Reoccurring theme here, why is my surgery best? I'm not trying to start WWIII here but just curious, in a non-hostile, in your face, you suck and I'm right, you're wrong kinda way, why did YOU pick YOUR surgery? They've all got pros and cons, but what tipped the scales for you?

I keep hearing 'I don't want a foreign body in me' 'I don't want 85% of my perfectly healthy stomach cut out' 'I don't want my guts rerouted or malabsorption' but what did it for you, what made you comfortable with your choice?

Keep in mind I'm a failed band with revision to RNY so you're not trying to sell it to me.

I'll start. I started with a band simply because it seemed like an easy and less drastic surgery. It seemed simple. (And really, surgery and recovery were). Had the band and I gotten along it woulda been awesome!!!! But, sadly, we didn't. I had so many complications and so much misery, when it prolapsed I got to choose sleeve or RNY (my doc won't revise a prolapsed band to another band, plus, in the end it had started to erode so repeat band was off the table). The determining factor for me between sleeve and RNY was simply reflux/GERD risk. I had horrible reflux with my band, even when it was empty. Like waking up at night with acid coming out my nose type reflux. It was miserable and the thought that the sleeve might possibly give me any reflux at all was enough to sway me. (And who knows, not everyone has GERD with the sleeve, I might have been fine, but the thought terrified me).

Ohhhh, you guys are just too funny. Thanks, made my day.

Ohhhh butttter!!!!

Stop it or I'll show you the other half.

Butter's hangy downy thing totally made my knickers fall off. :wub:

I went to three WLS seminars at three different practices to get different perspectives while I was doing my research.

I chose my sleeve because I knew that it was the best option for ME and for my lifestyle. I know how busy I get at times and I know that I am usually the last person I take care of so the other options were not going to be effective for me as far as maintenance.

With the LB, I knew I would never get around to fills or unfills. The learning curve seemed daunting with each adjustment and the idea that none of the grehlin would be removed (yes, I know it can come back, yes, I know that it was still a risky maybe with the sleeve, but yes, I still wanted SOME chance over NO chance) was a deal breaker for me. I knew I didn't want a port and I also didn't want a second surgery if I changed my mind. And my biggest reason? I didn't want the ability to change my mind or ease up on myself. I've done that for 40 some years.

As far as bypass, the idea of dumping scared the poo out of me. (See what I did there?) Yes, I know that not everyone dumps. Yes, I knew there was still risk of it with sleeve and while I've never done it, I slime like a mother-trucker! I wanted to be able to have a piece of birthday cake or some ice cream without repercussion. Sweets are not a trigger for me so I saw no need to cut myself off from them forever (possibly) and the idea of getting the questioning looks every time I refused anything sweet just turned me off. My biggest reason was the Vitamins. I hate swallowing pills. To this day, I rarely take them. My six month blood levels came back excellent without them save for my VitD deficiency which has existed all my life but has actually improved tremendously. I knew I would probably die of scurvy or some other pirate disease because I knew that I would not follow orders.

The sleeve was right for ME based on my research, my lifestyle and my needs. My decision on what was best for me does not take away from anyone else's "what is best for them". I love my sleeve just as others love the decision their WLS decision. I wish everyone the health and success I am having!

I guess I'll be the first banded to join in. This is from one of my previous postings but still stands true.

My WLS journey started in a manner that was not to lose weight. For 20 years I have had terrible acid reflux. So much so that for the last few years I've been on 2 Prilosec a day just to keep it in control. The aftermath of reflux was terrible. I would get headaches, stomach pains, few trips to the emergency room when my stomach would try and dump the acid and frequent diarrhea from too much acid in my system. I would try and diet but the less I ate, my stomach would turn that over very quickly and leave me with uncontrollable reflux which would make me eat more to try and keep my stomach busy. After working with my doc for several years to try and find food allergies, diets and pills, I went in one day wanting his blessing for Nissen Fundoplication surgery. For those who don't know it's a procedure where they wrap the stomach around the esophagus in an effort to tighten the esophagus opening and reinforce its closing function. It was at this point that he advised me to research the band because it was essentially the same type of concept but would also help me drop the 100+ I needed to lose. I trust my doc with my life and was interested in the process. He also informed me that I would end up having surgery one way or the other. Either to try and repair my eroding insides or repair stomach/esophagus cancer. I honestly only did moderate research in the beginning because I was mainly trusting in him that he knew what was best for my situation. I scheduled my pre op required appointments and started my band journey. As I grew closer to surgery I began to dig deeper into the other surgeries. I kept coming back to the thought that the band would help me the most with my reflux and weight loss was just going to be a bonus. I am happy to report that since my surgery I have been reflux free and dieting for the first time in my life has become easy and enjoyable. I am not sure of cases where the other surgeries do or don't help with reflux but from my point of view the band just made the most sense to help me, help me.

