Are you finding....wishing I wuld have done it too!

Hello,

I don't want to burst your bubble, but it seems like you were NOT prepared for ANY weight loss surgery, did you FULLY understand that the Lap Band DOES NOT CAUSE WEIGHT LOSS ON ITS OWN , it reduces your intake and make you feel full quicker -- that is your tool, -- it will not do nothing else,  If your friends are losing quickly with the Sleeve you need to understand the Sleeve and the band WORKS DIFFERENTLY, the Sleeve IS NO BETTER than the band, the Sleeve also reduces your intake and you loose your appetite quicker. Remember it takes awhile for most lap banders to get to good restriction safely and this can take about 3-5 fills MOST lap banders are not even at optimal restriction until about 8-12 months post op.

If your friends who got the Sleeve are not exercising and eating junk just like you, IT WILL CATCH UP WITH THEM VERY QUICKLY. The Sleeve will GIVE ANYBODY about 50-70 pounds FREE UPFRONT without much effort just because they can't eat and most have a very hard recovery and they lose most of their appetite upfront THIS IS THEIR WINDOW of weight loss, whereas with the band it will eventually give you about 50 pounds FREE TOO with a very tight band if you dont' exercise or eat right, but with the band it takes a little longer before you get good restriction and it MAY SEEM like the Sleeve is better than the band for those WHO ARE NOT WORKING THEIR TOOLS.

But for those Lap Banders who are lucky and have good restriction out of surgery and work their tools LOSE WEIGHT JUST A QUICK AS A SLEEVE patient.

Did you thoroughly research the band to know how it fully worked? Do you know if you don't eat right and exercise NO SURGERY WILL WORK FOR YOU?  EVEN RNY OR THE DS, They are ALL TOOLS, they just work differently. I hate to be harsh, but Stop whining and start following rules, you seem to be very young and CAN exercise, I am sure you told your surgeon that you were willing to change your lifestyle. Also you are still only 6 month out, MY BAND DID NOT WORK FOR ME FULLY UNTIL I WAS ABOUT 7 MONTHS POST OP, but I walked EVERY DAY for about 1 hour until I got good restriction and I had lost about 70 pound before I reached optimal restriction by just eating lean meats and green veggies, it was not that hard.

If you work your tool you will have great results too,, YOU CAN DO THIS!!!...and in about 4 years your friends with the Sleeve will be jealous of you because IT WILL STRETCH, and you will  have a FULL FUNCTIONING STOMACH in too, and you don't have to deal with long term issues of the stomach being removed with vitamin deficiencies and god knows what else,  and as long as you take care of your band it will ALWAYS be there to TAKE CARE OF YOU.

Good luck

I do not regret my decision to get the band.

I am an emotional eater: that being said, no matter WHAT surgery I would have gotten, I would have found a way to "eat around it" and render it ineffective.

I have no doubt in my mind had I had the gastric bypass, I would be in the same boat as Carnie Wilson is right now. If I had gotten the sleeve, I would have ran straight to the milkshakes if I had found myself under stress. I know there are a few other surgery types out there, and rest assured, I would have found a way around those, too.

A BIG reason that I opted for the band is because I knew that for whatever reason, if it didnt work out, I could have it removed and my insides would remain unchanged.

I knew that by having the band, I would still have to do the majority of the work, and that the band would simply give me an "edge" over having to do it without any extra help.

I really see the band almost as a power tool: if I wanted to build a house and had a brand new electric saw in my garage, would I leave it sit in the garage, unplugged, day after day, and expect it to build the house all by itself? No..  I would know that I would  personally have to get up in the morning, put my work boots on, pick up that saw and get to work: I would need to actually WORK that tool and put in the required effort in order to get that house built. The only advantage to having the electric saw would be it would be easier and somewhat faster to use than a manual saw, but there would still be much effort required from me if I ever wanted to see the house get built.

 I see the band in the same light: it’s a great tool that will HELP along the way, that will make the weight loss *somewhat* easier and *somewhat* faster, but its not going to do all of the work for me.. and it wasn’t designed to.

No sugery is ever going to work for me until I deal with my emotional eating and my relationship with food. If I never get that problem addressed, I can get the band removed and my insides will be back the way they were.

I am glad I chose the band, and if I had it to do all over again, I would choose the same exact surgery. The only difference would be that I would have gotten counseling to deal with the emotional eating right from the very beginning, so that I would be better able and prepared to use my tool ( the band ) the way it was designed to be used.

 

I wish others who have had other surgeries all the best.. I am speaking only about MY feelings / opinions about MY journey.

I am new to the band.. But your doctor can help you get restriction ,they aren't going to monitor what you eat.  You know that.  If the sleeve or RNY was the miracle cure and you could eat whatever and how much and still lose,  then everyone would get it.   These are all tools. 

Good luck and I hope you find a way to get back on track because of everything you went through to get this surgery.  I hope it works for you.

 Hi there.  I am so sorry you are struggling.  I know it must be devastating to have surgery to lose weight, and then not be able to get yourself to knuckle down and eat right and exercise.  I looked at your old posts, and see you've had this issue right from the beginning, even ignoring your surgeon's orders about pureed foods post-surgery.  I can tell you this without a doubt.  You will have no better results with any other weight loss surgery, even those with malapsorption, unless you get your head straight.  I suggest you work with a therapist who specializes in CBT (Cognitive Behavior Therapy).  Instead of going back through your lifetime to figure out why you think and behave as you do, they work to give you strategies to help you *change*.  You are worth the effort!  I wish you the best.

