Hello all-

I had a lap-band for 3 years and was fairly successful with it. I lost about 68lbs of the 100 that I wanted to lose but always had issues with it. I was happy that it kept the weight off but I found myself always be throwing up. Right before Christmas I got horrible reflux and was having a hard time keeping things down. I went to my surgeon who immediately unfilled me some. As I was about to leave his office the pain became almost unbearable and he sent me to the hospital for an immediate Upper GI. As it turned out, my band had slipped. He then took the rest of the fluid out of my band at the hospital and scheduled me for an upper endoscope on Monday (Christmas Eve). It was decided that the band would need to be fixed or removed. I didn't really want to lose my band so I asked if the Gastric Sleeve was possible. Now keep in mind I knew nothing really about it except that it was the new thing on the block that was replacing the band. I had a BMI of 32 and was pretty sure that my insurance company wouldn't pay for it anyways so I was just asking. When I talked to the bariatric coordinator she said that I would need to go through the 6 month program again and then have the surgery. I had to get my gallbladder out last year and ended up with thrush and decided no more surgery after the band was fixed. I only had 40lbs to get to goal and I could do it on my own. When I was discussing the surgery with my husband I mentioned that I wish I had gotten the sleeve rather than the band but it wasn't being offered. Well on January 4th I went in for surgery. The surgery was supposed to last an hour or so. Three hours later and my husband was out of his mind because I was still in surgery. My surgeon came out to tell him that he had to clean up a lot of scar tissue, fix another hiatal hernia and that the band had created a hole in my stomach so the band could not be be saved. I guess what happened next was my husband asked him if he could do the gastric sleeve. Keep in mind I didn't say, "hey, if he can do a sleeve have him do it" I woke up expecting to either still have a port or my band gone. Well my port was gone and my surgeon say's "you got your wish, you're sleeved" I was in surgery for over 6 hours and too drugged out to really comprehend the whole thing. I had no idea what a gastric sleeve really involved. I was sent home with the instructons of drink 1oz of protein an hour and 64oz of water. I got thrush again and ended up back in the ER after a week from dehydration and a ct scan because I looked and felt like death. I had no idea they were checking for a leak because I had no idea about leaks. I had to come to this site to find out what had been done to me. Keep in mind I'm an analyst for a living. I researched the band for 6 months before I did it. This has been hard on me emotionally and definitely a challenge to my marriage because I trusted people to look out for my well-being while I'm not in control. I think both felt they were doing what was best for me but I had no say in the matter. Now I've been scared to death about complications so this site has been both helpful and scary. I'm learning everything after the fact so i'm going to be greatful for all the advice. I know my surgeon has never done this before and I expressed my concern about what happened but in the end I can't go back. I have no choice but to adjust. I've already lost 17lbs so it's been a major change in the way I eat and look. I will definitely be checking to see whatever information I can get from everyone. I guess the moral of the story is to make sure everyone understand your wishes. This was not life-saving surgery so I'm not sure why the decision was made without me but in the future I will express exactly what I want to happen unless it's to save my life. Just glad others have had this revision that I can relate to especially any who had the revision the same day. Thanks-

I called him one day to discuss everything. I did ask him about the sleeve and he did the standard sleeve procedure on me. He didn't have to do the sleeve and only came out to tell my husband what was going on with the band since it had been 3 hrs instead of 1. He said that it was after discussion with my husband that he decided to do the sleeve. He said he wouldn't have done it if he didn't think it was safe. I do believe that. I'm adjusting to this life so at this point I'm just happy to be feeling better. I have to believe that all things happen for a reason.

Yeah like I said I was just thinking out loud on that theory..

But if you do want to look on the bright side of things which is always good.

After reading so many horror stories about the band, (which I believe will be discontinued soon)

You most likely avoided the heartache that a lot of revisions do.

You can read many stories just on this site alone of people having their band out only then to have to wait for months on end to get the sleeve. Most of them, if not all, gain the majority of their weight back while waiting!

You had a opportunity not to have to go through that!

And that's pretty cool I think !

Good luck to you,

Laura

So sorry for your troubles. My surgeon almost always does conversion same day. He says to keep you from going under again. Just that we have to be extra vigilant. I was converted in summer and have been doing good other than bad reflux. But even with that I feel so much better and enjoy food better now. Yes I have lost very little weight but I have a better relationship with food . ( too good ). The slow weight loss is common with low bmi ( I was 33). So I hope u find comfort here and you can always inbox any of us individuals if u need a shoulder to lean on.

That is quite a story. I think we all understand how upset you must be! I spent a long time researching and facing fears; you were robbed of that.

I do want to point out an upside or two though. That band had to go, and MOST people regain when that happens. So don't think of it as "not worth it for 40# " but rather as worth it to prevent a 100# regain.... I was very hungry and fought like crazy to keep from gaining in the 2.5 months between my band removal and sleeve.

It is hard at first but now I love my sleeve and living with it is no problem.

Thanks so much for the support. I am lucky that I didn't have to jump through any hoops or go under twice. My band had really stopped working due to slippage a year before it finally slipped to a critical point. I was always too filled then unfilled so I thought the band was definitely more hassle than what it was worth. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. I had managed to keep the weight off pretty much from the habits of the band so it did help me a lot in realizing my portions were out of control. The thing I miss now is my carbs. It seems like if I eat anything sweet or crackers, even with calories under 1000 a day, I don't lose weight. I think those 2 weeks post-op where I dropped weight on mostly protein drinks really reset my metabolism. I'm used to calorie counting and fitting in things like baked Cheetos or a little chocolate on a daily basis but still losing weight. I finally started working out again so I'm hoping this will help if I eat some carbs from making my weight stall. I'm always going to wish that I never needed the band or the sleeve to get to this point. I think what's hard for me is that it's been almost 3 1/2 years since I got the band and was at my heaviest so I forgot how bad it was. I'm sure if i was at my heaviest now I would have felt differently about the surgery.

Wow! What a story!! I am glad to not have my band any more and am waiting anxiously to be sleeved but I have to admit that I am working on getting ready to emotionally handle the first few weeks of the sleeve that I know will be difficult! I can't imagine going through this without the time to become mentally prepared!! I wish you the best of luck!!