Lap band or Sleeve

Hi everyone, I am currently looking into wls trying to decide which way to go. I have read a great deal of comments on the band and to tell the truth made me nervous. I am aware what ever path I decide it will be another of hard work. But after lifetime of dieting counting calories and exercising the whole 9 yards I need a more effective give tool to help me. I appreciate any comments and advice. Thanks!

Really? I'm the first one to respond here...kind of surprised!

Well....Im sure you'll receive a lot of comments and advice. I'll jump in with my own experiences. I would also encourage you to read through the topics listed on this page and then go read through the topics listed on the sleeve page. See how concerns/successes differ. You should also consider posting your question on the sleeve board and even on the main board. You'll likely get more comments and advice than you bargained for! 

So, I've had both the band and the sleeve and for me the sleeve is the hands down winner. I had my band for just under 3 years. The first year it seemed to work well and I lost about 65 lbs. Then I began to have complications. I would experience random tightening of the band where I would be unable to eat anything, sometimes even unable to drink water. I had to rush to the doctor for emergency unfills each time. Any time I tried to get restriction in my band again, it would always randomly tighten up again no matter how little we filled the band. Even at times when it was completely unfilled. I spent the next 2 years regaining any weight I had initially lost.

With the band, I would never know what I could eat and what would make me sick. Getting stuck or vomiting was a frequent occurrence. It seemed like anything could change the tightness of my band...the band was tighter in the morning than at night, tighter in the summer than the winter, tighter after flights, tighter during my period...etc. etc. I was constantly trying to guess what was making my band tighter one day v. the next. 

Honestly, I felt far from normal, it was downright embarrassing at times, and pretty miserable.

This is me after nearly 3 years with the band weighing over 300 lbs at my revision...

 

And this is me after 2 years with the sleeve weighing about 160 in this photo...

My sleeve worked like I had thought the band would. I was able to tolerate healthy foods, but just feel full on less. I was able to eat in the morning or in the summer or in the winter or whenever with consistent restriction. I also had the added benefit of losing my physical hunger. 

I'm incredibly happy with my sleeve and life at a normal weight. 

I would encourage you to research all of your options and consider the success rates! It feels great to have lost all of my excess weight and I think you should stack the deck in your favor because you deserve to be a healthy weight.

Best of luck...keep us updated,

Lindsey

Get the sleeve.....and that is coming from a bandster.

I personally think the sleeve is the way to go. I wish I could have a revision and get the sleeve.

 

After being a successful LapBander for almost 5  years and now a Sleever, I have to say, I would choose the Sleeve, every time!

The Sleeve allows you to eat healthy.  It allows you not to ever be hungry.

With the Band, i was hungry a lot, I also was not able to eat things like Salmon and Chicken Breast.  I had to drench much of my meats in a sauce in order for them to not get stuck.  I had very few fills.  I had almost nothing in my Band and toward the end of my time as a Bander, this his how I lived. 

I lost 270lbs with the LapBand and I appreciate that, however, in the end, I had to have it removed before it did permanent damage to my stomach and now as a Sleever, I am able to eat solid proteins and never have that horrible stuck feeling!

Oooops I thought I was responding to a different post.
I am 5 yrs post op from my band and I am at my goal weight, after losing 135 pounds.

Visit a local support group in your area. It will put you in contact with the doctors you would be actually receiving the care from. It will give you insight to the type of after care you will have available to you , which is vitally important after ward. And to meet with actual people face to face.

Unfortunately many of our vets no longer want to post here at this website. So you will mainly hear from those who had complications .

Check out Dr. Terry Simpson from Arizona. He has a great website . He actually is in attendance I most if not all his support group meetings. So he has great formation.

You can check out my profile if you like. Also check out a post by Bette here on our forum, it is very in lightening.

Good luck with your decision,
Prek3

Forgot to add

Go to Lapband Talk website! A great place to get I touch with Lapbanders
Prek3

I was banded for almost 5 years. I loved my band and I still miss it. Last year I had it removed at my surgeon's insistence because of esophageal damage from decades of silent reflux. In August 2012, I had sleeve surgery and my hopes for what the sleeve would do for me have not come to pass. It has not eliminated my hunger. In fact, I'm fiercely hungry all the time, no matter what I eat or how much or when. My blood sugar (previously controlled with diet and exercise) has gone crazy. I have to eat 8+ times a day to manage the hunger and keep my blood sugar steady. I've become anemic, which turns out to be fairly common in sleeve patients. The good things I can say about the sleeve is that I can't eat much at one time and have lost the 30 lbs I regained when I lost my band, and it doesn't require adjustments like the band does, so involves less aftercare and more immediate weight loss. I'm not very objective about my sleeve, and since I'm only 5 months post-op, the jury is still out. Ask me again in a year and I may be loving my sleeve.

