Anyone revise to VSG?

I had the lap band surgery Aug. 2006 and have been on a rollercoaster the whole time. When I had my surgery I had just turned 21 and I was very depressed and had bad anxiety and was uncomfortable with myself. I was depressed all the time and had no idea what depression was. I take medication for hypothyroidism and I was on the wrong dose for years. The dose was so high that it made me depressed and have bad anxiety. I was always throwing up and i got full from drinking water. I only had lost about 20 pounds after surgery but gained it back.Fast foward to 2011 I had my second and final child and my OB checked my blood work constanty till i was on the right dose. I feel so much better now. I'm not depressed anymore but I'm not happy with my weight. It keeps me from being the happy person I want to be. I have a 29 mo old daughter and a 8 week old son and I want to be able to play with them and hold them and not have my back or knees hurt. My weight makes me very irritated and I don't want to be like that anymore. I have a appointment on Friday to talk to a new surgeron about revising to the VSG. I will be using a new insurance so we will see what happens. Let me know how it's been for you since your VSG revision please.

 I did, and it was the best decision I ever made!

I had the lap band for just under 3 years. In my first year, I did well and lost about 65 lbs. Almost exactly at 13 months out, I began to have complications with random tightening of my band. Some days I couldn't drink water while other days I could eat the same as I could pre-op.

I had tons of unfills and slight fills with fluoro, but we couldn't figure out the random tightening and I had a complete unfill for several months before my revision. After that first year, I spent the rest of the time regaining any weight I had lost.

I revised to the sleeve in December. Since that time I have lost about 108 lbs and I feel fantastic. My sleeve offers consistent restriction and I have never vomited with my sleeve...with my band, vomiting could occur anywhere at anytime no matter what I was trying to eat. I am so thankful to be free of my band and to have found such success with the sleeve.

You may want to post your question on the VSG forum as well. There are several band to sleeve revisers over there.

Best of luck,
Lindsey

Hijack, Lindsey, your new avi looks amazing! I love the pic!!!

Aww, thanks! 

How is the weight loss going for you?

I've lost nearly 109 lbs in the last 9 months. I'm pretty happy about it!

That is more than I lost the entire time I had my band.

Lindsey

Thank you!

Lucy I revised from band to sleeve after 3 years because I had 2 slips and probably permanent esophageal dysmotility.  I was successful with the band for almost a year, got down 112 pounds before all the problems started with the fills/unfills and slips.  I never kept a too tight fill but my body got very sensitive to the fills and after a year is when i started vomiting and i never knew what would stay down.  Some days I could eat my protein, most days soup would come up.

You need to know yourself.  If a purely restrictive procedure works for you, then give the band another try.  Start over with slow fills and go back to basics.  If that doesn't work, talk to your doctor and see what they have to say.  Sometimes your body may need a malabsorptive procedure.  I'm not a fan of RNY although I do know people that have had long term success with it, mainly because they have  been very strict.  You do have to realize that, especially with depression and anxiety (and I know because I have suffered with both my whole life and take meds for them) that for a lot of us, we turn to food to lessen the effects of both even with meds.

A lot of people think that WLS will take care of the weight loss for us, and in the beginning it does, but once the honeymoon period is over it takes work on our part.  And I promise you, you will need to be on a diet the rest of your life to maintain.  Not a crash diet, but a healthy lifestyle program.  Most people don't want to hear that, but it's true.  Ask anyone who has successfully maintained any weightloss, with or without surgery, and they will tell you that they watch every morsel of food they put in their mouths. 

I wish you luck with whatever decision you make.  For me, revising to the sleeve was the best decision I made.  No more throwing up, no more pain with eating and most of all, I have reached goal and I know I will be able to maintain it because I can finally eat healthy foods again in small portions.  And yes, I do diet.  I let myself have an occasional treat now that I am in maintenance, but it isn't that often, and once the scale goes up a few pounds, I cut them out and go back to my protein and produce only.  And it's not such a terrible thing.  I'm happy, I'm healthy and I'm thin.  And I don't feel like I'm constantly choking anymore.  Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

Michelle have you had any reflux with your sleeve. I get terrible reflux with my band everytime I get to good restriction. Did you have to have 2 surgeries one to remove your band and another for the sleeve?