In May it was discovered my band prolapsed and I had all the fluid removed. Yesterday I went to get 5cc. What a nightmare. I've since had it removed. My dr discussed removing my band waiting three months and doing a revision to the sleeve. I've lost 90 pounds with the band and kept it off for 5 years. I'm afraid removing the band will cause me to gain all the weight back. I realize it's a tool- one which I am so grateful for. I've been reading this board and need some piece of mind that if I do this - I'll feel the same restriction without all the band complications.

Well is your band damaged or slipped or likely to cause issues? Does your doctor say you can leave it in there or if it needs to come out? Why does your doctor want to wait three months instead of doing the removal and revision in the same surgery?

I don't have exactly the same restriction feeling but I still can't eat a lot of food. It's not like I can now pig out after having the band out and the sleeve done. But I can eat chicken now and I never could eat chicken in any form with my band. And I haven't thrown up since the sleeve.

I agree with Hockeyfan7 that I can eat foods with my sleeve that I could NEVER eat with my band. chicken being one of them. I wouldn't call the feeling with the sleeve restriction. You just feel full and no longer want to eat. Not like the band where I would feel tightness, pain, and urge to vomit. I do not miss my band at all.

Also, it is just a guess but I doubt you would be able to put on 90 pounds in the three months that you would be without the band. Even if you do put some weight back on you should be able to lose it again with the sleeve. I just can't tell you how much better I feel without the band and it's complications, hassle of fills and unfills, and constant sliming/vomiting episodes.

Good luck in whatever you choose to do!

Its not the same type of "pressure" restriction as we got with the lap band. It is a sincere feeling of being full without the pain or possible initiation of gagging. I am a former LB patient and I had some issues with it. I am happy with my sleeve revision this far. I hit some plateaus from time to time. But ive learned to trust my process and do my part to being successful, which is protiens first then maybe a little carb after, 70 oz of water and physical activity.

_{Something to be aware of. Depending on what kind of damage the band may have done or the amount of scar tissue internally can make a difference on how the sleeve will work for you. This is how my doctor explained it to me. Once he's in and makes his assessment on damage he will do band removal and sleeve revision in the same surgery, however, if there too much scar tissue or extensive repairs that need to be done, the patient stays under anesthesia or under too long making it unsafe and I may wake up to discover that only the band was removed. Most important is if the repairs are extensive, the repair(s) may need time to heal, otherwise, the sleeve may not be as effective. Many doctors will not take the chance and require a 3 month wait for things to heal after band removal before doing the sleeve. Next, an instrument that the surgeon uses called a bougie is used to size the sleeve. For band to sleeve revision patients, surgeons will use larger bougies. The larger bougies are safer for patients and provide less chance of leaks on the staple line. A person getting bariatric sleeve surgery the very first time, can get the smaller bougie for obvious reasons. My surgeon used a 39F bougie on my revision and 1/2 cup of food is all I can handle and am doing far better with the sleeve than the band. Unfortunately, as you do your research you will find the few that have no or little restriction after getting revision and usually because the sleeve was made too big and a re-sleeve is sometimes done.}

_{Talk to your doctor about this. He should tell you what size he uses and will give you an idea as to what to expect. I am 2 months out and have absolutely no regrets. Once again I had to take a gamble and it turned out well for me. I wish that I would have done the sleeve from get go, but, everything always works out.}

_{Here is a picture of bougie size comparison. Hope this helps. jake}

NoMoBand you are absolutely right, I had a lot of scar tissue and my band had attached itself to my diaphram. I was in surgery over 3 hours, I had blood and platelets administered during surgery and I had and still have some scar tissue at my port site. My dr never told me that my sleeve could be bigger than those who do not have a revision. However, I have had good restriction and feel that it was a successful revison surgery.

My sleeve is bigger than typical because of some scar tissue at the point where the esophagus goes into the stomach. My surgeon made sure to line it up properly because he didn't want to run the risk of a leak there.