wish you got lap band?

[TooFluffy 32]

My hospital won't even do bands anymore. Too many complications!

I LOVE my sleeve!

[macman 603]

Not a chance!

[marfar7 1,528]

I'm also a band to sleeve revision. I loved my band the first couple yrs - till it slipped and I started having problems for a year. Until I didn't. Had the sleeve been offered to me 4 yrs ago, I probly would've taken it, but it was either the band or bypass - and the bypass was too scary for me.

Do ur research. Go onto the lapband support site and look at the complications forum. Probly the biggest forum around. Try not to 2nd guess ur decision. Ull probly do enuf of that post op - when lots of people have Buyers Remorse.

Good luck!

[JanetPRN 496]

I looked at the choice between the band and the sleeve like this:

1) my age was 51 years when I made the decision for WLS. How long would a band last in me? 10 years? 15 yrs? 20 yrs? Nobody knows how long it will last but I had to take my age into consideration because the possibility for revision complications increase as we all age. Too big of a risk for me long term.

2) one of the arguments I hear in favor of the band is that it is reversible. As a nurse I will tell its a heck of lot harder coming out than going in. I wonder about the commitment of some people getting the band for this reason.

I have never regretted my choice , even for a minute. As others will say, my only regret is not doing it sooner.

[erp 2,016]

I am booked to have a sleeve next week.....does any post op sleeve wish they got a band?

I explored 4 surgeries: band, bypass, plication and sleeve. I got scared off from bypass because I knew personally of someone who died from complications and even though there are successful bypass folks at my support group, I just couldn't get past it. So then I looked very seriously at the band but my employers insurance had a WLS exclusion for several years. Fast forward to 2012 and I decide to look back into surgery only now I start hearing about band complications and that maybe it is not as permanent of a device as first thought. I decided I only wanted one surgery and I wanted something permanent. I love my sleeve and have lost 100 lbs. I don't think I would have had the same results with a band. Not that you can't lose weight with it but I wouldn't have lost as much as fast. For comparison, a very good friend of mine got banded 8 weeks before I got sleeved. Over a year out and she is still heavy and has lost maybe 40 lbs. The sleeve was the a** kick I needed to get the weight off.

[LilMissDiva Irene 3,281]

No. BTDT.

I love my sleeve.

[livvsmum 2,368]

Nope. That thought has never even crossed my mind. The only thing I've regretted about my choice to have the sleeve is that I didn't do it about 10 years earlier.

[vogue 310]

Nope. That thought has never even crossed my mind. The only thing I've regretted about my choice to have the sleeve is that I didn't do it about 10 years earlier.

Ditto on all accounts

[kidrn72 85]

I am booked to have a sleeve next week.....does any post op sleeve wish they got a band?

No!! Having the sleeve was the best thing I have done for myself:) no regrets!

[XXShelXX 346]

I did get the band ten years ago because it was that or bypass. Not absorbing nutrients scared me cause after all I'm doing this for health right. Right out of the gait my port flipped. Had to get it repaired. Then over six years I had over 60 fills/unfills I lost 40 lbs then gained it all back. Then my band was so tight that I could only get thin liquid in not a single bite of food or I threw it up. I lost 97 lbs. Awesome right? Wrong. I stayed that weight for ONE day. I couldn't swallow anything now not even my own saliva. Nothing. I went to the doc and he pulled it all out. I gained 19 lbs in one week because I was so dehydrated. I ended up gaining back 50 lbs. went to get it filled again. And again and again and could never get restriction again. Finally they found out I had a leak in my port. Every 250$ fill was useless. I gained it all back and was out thousands of dollars. The band was a terrible terrible tool!! And it made me look like a fool because I had WLS and I was huge. Soooo no. Lol I love my sleeve!

Edited February 8, 2014 by XXShelXX

[trudyjo 22]

I'm a revision patient waiting to convert from a band to a sleeve. I was banded in 2009 and lost 50 pounds. After about a year,I began to have problems with food getting stuck which is excruciatingly painful. I ended up in the hospital 3 times because of stuck food. During this time, I switched jobs and had to start over with a new bariatric surgeon who had to do extensive testing in order to figure out what was was wrong. Dr finally determined that my band had slipped and removed all Fluid. That was a year ago. It has taken me this long to do everything required to submit for revision surgery. I've gained back 25 pounds. I'm just waiting for insurance approval again so I can get this painful, useless thing out of me. I would not recommend the band to anyone.