I'm having my band removed on aug 7th, my dr said if I have too much scar tissue, I have to wait 1 year before I can get my sleeve. I had the band placed in 2007. Did anyone have this problem? I'm super bummed because I had all the fluid removed from the band 1 month ago and already gained 25 pounds...

I had a ton of scar tissue and a lot of inflammation with the band removal, causing surgery to be a longer procedure at 3.5 hours vs 1 hour. When I had my sleeve done, I STILL an enormous amount of inflammation after 5 months and the surgery itself took 2.5 hours due to the amount of scar tissue that was present from the previous removal.

Apparently its pretty common, and one of the main reasons that it's suggested that there should be 3 month healing time between procedures. Some of our bodies just are more inclined to have surgical adhesions than others and require a little extra monitoring. My full liquid stage was extended a week so that my staple line had a bit of extra time to heal before I progress on to soft foods next Wednesday.

All in all, I am pleased. The pain with the sleeve was much more intense for me, however, it was gone in a few days and my incisions remained sore for about 10 more days. I am 17 days post op and I've lost 25 pounds so I'd say that conversion patients can be just as successful as virgin sleevers, but it just may take a little bit longer. I've decided to follow a Ketogenic diet because I see the most success in patients who've gone this route. I'm in this for life, and not until I get to a specific, so I found it necessary to find what would work with my body forever.