Tami

I don't regret my band. I've certainly had my share of struggles with my little tool but still- no regrets!

Right out of the gate I've been eating weigh****cher style. Smaller portions, healthy- ish meals. I follow the rules about 70% of the time.

I also have moved more in the last 2 years than I did the last 20. I had to find a way to get my butt to exercise and usually that meant recruiting a workout partner who would come and bang on my door and tell me to get my shoes on. I arranged this because I know by myself that I won't be motivated enough to go out and exercise.

This hasn't been easy but I knew that it wouldn't going into the surgery. I too hope you can find a way to get your mind motivated to do this. Good Tab!

I have lost around 55 lbs in about 1 1/2 years.  not too fast either.  lost 45 lbs the first year and about 10 the last 6 months.  Not lost anything in about 3 months.  Haven't been for a fill in about 3 months.  Pretty much can eat anything even though I'm at 7 cc in a 10 cc band.  ready to go back and get a fill.  I try to watch calories, but basically I'm eating enough to maintain.  Need to cut back some more.  Am I disapplointed?  No.  I could have done better.  I'm about 24 lbs from goal.  And really I'm pretty happy.  I feel better.  I don't have sleep apnea.  I do not think I coculd have done it without the band.  Tried for over 10 years to no avail.  Could I gain this back?  I realize yes.  Especially after reading other's posts.   At some point we all have to get a new way of thinking, not go back to bad habits and move more.  I am considering a personal trainer but don't think I can afford it.  So, if I just treadmill 30 minutes a day and do not stop, that will probably produce weight loss to some degree.  And like I say I only have 24 lbs.  My goal is at the end of 2011.  I have been basically taking a break on the whole diet thing.  Truthfully, I prefer to lose slow.  It is just mind boggling and somewhat overwhelming to drop a lot of weight too quickly.  If I lost 2 lbs per month, that is good with me, it is when I stop losing that bothers me.  So back to the doctor I go, back to the gym, and of course it is always to come  on the forum everyday.  Best of luck to you all.

Im just a couple months post op but I love my band.

But Im really curious if you couldnt follow the rules with the band, you yourself said you are not eating right , you are not exercising and you are not following any rules, what makes you think you will do it with the sleeve ??

Im sorry but the sleeve requires you watching what you eat, and you have to exercise on that wls also !!!

If you are looking for a surgery that you dont have to follow any rules there isnt one out there.  I dont care what surgery you get , you have to watch what you eat, you have to watch how much you eat, and you have to exercise .

Are you just wanting the sleeve cause your buddies are losing weight ?  You can lose weight with the lapband also if you would follow the rules but you are not.

Im not trying to be mean to you here but Im just stating facts and being honest with you .

I am a band to sleeve revision so I can speak for both procedures.

The sleeve is indeed easier, no way around it. No chasing down a sweet spot, no getting stuck and PBing, no over producing Ghrelin but... from what you are writing you wouldn't do any better with a sleeve than you would a band. The sleeve is purely restrictive, you don't malabsorb anything. A sleeve does what a band is supposed to do, consistent restriction. But I could eat around a sleeve every bit as much as I could a band, and so could you.

I get the food choices, that's hard and it takes hard work and effort. But not exercising? You know what? That's just lazy behavior. Who needs motivation? Just get your butt out there and do it. This isn't something that needs to be over analyzed, it just needs to get done. Very few people like cleaning toilets, very few people like exercise. But it's a responsibility and something that needs to be done.

No surgery type fixes white carbs. DSers, bypassed folks, sleeved people, bandsters... white carbs are on us to stop. No surgery type malabsorbs those.

You have to want weight loss badly enough to go out there and get it. If you are looking for surgery to do it for you then it simply isn't going to happen.

Yes, sleeves lose better than bands, but that doesn't mean we don't need to do our part equally as much as banded people.

it seems like you were NOT prepared for ANY weight loss surgery. my band is new but i love it it is slow but that's the heathest way to go.it is alto of work on my part but i am willing to do the work it takes to  get off my meds and feal better.all wls take time and effort keep with it

When You have the band and it doesn't work as well as others you read about on here it can be upsetting. I am grateful for the band yes in love with the band no. My problem with the band is that I'm always second guessing am I tight enough should I be tighter?  But I do have to say the last year while I have had minimal loss I have had basically no regain unless you count the same 10 pds up and down but this year has also been one of my most stressful so weight loss has not been on the front of my mind.  I am hoping this year to get the last 50 off have promised myself plastic surgery if I do it so we shall see.   

I think we/ourselves and sometimes others on here when you aren't very successfull automatically assume it is all your fault it isn't working and that is not always the case.  Yes it may be partially our fault but not always all our fault.  Sometimes the Dr's. refuse to fill when you need a fill.  Sometimes the mental portion of this journey is just to hard to get past.  And counseling is not always the answer it MAY/MAY NOT  help but it can also be expensive. 

So don't beat yourself up.  Give the band time get some more fills and stop beating yourself up do the best you can you might not lose fast but I bet you will lose and will be easier to keep off with the band.  YOU CAN DO IT!!  Hang in there.