Dr. said band to sleeve operation pointless and unsuccessful!?

I had a band from Nov 2007 to Feb 2014 - lost at most 75 lbs and then had alot of trouble with the band and regain upon removal.  Had it removed Feb 2014 and was sleeved April 2014.  Lost 88 lbs and have maintained ever since.  I cannot say enough how much i LOVE the sleeve.  I rarely have trouble eating (no more stuck episodes) and i get full quickly.  I think it is 1000% better than the band.  I don't know why your doctor would discourage it, to me it was nothing short of miraculous.

he gets more money for doing the bypass than the sleeve.

I believe that he sees the RNY as the best option for you and is sharing that knowledge with you. 

I wanted the lapband and my surgeon told me RNY was a better choice for me.  I am glad I listened.

Well, I hope he's wrong!  

I had a band 10 years ago weighing about 380, lost about 100 lbs.  Slipped a year later, horrible reflux and had revision surgery.  Few years later, same thing happened.  Had a third surgery and replaced the original band with a newer one got down to about 240. Things went well for several years but 3 years ago, horrible reflux began again. Started gaining weight.  I'm now back up to 330.  My surgeon says he has done hundreds of band to sleeve revisions with tremendous success.   So, I've got surgery #4 scheduled for Feb 16th.   Here's to wishing both of us good luck!

Translation: He is telling you he that he is not very good with the VSG..... Time to move on.

Individual surgeon stats are most important with this non standardized procedure.

frisco

Wow !!!! Thank you all so very much ! Collectively all this information is exactly what I needed. Had a gut feeling I should more on but I wasn't sure ! This was a breath of fresh air ... Thank you! 

I think it has more to do with why you are seeking a revision.  If you did great with the band, but had to revise because of a malfunction of the band, then the sleeve would be a perfect substitute.  

Now, if you never made it to goal or are suffering regain despite the band being in you, then restriction alone may not be the answer.  You may need something more aggressive, like the DS or RNY to boost your metabolism along with restriction.  The DS does have the sleeve stomach if the pouch doesn't sound very good to you.

Anytime a doctor says something that your instincts make you wonder, it would be prudent to get a second opinion, the fact that it is an approved procedure should tell you something. If it didn't work or statistically had a high failure rate, it wouldn't be available because the insurance companies wouldn't want to pay for something that doesn't work and would put them in a position to pay for another surgery. I never did the band, I just did the sleeve and it's be wonderful for me. I am a day past 9 weeks and have lost 99 pounds. My doctor when explaining different options to me, the band, the sleeve, the RNY, said he prefers the sleeve the most because it keeps the valve in the bottom of your stomach intact which is very important. True you lose faster with the RNY than the sleeve, but you still lose a considerable amount of weight with the sleeve, and the sleeve is less invasive than RNY, the sleeve just re-sizes your stomach, the RNY is bypassing intestines and I know for myself, I didn't like that idea at all. I would suggest talk to a new surgeon and go for the sleeve. If you look through past forum post, you will find a lot of people who had the band then revised to the sleeve and had good results. Good luck.

In Dec.2010 had the band put in and hernia repair. In dec.2014 I had it removed and converted to VSG. My surgeon did both at same time. I did have scar tissue he told me after it was over. I love the sleeve. I lost more weight than the band and I can eat anything without stuck food problems. I went down from size 22 to a regular large. I couldn't be happier and advise you to get another opinion from another surgeon. I'm so happy not having that band..My life has changed. Good luck with everything.