I am set to have the sleeve TOMORROW! My husband is a couple of months behind me in the pre-op process and is considering the Lapband. I really wish he would consider the sleeve and I have given him a few reasons to switch.

Those of you who have had both, can you give him/I some advice and why he should have the sleeve instead? He is hard headed and I don't think he has done enough research :/

his mother has the Lapband and she has had complications, but he only sees the weight she has lost. I think his judgement is a little clouded... I'm praying he changes his mind!

Super nervous for my surgery! liquid diet is killing me

I truly think that the lapband was a fad, like Phen-Fen in the 90's. I was banded 4 yrs ago and subsequently lost 104 lbs. Last year, because of frequent vomiting (a side effect on ALOT of banders), my band slipped. They totally unfilled it and I gained 30 lbs back. I loved my band and I hated to see it have complications.

Last week, when I saw my surgeon the day before surgery, he said the exact same thing. That the band was a fad. He still does them, but doesn't promote them anymore. More than 50% of his patients have some kind of complication - including never losing 1 lb. Thats alot of complications!

When he did my sleeve revision last Tues (the 16th), it took him 30 minutes to dig my band out of my stomach. It had embedded and was stuck inside. So now I'm still in considerable amount of post op pain.

If I knew then what I know now, I would've never been banded. It's hard to tell someone something tho when all they see is weightloss.

Good luck!

I have not had the sleeve yet but had my Lap Band removed. I had my lap band for 9 years. The first 50lbs came off okay, then the next 20 I had to work even harder for, and the last 25 came off due to lack of eating and forced bulimia. I went back and forth getting adjustments started gaining weight again, and then got pregnant and gained 80lbs. I lost 50 after my pregnancy bc I was having the same issues with throwing up and force bulimia, reflux started up. It was a constant battle. I could not eat what I was supposed to be eating. Vegetables got stuck, meat got stuck, carbs were the only thing that went down. I was throwing up more times in a day than I could count. My breaking point was my 7 year old son walking in on me during one of these episodes, and me having to lie to him and tell him I wasn't feeling well. I thought to myself, what if one day he finds me passed out on the bathroom floor bc of all the damage from my band? My vanity could have killed me. So they removed my band and here I sit back up to over 200lbs finishing up my consults, hopefully tomorrow, so they can schedule my sleeve. I don't recommend it to anyone anymore. I know people that have lost no weight on it at all. It's extremely easy to eat around the lap band too. I was constantly hungry with it. My surgeon rarely does them now except on RNY patients that have gained weight back. That being said after reading some of the complications from others with band, mine are small and I'm very lucky that after all that time I didn't have more serious problems. Hope that helps some. -Kelly

My quality of life is already so much better and I am 4 weeks out from my revision today. I NEVER felt full with the band. I feel full now on 3 to 4 oz of soft solids. I have two more weeks until full solids but I hear when you get to full solids you can eat less. I have not thrown up once. I was constantly throwing up with the band. Aside from my portions and my surgeons restrictions, I feel normal for the first time in 6 years. Life with the band was hell. I am so happy that I have done this. I want to loose weight and I will but if I didn't even lose another pound, my life is soo much better without that THING.

All that being said, he will have to make the decision for himself. You can help him with research and facts but if he chooses the band, you will have to still support him. Good or bad. I would not have survived the band without the support of my husband. Now he supports me with my sleeve and even told me that I seem so much happier now that I am feeling better and the band is forever gone!

I met a few (2 or 3) people that loss the excess weight with the band. I met more bandsters who didn't lose the weight and/or regained. I regained. I had the lap band done in 2007 and lost 60 lbs.in spurts over the next 4 years. I spent the last 2 years gaining it back plus more. I've had the sleeve for 3 months and I've lost 54 lbs. thus far. I struggled to lose the weight with my band. I struggled to eat properly with it, too. So far, no struggles with the sleeve. My band was always either too tight or too loose. I wanted the band to help me feel fuller longer and to help me recognize when I was full. I wanted it to help me control my appetite without disrupting my every day life. I wanted to eat less and lose weight. I never had the right combination for success with the band. The sleeve gives me so much that the band did not. I wouldn't recommend the band to anyone nor would I condemn anyone for their WLS choice. It's such a personal decision. Somebody told me that the sleeve works the way I had hoped the band would work. Now a post-op, I know that statement is true.

I hope this helps. Good luck to you tomorrow. You'll do great!

Knowing that there is a permanent solution (the sleeve) I view at the Lap Band as an option for people who want to change their minds.

Otherwise, why would anyone put themselves through the trouble of the band?

I am so glad my band is out, it caused so much internal damage. Now I am sleeved for 4 weeks much better than the band. If he wants to read alittle about the reality of the band he can come here and read this forum or go to lapbandtalk.com and see all the unhappy people who want their bands out.

Thank you all for your stories, I will definitely share them with him. All I can do for him is to provide him with information, ultimately it is his decision and he knows that I'll support him either way.

He is afraid of the sleeve, because it cannot be reversed. However, I'm afraid that he will need to endure another surgery later on down the road with the band, like most band patients, to remove or fix it. I only want the best for him and feel like the band isn't :/

Again thank you all for sharing! It makes me more excited going into this tomorrow. Maybe I'll be skinny again soon