I had my band placed on in April, 2006. The first year was a breeze and I lost a ton of weight. In month 13 of my journey, I was overfilled and slipped my band. Since then, I seemed to have developed an intolerance for my band. I have slipped it twice, constantly choke on my food, and have been miserable.

On April 2nd, I will be revising from the lapband to the gastric sleeve. Dr. Aceves will be doing the revision in Mexico. I have decided to chronicle my experience here, so others that have band issues and decide to convert can have an idea of what to expect.

I spoke with Nina, the patient coordinator yesterday and we now have everything scheduled. I am excited and nervous all at the same time. I will leave here on April 1st, have my surgery on the 2nd and return home on the 5th. My mother will be accompanying me on the trip.

Nina advised me that Dr. Aceves is concerned about swelling due to the problems I have had with my band. Therefore, I am going this week for a complete unfill. Then, seven days before my surgery, I have to go on a complete liquid diet. This should alleviate any swelling issues and the chances of having to have the band removed and then go back at a later date for the sleeve. It is very important to me that I get this all done at the same time.

I am looking forward to this, and feel like I have been given a new opportunity at life. To those who have helped me to be able to get the sleeve, thank you. Because of you, I now am looking forward to enjoying life again, instead of living in misery.

I will update as I go through this journey.

By the way, as of this morning, I am back in a size 14.

Congrats! :thumbup:

OK, I'm sure this has been gone over before but for my own sake why don't you like the taste of sugar after you've been sleeved??? Thanks Nancy.:thumbup:

OK, I'm sure this has been gone over before but for my own sake why don't you like the taste of sugar after you've been sleeved??? Thanks Nancy.:thumbup:

Hi Nancy,

Some sleeved people, not all, develop an intolerance for sweets. For some of us, it goes away with time. I am really happy to have this side effect since I had a super sweet tooth pre wls and with my band. My sweet tooth has always been my downfall. Like, for Easter, I would have already bought a big chocolate bunny and eaten it for dinner by now. With the sleeve, I look at all the Easter candy and am simply not interested anymore, it has no appeal.

Congrats! :thumbup:

Thankyou. It's been wonderful pulling clothes out of boxes and being able to fit into them again. I have clothes all the way from a size 18 to a size 6.

Hi Nancy,

Some sleeved people, not all, develop an intolerance for sweets. For some of us, it goes away with time. I am really happy to have this side effect since I had a super sweet tooth pre wls and with my band. My sweet tooth has always been my downfall. Like, for Easter, I would have already bought a big chocolate bunny and eaten it for dinner by now. With the sleeve, I look at all the Easter candy and am simply not interested anymore, it has no appeal.

You know, I never thought about that. I did go through that. When I was sleeved I was at goal and I was eating high calorie everything to maintain. I was gagging on the sweet things and just couldn't stand them anymore. I was so glad when I could start eating other carbs.

Things have changed... I went through a stage where I was craving sweets DAILY. I ended up having a severe Vit D deficiency (unrelated to WLS) and I started taking 50,000IU of Vit D daily. After about 3 weeks on it my sugar craving is almost gone. I didn't realize until about a week ago that a sweets craving is one symptom of Vit D deficiency. Makes sense since my sweet tooth is going away.

Wow and I've put off having the blood test to test for that deficiency along with some others, depression related. I didn't know that the VitD deficiency was related to the cravings for sugar!!! Thanks Nancy.:smile2:

Elisabeth,

I hear ya on the "yuck" with that tang! The nurse kept bugging me about drinking more, (yeah, I know, she was just doing her job), but I couldn't tolerate the sweetness of it. So, I poured it down the sink.

When she came to get my tray, she smiled and said, "Good job!" my taste for sweets is gone, still, and I am 25 days post procedure. I had to pour out my chocolate soymilk this afternoon. I used to love it, and I was going to use it as a Protein source. The sweetness of it made me nauseous. By the way, as of this morning, I am back in a size 14.

WOW! Now THAT is cause for congratulations! You should be so proud of yourself. Can you imagine what size bathing suit you'll wear?! I'm so happy for you!

Wow and I've put off having the blood test to test for that deficiency along with some others, depression related. I didn't know that the VitD deficiency was related to the cravings for sugar!!! Thanks Nancy.:smile2:

I am SEVERELY Vit D deficient. My labs are 1/5 of what they should be. My joints hurt, my teeth are so soft I can push my fingernail in the enamel. (it takes Vit D to absorb calcium) You can do this test at home. You buy a kit, bleed on special paper, let it air dry, mail it in, and get the results. The usual dose for Vit D is 2,000IU to 5,000IU daily. I am on 50,000IU daily for one month and then retest.

