Hi everyone. I am due to get sleeved on March 14, and as the days get closer I'm getting more nervous. I'm 25 years old and have been overweight pretty much as long as I can remember except those few times I've lost over 100 pounds only to gain it right back. In August of 2011 I had a lap band put in which failed the first time I got a fill. My dr poked a hole in it and that started a long series of events that lead to a slippage. I then decided to have it removed 3 weeks ago and convert to the sleeve. If there is anyone out there who has went from the band to the sleeve I'd like to hear your experience. One surgury for me has now turned into 3! I'm excited to get to know all of you.

April

Nobody huh?

Hi April! I'm in the same boat as you. I too have lost and gained so many times. I lost 70 pounds on Phentermine only to gain in back eventually. I also have a lap band that I had put in in April, 2008, and I've lost little to no weight with it, which is surprising since I have been throwing up at every meal for the last four years. My lap band had been filled nearly to capacity, and after one particularly violent episode of vommiting, my stomach started hurting. That was about a month ago, and it still hurts. I've been to the doctor, and they did an endoscopy and an Upper G.I., but they see no erosion, tears, haital hernia, ulcers, or other problems. The Upper G.I. says that there could be slippage, depending on where the band was placed.

Anyway, the band obviously hasn't worked for me, and I feel like I have wasted the last four years with it, and I am so looking forward to getting this stupid band removed and getting the sleeve instead. I know the band works for some people, but I think I am one of those people that has a problem with foreign bodies in my body. I am allergic to bug bites and bee stings, and my body has actually spit out internal stitches, known as "stitch spitting."

The great thing about you is that you are 25. You are doing a great thing for yourself at a perfect age. I am 47, and I wish I would have done this earlier in life. The sleeve wasn't offered to me back in 2008, and maybe I wouldn't have done it then as I didn't want anything too drastic, but I now believe that this is the only way that I will be successful in losing the weight and keeping it off. I think you will be successful too, and being nervous is completely understandable.

I've been watching videos of women who have had the sleeve on You Tube, and it has been so encouraging and has really helped to convince me that I'm going the right thing. Many women have documented their progress, their experiences, and their journey, and that has just been amazing to see. Check it out when you get a chance. Some good ones are: Amysdmom, gastricsleevereviews, and luvenit1979. These women all lost over 100 pounds and look amazing!

HTH

Here is another really good series of videos with someone who had a lap band and went to sleeve also: http://www.youtube.com/user/scneaux/videos

Hi April! I'm in the same boat as you. I too have lost and gained so many times. I lost 70 pounds on Phentermine only to gain in back eventually. I also have a lap band that I had put in in April, 2008, and I've lost little to no weight with it, which is surprising since I have been throwing up at every meal for the last four years. My lap band had been filled nearly to capacity, and after one particularly violent episode of vommiting, my stomach started hurting. That was about a month ago, and it still hurts. I've been to the doctor, and they did an endoscopy and an Upper G.I., but they see no erosion, tears, haital hernia, ulcers, or other problems. The Upper G.I. says that there could be slippage, depending on where the band was placed.

Anyway, the band obviously hasn't worked for me, and I feel like I have wasted the last four years with it, and I am so looking forward to getting this stupid band removed and getting the sleeve instead. I know the band works for some people, but I think I am one of those people that has a problem with foreign bodies in my body. I am allergic to bug bites and bee stings, and my body has actually spit out internal stitches, known as "stitch spitting."

The great thing about you is that you are 25. You are doing a great thing for yourself at a perfect age. I am 47, and I wish I would have done this earlier in life. The sleeve wasn't offered to me back in 2008, and maybe I wouldn't have done it then as I didn't want anything too drastic, but I now believe that this is the only way that I will be successful in losing the weight and keeping it off. I think you will be successful too, and being nervous is completely understandable.

I've been watching videos of women who have had the sleeve on You Tube, and it has been so encouraging and has really helped to convince me that I'm going the right thing. Many women have documented their progress, their experiences, and their journey, and that has just been amazing to see. Check it out when you get a chance. Some good ones are: Amysdmom, gastricsleevereviews, and luvenit1979. These women all lost over 100 pounds and look amazing!

HTH

Hi thank you for replying to me! I realized I probably put my post in the wrong section as I didn't realize that there was a section for people who were banded. I don't know how you could stand to have the band that long. I dealt with it for a month with the slippage and threw up everything I ate. Once it was removed, I was back to normal again and felt complete releif. The bad thing is that I've been eating like crazy for the last weeks knowing that I'm going to get the Sleeve. I'm hoping that the recovery will be similar but I'm hoping I'll be less hungry this time. My surgury is set for March 14 so I've got 6 weeks to go and have already started my liquid diet. I hope that it goes well as I hope yours does too.

I've also been watching you tube videos. It's amazing how fast and quickly those people have changed. I'm considering doing one myself but I'm a little on the shy side.

I had a revision. There are more of us on the Band to Sleeve forum. I got the band in April 2009. At first everything went well. I lost 80 lbs. I was almost at goal but, just like every other time I've dieted, I started gaining. I was throwing up all the time with the band sometimes multiple times per day. I couldn't eat chicken, turkey, veggies or salads. All the good stuff! So, eventually I got to the point the only things I could keep down were slider food aka junk food. I probably should have gotten the sleeve instead of the band but I was to scared.

I'm a month out and so far everything is going great. You'll be fine. It's a good thing you're young. I'm sure you'll bounce back quickly.

Good luck.

Hi April. I'm getting a band to sleeve revision in May and I can't wait. Are you ready? You're just a week out.