But having said all that, I also have to say that long term success with any weight loss procedure is going to involve a lifetime of good nutrition and regular exercise. No weight loss surgery is magic. The band or the sleeve are just tools to make weight loss and weight management more effective. A bariatric dietitian who was speaking at a support group  meeting I attended a few years ago said that band patients have to make lifestyle changes immediately to succeed; that while bypass patients may lose weight quickly and easily at first, they too will need to make the same lifestyle changes one day. So it's a pay me now or pay me later deal.

ETA: I forgot to mention that I "dump", like a gastric bypass patient can, when I eat something too high in sugar. I'm not talking candy (I'm scared to eat one bite). I mean so-called healthy foods like cottage cheese, yogurt, milk, fruit, etc.

First you have to ask yourself, you are WILLING to get most of our stomach removed? Then you have to ask yourself, are you WILLING to see your surgeon often for NEEDED fills especially the first year, for many lap band fills are no problem, but others have had a hard time finding the sweet spot and lap band fills CAN get expensive, they can range from free with insurance and over $800 with no insurance so you will get different experiences based on financial status and available aftercare -- those with limited aftercare have more complications than those with great aftercare. Hence the lap band can be the best thing since sliced bread or it can be a disaster for others.

Also make sure you are a candidate to have a foreign object in your body, many people have problems with weaken esophagus or motility issues -- I've never had this problem in 8 years I've had my band. Also some surgeons don't know how to fill the band properly even if they install it right. Lap band fills ARE EXTREMELY important, so you may want to ask your surgeon about fills and aftercare.

Also have you fully researched your surgeon? If you are considering the lap band make sure your surgeon supports the band and has done over 500 lap bands -- this will be your first defense against complications. Also you need to know upfront the band is ONLY a tool. Meaning you must do your part of eating lean proteins and veggies and exercise.

The Biggest problem with the lap band is ABUSE, not saying everyone who have complications abuse it but MANY DO, with the Band YOU get to decide on tight your band gets. But with the Sleeve your Surgeon decides on your restriction and creates a bougie for you and there are different sizes.

My decision on picking the band over the Sleeve was this: The band is Adjustable and Reversible" and I was not willing to get my insides rearranged or stomach removed, and I can get the band removed if I have a problem with it and it can always be filled or unfilled. The Sleeve can't, and surgeons really don't know the long term effects of the Sleeve. Also I was NOT OK with removing my stomach and I may need it one day.

I've had a lap band inside my body going on 8 years, I am comfortable with the lap band, I have established a "Love/Hate" relationship with it. It's not perfect and I know how to deal with it, it has NOT damaged my body, I had a hiatal hernia BEFORE I got my first band and my first surgeon did not repair it, and I started having back and chest pains a few months ago, so I had it repaired and a new band put in at the same time. Now I feel awesome -- I feel the band is the safest surgery FOR ME and from reading the revision board lately there are too many people seeking a revision from the Sleeve and I DO NOT want to remove my stomach for nothing especially if I can't keep good tight restriction for long periods of time.

Many people who are bitter towards getting their band removed may tell you that their bands was not reversible -- BUT my band was, I had scar tissue but my surgeon was able to remove it.  With ANY TYPE of surgery you will develop scar tissues, even with a C-section after child birth you develop scar tissue and some people have issues with this, some scar tissue is softer than others and some is extremely tough and this many cause pain and other issues. But the Band Basher will tell you in a heartbeat, that it is the lap band that caused their misery.

 I don't consider the Band Bashers being totally truthful about their band experience, please do not make a life changing event based on strangers on the internet, you may live to regret it.

I would not change to any other surgery for nothing, read the revision board, you will see there are many Bypassers, Sleevers and lap banders asking for help, No weight loss surgery is perfect, you just have to pick the one you are willing to live with.

Good luck, from an honest long term bandster.