Here is a link:

ZRT - ZRT Products

There are two ways to test for Vit D. Most docs order the wrong test and give an Rx for the wrong drug. It takes forever to get Vit D levels up with the drug they prescribe. I got the orders from my doc and ordered the RIGHT Vit D from:

Vitalady.com - Protein supplements, Vitamins & Minerals and Safe Snacks!

I can't even lift my arms over my head, every joint in my hands hurt as well as knees and hips. I let this go on too long, there are times I can't type because my hands hurt so bad.

Get the test.

Hey Everyone,

I am back home and resting. I am so glad to be here, that 8 hours of plane rides was miserable. Like Elisabeth, I got pretty uncomfortable sitting there. The worst part was, we were experiencing so much turbulence that the captain wouldn't let anyone out of their seats.

Dr. Aceves said he removed two full vascular tumors from my liver. Initial pathology results show they are benign. He expects the final results, which I should have in a week or so, to be the same. I am very relieved to hear that. Thank you everyone so much for your concerns. We had a lot of messages on our cell phone voicemail when we got home, but apparently, the calls weren't going through in Mexico, so we missed them.

Elisabeth, I am glad it wasn't just me that thought my room was freezing, I must have had eight blankets on me. I had problems with nausea the entire time, so they didn't take my IV out until late Saturday night. I always have problems with that after anesthesia though.

Saturday afternoon I went for my final leakage test. Oh my goodness, the stuff they make you drink for that is the worst tasting stuff you could ever imagine drinking times ten!!! It was absolutely horrid. But, everything looked great.

I am actually not in pain, per se'. I am a bit uncomfortable around the drain area. The most uncomfortable spot is where the port was removed from. But as far as any type of real severe pain, I am not experiencing any at all. WASa, you mentioned the burning from having the port removed. I am relieved to report that I am not experiencing any of that either. I did have some gas pain in my left shoulder, but walking really did seem to help with that. My husband and I had to laugh, I never had so many people interested in whether or not I was passing gas. It seemed like every five minutes someone was asking if I was. When I finally did, my husband thought perhaps we should throw a party or something. They were pretty happy when I told them I had finally pooted.

Right now, the biggest problem I am having, and sorry if this is too much information, is with the diarrhea. Like they say, liquids in, liquids out. Unfortunately, I am having trouble getting enough warning and barely make it to the bathroom. I just took a does of Imodium and am hoping that helps.

Oh, and as serious mentioned, I am finding I am really kind of turned off by the sweet tasting things right now as well. I can't wait until Sunday, when I can go on full liquids. Like Elisabeth, I am finding myself craving tomato Soup, and cream of chicken soup.

That is about all the updates I have for now. Maybe tomorrow I will brave the scales.

Hi Susan,

I'm glad to hear you made it home OK and that all went well with the biopsies. I honestly would not have survived in your room with that cold. LOL. I'm one day ahead of you and feel human today. As for the taste, I am wondering if it has something to do with being in ketosis. You were on liquids and I was on 30 gm of protein a day and had a very high level of ketones. It will be interesting to see if things change when we enter the full fluid phase. Keep healing!

Must be something in the water we are drinking for the clear liquid part of the post op period: I was craving tomato soup and that was the first full liquid I had.

Thanks for the warning on the cold room. I had just asked my daughter which robe I should take. I have a cotton one that is like bedsheet material. I think I will take the fleece one. It's not that heavy, but I get cold easily.

I am so glad to hear those tumors were benign.

I so wish all of us had been there at the same time. I am glad we are going through this fairly close together though. You are both teaching me a lot of what to expect. Lucky for me, the plane ride back will not be all that long. but I do have to change planes and take a tiny plane back to the town I am flying in and out from.

Can we put any protein powder in the tomato soup? I am really worried about my hair falling out again. It's still so thin from LB surgery.

Some sleeved people, not all, develop an intolerance for sweets. For some of us, it goes away with time.

Mine's only gotten stronger. I used to drink "Fuze" as a treat about once a week. It's got about 10 calories per 18 oz bottle and claims it has a "trivial" amount of sugar from the fruit juice it's made from. Well, the last two I had were SO SWEET that I don't think I'll be drinking them any more.

I think it's true that "you are what you eat" and the more I eat like a health nut, the less the unhealthy stuff appeals to me.

I loved tomato soup when I was immediately post-op. I got the "protein" soup from Wonderslim (or maybe it was ProtiDiet) and had it almost every day.

Susan: So glad your home and all is well. Glad the tumors are benign and all is well. Appreciate your sharing your experiences. Keep healingQ

Congrats Susan! Sounds like the surgery was a good success. I'm also glad to hear the tumors are benign.

Heal well and soon.

I'm so happy for you!