2 failed bands, now onto VSG

Good morning. I have had 2 band surgeries. I am scheduled Nov 7 to have it removed, heal for 3 months, then my surgeon will perform the VSG. Has anyone been through this process?

I haven't but I think you are going to be in good company here on this site. I have heard/read so many different stories of failed band surgeries which ultimately led to VSG or RNY. You'll get plenty of replies on this subject. :) Good luck!! 

Thank you for replying. I am not able to get VSG until 3 months after my band removal which will put me into 2/17..grrr...I would love to hear from you just before and right after your surgery if you don't mind. It would be helpful to prepare mentally for this since I am already so nervous!

It would be my pleasure. I am scheduled for surgery on 9/27 right now. Started my pre-op diet yesterday and i'm going strong. Please feel free to friend request me and/or message me. I post pretty often. :) 

Thank you! I have been on this site forever, but never really came on until this procedure so not sure how to send a friend request! lol..What is the pre-op diet like. I haven't gotten that far since my band needs to come out first. What do you have to do to prep?

Veronica

I sent you a friend request! I'm in NJ also. :)  Well, in the Bariatric group I use, the pre-op diet is all food, not liquid, so I was truly thankful for that. That is really rough to get through 2 weeks of an all liquid pre-op diet. My pre-op diet is all high protein, low-carb/no carb and lots of veggies, egg whites, yogurt and unsweetened applesauce. There are other things on the list of pre-op foods, but i don't eat those and can't stomach them, so these are my picks from the list for the next 2 weeks. Also, have to get in at least 64 oz of water per day. Which i do anyway at work, so that's fine by me. It is pretty easy, it's just alot of food to stuff into one day, times 14. Lol. Im a big girl, but i don't eat that often, so trying to get this all in is a little bit of a challenge, but im sticking to it and i started using the myfitnesspal app and I also dually write all of my food and water in a food journal notebook I got for myself to keep me accountable and focused. 

I figure if I am going through all of this, I am going to do this right and make it work to the max. I hope my sleeve loves me as much as I will love it. 

I'm sorry to hear your bands did not work for you, but i don't think you are alone in that. I was actually sitting in next to a  woman at my surgeon's office and she had a failed lapband surgery, lost weight and then gained it all back and was converting to VSG after a few months since they removed the band. I've seen that story several times and the people usually do really well with VSG after band, from what i've read.

I wish you good luck and I hope it all works out for you! Your surgery will be here before you know it and it'll be all a long forgotten memory. 

If you didn't get your desired results with the band, unless there was a mechanical failure twice, I'd suggest looking at a combination of restriction and malabsorption to try a different twist.  That would be either the RNY or DS

I had a band - never achieved the level of success as I have with the sleeve.  The sleeve is a huge improvement!!!

I had a band-to-sleeve revision. Fortunately, the surgeon was able to remove the band and do the sleeve at the same time. But then, I only had one band -- that was bad enough. Two bands?? You poor thing!!!

psychoticparrot

I know that people with one band can have the removal at the same time. I was kind of thinking that is how it would go, but my surgeon said there will be to much scar tissue and doesn't want to take the chance for leaking with all that so its best to do it in a 2 step process.