Hating my sleeve

Revised to sleeve from slipped band in July 2009.  Had to lose only 40 pounds to get back to goal.  Lost 25 pounds (now only 20 have gained 5).  Previously was at goal with band for a year before discovering it was slipped. 

With sleeve I have very little restriction and DO feel hunger frequently.  I never felt hungry for 5 years with band.  When I got sleeve I was offered GB but chose not to get it, now I think maybe I should have.

In process of getting a barium swallow to check size of sleeve, either in MX or get films at home and send to Dr A.  Am mad at spending all that money (again!) for another WLS only to lose 20 pounds.  I think I would like the sleeve if it was tight.  And I have reactive hypoglycemia and am one of the "statistically unimportant less than 5%" who got iron deficiency anemia after sleeve, to boot. 

We do tend to beat our selves up after a revision .........arghhh the really bad 4 letter word ......diet.

Unfortunetly what you are going through is not uncommon for bandsters who have had their band for any lenght of time, 5+ years.  I had my band for 8 years, went down to 126 lbs, lost 171 lbs, lost that in 14 months, never hungry, maintained a normal bmi for 7 years, lost the band due to late term complications.  When I had the band removed, I gained weight.  When you have the band for a long time you become accustomed to the tightness and you will NOT get that with the sleeve, even Dr A's 32 Fr oversewn, that feeling is permanently gone.  I have not had any restriction post sleeve (DS).  I originally wanted the sleeve but after much personal research and consulting 5 wls, I was advised due to my issue the sleeve would not help me, as it woudl not offer me restriction, that has proven correct. 

In time you will notice that the feeling of the band you are looking for is gone, it is very difficult to have that missing, I completley understand.  for you I believe the sleeve was a disservice.   Dont go to a surgeon for information who doesn't do ALL wls including the DS,  drs will offer a surgery to someone they dont' do.  In other words Dr A does not do the DS, find a surgeon who does the band, rny, sleeve and DS.   Anyone telling you that you weight too little for the DS really doesn't have any idea how the DS works and how versitile it is, it is not about how much you weigh now, it is really about your set point.  I mean if you qualified for MO surgery then you qualify for a revision to DS.  I know revisions to DS that are at a normal bmi and don't revise to lose weight.   I hope you find what you are looking for.

Mila

Thank you Mila!  I was looking into the DS and was talked out of it by the DSers on here that the risks outweighed the benefit since I had so loittle to lose.  Even with the sleeve, several people told me I would lose too much initially and look underweight for a while until things adjusted.  That never happened.

Dr A's coordinator Nina says I could possibly resleeve if it is too big, or get a bypass, but that he wouldn't do the DS because I would become to malnourished.  Strange, because I never thought he did the DS, there is nothing on the website about it.  I believe he uses 34 bougie, not 32.

The only reason I did not reband is because I had heard that a re-band had a 80% chance of slippage again once it happened once.  I am halfway there to DS now, but my intestines are virginal, have never had any other surgery except gall bladder out.  If I revise the sleeve, I would expect some sort of discount.  I had to pay extra to get the band out and be sleeved in same surgery.  Most docs I consulted with would not do it at the same time.

 
Dr. Aceves did EastCoastGal's revision from sleeve to DS.  You don't have more risk with malnutrition having DS vs. RNY.  Both surgeries require a solid vitamin regimen. 

Dr. Aceves has been doing DS for a couple of years now I believe, he just wasn't doing them solo. He was doing them with Dr. Ungson.  I really don't know if he's doing them solo now or not.

Does the protein malabsorption differ between DS or RNY?  I could do the vitamin thing, I'm doing half of it now since this damn sleeve anyway.

Are you living in Mexico now?

 
Yes, protein does differ between DS and RNY.  I would not get RNY, if I wanted malabsorption I would absolutely get DS.  Way better living, better food, better malabsorption.

Yep, living in MX now and loving it.  I just wrote a PM to someone, here is what I wrote:


I LOVE MX!  Do you know we have no mail here?  None.  The electric company, cable, gas.... everyone, they hand deliver your bills to your house.  They hand deliver junk mail, too!  HA!

There is a daily routine, everyone has a locked gate.  You put your car in there at night, lock your gate.  In the AM when you are ready for company you unlock your gate, pull your car out and park in the street.  If your gate is locked people don't bother you.

Meat here is gross.  Blechhhhhh....  OMG beef is beyond gross.  Good thing vegetarianism is good with me! I went to WalMart today to buy water and fresh chickens were just sitting on ice in the middle of the store.  No refrigeration, just sitting on melting ice.  Yeah, I don't think so!  Eggs are not refrigerated, they aren't fresh if you do that.  I'll take unfresh eggs, I put 'em in the frig.

