Band out and thinking of going to vsg . Will I be able to eat meat?

Thanks so much for your reply!  What does happen if you take too big of a bite?  I had a hell of a time with that thing and I'm completely traumatized.   I'm so scared since the sleeve is permanent. 

if you take too big of a bite it just goes down like it would have before the band.  I understand especially with a new VSG that chewing and eating slowly is important.  However a miss swallow is never caused me pain, discomfort in the stomach area, I've not thrown up, and I've not felt ill for hours.  So I try to keep it from happening but it's not going to punish you from my experience. 

Also look at what we eat during our "soft phase" such as the famous ricotta bake recipe I added hamburger to that one as I graduated out of that phase (think noodles lasagna).  I just had a cauliflower and hamburger with melted cheese thing I made up where basically I used cauliflower instead of noodles for something similar to hamburger helper.  I ate several types of fish as those are soft meats, shrimp, scallops, and crab.  If you like tuna it's a great staple for a protein forward diet.  Also croc pot things like chili, soups, stews, chicken with salsa is really soft after several hours.

Anyway the point is even with your chewing issues you might not be eating beef jerky but I bet you can find many things that will work!

Liquid calories-- with the exception of protein shakes-- are a no-go. Juicing is right out, as it's nothing but empty sugar and carbs, even if they seem like "good" ones. Even veggie smoothies should be put aside in favor of protein.

I don't believe I've seen any sleeve patients on the boards who have trouble with non-pureed mushies. Scrambled eggs, flaked fish, shredded chicken, things that have sauce and are a bit wet. As I understand it, you don't need to chew as thoroughly with a sleeve as you do with a band, which could help quite a bit.

Check with a surgeon for his/her opinion. They've probably worked with lots of band-to-sleeve situations and can best compare the two.

As far as teeth go, do you have a dental school in your area? They often have low-cost clinics so the students can get their clinical experience in. My aunt got a full set of implants for the cost of a single crown, and the dentist doing them was fully trained but needed more hours for his license.