Lap Band -vs- Sleeve ???? Which one?

 Having had both, I can hands down tell you that I prefer the Sleeve, my quality of life is so much better. Even my husband said to me when we went out to breakfast the other morning that he was so much happier since I got my band out b/c he knows we can just go with no worries, and he knows that I am not going to freak out halfway though a meal and have to get up and leave b/c I am stuck, or sit there misarable and not wanting to talk or participate in the meal b/c of being in pain, or that he isn't going to have to pull over on the way home b/c I have the foamies from being stuck. 

I love my Sleeve in a way that I never loved my band.

I agreed with the above post. I hated my band and the way it made me feel. Had mine taken out In Nov. and once my new insurance kicks in I am going back to have gastric bypass. I do not even want to try the sleeve, it doesn't seem like the best option for me. I would not recommend the band to anyone. I am sure there are many who have had success but there are alot who have short lived success or have a REALLY hard time maintaining long term weight loss.

The band was the worst mistake I ever made.
Don't do what I did and have to go through another wls to revise to the sleeve which is sooo much better in every way.

Thoroughly research.  The band is by far the worst wls out there for many reasons.

If I can just prevent one person from getting it I would happy to know I was helping.

 Huzzah to Nertz for telling it like it is. Please do more reasearch on this matter. 

Here's some to start:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=ShowDetailView&TermToSearch=16839478&ordinalpos=2&itool=EntrezSystem
2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum


Whatever you decide on I wish you all the success you deserve. If you feel you don't need a malabsorbtion componant in your surgery than I would personally go with the sleeve. I've had the band and am getting a revision to a DS. But I need the malabsorption and know I do.  

Good luck to you,
Susan

Oh, thanks!   

If you had posted this 4 years ago I would've jumped in and told you how great I did and how happy I was with the band. However, at about the same time I got to goal weight (11 months later), I started having BAD issues with the band. I've since regained all my weight after not being able to be filled for 3+ years and am going through all the steps again to get the VSG.

Save yourself a surgery and get the VSG the first time. Odds are not in the bands favor, especially long term. Good luck!

Thank you for all the comments. Ive decided to go with the sleeve. I did a lot of research and I think its the best decision for me. I know 3 people that had the lap band. 2 lost weight but regained it plus more. (about 4 years ago) The other person works out every single day at the gym and struggles and has never got to her goal weight. Thanks again !

Hooray for you!

I am late chiming in but I just had my band of 4.5 years out and revised to a sleeve 11 days ago.  My body is ELATED to have that device out.  So much pain, inflammation, heartburn, inability to eat well and problems over the years. My recovery with the revision surgery has been so much easier for me. My body did NOT like having that foreign object in it.  It took 5 hours to do my surgery as there was so much scar tissue to clean up from the band (explains why the damn thing kept getting so tight over time).

I do NOT miss my band. And I do NOT miss the extra volume of stomach. I am not hungry, at all. it's kind of awesome.  And I've lost 25 lbs in 10 days (including 15 lbs of surgery water weight). LOL I will never look back.

I wish the sleeve was an option for me in 07 but at the same time I don't know if I would have been ready to do it. The band was well-marketed and I bought into the BS. I didn't want my anatomy altered. Now I have no issue with it knowing it's the best surgery for people who don't want malabsorption.