I'm debating between getting the lap band or the sleeve. I see pros and cons for each of them. The main thing I like is that the lap band is reversible and I don't know how I feel about a chunk of my stomach being permanently removed… BUT, I don't like the idea of a foreign object inside me with the band, although with the sleeve theres staples anyways.. Also, there aren't any long term studies on the sleeve yet, which worries me. As you can see I am very torn and I'd love some opinions and advice. Also, I am very curious why so many people with the lap band have it revised to the sleeve.? Let me know if I've been misinformed on any of this. Thanks!

I'm banded as of 12/28/12. I've lost close to 70 lbs post banded. My daughter opted for the sleeve. She is losing faster than I am but stomach cancer runs on her late father's side. If it were me I would have opted for the band but it is tedious to keep getting small fills. I have an extremely conservative doctor with fills and I have finally hit the green zone. Most doctors aren't as conservative as mine was but I'm glad I did it nice and slow. My daughter has a problem with slider foods (like potato chips) and she gained on her first weigh in post op. She still eats everything but a lot less. She's looking good but I still worry about her and the sleeve considering the family history.

Like you said, the band is reversible, the sleeve is not so it's entirely up to you. Good luck!

I originally had a lap band, and now have a sleeve as of earlier this month. I had severe complications with my band and eventually had to have it removed. Toward the end, there wasn't a single day I didn't throw up.

I didn't know it at the time, but the lap band has a very high complication rate and many doctors have stopped doing it all together.

It's a personally preference, and there is a chance that you will be one of the lucky ones to not have complications with the band, but maybe not.

On my way! Thing you might want to consider is that many insurance companies will only pay for one wl surgery per lifetime. Why would you want a surgery that's reversible?

Re: "Don't like foreign objects in body". Do you have fillings in your teeth? Any hardware in your body from fractures or surgery?

These are all "foreign bodies" that have years of research behind them, making them safe and body-friendly for the vast majority of people.

That said, if you are squeamish at the thought of a lapband inside you, you should consider another type of WLS.

I lost 123 pounds with the lap band then my esophagus dilated. I gained all but 15 pounds back.. I was sleeved end if May.. Doing well. However I have made the decision.. This is it for me..therefore I'm following all the rules.

I went the sleeve route because of all the complications I had read about.

Then I was talking to one of my neighbors who works at the local hospital doing gastric surgeries and she said they get an equal part of lap removal request as they do first time lap bands.

My surgeon had said he does remove almost 1/5 as many as he puts in.

That to me was telling enough. I went sleeve.

Each WLS has pros and cons. None are perfect, none are guaranteed. I had the lapband in 2001 and had to sign a statement acknowledging that the band is temporary and would likely need to be removed. At the time I thought "this is great, I lose weight and then they remove this pesky thing". Well, i clearly did not have a very good handle on managing obesity over a lifetime to be thinking that way. I hear they no longer advertise it as needing to be removed so maybe something is different now.

The lapband is just trickier. Some people have tremendous success but wind up revising due to slipping, or port flipping or something like that. Some people like me really didn't have much success with the band because I guess I never found that "sweet spot". I was always hungry and i didn't lose the drive to eat. One thing I have since learned is that I am very carb sensitive so need to eat a certain way to manage hunger, even with the sleeve. I didn't know that back then.

Anyway, people who are having success always love their own choice, people who aren't usually don't. I think it is smart to look at studies showing things like excess weight loss maintained at 5 years, how many are revised etc. And ask your surgeon for some of this info too.

Personal stories can be misleading. I have lost well over 160# since being revised to the sleeve and currently maintaining at 140#. That however is NOT a typical revision story and it would be misleading to think everybody has that kind of success.... but it is possible and others have done it too.

I think for most folks, it comes down to how invasive you are comfortable with. Personally, I did not want most of my stomach removed or my intestines re-routed. I wanted something reversable in case I changed my mind...for whatever reason.

And typically, you can be as successful as you want to be if you put in the work regardless of which WLS you go with. Note that I said typically. There are always those few who do everything by the book but still have issues unfortunately.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

There were a few reasons I went with the sleeve over the band. The main one was that, when explaining my surgery options, my surgeon told me about the band and then crossed it off the possibility list. She told me the reported percentage of body weight lost due to the band was too low for the weight I was at when I started and I'd need a more aggressive option.

Second, I read that a lot of surgeons are dropping the band from their surgical practice so it might be harder in future years to find surgeons who can help you maintain the band with fills, etc.

Third, I know six people who had the band, lost weight, then they all had to have it removed for various reasons. One of my mom's friends had the band and it kicked her bulimia into overdrive and now she is incredibly underweight. Another friend had the band eat right through the tissue where it was sitting and it went missing. I know these are rare complications but not one I wanted to deal with.

Fourth, the sleeve is a true metabolic surgery which would help to reduce or eliminate my co-occurring disorders (insulin resistance and PCOS). Something about the removal of part of your stomach does something to your metabolism to help you reverse these issues. I needed this fairly bad, because I was one of the unfortunate people that could gain weight taking metformin while eating low carb/low fat. Basically, I could gain weight eating plain lettuce! I needed something to repair that broken mechanism, which my sleeve did within two weeks of surgery.

