Hi Guys

I have been told by my specialist that I need to have my band out and then a sleeve done.

I have had non stop problems with the band and lost almost 50kg which was great, but then started to put weight back on due to hunger and had severe reflux with restriction.....not to mention I have had 3 extra port replacements in the first 2 years of having the band.

My body just doesn't seem to like it and at this point, neither do I.

I do have a few questions that I am finding hard to find answers to (maybe I have been looking in the wrong places which is highly likely knowing me )

Anyway my main question is what are the foods that you can eat with the sleeve compared to the band and what is dumping syndrome??

Do you still need to take teeny bites like with the band??

I find that I have trouble eating breads and gluggy foods with the band but I am hopeless at trying to eat teeny tiny mouth-fulls which i know is wrong with the band but I am hungry with it and its hard.

Also do you find that your hunger is greatly reduced compared to the band??

I just hope that the revision works for me and its not a mental thing and the sleeve will fail too.....I know thats negative thinking but I am over being operated on. Oh I am getting the band removed end November and have to wait 3 or so months to heal before the sleeve surgery.......my surgeons have done trials on waiting and doing them all in one operation and have found them to be more successful waiting to heal first. Its a pain but its only 3 months to wait.

Any other info on going from sleeve to band that you think of would be fantastic as I am a bit nervous about the entire thing and it took me 8 years to decide to definately go ahead with the band and now this is sudden and unknown so scary

i had my band removed a few years ago and im been researching the sleeve for the past 1 1/2 years. as you can see im not rushing into anything...lol. its a hard choice to make, as i question myself daily as to what I should do too. im afraid of leaks after surgery and thats what holds me back....fear!!! i want a guarantee this time around because I had issues with my band that I would have never thought would happen to me. so now im extra afraid!!!!

This is EXACTLY how I feel I know there are no guarantees with anything and that its going to take alot of work but thats how it is with the band too...Dont get me wrong, i did GREAT with the band in the beginning, lost over 100lbs. but I was also MISERABLE most of the time! It was so painful from the port site to just the eating process! I have been having ALOT of issues with the band so i was just recently told that i am going to need to have the band removed and the dr suggested i have a revision to the sleeve...which i was already considering but i was just SO nervous of the leaking complication part i know there is a risk for any kind of surgery but this part really makes me stress!!! Anyway, i have had a few friends that have had the revision and are doing great so i made the decision to go through with the revision I have had ALL of my pretesting done and now i'm just waiting for the last consult with the M.D. so he can look over my EGD to make sure there is no band erosion that way he will most likely do it as a one step surgery. The worst part of all of this waiting is that i had to get alot of my fluid taken out and i'm just packing on the lbs while i wait! Either way, just do what u think is right for YOU and GOOD LUCK throughout ur journey

Thanks TanyaB and Kerd

Way to go Tanya I am so glad you are so happy with your decision thats wonderful to hear.

Kerd I am the same as you I did well in the beginning but have had so many issues along the way its been so hard and its so very true what you say the band is a lot of work too. I am sure most of us are not here for the easy way out as this is fzr from it, but we know that we cant go on without any tool at all and you are finding that out with your unfill waiting for your surgery to come. I had to have my band unfilled for 6 months and gained 30kg so that was a disaster and I learnt I can't be without anything....I need something!!!!

I am comfortable with my decision to go ahead now and I can't wait to stop the discomfort of eating with the band, among so many other issues.

I know a lot of people are successful with the band and that's fantastic but its also not for everyone......not a one size fits all operation.

I am booked in to get the band out on the 27th of November and then will book in for 3 months after that to get the sleeve done. I am so looking forward to this new part of my journey and I can't wait to get this weight off me and start being able to do things more easily in every day life that healthy weight people can do.

Thanks to all for your advice and support

I haven't had the band, only the sleeve. But there is a thread somewhere in the sleeve section about what foods are hard for people to eat. It is mostly dry dense Protein like dry chicken, or steak, or tough veggies, or rice or Pasta or bread. With the last three it is just because you get full too quickly. With the others it is if you can't chew it well enough and it just sits heavy. Things don't get stuck like with the band. You just get too full or things sit wrong. But for most of us, there are very few foods like that. I can eat almost everything. I just can't eat a big meal. Maybe 3/4 of a cup total and I feel full like Thanksgiving. I'm 6 months post-op. I hope that helps.

I eat around 800 calories most days and I don't get hungry between meals. I don't get hard-to-resist physical cravings often. Sometimes I get head hunger, but I can usually ignore it. If I decide to have what I'm craving, a small portion is all I need.

Oh and I have no trouble with liquids. I can drink 16 ounces of Water in 5 minutes (less if I'm really thirsty).

Wow mystysj you have done so well in the time you have been sleeved.....WELL DONE

I love that you have said if you have what you are craving, a small portion is all you need.

That's what this weight loss surgery is supposed to be like and to help us with.

Without the band I could overeat as much as I wanted of any foods including the wrong foods but when my band was working for me I was eating a balanced diet and more satisfied so didn't need much of the wrong foods and if I felt like a little chocolate I would have a small piece and be happy with that. That is exactly what I want to get back to but its so hard when your hungry to resist the wrong easy foods as I was never full

After all of this positive feedback I am so excited about going to the sleeve....only scared about the 3 months without anything at all. That's going to be hard!!!! I know I can do it and I am so looking forward to it now.

I will try to find the thread about the foods with the sleeve section mystysj....thanks again for that

Yup to what MystyJ said, some foods are stickers, some are sliders, and you never know which will be which for you personally until you are a sleever. For me at 3+ yrs out, if I want to get really full and stay full (so as to keep myself from snacking or making a bad choice) I eat the dense Protein or dark leafy greens. Depending on the "mood" of my sleeve, a few mouthfuls of salad will have me Thanksgiving stuffed for hours. I avoid potato anything as I feel so terrible afterward, like I'm about to explode. Also depending on Sleeves' mood are the eggs, sometimes they are yummy and slide right down and are an awesome protein, other times ... one bite, one sniff, and it's game over. The danger I guess for sleevers is eating around your sleeve - ignoring the new physical cues you get when you should stop (drippy nose, sneezing, hiccups) or eating too quickly. I have no hunger sensations anymore which is awesome and difficult at the same time - awesome because, yay, no hunger! But difficult because it lets you listen to your head hunger instead, which is awful. Head hunger has nothing to do with the needs of your body and it is deeply psychological.

but when I said I feel no physical hunger, I meant it. It is almost 2pm and I just ate for the first time today an hour ago. I was perfectly content with hot herbal tea all morning. Just now I had about 2.5 oz of lamb, and about 1 oz of beef so I am nicely full of strong protein, and my "brunch" was 2TBSP of chocolate chia seeds in hot Water with melted coconut oil. dinner will probably be some kind of salad, bringing my cals to around 600 for the day.