Had my band put in September 2008. I Lost some weight like 35 pounds, but I gained it all back. The band slipped and I had it removed Aug. 31, 2014. I am told I have to wait 3 months and loss 25 pounds before the next surgery. I hear so much good things about the sleeve that it kinda sound to good to be true. What are your regrets of the band.

Thanks for the encouraging words Cowgirljane. I agree, when banded, full was up in the esophagus. Now it's like a normal stomach. And at times I find my self eating extra to feel full. For years I hated that diaphragm pain, full pain in my esophagus. I'm so happy to have regular full feelings! In my stomach where they belong. But now I am practicing daily to be content without any full feeling. It's a struggle. At times I will have some extra protien just to feel full. But I realy want to learn to do without that.

When banded I never knew how many bites I would get. A delicious meal ruined by getting stuck on the first bite. Adjusting to the sleeve I see myself eating as much as I can. Like someone denied food for years. And on the flip side I had anxiety for weeks about trying to eat fruit. The first time I had an apple slice was surprisingly stressful! It took me months to get comfortable with fruits and vegetables.

It's been an interesting year. I have high hopes for year two!

OP, I walk daily 30-60 minutes, some yoga and weights occasionally. No pain with eating. If I overeat its like a thanksgiving dinner feeling, stuffed.

I am going to have my first consultation to go from band to sleeve on October 1st. I was banded in 2008. The thought of not getting stuck and not feeling full high up is amazing to me. I had so many fills and unfills with Dr Fill (lol thats a joke) and I was never at the right restriction. Either I was too loose and could eat anything or I was too tight and got stuck a lot.

After months of filling and unfilling I basically gave up and left it where I still do have some small restriction but it doesn't work for me as I feel very hungry often. And still, I may throw up even after chewing to the point of ad nauseam I have managed to keep off 40 of the 80 lbs I originally lost..

Anyway, my main point of chiming in is because of the thought of being full in my stomach and not in my esophogus sounds so great.

That would be a big yes for me - my band was awesome until it slipped. Has sleeve done in February and I have no restriction whatsoever:(

I had my band out and a revision to sleeve. I have only lost 8 pounds in 6 months. NOW the doctor is telling me because I had the band previously that I wouldn't lose much weight . It has been very discouraging. I wish the doctor had told me this 6 months ago and $12,200 later.

Lovely - how much weight do you have to lose? I have heard of band to sleevers not losing as much as a virgin sleeve. I am terrified of this happening to me. I have had my band out for two years though so am hoping when I am sleeved next week my body responds more like a virgin sleeve. I did NOT lose with the band so am pretty scared of failing again.

Statistically that seems to be true, but there are plenty of us who revised and did lose well. I think it depends alot on circumstances and expectations. If you are very near goal and you revise, you will have to fight to get those last pounds off! If you are more like me, and had completely regained/no value from band anymore, I think it is a different story.

I used the knowledge of this risk to think hard about what to do differently and I think that helped. Here is a summary of my stats:

March 2001: banded at 272

March 2002: lowest weight about 205

late 2003: fill removed due to intolerable reflux and too much vomiting... regaining

June 2005: lifetime highest weight 332#

2006: Lost 85 pounds on weight watchers and spent a number of years weighing in the 240s range

2009-2011: Fluctuating between 270s-310 range - diet after diet....

December 2011: start of preop 308/ surgery day 300#

February 2013: hit goal of 158# (lost 150# in 14 months)

Oct 2013: weighed 150# had plastics

April 2014: weighed about 140#

Current (Sept 2014): ranging 140-145#

I will be 3 years out from surgery in just a few months. I have had huge success with the sleeve and very poor with the band. I learned alot from my band experiences and have tried to leverage it!

Lovely - how much weight do you have to lose? I have heard of band to sleevers not losing as much as a virgin sleeve. I am terrified of this happening to me. I have had my band out for two years though so am hoping when I am sleeved next week my body responds more like a virgin sleeve. I did NOT lose with the band so am pretty scared of failing again.

