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To Sleeve Or Not To Sleeve...



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...after lurking around this forum for a week....I feel that the Sleeve is the way to go instead of the band.

I would like to introduce myself and thank everyone for having such great insight and advise about the sleeve. Ultimately, I am still about 4 months away from having surgery as I need to finish up my 6 month program with my insurance company. Up until last week when i had my consult i was all about the band but after seeing the great results people have been having with the sleeve was the deciding factor. I also feel that I would get better results with the sleeve as I need to lose 120lbs (which is scary to think) and I dont think I could lose that much with the band.

I am scared of the unknown and since i have pretty much been overweight my whole life I am not sure how to handle a small me! I have finally decided that I need the help to lose weight and am not afraid to admit that nor am i ashamed (although I dont plan on telling everyone). So again I am excited and looking forward to sharing my journey with all of you and watching everyone become the beautiful person we are in and out!!

Jenn

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Jenn

I have also been so impressed with everyone's honesty on this site and I made the choice to have the sleeve vs. the Roux en Y bypass after a lot of research and the amazing results I have seen through all the people on this forum who have been willing to share their experience.

I appreciate hearing the highs and the lows that everyone is so genuine about. I feel that I am much better prepared for surgery because of the great people on this site. I am also about 3-4 months away from surgery and I plan to keep learning from the wealth of experience and understanding here on verticle sleeve talk!!

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This forum is definitely a blessing for all of those who are unsure or have any questions or concerns? It definitely has helped me with all of my questions and fears. Wish you both great success I'm a little closer i finish the six month now just waiting for approval from my insurance.

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Yes i have learned so much!! I honestly go on this site almost every day so i am going to rely on this pre-op and post-op for motivation... :P

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Yes i have learned so much!! I honestly go on this site almost every day so i am going to rely on this pre-op and post-op for motivation... :P

Makes two of us, I get on this more than I go on Facebook lol

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Hey Jenn,

As a former band patient, I think you're making a good decision. Sucess with the band is a shot in the dark. Finding the "sweet spot" in terms of how many fills is difficult. There are alot more who have trouble with the band than there are who are successful.

In my experience, the band was a waste of time and money. Had they told me my risks were higher for a band to sleeve revision I probably would have gone ahead and gotten the sleeve instead. Of course, they never told me that.

Good luck to you and welcome!

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To all of you, congratulations on taking the first step toward bettering your life. I'm post op day 3 and I don't regret a moment! I just wanted to wish you all luck and much success. I look forward to reading all of your stories in the future!

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Makes two of us' date=' I get on this more than I go on Facebook lol[/quote']

This site stays up all day at work and its the 2nd thing I look at in the mornings when I wake up. I think I may be obsessed.

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Hey Jenn,

As a former band patient, I think you're making a good decision. Sucess with the band is a shot in the dark. Finding the "sweet spot" in terms of how many fills is difficult. There are alot more who have trouble with the band than there are who are successful.

In my experience, the band was a waste of time and money. Had they told me my risks were higher for a band to sleeve revision I probably would have gone ahead and gotten the sleeve instead. Of course, they never told me that.

Good luck to you and welcome!

Thats what I was reading on the lapband forum and it started to scare me. The sleeve is permanant but so do i want my weight loss to be.

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Congrats on your journey, i my self know the difficulties of making such decision especially being young, but its a change for the future. i also would like to thank all the people on this site because it became a mayor part of my life when i was deciding whether or not to be sleeved. my first option was the band because i saw great results from this one person on you tube, skymoon something.. shes a great person and her transformation inspired me to get the band,, but later i researched again about the sleeve, as the band was some what something to control portion size and for you to manage to change your lifestyle.. so for me, i decided on the sleeve because i needed a tool to help me lose weight, because food addiction is no joke.. i am happy i got my sleeve, i am 5 days post op and i feel good things will be coming soon.. so congrats, you guys still have time to debate on whats best for you! cant wait to read on your journey!!!

