Calling all converted band folks!

Looking for feedback from people who went a while between procedures. In my case I will be sleeved on 5-11, 4 yrs and 4 months after eroded band removed.  There was too much damage then to convert. I will be self pay. When banded was 287, lost down to 163 at lowest before I lost restriction, 198 at band removal and now 215. 

Thoughts? Comments? Emotional outbursts? Anybody got anything I should know?

I am not a band persson so I cannot help in that regard. I am just so sorry that the band caused so much damage, and that now YOU have to pay to make it right. Just doesn't seem fair. Good luck with your surgery!

Hi. I am a band to sleeve revision. I only had a month between surgeries. Although I didn't have erosion I did have a lot of scar tissue. I did have to spend an extra night in the hospital due to the scar tissue. I am 55 years old & have an under active thyroid. At nine weeks out I have lost 35lbs. Not great but because I am a revision, my age and my under active thyroid I should be happy with that loss. I can tell you every pound is fighting me! 

Best of luck to you!

Thanks guys. It is a bummer to be self pay, one reason I didn't do this sooner. My husband's ins paid for my band, and mine paid for removal. My insurance is saying that removing the band counts as the 1 per lifetime bariatric procedure I'm allowed so they denied me. Last March my a1c became elevated and I'm pre hypertension so that also hastened my decision. I haven't been able to get back under 200 on my own. At least my surgeon is giving me a discount on his part but the hospital of course won't.  I'm having a hard time finding anyone who went thinking between procedures. My surgeon said it's been so long now he doesn't really consider me a true revision. If I could just get back into the clothes I still have I would be thrilled..  He thinks I could easily reach goal. I hope so!

I had a band in 2007(high weight 233), got down to about 160 at best, band emptied, then removed feb 2014 - regain to 210...sleeved april 2014 - got down to 121 by about April of 2015...Now at 130 2 years out, but I'd like to get back to about 122-123 where I was happiest.

Much better with the sleeve - no stuck episodes, great restriction.  I've had the regain due to eating crap and less exercise this winter.  I'm getting back on track and want to get back to 122-123.  Sleeve is the best!

Sounds great- I sure hope it goes that well for me! Stuck episodes were hours of slimy misery. I sure don't miss that. My sister had a band after me and still has hers and has issues at holidays and restaurants with that. I feel guilty because I sort of was the one who helped her decide to get a band. She will get up and sort of quietly disappear and I know why. I hope she will convert too after I do. I've got to set a good example :)

Hi,

I too had to wait for my sleeve due to issues with my band and because I lost my job and I couldn't do the self pay.  so I waited 6 years and I am so glad I did the sleeve - this tool is way better than the band, not having to deal with fills, and leaks and such.  I have so much scar tissue from my band and the fills that I look like I have an extra boob.  The doc. says they can clean all that out once I get to my goal weight, but until then, when I try and see my feet, all I see is this bulge.  anyway, the biggest difference, is I can tell when I'm full with my sleeve.  With my band, i would vomit more than I think anyone should, but have only done that once with the sleeve and that was because I didn't chew well.  I had shrimp the other night, chewed and chewed and after eating 1.5 of them, I said I'm done, and I don't think my new stomach likes shrimp.. So I won't be eating that again soon. I say that because I needed to get more protein in and only 1.5 pieces of shrimp, didn't cut it.  Best of luck.  You'll love your new sleeve.

I'm curious for the people who had to wait after band removal.... did you only have to wait because you wanted to do the sleeve?  If you had opted for RNY or something different where it's not a matter of making a long tube out of the stomach would you have been able to get it all at once?

Also, for the OP, that really sucks that your own insurance would consider removal of a medical device that was slowly killing you to be a "bariatric surgery" so is there any way to appeal that?

There was too much damage to my stomach when he removed the band. It was an erosion which means it wore a hole into my stomach. I saw the pictures from the inside he took when he put the scope down. Frightening that my stomach was open like that. He offered to do it again in 4-6 months. I tried on my own and actually had a lot of success with medifast but it was only 800-100 per day- with no restriction-and mind blowingly expensive and I couldn't get to goal so I could go on maintenance. I  gained all of that back plus 15 more.  At this point I just cannot wait any longer- I am only getting sicker and fatter. I have mild hypertension and am pre diabetic with hip and back issues as well and I am just done. That is why I am willing to self pay. If situations were different I would probably wait for an appeal. Everyone's got to do what is best for them and it took me quite awhile to come to this decision but I feel it's the best path for me.

One other thing - when I was.banded I only needed 5 days off work. I went back on light duty.  When my band was removed, we thought it would be the same but I was out for an additional week due to an abscess in port site incision. It has been a long time now, so I took 5 days off thinking it will be ok but a lot of folks on here say they couldn't return to work for much longer. I am a retail pharmacist. This is coming out of personal and vacation time. Any opinions?