Hi I am new on the site. I decided I wanted the lap band about 6 months ago. I just got the ball rolling with appointments. I am 5'3 and weigh 270 lbs. My suregon favors the sleeve so I started researching it. Now I am undecided. I like that there is less maintenance with the sleeve and better success but I am wondering if it is too drastic. I am worried that I will regret it later that 90% if my stomach is gone. I like that the lap band is less drastic but I don't like that a lot of people have to have surgery again to readjust the port or slippage. Just wondering if anyone has advice.

Thanks!

Edited January 30, 201412 yr by Laurensloss

Yes I think I will get the sleeve I am just so chicken lol

I personal think getting the band you have a higher chance of setting your self up for disappointment. Sleeve has been a wonderful tool for me and i need permanent. I dont want to ever gain all the weight i lost again. I have a better chance with the sleeve then i would have with the band.

I agree, I think if I was the kind of person who might say 'oh unfill me so I can eat more" I wouldn't have gone the band. But the band has been great in that when I started losing too much, I was able to keep it a little loose so I felt hunger, and if I gain a bit too much, I have it filled and I'm back on track. I have maintained my weight, even with the complication of the leak, to within a normal range for over 5 years now. When my band was leaking and I had the option to revise to sleeve or band last year, I chose the band again, because it works for me.

I think you do need to have more patience and self control with the band, it's very easy to cheat the band and yourself. My doctor still advocates the band over sleeve because it has longer term, mostly positive stats and in Australia, is actually quite a successful procedure, I suspect, in part to the fact that our aftercare is cheap and accessible. And it can be successful, as I'm testament too. Lapband surgery is like pregnancy, everyone has a horror story but you don't often hear about the successes. And there are plenty. People like me, for whom it wasn't hard at all.

So do your research and choose what is best FOR YOU, not what was best for everyone else.

Edited February 2, 201412 yr by lellow

I came into this thinking the lap band was it. I loved that it was the least risky, less invasive and reversible because there was no cutting, stapling or re routing of the stomach. Then I started doing deep research and found that doctors are actually kind of steering away from lap band due to the high complication rate and rate of re surgery. So I asked myself... Do I have the time in my life to drive an hour and a half a month for fills? Do I want another surgery if something goes wrong? Will my insurance cover it or can I afford it? As far a the drastic part of it, well for me I need something drastic!! Something that was gonna actually work! Something that would get me to my goal and not just half way there.

I have now been to countless support groups and seminars and nutrition classes and the sleeve is right for me. I have 100 lbs to loose and I don't have time to mess around with fills and crap. My problem is that my stomach is too big! Sooo, take 85% of it!! Please!!!!! lol!

Whatever you choose you have to feel happy and content with your decision. Best of luck to you!!

I thought the band was the least risky option, too. That's why I chose it. 5 surgeries later, with no band and nearly dying, I would say the band was a very risky choice. I just didn't know.

I have several friends that have had wonderful success with the band, sleeve and RNY. I know it just didn't work for me.

Tomorrow I am having RNY done and I wish I had picked it from the beginning.

I am also trying to decide between the sleeve and lap band. I have a couple of questions what happens to the staples in your stomach are they permanent . Can food fall out after 10 years because the staples disintegrate or does your stomach heal shut after a few months and the staples are removed and you don't have to worry about that complication any longer.

The staples are permanent and are not going anywhere because they are over-stitched with sutures. Plus the stomach is sealed shut with heat (cauterized) at the same time as the staples are inserted, by the same instrument. but your stomach also completely heals and would stay together without them afterthought you are healed. This information is readily available at any reputable place that talks about the sleeve procedure, and your surgeon can explain it to you as well. I don't want you to feel that I am calling you out, but I get concerned that people are not doing enough research on their own. Please don't let people on a web forum make your health-related decisions for you.

The band and RNY have staples too.

I thought I read somewhere on here that some docs are now using the new poopable staples? :P

You know I heard the same thing about poopable staples.

Edited February 4, 201412 yr by KristinaRnY

I heard the poopable staples are a silly myth

Edited February 5, 201412 yr by DaddyMarie

????

Edited February 5, 201412 yr by DaddyMarie

It's def silly, you're right!

Edited February 5, 201412 yr by woo woo

Wait so everyone's not crazy until they poop out their staples?

I am also undecided what to have. I know Lap Band is a lot of work, and that is OK with me. I am about 2 months away from surgery. The nurse told me how the band doesn't have the success rate like the sleeve. A lot of W.L. Centers don't like doing the band any more. The band can slip, I will need to have it filled or unfilled, or even have it removed. If I have to have the band removed, I cant have a different weight loss surgery. Insurance wont pay for it! It is reversible.

If I chose the Sleeve, I don't have to go back as much. They take out the hunger hormone. Better success rate. I was told insurance will pay for the sleeve, but I have heard other patients say how they were turned down for the sleeve and ended up have a different W.L. surgery. This is permanent.

I don't know which surgery I want to have either.

Not sure where the last comment came from poop out your staples? Is that a bad thing?

Not sure where the last comment came from poop out your staples? Is that a bad thing?

I may not do any wls I like my big boobs