Lastly, I wanted something permanent. I have been struggling with binge eating my entire life, and like any psychological disorder it can mess with your judgment. I felt as if with the band, I could have the Fluid taken out around holidays so I could eat more, or around vacation, etc. I wanted something that would make bingeing fairly uncomfortable so I could start to control it. It also helps that the sleeve removes the gland that produces the hunger hormone (ghrelin) so I have a vastly reduced appetite and for the first time in my entire life I couldn't care less about not eating what I think I want. It is liberating in a way I could never have imagined.

But those were MY factors. Every situation is unique in its own way, so the band might be perfect for you. Take some time to really examine your options and I can't stress enough how important it is to seek counseling for food issues if you have them. Sometimes the type of surgery matters less than how well we follow through with our nutritional guidelines post-op.

@@okaykay, Removable, yes. The reality is that if you have complications, the effects of those complications are often permanent and can make revision impossible.

I wish now that I had gone with the sleeve first. I think everyone who has a revision surgery hoped that the band had of worked they way we are initially told it will. It does for many but you can't know before had if you will or won't have complications. If you do, it is very heart breaking and many have so much damage they can't do anything but have band removed and they may still have life long problems. I was soooo afraid of having my stomach "cut out" that out I opted for the band first. Now that I have done both procedures I can honestly say, I'm glad they cut it out and it's gone. It was daunting trying to get the first insurance approval and going through surgery for the band. I know I was anxious for weeks hoping for approval. Then my band slipped and I gained weight after they unfilled it waiting for the revision. It was so frustrating knowing I had a medical necessity for it to be removed and I knew I would need another procedure but I had to wait almost a month to jump through the insurance hoops for the revision. Then I had to have insurance that covered the fills and follow up visits, not to mention I had to drive 2 hours one way for maintenance of the band. It can take several visits to get the band adjusted and as you lose weight, the need for more adjustments is just part of it. With every adjustment I would have to revert to some form of slider food or I wasn't going to eat. I still to this day cannot stand another freaking chocolate Protein shake. When I got my sleeve I did not have the throwing up, fills, unfills, blah, blah, blah. I just healed, took it slow adding in more solid foods and could just concentrate on getting in my protein and exercise. I still struggle some to get in enough protein but it is so much better knowing I can eat my protein without getting it stuck in my band. When food gets stuck, and it will, not only can you not eat anything until it's unstuck, you also cannot take in your Water requirements. For me, the band was a doable but frustrating roller coaster. On top of that, my husband has changed jobs and we have new insurance. I am glad I slipped and revised while we still had the old insurance as the new insurance will not pay for anything bariatric, which means I would not have been able to get fills or have had the band removed or revised without paying for it myself. That surgery alone was over $20k charged to my insurance. That was something I never considered before I had the band. Yes the sleeve is permanent but I needed a permanent change. It's been 2 years since my sleeve and I can still only eat 1/2 to 3/4 cup of food. I have greeved eating at times, usually only if I am out eating with others and I want one more bite. You get used to it. The results are well worth it and now I just feel like a normal person with a smaller stomach instead of a freak with a band that is not sure what will go down this meal and what won't.

Check out this published study for a comparison of RnY, vsg and the band, including metabolic resetting. It helped me make my choice with confidence. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3410227/

Edited July 4, 201412 yr by shellief

I originally had a lap band, and now have a sleeve as of earlier this month. I had severe complications with my band and eventually had to have it removed. Toward the end, there wasn't a single day I didn't throw up. <br> I didn't know it at the time, but the lap band has a very high complication rate and many doctors have stopped doing it all together. <br> It's a personally preference, and there is a chance that you will be one of the lucky ones to not have complications with the band, but maybe not. <br> On my way! Thing you might want to consider is that many insurance companies will only pay for one wl surgery per lifetime. Why would you want a surgery that's reversible?

Hello, I was wondering how is it going for your new sleeve, I'm set to get the sleeve on August 20th (revision from band) and I'm torn, how has your weight loss been?

My surgeon doesn't do the lap band very often or not at all. Not positive which it is. PA at osteoporosis clinic said it's not being done in Europe. Not sure where her info came from , so do your own research. You can gain weight if you don't follow the new style of eating!

Great article....thanks for posting.

Check out this published study for a comparison of RnY, vsg and the band, including metabolic resetting. It helped me make my choice with confidence. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3410227/

Thank you so much for the replies! I think I am going to talk to my Dr. about the sleeve. I'm only scared that if I have a leak (as rare as that may be) or other complications, that I'll have to revise to a DS or RNY ( I read somewhere that this can happen, can't remember which one..) Is that true? I'm not super knowledgable about the complications yet. Please correct me if I've been misinformed! I do NOT want either of those surgeries. Please don't take offense, I am SO happy for those of you who have had good experiences with them, it's just that I have decided those are not the routes for me. Also, I read on some forum that a lady had the sleeve done and her surgeon did not use staples. What would he have used? I tried googling it and I couldn't find anything.