Gastric sleeve after failed lap band
Hi everyone,
I had a lap band in 2007, slipped and adjusted 2008 and slipped again in 2009 and adjusted. In 2010 I decided to have it removed as it was causing me to have increased GOR and medication was not helping. I started at 101kg and 158cm and got to 80kgs. One year post removal and I have rebounded to 106kgs. I am so unhappy with my weight and feel uncomfortable. I have an appointment to see a new surgeon about the gastric sleeve this Friday and hope to have surgery on 9th June. Has anyone had a lap band and then a sleeve? Please tell me your story!
Re: Gastric sleeve after failed lap band
Hello, I have not had the lapband before but there are several members on here that have. Look up revision surgery, I think that's what its called. Be encouraged! You'll do wonderful, the sleeve has been life changing for me and I pray you have the best of success :)
Re: Gastric sleeve after failed lap band
Hello....Me tooooo. I had a lap band put in in 2004 November...I have never lost more than 20lbs and I have had serveral fills and nothing is working. My band has actually grew over my top of my stomach causing a bluge....I met a dr. in Fort Myers, Florida a couple of years ago and finally I have a job where my insurance will pay to have the band removed and the sleeve done. I'm waiting on my approval letter from the insurance then on ready for the cloppin block...so to speak. I'm so frickin happy! You need to do this too. Everyone I have talked to that had the band, it has failed, so I'ts just not us. Good luck, keep in touch and I will let you know how it all goes. I'm hoping to get my revision done in June!
Re: Gastric sleeve after failed lap band
Hi,
You've helped me see that I have made the right choice not to have the lap band. I had chosen that originally, a long time ago, but have changed to choosing the sleeve recently. I am just waiting for insurance approval and my surgery date! Waiting, waiting, waiting!
Re: Gastric sleeve after failed lap band
I had to band in 2009 for about 9 months, it was a good as long as it worked but it slipped about 5 months in and I spent the next 4 months in hell! I basically became involuntarily bulemic I lost weight but in the end it ended up cutting off my tummy all the way so i couldn't even drink water and even then I thought it was my fault and didn't go to the ER for 3 days. I think the thing with the band was I always thought i was doing something wrong there was a big guilt thing in with it "I ate the wrong thing, I ate to fast, the band was too full, band wasn't fully enough, etc" I'm now scheduled for the band on June 27th and I can't wait, my insurance approved me to have a new band right away but I didn't want to be that miserable again...Later I talked to my surgeon and he said that there is a higher chance of slipping again since it has already happened once. He did tell me because I have scar tissue at the top of my stomach from my lap band that there is a very very small chance that there will be issues with the stapling up there but he was confident that he could work around this. I've been with the surgeon through my lapband removal, gall bladder removal and now he is going to give me my sleeve. I have some fears but I'm planning for the worst and took two weeks off of work just incase but I'm 26 and have bounced back pretty fast from surgerys before. I can't wait to here when your surgery date is I wish you all the luck in the world!!!! Keep us updated!!!
Re: Gastric sleeve after failed lap band
I had my revision surgery on April 25th. My original surgeon, Dr. David Kim (located in the Dallas/Fort Worth area) did this surgery as well.
I had band surgery in September 2009. I lost 80 pounds, but over the previous 8 months or so before my revision I had gained almost 30 pounds back. Over time it had become difficult to eat a variety of healthy foods. I had this awful tight feeling when I tried to eat anything with substance. What was so weird was this feeling was way high - just under the dip in my throat. I could hardly eat any fruit or vegetables. I had been eating WAY the wrong foods. Anything that would go down easy - I ended up eating lots of soft high calorie high fat foods - foods that have never really appealed to me.
My surgeon told me that I had a side effect of the band called dysphagia (uncoordinated swallowing). He told me that revising to a sleeve would take care of the problem. I was really discouraged . I am a self-pay patient and I felt like a made a mistake when I chose the band. At that time though the sleeve was still considered experimental. But, in any event, I now have spent even more money to hopefully fix the problem and hopefully lose more weight.
Monday was three weeks since my revision surgery. Everything went pretty good. My surgery was about 2 hours because Dr. Kim did both procedures at the same time. Yesterday was my first day of mushies! So far even with just a little texture the food seems to going down fine. The day before my surgery I was even having trouble eating jelly (jello for those of us located in the US). I am very hopeful that the sleeve has fixed this problem. I have been losing weight (not as fast as I would like), but I think that my body had already adjusted in some ways to a smaller stomach. Hopefully the sleeve will be the kick start my body needs to get back to losing weight.
I think you will do fine with the surgery, it shouldn't be anywhere as long as my surgery. If you have any questions let me know. Good luck to you!
Re: Gastric sleeve after failed lap band
Thanks so much for your encouragement. I live in Queensland Australia....I notice most people on this forum are from the US.
Re: Gastric sleeve after failed lap band
I think most probably are from the U.S., but I've seen others posting from the UK and Australia, too.