Recovery from Band Removal vs. Sleeve Surgery?

[Bndtoslv 292]

@@CowgirlJane what was your success with the band? I was very successful 100% EWL until kids and complications. I struggle with a fear that as a band revision patient I will not be as successful…. I see these older posts about "slow losing" and I worry that I have damaged my esophagus and I will not feel the restriction. This, despite my surgeon and GI doctor performing testing and assuring me that "there is no reason not to get the sleeve"! I had a nightmare about it last night - surgery is at end of June!

[CowgirlJane 14,261]

I wasn't as successful with the band as i hoped I would be. I started at 272 in March 2001. It took me a YEAR to lose about 70# (30 of those was during the first 30 days as my surgeon had me do a liquid diet for 30 days!) I exercised, i really tried the best I could but I was hungry still, just in pain when I ate. My band and I did not get along well. i vomited alot.

By late 2002 I was having serious problems. Who am I kidding, I was already sleeping in a sitting up position and other things to try to control the reflux. anyway, i had to have all fill removed and i regained big time. By 2004, I was well over 300#. my highest recorded was 332, but I think I weighed closer to 350 at one point.

I battled it out for many years, bouncing between about 240 - 300 ish range. In 2011 I finally had the courage to revise and began the sleeve journey at 308. My lowest weight post sleeve was 140, but I am currently in the upper 150s... 3.5 years post revision.

@@CowgirlJane what was your success with the band? I was very successful 100% EWL until kids and complications. I struggle with a fear that as a band revision patient I will not be as successful…. I see these older posts about "slow losing" and I worry that I have damaged my esophagus and I will not feel the restriction. This, despite my surgeon and GI doctor performing testing and assuring me that "there is no reason not to get the sleeve"! I had a nightmare about it last night - surgery is at end of June!

[CowgirlJane 14,261]

@@Bndtoslv I forgot to address your other question - the fear about not as good of results as a "revisionista"

i asked my NUT about this and we talked at some depth about the "bad habits" I learned with the band. This is personal to me, I do not intend this as band bashing but this is what I learned from having a band and had to "guard against" post revision.

1. Sliders. Lets be honest, when I had a decent fill - all I could really eat were sliders. I couldn't eat dense Protein without pain so I learned quickly to like crackers, popcorn, chips, etc etc.

2. Sweets - pre band, I was more of a volume eater not so much into sweets. That changed overtime and I definately developed a sweet tooth. I suspect because sweets are basically sliders.

3. Snacking/grazing - seriously bad news for sleevers. enuf said.

So my conclusion is that band to sleeve revisions have to be very diligent because you might have gotten used to that feeling... pouch packing, esophogus stuffing .. whatever you call it. Bottom line, you CANNOT eat until "full" (stuffed or whatever your former criteria was) - the goal is to eat until absence of hunger. Say what? A whole new concept for me but it works!

I am 3.5 years post revision and i openly admit I am struggling WAY more than I have previously. Go figure... but it is never easy.

[GutBgone 16]

!

I am 3.5 years post revision and i openly admit I am struggling WAY more than I have previously. Go figure... but it is never easy.

It doesn't necessarily make it easy, but it makes it doable.

[Bndtoslv 292]

@@Bndtoslv I forgot to address your other question - the fear about not as good of results as a "revisionista"

i asked my NUT about this and we talked at some depth about the "bad habits" I learned with the band. This is personal to me, I do not intend this as band bashing but this is what I learned from having a band and had to "guard against" post revision.

1. Sliders. Lets be honest, when I had a decent fill - all I could really eat were sliders. I couldn't eat dense Protein without pain so I learned quickly to like crackers, popcorn, chips, etc etc.

2. Sweets - pre band, I was more of a volume eater not so much into sweets. That changed overtime and I definately developed a sweet tooth. I suspect because sweets are basically sliders.

3. Snacking/grazing - seriously bad news for sleevers. enuf said.

So my conclusion is that band to sleeve revisions have to be very diligent because you might have gotten used to that feeling... pouch packing, esophogus stuffing .. whatever you call it. Bottom line, you CANNOT eat until "full" (stuffed or whatever your former criteria was) - the goal is to eat until absence of hunger. Say what? A whole new concept for me but it works!

I am 3.5 years post revision and i openly admit I am struggling WAY more than I have previously. Go figure... but it is never easy.

@@CowgirlJane Thanks so much! This was a very helpful reply. What happens if I do eat until "full" or "stuffed" by my band criteria? I feel like what if (totally unscientific) my tolerance for that full/stuffed feeling I HAVE gotten used to (or did when I have the band) what is to make me stop if I am used to the feeling and what will happen. This is exactly, exactly my fear - that I won't be successful for this reason.

Edited May 22, 2015 by Bndtoslv

[LSF 264]

Re: the bad habits. I was doing really well with the band until I had a fill that was too tight. That was the beginning of the slider food phase that lasted me 2.5 years until I had my revision this past February. Now that I'm on a new path AGAIN- I'm praying that I don't slip back. The only thing I do know is that I won't be going in for an adjustment for the sleeve so there is no reason for me to go back to slider foods.

