Nervous and need advice (sorry my post is so long)

I hate my band. Major complications over the last 8 years. I cannot wait to have it out on 4/17/13.
GERD, Esophageal spasms, unable to have it filled now. I only lost 40 pounds total. I lost all my jaw teeth top and bottom from vomiting so much over the last 8 years. My dentists confirmed that is the reason my teeth started to rot and the enamel was ruined. 

After a lot of reading, research and reviews on here for months (and the advice of about 20 people) I chose Dr. Daryl Stewart. I am glad I switched from Barker to him. Dr. Stewart is a very nice and sincere man with a hell of a reputation. He is also the man who taught many of the Texas surgeons to do the DS. He has been doing the surgery for a long time. 

Make sure you pick from the Vet DS surgeons for your own safety. I did not find any lawsuits against Dr. Stewart. Only a dentist with his same name. 

Please don't get a Lap Band.  They only work temporarily and leave you with horrible scarring around the stomach or worse (often much worse).  I believe they will eventually be taken off of the market. 

OMG, if your husband would see what the lapband does inside of your body over time (like eroding into your stomach) he would totally change his mind about invasiveness.  Just start reading the forum dedicated to revisions and complications.  They actually had a forum dedicated to Lapband failures, but it seems to have been removed.  Half or more wind up needing it removed because of complications in less than 8 years, then they have to revise to something else after they heal.  This is a total game changer and greatly increases your risks than doing a virgin procedure with a well experienced surgeon. 

I also second the recommendation of Dr. Stewart.

I have had the band since 2002 and have had 3-4 surgeries to fix slips port flips.. You name it ive had it go wrong! God willing and the creek don't rise, I will be revised to the DS on May 14th. There should be a class action law suite behind the lapband and I am ready to lead the charge. I learned the hard way... Find a dr who has more than one tool in his belt! Good luck to you!

1. Dr Daryl Stewart

2. NO ALCOHOL FOR AT LEAST 1 YEAR

3. DSers can, after weight loss, have a cupcake on occasion. The DS is forgiving...and 99% dont dump.

4. DSers have the least chance of regain.

Everything Stormy said!  She is a wise one and has been around here for quite some time. 

Do yourself a favor and go see Dr, Stewart.  Wipe the band off your list of possibilities.  Research heavily and take an HONEST look at yourself- can you rely on yourself to make the changes for each surgical type (they all require lifestyle changes).  Pick the one that fits closest to what you know you can do, even when you are at your worst in terms of motivation and willpower.  Think LONG term.  Think twice, cut once.  Revisions arent the best option.

As for postop with the DS.  I take NSAIDS (thank God, I couldnt manage my autoimmune without them), I have cake (or some other type of desert almost daily) and have never "dumped", I drink (I waited until i was a year out to have a drink, and avoid drinking to excess, but every Friday I have a few drinks with my girlfriends, and I never turn down a glass of wine or a beer on occasion). Ive vomited ONCE in 3 years since my DS (I ate a piece of bread, too soon after surgery and it came right back up), I lost OVER goal then regained TO goal and have stayed there no matter what I do,  I am no longer pre-diabetic, no longer have sleep apnea, no longer have high cardiac risk markers (high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc), I am ACTIVE and I love it.  I havent regretted my DS a single day and i KNOW for certain, i would have failed any other WLS option out there. 

Amen to everything said by all the others . . . I had a lap band, same reason.  My hubby and I thought, at least they don't really alter your insides, and if it breaks you can take it out easy peasy.  WRONG what they don't tell you is that as a foreign object your body reacts and covers it in scar tissue, which has a huge blood supply.  My aunt started with lap band, had it removed and converted to RNY, and has had to have multiple procedures to straighten her out since.  The lap band removal is the only time she's ever had to have a blood transfusion.

I weighed more the morning of my DS revision than I did before I got my band. 

RNY might work for some, some people say they feel like dumping isn't bad and keeps you on the straight and narrow.  But it only last so long, that's one of many reasons most regain after RNY.  I've also had people say that it's better to keep the "blind" stomach, because you can undo the surgery, etc. and the sleeve that extra part is just gone forever.  But I disagree, like others say, because what's left is blind they can't treat it if you have problems. 

Sleeve isn't bad, but I knew, I just knew, I needed more than that.  Being honest with myself.  Restriction wasn't going to get me there.  I needed to lose 150 lbs.  Sleeve gets you to 50% loss if you are successful, I couldn't stand being over 200lbs and being "successful." 

Thank you everyone for the stellar advice. I'm now feeling much more comfortable with the idea of WLS in general. You all have brought up very valid points that I didn't think of before, ie blind stomach and band issues.

The band is officially off the menu. As some of you suggested, I'm really doing some soul searching to figure out which tool would be the best to help me achieve long term success.

I can't thank you enough for all of your honesty and encouragement.