I'll be celebrating the 3rd anniversary of being banded by getting ready to kiss it good-bye two days after that milestone. Like many of the others who can no longer tolerate living with the band, I am having a revision to the vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG) on 4/1/09.

Unlike many people seeking weight loss surgery, I have never been a normal weight. I managed to eat myself up to 440+ pounds, diet down to 195 pounds, and then regain to over 350 pounds. I was drawn to the band because it promised restriction. I already taught myself to eat healthy and was not a junk food eater. I could look at cake, cookies, chips, ice-cream, etc, and not desire any of it. Put a loaf of hot, crusty bread and butter in front of me and I was in heaven. THAT I could not pass up and I could easily eat the entire loaf. The band was going to prevent me from being able to do that.

I was a model patient, did the pre-op diet, and went into surgery confident this was going to be the tool that would get me to a healthy weight. I suffer from arthritis and need two total knee replacements so this surgery would allow me to lose weight, walk without so much knee pain, and get me in shape for the eventual knee replacement surgery.

At 6 weeks post-op I was told I could get my first fill. I was hungry those first 6 weeks but I stuck to the post-op diet and was sure the fill would "do the trick" and allow me to feel the same restriction others were posting about. I felt that way after the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th... fills. What I did get was heart burn and acid regurgitation. I was placed on Nexium and told everything was fine and to increase my exercise.

Fast forward to today and I am miserable. The heart burn and acid reflux have now become an everyday event and it's now becoming constant. I eat dinner, stop eating and drinking after dinner, and wait until after midnight to go to bed. Right next to my bed is a huge wedge pillow that basically elevates me to a relaxed sitting position. Sometimes I can get to sleep lying down like I used to but it doesn't last long. I am awakened choking on the acid reflux or feel the awful burning in my upper chest and quickly get myself into an upright position.

I did not fail the band. The band failed me. Because I "only" have heart burn and reflux, the two surgeons I consulted wanted to either place a new band, manipulate the present band, or convert me to a gastric bypass. I would have to start a lengthy paperwork of MD visits to "prove" to the insurance company that this is necessary. If I don't want to wait, the self pay price is $25,000. Unless I win the lottery tomorrow, that is not an option for me.

I had researched the various weight loss surgery options available and decided a VSG would be the right one for me. I never ever felt any restriction lasting more than 2-3 days so the 70 pounds I lost, and kept off, came from me dieting. I eat healthy but I eat too much and that means a restrictive surgery is what should work best for me. Iron deficiency anemia rules out me getting a gastric bypass. My knees are now considered "terminal" and total knee replacement surgery WILL need to be done soon.

I finally reached the point where I said, "enough is enough" and can no longer with the quality of life the band has afforded me. It's got to go. So, after doing extensive research, I'll be making my first trip to Mexico but it will be as a patient and not a vacationing tourist. LOL. Dr. Alberto Aceves was the standout front runner when it came to selecting a surgeon and he agreed to perform my surgery. I borrowed some money from my sister, saved some, and emptied my savings and will travel to Mexico on 3/31 for all the pre-op requirements. Surgery will take place on 4/1... April Fool's Day. However, the joke will be on the band and the winner will be me because THAT day will mark the beginning of a new and improved life for me.

Please keep me in your thoughts. I am traveling alone and nervous... a good nervous. I'm at peace with my decision and April 1 can't come quick enough.

I wish I was going the same time as you two. I can't even believe I will be so close in Phoenix and I can't come down cause it's my dad's 90th birthday. If it weren't for that, I would have gone then too.

Elisabeth, you may be traveling there alone, but remember, I will be there the day after you, sleeve sister!!

Thank you! I am running around like crazy trying to get everything done at my full time job, getting my student's work all corrected (part time job) and shopping for all the post-op foods/liquids.

I am going to work at 6:30 PM on 3/30, leaving work early on 3/31 to get to the airport by 8:15 AM, flying 3K miles to CA, and then it's about another 90 minutes or so to the hospital. Between no sleep, a time zone 3 hours different than mine, and the excitement of getting this band out, I bet I sleep well when I finally get to the hotel room. LOL.

I hope you and your mom have a safe flight in and I look forward to meeting you.

I eat dinner, stop eating and drinking after dinner, and wait until after midnight to go to bed. Right next to my bed is a huge wedge pillow that basically elevates me to a relaxed sitting position. Sometimes I can get to sleep lying down like I used to but it doesn't last long. I am awakened choking on the acid reflux or feel the awful burning in my upper chest and quickly get myself into an upright position.

Hey Elizabeth, please keep me informed on your reflux symptoms and if the sleeve resolves them. Being a sleep therapist, it sounds like those symptoms could potentially be part of a sleep disorder (I'm very biased in that area, though, lol). So, I'll be following your case with some clinical interest. Good luck with the sleeve. I hope all the bad stuff is resolved when you swith over.

Hey Elizabeth, please keep me informed on your reflux symptoms and if the sleeve resolves them. Being a sleep therapist, it sounds like those symptoms could potentially be part of a sleep disorder (I'm very biased in that area, though, lol). So, I'll be following your case with some clinical interest. Good luck with the sleeve. I hope all the bad stuff is resolved when you swith over.