[GutBgone 16]

@@Bndtoslv

Thanks so much! This was a very helpful reply. What happens if I do eat until "full" or "stuffed" by my band criteria? I feel like what if (totally unscientific) my tolerance for that full/stuffed feeling I HAVE gotten used to (or did when I have the band) what is to make me stop if I am used to the feeling and what will happen. This is exactly, exactly my fear - that I won't be successful for this reason.

What happens if you eat until stuffed? You don't lose weight, and you risk stretching your new stomach out.

The removal of the grehlin hormone production site helps. I'm finding I don't go from normal to hungry to famished - I go from normal to normal to famished. There doesn't seem to be much tummy rumbling either (of course now that I'm thinking about it, my stomach just let off a grumble, so it must be psychological).

About every 4 hours, I need food. For example: breakfast-an egg, lunch a slice of ham and a slice of cheese (a non- bread sandwich), mid-afternoon a yogurt, dinner 3 Swedish meatballs, evening pudding. But, I'm still home, so when I get more active next week, this may change. Still, I'm only eating about 500-800 calories a day right now.

[phatfatgirl 100]

@@Bndtoslv

This is exactly the reason my surgeon suggested the rny not the sleeve. She basically explained the sleeve is the same kind of process as the band while rny is malabsorption. I need to do something different. I need success this time. Though rny sounds more "drastic" that's what i need to get this weight off on this final go round.

[Bobbe Schu 53]

I've chosen the bypass revision from the band as opposed to the sleeve after consulting with my surgeon. Actually, after she explained it, the sleeve sounds much more drastic since a large portion of your stomach is completely removed. With bypass, that's not the case.

AND if you've had issues with GERD with the band, having the sleeve wont solve that issue--could become much worse forcing another type of revision surgery down the road.

Edited May 24, 2015 by Mrs. Schu

[Bndtoslv 292]

@@Bndtoslv

This is exactly the reason my surgeon suggested the rny not the sleeve. She basically explained the sleeve is the same kind of process as the band while rny is malabsorption. I need to do something different. I need success this time. Though rny sounds more "drastic" that's what i need to get this weight off on this final go round.

The band was very good for me until I had the adjustment issues. I lost 100% of weight I needed in less than an year. This is why I think sleeve should work. Also the malabsorption is only for a year or two right? Then you are basically in the same place as the sleeve.

[Bndtoslv 292]

@@Bndtoslv

Thanks so much! This was a very helpful reply. What happens if I do eat until "full" or "stuffed" by my band criteria? I feel like what if (totally unscientific) my tolerance for that full/stuffed feeling I HAVE gotten used to (or did when I have the band) what is to make me stop if I am used to the feeling and what will happen. This is exactly, exactly my fear - that I won't be successful for this reason.

What happens if you eat until stuffed? You don't lose weight, and you risk stretching your new stomach out.

The removal of the grehlin hormone production site helps. I'm finding I don't go from normal to hungry to famished - I go from normal to normal to famished. There doesn't seem to be much tummy rumbling either (of course now that I'm thinking about it, my stomach just let off a grumble, so it must be psychological).

About every 4 hours, I need food. For example: breakfast-an egg, lunch a slice of ham and a slice of cheese (a non- bread sandwich), mid-afternoon a yogurt, dinner 3 Swedish meatballs, evening pudding. But, I'm still home, so when I get more active next week, this may change. Still, I'm only eating about 500-800 calories a day right now.

Thanks for your response. Did you have a band? Also my surgeon showed me research. The sleeve he says doesn't really stretch if done correctly. People learn to eat around it as they do with the band. I'm trying to understand from former bandsters the difference in how the sleeve works.

[GutBgone 16]

Thanks for your response. Did you have a band? Also my surgeon showed me research. The sleeve he says doesn't really stretch if done correctly. People learn to eat around it as they do with the band. I'm trying to understand from former bandsters the difference in how the sleeve works.

Yes, I had a band put in in 2008. I lost 140 lbs, and then the band slipped very badly. It was removed in 2010 and couldn't be repositioned because of scar tissue. It worked well for me because when I'm not hungry, I don't eat. I'm 19 days post-op with a sleeve.

[Bndtoslv 292]

Thanks for your response. Did you have a band? Also my surgeon showed me research. The sleeve he says doesn't really stretch if done correctly. People learn to eat around it as they do with the band. I'm trying to understand from former bandsters the difference in how the sleeve works.

Yes, I had a band put in in 2008. I lost 140 lbs, and then the band slipped very badly. It was removed in 2010 and couldn't be repositioned because of scar tissue. It worked well for me because when I'm not hungry, I don't eat. I'm 19 days post-op with a sleeve.

That is great news. I was also very successful. I was just approved for the surgery and am hoping I will be as successful with the sleeve without all the complications! I am also having a hiatal hernia fixed which I think was caused by pressure from the band. Did you have a hernia fixed? I am on Nexium for it so my only symptom is a feeling in my throat that I sometimes burp up food a bit. Gross! Looking forward to getting that fixed as well!