I just read your blog. What a wonderful experience you are having. Good luck with your "sleeve journey" (Yours REALLY IS a JOURNEY) I will check out your blog each week.

Krankenhaus Sachenhausen is where i had my band implanted nearly 11 years ago. Nice hospital - Prof Weiner was my surgeon there. We were living in Bavaria at the time, but I traveled up to Frankfurt as he had a good reputation.

Holy Moly, I can't imagine an aggressive Europe schedule that soon after surgery, but it looks like you are making the best of it!! I was dead-exhasted for 8 weeks after surgery - no way I would have been a good travel companion. The best thing in Europe are the breakfasts, no? All the cheese, meat, and yogurt a new sleever could ask for!!

I did a work trip to the UK at about 3 months post op and I would raid the Breakfast offerings and stuff them in my purse for later. I took a yogurt for breakfast, a spare yogurt for later, and a packet of hot Cereal that I would make with hot milk in the office. Peel the meat off a sandwich, toppings off of a pizza, or order a tapas plate and I was good to go. String cheese was another purse-staple.

BTW - oatmeal, hot meusli, or whatever you can find may help your constipation issues. I religiously ate at least one meal of whole grain hot cereal a day in the first few months.

Bon chance!

I had my band removed earlier this year. I actually started having problems in '03, by then I was back in the USA and at that time it was very hard to find a bariatric doctor to take on a foreign implanted band. I was also getting discouraged - the usual band problems - reflux with any fill, not losing weight anymore etc. I lost 70# with the band, but never got to my goal. In 2004 i had to have the Fluid completely removed as I was struggling so much with reflux and of course regained everything..... I found out this year that some time between my last floroscopy in 2004 and this year, my band slipped. I dind't have any symptoms, it was found as part of my pre Sleeve testing. Luckily, no erosion and the damage done wasn't too bad, considering I had it for 10 years.

I decided to do the revision in two steps - the theory being that the adhesions etc are removed in the band removal surgery and things have a little time to heal. Revision from band to sleeve increases risk of a leak....

I was very happy with Prof Weiner, but what I know now is that the lapband has a low success rate and i believe you need a great deal of long term follow up - fine tuning the fills and just support in living with the dang thing. I could have probably used follow on nutrition counseling as well - I did great the first year but when I started having symptoms I didn't really have the support I needed. I don't really regret it though, I figure i would possibly weigh a lot more now if I hadn't done it then ... i wasn't interested in getting the gastric bypass, and that was the only real alternative at the time