I too have been doing alot of wondering about everything that is going to happen. If you would like to share experiences and achievements I would be more than happy to support you. We can keep in touch here or on facebook either way I wish you all the best for your surgery and recovery

I wish you the very best with your surgery and the emotional struggles you are experiencing. I too am very excited that I am going to be healthy. If you need any support or just someone to talk to I am here I am also on facebook if u would like to connect there and share our experiences and weight loss achievements.

Goodluck

Lynn,
That helps amazingly well!
thank you so much!

I will find out early September what my insurance will do.  They do not seem to have any 3 or 6 month diet program requirements that anyone can find...so we are doing a precert after my Endoscopy on 9/1.

I LOVE to exercise...I love to swim, walk, ride...but in training for a triathlon (as a slow fat triathlon walker - there's actually a group for that!) - I really stressed a lot of things, and I have been having tendon repair work all summer!

I love to eat good food - and I mean, food good for you.  I already eat 5 small meals to control my diabetes...so I don't think that will be a huge change.

Of course, eating a full serving of dessert will have to change...but I have done the one or two spoonfuls when doing WW and other types of diets.  I can deal with that.

So, I have a podiatrist, rhuematologist, psychiastrist, and pcp that are totally behind me doing the gastric surgery...I just had to make the choice.

My WLS doc totally does not recommend the lap band, because of experiences like yours.
With my health issues, I can see me in your spot in 4 years...so, I may as well learn from your experience.

Thank you so much for sharing it!

May God bless you on your surgery day!  I have you written down on my calendar to pray for you.

~Christi

Sorry I didn't respond sooner - I wish this blasted thing would email when you have a thread response.  My story:

Banded 2005 at 299.5 lbs got down to 197 over the first two years. Maintained mostly through year 3 but gained about 29 lbs in year four. I felt that my eating habits hadn't changed so I when I saw my doc at my yearly I asked for a fill. Over the next 6 months I developed heartburn that just got worse and worse - but I lost 12 lbs and kept saying to myself, it will go away when I lose a bit more. Well at 4.5 years I went and saw my doc. He took out some fill (not a lot) and scheduled me for an upper GI.

The upper GI showed slight pouch dilation - he wanted to take out the band but I opted to have it unfilled and scheduled another Upper GI for 6 weeks later to give me time to think. I talked to a bunch of band to sleeve revisions here and on verticalsleevetalk.com and decided to proceed with the sleeve and abandon my band. These are the reasons why:

1. Starting at 300lbs and losing 100 I still never got close to a normal BMI - going to the gym 5 days a week - didn't matter
2. The quality of life seemed better on the VSG side - no first bite syndrome, no food piling up in your throat, no restriction on NSAIDs.
3. My stomach we think is still in good shape - better a revision now then to wait, futz with the band and then do some real damage.
4. I really can't wait to get rid of this port - it does get in the way at times and I have twisted or bent wrong even 5 years out and had it send shooting pains through my body

My doctor and I had a very long conversations about all of the pro's and con's etc.... I thinks I am an excellent candidate for the sleeve because I lose weight well with a restrictive only option. Now here comes my own opinion - the band is like placing a rigid ring around a soft balloon - its only a matter of time until something goes wrong. I had no clue that my band was to tight-I had no pain/vomiting when eating other than the occasion stuck episode which would happen on the first or second bite - not after I had eaten enough to fill my pouch. 

One day I could eat XX food the next day I couldn't - it was just a real pain in the ass.

I'm ready to start eating small portions of good food without wondering if it will go down. Everything I've read about the VSG leads me to believe that it is what I had wanted the Band to be.

Does that help?

im getting the sleeve done on sept 7th..getting kinda of nervous but excited at the same time..hit me up if you ever wanna talk and best wishes with your surgery!!