Needed a safe place to put this out there...

I have posted this thread in the general & sleeve forums as well...just wasn't sure where it fit?

First of all I just want to thank everyone of you that utilizes this on line commuinity. Your posts are very informitive & help a lot! ...bless any of you that actually reads this post to the end! I can only imagine how many of these you have all seen & I am sure a lot of folks skip over them by now...I apologize  in advance for my ramblings. I just need a safe place to put this out there because this is the week that I am to schedule... I don't want to be sitting here a week or more from now w/ analysis paralysis! I know nerves play a huge role in all of this... I will also disclose that I am married to an medical professional & subsequently have head of horror stories!


OK enough! Here is my emotional/ verbal spew:

I am a 42 yr old SAHM. I'm 5'5" & currently weigh 260. I hit the scales @ 290 around @ the new year! I decided to F.I.N.A.L.L.Y. commit to weight loss surgery. I had attended 3 seminars since '07 w/ 2 different surgeons. I decided to call my insurance company &  find out from them which pre-op "hoops"  they require patients to jump through. So I got busy and met most of the requirements, w/ the exception of my labs.

For my new years resolution I gave up caffeine & soda pop( I only drank diet) . I took advantage of a Costco coupon & purchased a case of Pierre water. I didn't like it at first, but now I love it & it's all I drink besides filtered or bottled fla****er & unsweetened ice tea.  After losing 13 lbs, w/ the help of my IM's opti fast program (shakes in the AM & soup for lunch) , I went on to lose another 17 more, on my own!

We(DH & I) headed off to my first consult w/ the surgeon. He was a hard sell on the Roux en Y. DH& I were pretty set on a band. I countered w/ what I am sure he has heard before, w/ one exception. I seemed to have truly caught him off guard , if you will, when I asked about one tid bit,  that he hadn't come across much literature on. I take a medication for ADD that extremely curbs my appetite. I pretty much said : "well why wouldn't the band in conjunction w/ my ADD medication work even better?"

I have always visualized/related weight loss as :  "Here's a spoon now go dig me a hole for a swimming pool". 

With the band I see it as: "Here's a shovel now go did the same size hole."

With the redesigning/ re-plumbing surgeries (if you will ) I see it as: "Here's a  mini back hoe now go did the pool."

I have never had any disillusions about the fact that the band was more than likely  GOING to be MORE work & slower...I actually find comfort in that aspect of it! I'm really looking for help in losing the first 60 to 80 lbs. Once I have recovered/ re-habed from my Osteotomies (knock knees being straightened) & I have lost what my surgeon says he can guarantee that the lap band will do for me, I feel like I can truly take over from there & do what needs to be done to reach my goal & maintain my health.

I miss vigorous exercise so much... I loved jogging & power walking, but my knock knees combine w/ the 100 lbs that I gained w/ my 4 pregnancies, I had 4 kiddos in 4 yrs & 7 mos( INSANE, I know), equaled disaster for my ankles. I hobble  a lot these days & am in much pain. Exercising the way I love & am good at, just hasn't  been an option for almost a decade! However w/ the surgery & @ least 60 to 80 lbs off, I just know God willing, that I should have a better chance of getting back to the way I used to exercise!

So what's all this emotional /pseudo self convincing attempt  post about...I'm not sure really...I mean I feel that the band is a good choice however I also am drawn to the sleeve. But as everyone knows,  there aren't enough long term studies on the sleeve..short term studies extol/ confirm its positives!  The other thing that concerns me is the long term w/ the band. I just know in my heart that I don't want my internal plumbing to be re- routed.  I can get behind the sleeve, but not Roux en Y, even though I have dear close friends who have sworn by it.


Any advice, support  & especially BTDT from others who feel like they could have written this post will be truly appreciated! I'm going to stop now & hit "submit!"

Well, let's start with HELLO! And now, to your question(s).

Unfortunately, you will get "YAY!!!" and "BOO!!!" replies on every one of the different surgeries. There are people who have done well with RNY and people who have gained all their weight back. There are people - like me - who have done better than anyone imagined with the band, and there are people who never lost anything after their surgery.

What you need to do is review all your options, weigh them against you lifestyle, health needs, etc., as a buttload of questions, and then decide which one you think will give you the BEST chance of success.

Ask LOTS and LOTS of questions before you make your decision, but you really only want to do this once. If your decision is the band - GREAT! We're here to help you!

Subject:

via your post

I am like you. I did not want to re route my insides because once they do, there is no going back. My insurance did not approve the sleeve so the only option I had, was the band. I understood the risks of it and also realize that it is slower to loose weight. My surgeon also wanted me to have the bypass by I had to do what suited me as it will be me who is having the surgery. Research and ask alot of questions. You may hear negative things but realize all surgeries have risks. Some people have awesome success and some don't. I have the band and am doing my best to make it work. I am viligant in my process and keeping a close eye on myself in case something isnt quite right. Again, things happen. You will find people with good things to say about the band and also people who have had issues. Its a big world and we all have different thoughts and opinions. The decision is yours. And the decision is also your surgeon. Ask alot, learn alot and just make yourself well. I wish you all the success in the world on whichever surgery you end up getting.

