Hi There,

I just wanted to take a second to introduce myself. My name is Amanda and I started my weight loss journey in April 2012 when I got the lap band. For the first nine months I did really well. I had dropped 100 pounds and was exercising 5 times a week. My life had changed, but that is when things changed. I started getting sick after fills and throwing up almost everything I ate. I was hospitalized twice for severe dehydration. I also had never had acid reflux before but it was starting to get so bad. At that point I went to my surgeon and asked him to take it out. He said he wasn't sure if the problems were being caused by the band but he did day that I would like the sleeve 100 times better. Needless to say my doctor took out my band on June 28th 2013 and did the sleeve procedure. During surgery he found that my band had been causing the problems my band had slipped and I had a large hiatal hernia. I might have had some pain for the first three days and still some lingering muscle strain and the gas might be out of control but I am extremely thankful for the sleeve. Gone are the days of having to drink coffee before every meal to loosen my band, I also don't have to make bad choices so that I can eat anymore. Plus it has been five days since I have thrown up which is the longest period of time that I can remember for the last five or six months. My surgeon was amazing and I am thankful that his staff pushed the request through insurance and got me approved in under 2 weeks.

To all of you out there on your journey congratulations for taking life in your own hands and making the changes you need to get happy and healthy. Good luck on your journey and thank you for having a place like this where I can check in every time something new happens so I can know what it is and if it is something else others go through.

Welcome to the site! Sorry about your nightmare with the lap band. So glad I did my research and decided to go for the sleeve instead of the band, which is what I was originally scheduled for.