Plenty of people tried to sell me on the sleeve. It's a very successful procedure and has changed many people lives for the better. I just felt like with the sleeve I would be lazy and train myself to eat around it. I didnt want to go backwards while trying to move forward. I know it can be done with the band as well, but with the band, if I ever feel myself slipping, I can get a fill to help bring things back into place for me. I just felt like having a tool was better for me than having a procedure. I honestly sometimes wish that I had the sleeve because I don't like my band reminding me when I screw up and make a bad choice. Then again, that's exactly what I got it for. The band is work but I enjoy knowing that I'm working it to better me, my health, my family and to make better memories with my kids so that they don't look back one day and are able to say that I never did anything with them because I was fat and lazy.

So I will copy and paste from the other thread as well...

In all honesty, when I first decided I wanted WLS, I wanted a band. I had long thought about RNY but I was worried about malabsorption, and the restrictions due to medication. Even though I don't take any medication on a daily basis, (God willing) I have a lot of life yet to live and I didn't want to be restricted in any way due to having WLS. So I focused on the band. When I learned about the *possible* negatives to the band, erosion, slipping, cracked tubing, ports flipping, etc. even that didn't scare me away as much because honestly that stuff can be replaced. But when I learned about PBing your food or your medication, or God forbid, Water...that sealed the deal. I will do just about everything humanly possible to avoid having food come back up. I've never even drank so much alcohol that it made me vomit. Never! I've also never thrown up or slimed or PB'd or anything remotely like that since being sleeved 3 years ago. Not even right after surgery...had the patch behind my ear to keep nausea at bay. There are long-term band people who will say "I've only PB'd 4 times in 4 years!" but to me, that is TOO many! I decided that for me personally that I can't live like that.

I also believe that with the band there is always a chance of having to do another surgery (as I mentioned parts can break and slip, but they can also be replaced) but for me I wanted ONE surgery and DONE. I didn't want to have to worry that in 2, 5, 10 years I would need to go back in and have a tune-up on anything. I've been sleeved for over 3 years and seriously have not had one single complication. Surgery recovery was pretty easy, I don't take any type of PPI (no reflux), and now 3 years later I still don't take any medication for anything. I'm healthier now than I have ever been in my entire adult life.

The sleeve also puts me in control. I decide WHAT I'm going to eat, WHEN I'm going to eat it and the sleeve pretty much takes care of HOW much I can eat at one time. I max out at about 3-4oz of dense Protein. I can squeeze a bit of "other" food in there but my meals rarely go over the 5oz mark total.

Also seems like as good of a place as any to just toss this out there:

1. Everyone who is up in arms about their surgical "choice"...calm down. If you are successful at whatever type of surgery you have that is awesome!!!

2. The sleeve does NOT remove "half" of your stomach, it's generally right around 80-85%.

3. People on the RNY and VSG boards (before this merger) were really only interacting with band people IF their band had failed and they were seeking out revision surgery. So yeah, our "picture" of a band might be tainted a bit because all we saw were the failures. Before the merger it didn't occur to me to wander over to band success stories to see people rocking their bands.

Everyone has to do a surgery that is right for them and make it work to the best of their ability!

Yay! See!!! We can all be friends!!! . Except that weirdo with the hangy down thing.....

Yay! See!!! We can all be friends!!! . Except that weirdo with the hangy down thing.....

Exactly......hey wait.....

Shhhh.... Don't look now but the weirdo with the big hangy down thing just walked in...