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If you haven't already, make sure to check out other sleevers who are documenting their journeys on YouTube - they were so helpful to me when I was pre-op and researching the different options. Good luck to you!

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If you haven't already' date=' make sure to check out other sleevers who are documenting their journeys on YouTube - they were so helpful to me when I was pre-op and researching the different options. Good luck to you![/quote']

What did you typed in order to see ity

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This site stays up all day at work and its the 2nd thing I look at in the mornings when I wake up. I think I may be obsessed.

Lol glad to know im not alone

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Lol glad to know im not alone

haha that goes for me too

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I am new as well and also decided on doing lap band due to the things I read on lapbandtalk and youtube videos. I was also afraid to permanently remove my stomach. The specialist I saw a week ago explained to me abbandout the things I did not see much of on youtube and lapband talk was that 1 out of every 3 bandsters have to have some kind of revision surgery due to mechanical error with band/port or to a sleeve because of band not helping lose enough weight and how hard it is to find the sweet spot with fills. :unsure:

So after they told me that I went home and started doing the research I found out they were right. I then decided to change to the sleeve, plus my Aunt who is 51 years old and been over weight all of her life/ her being a food addict she has lost 85 pounds since October because of the sleeve.

Im about 1 month out hopefully of having my surgery. :D

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    • LeighaTR

      I am new here today... and only two weeks out from my sleeve surgery on the 23rd. I am amazed I have kept my calories down to 467 today so far... that leaves me almost 750 left for dinner and maybe a snack. This is going to be tough for two weeks... but I have to believe I can do it!
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
    • Doughgurl

      Hey everyone. I'm new here so I thought I should introduce myself. I am 53y/o and am scheduled for Gastric Bypass on June 25th, 2025. I'm located in San Antonio, Texas. I will be having my surgery in Tiajuana Mexico. I've wanted this for years, but I always had insurance where bariatric procedures were excluded. Finally I am able to afford to pay out of pocket.  I can't wait to get started, and I hope I'm prepared for the initial period of "hell". I know what I have signed up for, but I'm sure the good to come will out way the temporary period of discomfort and feelings of regret. I'd love to find people to talk to who have been through the same procedure or experience before. So I look forward to meeting you all. Hope you have a great week!
      · 2 replies
      1. Selina333

        I'm so happy for you! You are about to change your life. I was so glad to get the sleeve done in Dec. I didn't have feelings of regret overall. And I'm down almost 60 lbs. I do feel a little sad at restaurants. I can barely eat half a kid's meal. I get adults meals often because kid ones don't have the same offerings at times. Then I feel obligated to eat on that until it's gone and that can be days. So the restaurant thing isn't great for me. All the rest is fine by me! I love feeling full with very little. I do wish I could drink when eating. And will sip at the end. Just a strong habit to stop. But I'm working on it! You will do fine! Just keep focused on your desire to be different. Not better or worse. But different. I am happy both ways but my low back doesn't like me that heavy. So I listened (also my feet!). LOL! Update us on your journey! I'm not far from you. I'm in Houston. Good luck and I hope it all goes smoothly! Would love to see pics of the town you go to for this. I've never been there. Neat you will be traveling for this! Enjoy the journey. Take it one day at a time. Sometimes a few hours at a time. Follow all recommendations as best you can. 💗

      2. Doughgurl

        Thank you so much for your well wishes. I am hoping that everything goes easy for me as well. We don't eat out much as it is, so it wont be too bad in that department. Thankfully. Also, I hear you regarding your back and feet!! I'd like to add knees to the list. Killing me as we speak! I'm only 5' so the weight has to go. Too short to carry all this weight. Menopause really did a doosey on me. (😶lol) My daughter also lives in Houston. with her Husband and my 5 grand-littles. I grew up in Beaumont, so I know Houston well, I will be sure to keep in touch and update you on my journey. I may need some advice in the future, or just motivation. Thank You so much for reaching out, I was hoping to connect with someone in the community. I really appreciate it. 💜

    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
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