Sadly, this is a big reason why a lot of people have their bands removed and switch to sleeves/RNY/DS. As soon as the band is removed the extreme reflux is gone.

Hey Elizabeth, please keep me informed on your reflux symptoms and if the sleeve resolves them. Being a sleep therapist, it sounds like those symptoms could potentially be part of a sleep disorder (I'm very biased in that area, though, lol). So, I'll be following your case with some clinical interest. Good luck with the sleeve. I hope all the bad stuff is resolved when you swith over.

Thankfully, sleep apnea, etc., are not a problem. In fact, when I am in the hospital, they have even woken me up because I don't snore and am a closed mouth breather. LOL. I do have to admit that my sleeping (when the reflux is not acting up) is much better once I got on the right dose of synthroid for the hypothyroidism.

I'll keep you up to date. I started the pre-op diet a day early (today!) and was dying that everything in the store was filled with carbs. LOL. I can only have 30 for the day.

hi elizabeth

good luck with your new sleeve,i am also having problems with the Band.....if you dont mind me asking about how much is a sleeve with dr.aceves?

hi elizabeth

good luck with your new sleeve,i am also having problems with the Band.....if you dont mind me asking about how much is a sleeve with dr.aceves?

The cost is $12,500. You send a $500 deposit 10 days before the surgery and can either bring a certified check, cash, credit card, or use financing for the rest (in their information guide).

The money pays for a car to take you to and from the airport in San Diego, a stay in the hotel the night you arrive, medical clearance, pre-op EKG, chest x-ray, lab work, etc., the actual surgery, and 3 nights in the hospital. There is no extra money to put out for the anesthesiologist, medications, etc. I have the patient information booklet and can email that to you if you like.

I am sorry you're having problems with the band. It seems we're hearing more and more that the band is not working for many people even though they are working for the band.

Elizabethsew,

Good luck with your revision to VSG. I don't even know any surgeons in my area that do them. I'm upstate NY. Since I was the one who never did well from the beginning on the band I'm hoping the RNY will help me this time. Anyway good luck a revisioner is a revisioner is the way I look at it, we'll all be exbanders! Nancy:smile:

hi elizabeth

good luck with your new sleeve,i am also having problems with the Band.....if you dont mind me asking about how much is a sleeve with dr.aceves?

As Elisabeth wrote, it's $12,500 for a revision. For a straight sleeve (not removing a band) it's $9,000 or $9500.

I wish I would have done the sleeve to begin with.

Elizabethsew,

Good luck with your revision to VSG. I don't even know any surgeons in my area that do them. I'm upstate NY. Since I was the one who never did well from the beginning on the band I'm hoping the RNY will help me this time. Anyway good luck a revisioner is a revisioner is the way I look at it, we'll all be exbanders! Nancy:smile:

I've got relatives not too far from Walton... a lot of them. LOL. I looked into the RNY but don't feel it's good for me. I have Iron deficiency anemia and can't swallow pills (LOL)... no joke. I eat healthy but the portions are too big and my down fall is hot bread. Unfortunately, I can eat toasted bread and everything else with the band. Best of luck to you.

thanks ladys,yes me too i wish i had done something else than the band..but whats done its done....time to fix the problem...lol

I've got relatives not too far from Walton... a lot of them. LOL. I looked into the RNY but don't feel it's good for me. I have Iron deficiency anemia and can't swallow pills (LOL)... no joke. I eat healthy but the portions are too big and my down fall is hot bread. Unfortunately, I can eat toasted bread and everything else with the band. Best of luck to you.

That's still south of me I'm much closer to the base of the Adirondacks. I take a handful of pills every day but my daughter did struggle after getting her RNY to take her pills so I know the importance of that. I am insulin resistant, if that's the correct term and dieting is way too difficult so I'm hoping RNY and it's malabsorption aspect will help me. Good luck, Nancy.:huh2:

That's still south of me I'm much closer to the base of the Adirondacks. I take a handful of pills every day but my daughter did struggle after getting her RNY to take her pills so I know the importance of that. I am insulin resistant, if that's the correct term and dieting is way too difficult so I'm hoping RNY and it's malabsorption aspect will help me. Good luck, Nancy.:tt1:

Thank you, Nancy. It looks like you have explored the various weight loss surgery options available to you and made an informed decision based on what is best for you and your needs. Talk to your surgeon about the malabsorption aspect. The more he bypasses the greater the degree of malabsorption.

Hello, I relate to wanting to take the band out, the acid reflux etc. I was a year banded 1/16/08. I am at 12 or more cc's and I vomit daily. My acid reflux is back I have lost about fifty lbs. but that was within the first 4 months. I began to gain when I had fluid removed. So Now, I have lost 15 lbs in the 2 months since my last fill but sometimes I cant keep water down. I want the gastric sleeve but my dr doesnt do it, he only does the gastric bypass and I dont want that. I went to a new dr. before my year was up and he told me it was too soon and that he just didnt want to do the sleeve, flat out so I dont know what to do because if fluid is removed, then I gain but the vomitting and acid reflux is kicking my butt!

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