Sooo long story short I was on Tracy for the band but I was 1.5 bmi over the limit and I am gaining weight instead of losing they pretty much rejected me for the band. I'm so upset because they knew what my weight was and didn't tell me I was over for months. So now they tell me it's the sleeve or nothing so now I feel like I'm starting at zero. The sleeve just worries me because it changes my anatomy, it's not reversible, long hospital stay, longer recovery etc. does anyone have any advice or stories they could share good or bad. Thanks

I was just converted from the band to sleeve yesterday. I did not like my band. It ended up causing problems. I'd go get a fill and couldn't eat..go get an infill and gain weight. I never found that "sweet spot". I do not regret my decision at all. I would definitely choose the sleeve over the band.

When I first started looking into WLS I was pretty sure I wanted the lap band. After the informational meeting the nurse was visiting with us. She had a bypass 10 yrs ago and lost 200 pounds. We asked if she were to do it today which surgery would she have. She said definately the sleeve. I asked another bariatric nurse who told me she would be having the surgery as soon as she had her baby. She said hands down it would be the sleeve. These nurses work with WLS patients every day and those words spoke volumes to me.

The more I researched it I saw many people who had success at first with the band and then either quit losing or had problems.

I am SO happy I decided on the sleeve. I am 1 month out and NO regrets! I had no complications and am feeling great. Best thing I ever did for myself. I am looking forward to a much healthier life with my sleeve

Well, yes I do have a bit of advice. Starting with get on your knees and thank God that your lapband surgery never happened. There are an unbelievable number of people on this forum that have had miserable experiences with what we refer to here as the "crapband".

Did you know that over half of the lapbands out there fail within 5years? Not to mention that they have been known to erode into the stomach, some badly enough to cause leaks.

We have a whole section dedicated to Band to Sleeve revisions. Id recommend you spend a little time in there, I believe it will change how you feel about your surgery falling through.

Also, you'll find that though the sleeve does hahe a higher level of short term risk, it is a much safer procedure long term.

Did you have any specific questions?

The Lap band is not as reliable as it was originally thought to be. The re operation rate is high and ALOT of people are going with revisions mostly to the sleeve. That's what I did. I don't mean to talk bad about the band but it's not what it is cracked up to be. The sleeve is nothing to be afraid of, the hospital stay is only 2 days.It is so much more natural feeling when eating than the band was. The recovery for me was the same with the sleeve as the band was. your anatomy does get changed but it is nothing to be afraid of. My doc recommended the sleeve over the bypass for me because of having the band previously. I would have rather had the bypass but Oh well it is what it is and I am thankful for the sleeve.If I was now researching between the band and sleeve the reoperation rate is ALOT higher with the band.Good luck, it will all work out for you I am sure.

I am a little happy the band didn't happen bc you have to work out 7 days a week and I am in nursing school 25+ hrs a week and work in a hospital 40+ hrs a week. Plus I just hate working out. I have been working towards the sleeve since may and now I feel like I'm starting all over. I have an appt with a dietitian in 2 weeks and a sleeve nutrition class nov 6. I feel like they keep telling me " one more session" and I'm sick of it. And now my surgery will probably not happen before the new year so I'm going to be soooo in debt with a new insurance deductible.

How long after the wls team said ok did it take for insurance to approve then how long after that did you all have surgery?

I had my revision on September 10th and agree with all of the posts. I didn't have complications yet(had my band for 5 years) but it certainly was not all it was cracked up to be. I feel so much better without it, already I notice a difference especially with being able to drink cold fluids. It is a life changing surgery but if you are ready for the committment I say go for it!

Bel12 my husband was approved and they scheduled him as soon as the surgeon had an opening - another patient cancelled so it was 2 weeks. If you have all of your pre-op hoop jumping done they usually green light you. For myself I had to wait a bit as i am a college professor and wanted to wait until classes adjourned for the summer break.

They tell me I am pretty much done with everything and only have to wait bc there wasn't an opening for the nutrition part. I'm going to call tomorrow and see if there are any openings. I did an EKG, labs, vitamin d, pt, nutrition, etc. my only problem is I'm not losing weight Pre op. I do my fitness pal and it says I dot eat enough calories. Insane