Wan****er?  You can buy it bottled or you can put your 5 gallon empty container in front of your house and someone will drive by and see you need water, knock on your door and sell you clean drinking water.  Need a phone book?  Annually a man not paid by the phone company will come by, give you a phone book, take down your phone number and name and next year you will be in the phone book.  You tip him because he's not paid by the phone company.  Since there are so many phone companies to choose from you have to tell him your name and phone number and that is how they compile the phone book for the next year.  If you aren't home the day he comes by you do not get a phone book and you aren't in it the next year.

Produce is cheap.  I will NEVER buy iceberg lettuce again.  Most of US produce comes from MX and there is a mega cleaning process done on produce.  When you have seen iceberg lettuce before the US cleaning process... it's disgusting.  Never again will I eat that stuff.  There is no cleaning that is good enough for me to trust it again.

Anything you want to buy, mops, brooms, tortillas, pots for planting flowers, home made tacos,... someone is selling it on the street.  No matter what you need you just drive down a long street and eventually you will find someone selling what you want.

Anything with an electrical cord is verrrry expensive here.  Much cheaper to go to the US for what you want.

Men are verrrry gentlemanly here.  Amazingly so.  Women are barefoot and preggers but well cared for.  It's a man's job to sincerely care for women.  Weird.  I don't think i have opened my own door since I got here.  I was trying to back out of a parking space but I had to back out into the street.  Due to traffic I couldn't get out of my parking space.  A man saw my issue and went out in the middle of the street, stopped the traffic and then I could back out of my parking space.  He thought nothing of it.

Again!  They HAND deliver junk mail!  Priceless!

Nobody here has a furnace, they are wasteful and nobody has one.  If you are cold, wear a jacket.  If you want to mail a birthday card you don't since there is no mail, you just call the person and say happy birthday.  Nobody has carpet, it's all ceramic tile and a buggar to keep clean.  Nobody has a dishwasher, not even wealthy people.  It's wasteful.  I have horrible cable service right now so I'm switching to a better company.  For unlimited MX and US phone minutes, high speed internet access (4 gigs) and a cable di**** is about 1200 pesos a month, or $100.  It will save me $250 a month I currently  pay for just phone and internet.  I rented a 3 bedroom home for 3200 pesos a month, or $270 USD.  My dog is currently not feeling well, i don't take her to a vet, that is an inconvenience for me.  My new vet will be here in the AM to treat my dog.  Carlos.

EVERYTHING is different here, absolutely everything and I love it.  This is what I signed up for, I wanted to learn about the MX culture and I am.  Today I spent the day with my nina, my 16 y/o neighbor girl.  Her name is Estefania.  Her parents are working this season in Yuma, AZ and I agreed to keep an eye on her.  Her two older (adult) brothers are taking care of her but she needs a female around.  Today we spent the day together shopping and eating way too much Chinese for dinner. She's adorable.  

I bought a space heater, btw.  It's COLD here with no furnace.  I am a spoiled Americano!  I don't do 60(F) in my home.  I wore my jacket for two days straight.  I want warm!

I learn something new every single day and love it!

Yeah, MX is great.  I never realized how wasteful Americans are until I moved here.  It's a huge culture shock and very cool! ;o)

What a fun and interesting read!  Thanks for posting!!

I had a near impossible time finding anyone who would revise me to sleeve, let alone to the DS.  Frequently, I heard that my BMI wasn't high enough.  I imagine those docs thought I should wait and gain back 100 pounds before i could get a revision????


The band worked well for me, the only reason I didn't get another one was the almost certainty of another slip in the future.

Do you know what surgeon the normal BMI revision patients used for DS?

I think Dr A uses 34 Fr bougie.

 I had a Ruen-Y in 1995, Lost over 130 lbs and kept it off until 2004 and my pregnancy. After I gained 80 lbs with my pregnancy I was unable to loose any of it. I also had malnutrition and vitamin B12 deficiency so bad that my nerves were severely damaged.
 I then had a revision to a sleeve in 2009, 2 1/2 years later I am down 40 lbs. I couldnt loose more than 20 pounds for the first year and a half. It's only been the last 9 months that Ive taken off another 20 lbs, most likely due to having my underactive thyroid adjusted with medication. (Cymbalta may have helped as well) 
 The sleeve was a waste of time. I should have had my ruen-y pouch made smaller and continued with daily vitamin and weekly  injections.
 I am hungry, I can eat too many sweets.. overeating is easy now. I dont feel a restriction and miss being 'sick' when I ate something I shouldnt have. After 14 years of not being able to have a piece of cake on my birthday you better bet this old lady eats her cake now!! :)