to keep up with my active lifestyle (surgeon is recommending 150g-250g per day total). When I say FORCE myself to eat, I don't really know how to explainit, other than the fact that once I consume a certain amount of calories, I no longer have the desire to eat. I could fill up my calories with relatively empty carbohydrates which will leave me tired the next day, or I can eat all of my protein first and then consume carbohydrates if I feel like it.

In other words, I could physically eat more at the end of the day, but after a certain quantity of calories, I simply cannot mentally stomach another bite of food. For lack of a better explanantion, it's almost as if the "eat food" circuit in my brain shuts off at this point.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I liked that link to the comparative chart. Good luck to you!

MAN! I am SOOO glad you came back and updated us. THANK YOU!:clap2:

Couple of questions...

The reflux stuff, is it GERD or heartburn that you're having?

Do you still get the head hunger (or emotional eating)?

Although the band helps with my actual hunger, I find that I eat just because I want to.

The VG side affects doesnt seem bad at all. Through all the readings Ive done - IF my band was taken, Id have (try to) the VG!

Thanks again!

Anthony, thanks for coming back and sharing your experience! Congratulations on a successful choice and surgery. I'm so glad you're feeling good! Your link is very instructive, too. Cool!

Thanks Anthony. I frequent the VSG board on Obesity Help and there is another Bandster there who just converted to a VSG/VG. I'm planning to as well once my son is weaned.

How has your weight loss been? I'm seeing people down 50 pounds at around 3 months, which is amazing to me. It took me a whole year to lose that much with my Band.

:clap2:

MAN! I am SOOO glad you came back and updated us. THANK YOU!:clap2:

Couple of questions...

The reflux stuff, is it GERD or heartburn that you're having?

Do you still get the head hunger (or emotional eating)?

Although the band helps with my actual hunger, I find that I eat just because I want to.

The VG side affects doesnt seem bad at all. Through all the readings Ive done - IF my band was taken, Id have (try to) the VG!

Thanks again!

Plain ol'd heartburn, but without a proton pump inhibitor it hurts pretty damn bad. Just think about it, the acid that produced is for a ~50oz stomach is now crammed into a 2-3oz stomach. I really hope this is temporary, as I hate taking drugs.

Head hunger still exists if I take drugs that previously gave me head hunger, such as; antihistamines, lyrica, neurontin, (And presumably antidepressants). Luckily I no longer have to take most of these, as they were for nerve pain in my back. Although I have noticed a strong correlation between caffeine and head hunger. But coffee hurts my stomach/intestines now, so I don't even bother.

Emotional eating can still exist, but I've felt so well overall that it hasn't really been an issue.

One final point. Head hunger and emotional eating are now MUCH easier to deal with due to the significant decrease in physical hunger.

Thanks Anthony. I frequent the VSG board on Obesity Help and there is another Bandster there who just converted to a VSG/VG. I'm planning to as well once my son is weaned.

How has your weight loss been? I'm seeing people down 50 pounds at around 3 months, which is amazing to me. It took me a whole year to lose that much with my Band.

:clap2:

With the band I went from 308-240 in about a year. Gained back to 278 over about another year, this was after I had my band unfilled, since I couldn't deal with the pervasive and uncontrollable gas.

With the VG I went from 278-218 in less than 4 months. And my skin is no looser than it was during my thinnest with the band.

Hey Anthony!! Sounds like this is working for you!! Congratulations!!

I know I may be a little slow, but can you please remind me & all the others out there who may not know, what does VG stands for?

Hey Anthony!! Sounds like this is working for you!! Congratulations!!

I know I may be a little slow, but can you please remind me & all the others out there who may not know, what does VG stands for?

It stands for vertical gastrectomy but there is also a VG band (that I have) which stands for vanguard lapband by Inamed. It can get confusing with VG standing for 2 different things.

VG stands for Vertical Gastrectomy OR Vertical Gastroplasty, both of which are the same thing.

IT IS NOT the same thing as Vertical Banded Gastroplasty (VBG), which has been around for a long time and has a terrible track record regarding weight loss and side effects.

Here is a picture of a VG: http://www.lapsf.com/weight-loss-surgeries.html

I'm delighted you are having success. Having gained back 13 pounds since band removal, I often wonder if I should have considered converting. But, I was just too damn scared after two slips. The "reversible" factor was very important to me. Plus, I had such terrible reflux as a result of my slippage, I would be too nervous (and my surgeon probably would be too) of future problems. Just to end on a positive note, I am exercising more and starting to eat better, so I've stopped the weight gain in its tracks and actually taken off a few pounds. I hope your journey continues to be successful, Anthony. God bless.

Elizabeth

It's also known as the vertical sleeve gastrectomy. Originally it was conceived of Michel Gagner as a two-part operation... basically it's the first part of a DS. The stomach is stapled into a long sleeve with both valves in place. Excess stomach is removed... which happens to contain the part that produces ghrelin. Operation was first done on high BMI patients who were deemed too big of a risk for a full-blown DS. Ideally, they'd lose some weight with this and then have the intestinal rerouting later (the switch). The docs noticed that a lot of these patients were not needing the second part, and it was looked at as a stand alone operation.

Major players are the LapSF guys, Rosenthal at the Cleveland Clinic in Weston, Baltasar in Spain, and Gagner in NYC. Others do it (even Dr. Pleatman)...but it is just now gaining in popularity.

Thankyou fabfatgrl! I keep forgetting that it is often reffered to as the vertical sleeve gastrectomy.

Thanks again for your input

Congrats Anthony on your success! I read your story awhile ago and am glad to see you are well and thriving! Keep it up!

I have a question on the possibility of a later conversion to DS and/or the two-stage thing.

The DS stomach is about 4-6 ounces. The RnY--and apparently the VG--stomach is only 1-2 ounces.

The RnY is primarily restrictive with a malabsoption component. The DS is primarily malabsorptive with a restrictive component. The two-stage DS is the larger (4-6 ounce) restrictive part done before the malabsorptive part is done.

Soooo...what happens when the patient has the teeny (1-2 ounce) VG stomach and needs to have the malabsorptive part added?

I'm asking because it's hard to get in all the nutrients we need--considering that a large percentage of some of those nutrients pass right through the body without their calories or fat or nutrients counting--with a 4-6 ounce stomach. If, for example, I could eat only 1/4th to 1/6th of what I now eat, (I'd be crazy, but let's not go there right now), isn't malabsorption a dangerous thing to add to so limited a capacity for consumption?

Anthony you are great to share this info!

If I have to lose my band, or if I am not pleased after a year and a half out, I am comitted to have an alternate surgery to address this weight issue.

It really helps to hear other peoples experiences!