OK I'll admit right off the bat that I'm anti band because it did not work for me, no matter how well I followed the program I lost all of 20 lbs. in the 4 years I've had it. It is now empty because like so many others my band started tightening after about 3 yrs, even without a fill or any other reason. I now feel like I'm living with a time bomb in me. What really concerns me even more than that is a doc that "guarantees" you will lose weight. That is someone I wouldn't trust because he can not guarantee anything with any surgery.
I understand not wanting your insides rerouted I'm against that myself but I just ask you look at the vertical sleeve gastrectomy, this is far from a new surgery. It is new to weight loss surgery but the surgery itself has been around since the '40s for cancer and ulcer surgeries. I have a BIL that had it done over 15 yrs ago for cancer and he is still as slim and trim as ever and can eat anything he wants. All I can say from my 5 years here at OH is I see so, so many unhappy bandsters and I see very few if any unhappy sleevers, so if you have the option of a sleeve I would really consider that over the band.
The band is a fickle creature even when it works well and it can be pure hell and leave permanent damage when not working. Plus even the manufacturers are now saying it will have to come out in 5-10 yrs. That wasn't known when I got mine or I wouldn't have ever had it. The band manufacturer Allergan is now being investigated by the FDA so I would think twice before getting one. My personal opionion is I wouldn't wish a band on satan himself but that's me. Just give this alot of thought and continue investigatiing until you are 1000 percent sure of your choice because I would hate for you to be where I am now. I would rather be fat the rest of my life than have a band. Lecture over, carry on.

The sleeve gastrectomy has been around since the mid 1800's

~I have always visualized/related weight loss as :  "Here's a spoon now go dig me a hole for a swimming pool". ~

How accurate! That is exactly what it seems like, isn't it?!

Now as far as your renewed efforts to change your lifestyle and lose weight. That is great. That is something we all need to do. The only problem I have here is that you are assuming that with your recent efforts,and  the ADD meds that the band will work in conjunction with this. Maybe.........maybe not. The band is very much a crap shoot!

When we get the band we assume that it will work as advertised. We also assume (or at least those of us that were banded when I was or prior to that) that the band is a lifetime product. NOT the case!

We all expect to work WITH the band, b/c as we are CONSTANTLY told...........the band is "just a tool". Well that if fine for those bandsters that get a tool, but for MANY of us that get the band we get NO tool at all! Imagaine you need to rake the yard and are all excited b/c you just got a new rake. Only problem is............when you go to use it all the metal things fall off it so it is of no use. Sure...........you have a "tool".........but it's not doing you any good. Well that same thing happens often with the band.

One thing I urge you to ask your surgeon about is what % of bandsters NEVER reach the green zone! The last figure I heard was 20%. Now I don't know about you............but there is no way in hell I would have gotten the band had I known that PRIOR to banding!

Also ask you Dr. about this!

Allergan 50% Removal/Complication Rate

 What a great post.  

If I could have chosen a band vs sleeve I would have chosen band (I had no choice.  I have a vascular/autoimmune disease and my docs would only allow the band).  I would have chosen the band thinking it did what I read; restricted your eating.  Fast forward a 2 years...

I would now have chosen the sleeve.  The band gets so tight for no reason at any given time in the day.  You never know if you can eat or what you can eat.  I'm so thankful I have my band and it has helped, but the sleeve would have been a better choice.

Inconsistent restriction is very troublesome and mentally draining.  Now, if it were the same restriction all the time (either tight of loose) I wouldn't mind as much.  But how it stands now is quite difficult.  

 "I would now have chosen the sleeve.  The band gets so tight for no reason at any given time in the day.  You never know if you can eat or what you can eat.  I'm so thankful I have my band and it has helped, but the sleeve would have been a better choice.

Inconsistent restriction is very troublesome and mentally draining.  Now, if it were the same restriction all the time (either tight of loose) I wouldn't mind as much.  But how it stands now is quite difficult.  "

This is exactly what I am experiencing, with no fill.  I tend to have difficulty most of the time, but much less pb's than before my unfill.  One concern is the pain is still coming, during the night...

 Steph, 
I'm not getting any pain, but I can feel immediately if I'm too tight for moist steak or chicken leg meat.  Usually it's some form of ground turkey or beef for me along with a salad.  For the most parts spinach, baby bib, baby greens go down easily (thankfully).  I'm not getting heartburn.  I still have fluid in my band, but I haven't had a fill in a year and I had an unfill the last time I went.  

I pretty much get stuck and bring it back up when I'm too tight.  Then, I can't eat for several hours or I'll just irritate it more...so then I resort to a protein shake or some cottage cheese.  It gets so old.  I am finally back on the losing side of things, but it's ALL ME.  I'm getting NO Fing help from the band.  If anything, all the crazy tight/not tight/too tight issues makes me want to go to bad foods **** cream, cookies, other bad carbs) because THOSE stupid things would go down---go figure.  

If you're having pain I would see your doc.  I really never have pain.  I just get stuck and bring it up right away and then I know it's not a good solid protein day.

I think us chicas have a slight variance in restriction with our sleeves as well - hormonal (during menses & when preggo it seems we have more capacity to eat add the sweet salty sweet salty cravings which I swear are very real)  My sleeve is NOT like the restriction I had with the band, It is more like the natural flow of things.  It is awesome truly!  You can ALWAYS eat healthy with a sleeved stomach!  

Still there is lots of shoveling (work)  but there is work with any of these surgeries -  it takes being mindful and working at being fit no matter how you choice to get there and even more so to remain steady with our results.  I am one who always wanted to do the work  . . . I only asked to see results for the work I put in.
Looking back, being banded was such a huge mind screw  - I like the other word better but ya know.  My sleeve is pretty steady or at least predictable - like I know my body/mind has heightened reactions to menses, ovulation so I expect a change. My fluid levels are so different in my body then.

All best,
L.

I really hope what you have goes into complete remission and that you experience complete body healing . . . without the fricken steriods!!!!