I haven't had a lapband in four years, and for some horrible reason I have regained the weight (not all) despite eating well and exercising vigorously. Therefore, I want to get the sleeve.

However, my surgeon has said that it's a 50/50 gamble - 50% don't have ANY weight loss and 50% do.

This really shocked me!!!! I do not want a bypass, but he said that's 100% going to work.

So scared!??

Nothing is 100% going to work. You can fail even with gastric bypass. I would ask him to show you the statistics on his so-called 50% failure. If he can't produce any then feel free to ignore his opinion.

If you didn't misunderstand what he was saying then, IMHO, the only thing that is 100% is your surgeon is pulling numbers out of his a$$.

Google JAMA articles on WLS studies and articles by leading WLS bariatric centers of excellence, they contradict him regarding his percentages of excess weight loss with the VSG.

Does everyone reach their goal weight per the BMI charts? The answer is no. But people do reach weights they are comfortable in maintaining

Do some people regain part of their excess weight lost? The answer is yes.

The gastric bypass isn't 100% effective, but some studies show it more effective than the VSG in excess weight loss in the short term, but longer term studies show they are just about equal.

Do your research including maybe seeking another surgeon.

Without more information from your surgeon, that 50-50 prediction is worthless.

I can share my results from revision: banded in 2/2012, lost 25lbs gained 80. Revision 71/2015 and have lost 105lbs so for me is was successful. I say that any surgery, there's always the risk not failure.

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Thanks guys! He couldn't explain to me why people apparently cannot lose anything with the sleeve - he said it's a mystery basically. He says at conferences that he attends, other surgeons have the same experience with the 50/50 failure.

I just cannot imagine having so much of my stomach removed and failing to lose weight? I eat a high Protein diet and love clean eating, plus I enjoy exercise! I would never just sit here and gorge on bad food with a sleeve!!

That's a very unsatisfying answer from your surgeon, @@missblonde20 .

I haven't heard of anyone who "cannot lose anything" after sleeve surgery.

I do know people who lose a lot less than you'd expect or regain what they initially lost because they eat around the sleeve -- by which I mean they eat slider foods, they graze, they don't eat enough Protein, they drink a lot of liquid calories. All day and night long they just slowly eat and drink too much.

In a word, they are uncompliant.

It is not a mystery.

I find it very difficult to believe that half of the VSG patients do not lose any excess weight.

Just a quick Google search can show numbers of ~60% excess weight loss on average, post VSG.

As Ann said, people being uncompliant is probably the reason for the lower excess weight l

(loss).

This topic made me think of Dan Akyroyd's comic portrayal of Julia Child in an old SNL parody of "The French Chef".

"Save the liver"

I had band for 11 1/2 years and lost over 100 pounds but had to have it out. I'm getting sleeve next month 5 months after band removal. My surgeon has experienced lots of weight loss with band to sleeve revisions. My surgeon has mandatory 4 month weight once lose band so stomach can heal. I have never read anything similar to what your surgeon is stating. I would be concerned your surgeon might have another motive? Good luck with your decision.

Main reason I have heard and read in the past, is that when you had the band in for a long time obviously your insides conform to that shape and your body needs to relax and recover its original stomach shape before you can go to the next operation for it It to be the most successful. I've had a friend that it has this done and they had to wait three months

I had the band put in 2007 and removed 2015. I lost 100#'s and maintained that weight loss for about 7 years. I wasn't compliant with the band and because of my poor habit, the band slipped. I had it removed Aug 2015 and the GVS was done Jan 21, 2016. I didn't gain all the weight I had lost with the band, but I did put on about 78 #'s in a short period of time. I've lost 38 #'s to date. It's slower and more work than the band was, but this time around I am being compliant. My surgeon told me my restriction is not as much as a person who is having weight loss surgery for the first time. He stated this is due to the amount of scar tissue which developed over the years I had the band in. During the removal, the surgery lasted over 3 hours because he was removing as much scar tissue as he was able to do so safely. From Aug to Jan, more scar tissue developed and the GVS procedure took over 3 hours as well. He wanted to ensure he left healthy enough tissue in order for the staple line to hold. So far, I'm happy with my results!

Thanks all! I have surgery booked for July!!! I am super nervous, and he's quite negative and hesitant..but I need to do something and this is what I want.

Maybe he's not the right surgeon if he's doing a revision he's not positive about? My sleeve revision was about 2x as effective as my bad. I lost weight twice as fast and got an additional 30 pounds lower than my lowest band weight. For me, the sleeve was a miracle and night and day to the band both in how I felt and how it has worked.

Maybe he's not the right surgeon if he's doing a revision he's not positive about? My sleeve revision was about 2x as effective as my bad. I lost weight twice as fast and got an additional 30 pounds lower than my lowest band weight. For me, the sleeve was a miracle and night and day to the band both in how I felt and how it has worked.

Thanks for the update - that sounds awesome! I hope I am as successful....he is a fantastic surgeon and has had very very little problems ( I think one leak?) but I just think he's concerned that I won't achieve the results I want and he's worried I will view it as his problem.