I have lost close to 60-70 pounds in three months and am very happy with it

Statistically that seems to be true, but there are plenty of us who revised and did lose well. I think it depends alot on circumstances and expectations. If you are very near goal and you revise, you will have to fight to get those last pounds off! If you are more like me, and had completely regained/no value from band anymore, I think it is a different story.

I used the knowledge of this risk to think hard about what to do differently and I think that helped. Here is a summary of my stats:

March 2001: banded at 272

March 2002: lowest weight about 205

late 2003: fill removed due to intolerable reflux and too much vomiting... regaining

June 2005: lifetime highest weight 332#

2006: Lost 85 pounds on weight watchers and spent a number of years weighing in the 240s range

2009-2011: Fluctuating between 270s-310 range - diet after diet....

December 2011: start of preop 308/ surgery day 300#

February 2013: hit goal of 158# (lost 150# in 14 months)

Oct 2013: weighed 150# had plastics

April 2014: weighed about 140#

Current (Sept 2014): ranging 140-145#

I will be 3 years out from surgery in just a few months. I have had huge success with the sleeve and very poor with the band. I learned alot from my band experiences and have tried to leverage it!

I hope I have the same results as you.

I hope I have the same results as you.

You have done a wondeful with a bunch of up and down up and down in glad every thing is good n u r doing wonderful congrats....

I am feeling what people mean about full with band vs sleeve, it is going to be a learning experience to stop at not hungry vs. full.

I am three weeks out and on mushy and finding that I am eating until full and that is too much. For me measuring will be a key.

Well I am learning that I could eat a lot more mushy soft foods then I can real food . I make chicken dinner and can only eat very small amount . Let's just say one chicken can take me a day !

What do you guys think. I have three weeks before my sleeve surgery and I need to loss 25 pounds.

I've taken phenteremene before, and they definately work for me. But, I think that 25 pounds in 2-3 weeks is an unrealistic goal. Your going to have to go to extremes to get that kind of weightloss.

I had the band put in twice . 2012 and lost 100 pounds in 3 months cause it slipped and almost killed me then they put it back in in later in 2013 or late 2012 and I did not lose any weight but gained 20 pounds and it was slipping again . So I went to my new wls dr . Dr suh and he revised me to the sleeve in 2,months after may 30 2014 I lost 51 pounds . I happy fir the weight loss and I am still dropping . I to was told and read that I would lose weight slowly but it seems to be coming off fast I stick to his diet plan and like extend it to . Meaning I did broth liquid diet for a month instead of 2 weeks and now I am able to start on crab shrimp and turkey fish but I stay on the 600 cal soft foods for another month . I will know total how much I lose in oct 7 but here are before abd after

http://maps.google.com/maps/api/staticmap?center=33.557305,-117.159640&zoom=14&markers=33.557305,-117.159640&size=400x300&sensor=true

Were you self pay with Dr Suh?

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I had my band out and a revision to sleeve. I have only lost 8 pounds in 6 months. NOW the doctor is telling me because I had the band previously that I wouldn't lose much weight . It has been very discouraging. I wish the doctor had told me this 6 months ago and $12,200 later.

Lovelymama, you and I sound exactly the same! I had a band for 13 years and LOVED IT. 6 months ago I had it t moved and got the sleeve. The only weight I've lost was during pre-op prep. I started a thread on here discussing my concerns and am hoping my recent findings will help. I'm scheduled for an EGD Friday to determine severity of a hiatal hernia.

I was banded for 17 years (one revision 7 years in due to slippage). I got sleeved 7 1/2 weeks ago and so far I'm thrilled with the results. I'm being very cautious about what I reintroduce into my diet, though. I'm on 2 Protein shakes a day, cottage cheese or yogurt, some sort of protein ( like shrimp) and a few bites of vegetables. I plan to stay away from bread, Pasta, and rice for as long as possible.

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