Hi all,

Glad to be part of this section of BariatricPal since previously spending it on the Lap Band forum!

To give a bit of background: My highest weight ever was 357 and I underwent lap band surgery on May 2013 - four days after I turned 21.

I found great success with it for the first 18 months, losing 156 lbs before having a body lift (tummy tuck/butt & thigh lift) and arm lift in late February 2015 where an additional 11 lbs of excess skin was removed, making my total loss 167 lbs and my lowest weight to date being 190 lbs.

Last summer, to put it as simply as possible, my band pretty much "stopped working" and I ended up gaining 30 lbs back. It was torturous and I worked tirelessly with my surgeon's office to resolve it (multiple fills which all did nothing, the highest being 6.75; anything above I couldn't swallow water) and even went on Phentermine for a few months - which helped me lose 10 of the 30 lbs I'd gained back - before my body became immune to it.

After expressing for a long while that I felt helpless and would like to have my band removed/revised to a sleeve, my surgeon's office helped me apply for insurance approval which was a success!

My weight pre-revision surgery was 209 lbs and I had the revision done just this past Wednesday, August 24th. I am recovering well although I'd forgotten how miserable the 2 week liquid diet is!

Two questions I currently have are:

1) I am very bloated from having IV fluids for 3 days and saw my weight fluctuate to 214 and then back to 210. I don't plan to weigh myself knowing it will just upset me in the meantime - when can I expect for this to resolve itself?

2) My goal weight is 165 lbs (being 5'8 tall and 24 years old) but realize that I've already lost a large amount of weight; is this a realistic expectation? I've suffered so much heartache as a result of the past year that my fear (probably irrational) is that I won't lose any more weight or be able to see weekly progress.

Thanks all for reading - any advice/comments are appreciated!

It took me 7-8 days before the Water weight from surgery was gone. Don't give up hope. You will do great.

I can't speak of sleeve or revision to sleeve, but, from what I've read in BP, don't see why you shouldn't do well. What I will advise is that you make losing weight your only goal. Don't think about the rate of loss. Simply seeing the scale move downward will tell you the only thing that really matters. Keep in mind, too, that people who revise from band to sleeve generally lose at a slower rate than those who've been sleeved from the start. That you wish to lose not all that much now is also a factor.

You'll be fine.

Thank you both! It's just hard to imagine that I can lose another 50 lbs but today (Sunday) is only post-op day #4 so I need to not be so hard on myself. I do hope that the liquid diet pays off though

Just a little update: I've lost 13 lbs currently since the surgery -- I am finding that walking is helping a lot though I really need to continue working on my water intake. It's just difficult because it always feels stuck, followed by a burp lol

Hi NYC1992,

Congrats on your new journey!! Sounds like you are doing great! I had just created a new post to ask for people's stories on skin revision surgeries and the pain they had went through. I have seen shows about skin revisions, and they all seem horribly painful. Would you mind advising your experience, and if you would recommend it?

Thanks!!