LAPBAND TO VGS REVISION?

Hi!

I got the band 3/2010 and have lost and regained all of my weight and am now back to my presurgical band weight. I am getting revisional surgery and am deciding between the VSG and the RNY. Any input would be appreciated! Pros/Cons to the sleeve, etc. Thanks so much!

Michelle

HI there, I'm a band to sleeve revision.  For me, the thing with the sleeve is that it works the way the band is "supposed" to work.  I don't have hunger as much or as often as I used to, I have restriction without getting stuck or sliming or PBing, I can eat normal foods (chicken, leafy greens, etc) and the weight just keeps coming off!  I didn't want the RNY because I didn't want any of my guts rerouted...with the sleeve I have a normal stomach, just smaller :)  If you have any other questions, let me know.  There's lots of band to sleeve revisions on this board, do a search of the forum and you'll probably get a few hits.  Good luck!  btw, I have zero cons to give you about the sleeve :)

Thanks so much for your reply! I see you're from NY, I am in Suffolk, getting my surgery done by Dr. Vohra who works out of South Nassau Hospital. I had/am having such a bad experience with the band, I can not WAIT to get this thing out. I have been living life for three years, throwing up and sliming after every meal with no weight loss! It's so embarrassing to have a WLS and not lose any weight. I am concerned that I will not lose weight with the sleeve because it is only restrictive. I feel that I may eat around it like I have done with the band. Is that something you feel you can do? I really appreciate your input. Thanks again!

Well hello there!  I live in Brooklyn but I went to college at Hofstra and I have many friends still in Long Island :)  Yes, my experience was much the same.  I suffered with the band for four years, sliming and puking at EVERY meal and gained all the weight back and then some.  I also developed a hiatel hernia and GERD UGH.  Honestly, I was concerned about that too being that this is a restrictive procedure but every WLS requires lifestyle changes.  I would recommend working on them now before you have any kind of surgery.  I thought I would have a hard time giving up pasta and potatoes and bread but I really don't even miss them.  It's really easy to go low carb because you have to get protein in FIRST.  Once you do that, there really isn't any room for anything else.

Now, I'm not saying you can't eat around the sleeve the way you could with a band.  It does happen, but I try to keep it in moderation.  I might get flamed for saying this but when I eat off plan or "around" my sleeve, I consider a cheat day.  I don't wallow over it, I pick myself up and move on from it.  Before, I would've keep going with eating "bad" foods but now I have such a different outlook on it, I just say well, that happened, be better the next time. 

I was also embarrassed that I didn't lose weight the way I thought I would with the band and that motivates me now.  I refuse, REFUSE, to fail a second time with WLS.  That helps keep my head in the game.  With RNY, you can eat bad things but you will feel sick to your stomach with nausea and the sweats.  At least with VSG you don't get the physical reaction, you just have the mental reaction of "Ok, what I just ate was not on my plan but I will try to be better next time".  One step at a time!

Extremely informative, and very helpful. Thank you for being so honest. It's people like you that I wish I had spoken to before I had gotten the band so I knew what I was getting myself into. I am glad to know the pros and cons and the honesty from your experience is greatly appreciated. I understand that if I again fail at this surgery that the sleeve can be converted to RNY quite easily, but like you said, I am in the same boat of "I won't let this happen again". My surgeon also stated that the part of the stomach that is removed has a significant effect on the metabolism which I think is a really big part of my problem, so maybe this is the next step in my WLS journey. Thank you again for taking the time to share your experience with me! Congratulations on your positive attitude and great progress so far! I am still trying to let go of my resentment towards my previous surgeon and my failure of the band, my new surgeon has told me I must be ready and have a positive mind in order to proceed with this surgery, I can not be going into the surgery with a negative mind.

I am right there with you.  I wish I had researched more about the band before getting it.  I also hold A LOT of resentment toward my original surgeon and another surgeon that I saw for help...neither of them wanted to help me and told me it was my fault.  I got lucky on surgeon #3.  He's a rockstar, has a great personality (which means a lot to me), and he's a skilled surgeon.  I'm so glad I found him.

I'm glad you've found a surgeon who will help you.  Try not to go into revision surgery as "well I can get ANOTHER surgery down the road if I need to".  That kind of thinking is what got us into trouble with the lapband, my friend.  It was appealing because it was "reversible" and "revisable".  Who wants more surgery?  Research and really think hard about making this revision work for you, forever!  Yanno what I mean?  I just feel like saying "well I can revise to something else later on" is a set up for failure.  Don't do it!

Hi Michelle and welcome!

I revised to the sleeve almost a year ago.  I have no regrets, but I can honestly tell you that the sleeve is not a magic bullet.  The RNY is probably not either. 

The previous poster was correct, the VSG works EXACTLY the way I was told my LapBand would work.  I never have trouble eating any kind of food (not true for everyone).  Because of this, I kind of went on a food frenzy this last year.  I had been so restricted for 4 years, I ended up eating any and all foods that I wanted.  So, my total weight loss with the sleeve has only been about 20 pounds.  I didn't have a lot to lose, but that's still not a stellar number. 

I am back on track and eating pretty low carb, just sticking to protein, veggies and some fruit. 

I say all of this just so you can keep my story in mind.  This is a great tool, but it won't work well without your participation!  Good luck!!

Thank you so much for your response! I am so glad to be getting some real feedback from this forum. I am scheduled to get all of my fluid taken out on Friday so that my stomach can have a "rest" before my upper GI for presurgical clearance as per my surgeon. I am terrified I will do just what you said - go on a frenzy. I haven't been able to have bread, french fries, etc. for over three years so I have really lost my taste for them, but I am so scared without the protection of "getting stuck" that I will go crazy. Hoping I don't do that. Though I can't even remember what it's like to have a french fry without sliming. I can not wait to get the band out! Right now, that's the only thing I am certain of. While I am getting all of my presurgical testing done, I have to do more research and find out what surgery is right for me. I am concerned that I will eat around the sleeve and not have any weight loss. I have approximately 200lbs to lose, so I am very concerned that I will not have a malabsorbtive component and that is something that I need to lose weight, however, my surgeon assures me that he feels I would be able to lose the weight with the sleeve just fine and would not disrupt the digestive tract by doing the RNY. Such a big decision! Thank you for taking the time to respond!

Michelle, although I truly love my sleeve, I do see the benefits of RNY.  Even when I am "on plan", I lose very slowly....I have a slow metabolism. So, there are days that I wish I had RNY done. Those feelings pass, because I am very thankful to have my sleeve and know t hat I WILL lose the rest of the weight, it will just be a tad slower. 

It's a tough decision, just make sure, no matter which tool you select, that you keep your head in the game!

I too am a band to vsg revision, I was banded in 2009 and my band slipped in April of 2012 which i had to have my band removed on an emergency basis as an xray showed my band slipped and caused my stomached to flip.  I ended up gaining back 30 pounds of 108.  In June I went back under the knife for the VSG as I knew the RNY was not an option for me.  By August I had lost the 30 pnds I had gained.  I have been thrilled with the VSG, it is everything the Band was suppose to be!!!! Lately I have been having hypoglycemic episodes, which I am not nor have ever been a diabetic.  So its back to the drawing board for meal planning, I work really hard to try eating every 2-3 hours.