Sleeve or Lap Band?

I decided that having something foreign in my body, plus all the hassle of fills etc was just not for me. Nor was the restriction on the WHAT I could eat as well as the quantity. The sleeve works brilliantly for me. Leaks are very rare and you can check whether your doctor has ever had any issues.

I have lost over 40 kgs - nearly 90 lbs - and am below the goal I originally set for myself. I don't have to visit the doctor for fills. I can eat ANYTHING I want, just smaller quantities, and have been feeling fantastic for a year and a half.

Good luck with your decision, but my recommendation would definitely be the sleeve.

Dad of8, I think that is an excellent idea, come to Australia, i have just been sleeved 3 days ago in Australia, and i am not regretting it so far, a bit of nausea for he second night and some vomitting, but today much better, I agree with what MzKAy says come over here, it is a brillant system, i mean who i there right mind wants to get to a bmi of 50.My Bmi was 31, ankins69d I have had it done and I am out of pocket about $6k, but i havent gotten any back from tax yet ,which should be about $800
baby

Hi

Please see my blog--it may help you make a decision.

i have had a gastric band for the last 2 years and have just converted to a sleeve. I would not recommend the band to anyone! I am not saying that it does not work for some people but it really was horrible having it in and i feel that i wasted 2 years and lots of money!

http://www.gastricsleevesupport.com/from-band-to-sleeve-f38/vechio-s-blog-band-to-sleeve-in-2-hours-t3987.htm

janelou29 wrote:

Thats a shame, it is stupid isn't it? they almost push you towards having a BMI og 50 so you can qualify for what seems to be a better long term solution.
Answer: come live in Australia! our system is different, we generally have our own private insurance and after 12 months, if there are no exclusions, they cover msot of it (mine is $3000 out of pocket) not bad.
Good luck!
Janex

$3000 wow thats pretty good, ive paid about $5000 out of pocket but im just hoping it is all worth it.

i booked in for the band, then after discussions with family and friends decided to have the sleeve. Doctors were pushing me towards the band because of my age but i am soo glad i changed my mind. The nurses were all telling me they do not recommend the band..

I cannot wait to see the results!!

I am not that large but i am still getting sleeved next Friday, my BMI is only 31, so i am impressed that my doctor here in Australia will do me, no questions asked!
http://www.TickerFactory.com/weight-loss/wlL3mPj/

Thats a shame, it is stupid isn't it? they almost push you towards having a BMI og 50 so you can qualify for what seems to be a better long term solution.
Answer: come live in Australia! our system is different, we generally have our own private insurance and after 12 months, if there are no exclusions, they cover msot of it (mine is $3000 out of pocket) not bad.
Good luck!
Janex

Thanks so much for all of your answers. Your help and kindness is overwhelming.

I just got off the phone with the insurance company, Blue Cross B.S. of Michigan. I was told that to qualify for the sleeve I needed a BMI of 50. I’m more like a 40. I’m waiting on the surgery group to return my call to evaluate what, if anything, can be done. Seems like I remember in my orientation the doctor stating that letters can be written to get around the higher BMI requirements. Any experience with this problem . . . . anyone?

Thanks

Dadof8

I always say why on earth would you want to put a bit of plastic in your body when you can just get a skinny persons stomach instead. Problem solved. No restrictions once healed you just eat what a skinny person eats now volume wise.

applesauce

I love that Diamonds!! I only said a similar thing to my hubby days ago:

I said 'all i am doing is having my tummy redesigned to match todays type of high energy food' simple really. My body was designed for 'feast or famine' My body is very efficenet, ie: it goes a long way on very little food, trouble is, I put in too much fule and bingo, here i am at over 100kgs!!

I have also had to understand that although I can eat anyhting post sleeve, it will be much much smaller amounts, otherwise there is no point to it all!

I too was thinking of the band, but once you start looking into it, it seems sleeve is best!

Good luck, Jane x

The one thing that made my mind up was something my surgeon said to me..

"Our stomachs were made for the times when we walked everywhere, the food we ate was only ever grown or caught. Now days, with all the transport, busy lifestyles and processed foods, we are able to fill our tummys will alot more food than we need due to the majority of peoples out put- but if mother nature was to redesign our stomachs to match todays world, - she wouldnt do it by placing a restrictive device inside us. She would just make the stomach smaller!"

He said that and it was like a light bulb lol

Good Luck

Hi Dadof8,

I think jen-e and I are pretty much twins!!! I just want to re-iterate everything she said, as that was my exact band experience!

I was sleeved only 4.5 weeks ago - AND I LOVE IT!

Please think really carefully before getting a band - why have 3 operations and endless fills/unfills when you can just get the sleeve in one operation and be done with it????

Good luck,

xxHuggyBear

Hi Dadof8,
I am the first male to respond to your post so here goes.. I started off at 160kg or 352 lb, sounds a lot better at 160..I come from a medical background and had close experiences with people who had had the band with mixed success..

I had been overweight most of my life and had researched all forms of weightloss over the years and I even had a mother who had a total gastrectomy 15 years ago for stomach cancer who lived for another 13 years and didn't die because of her gastrectomy..She had a rough time for the first couple of years, and then I saw how she coped without a stomach..she did fine and remember we are only having a partial gastrectomy..

So the long and the short of it was I knew what I was letting myself in fo and I am now 16 months post op and have lost about 132 lb, I am waiting for the next lb to come off so I can make a new diary entry saying I have reached my goal.....Stay tuned it will happen shortly

Read my diary (Sunland Travels) and you will find out how happy I have been with my decision..I am THRILLED..and so is the rest of the family..

Best of luck with your decision making...Read \, read all the posts here..I know we are biassed but honestly I have read almost every post over the past 2 years and 99.99999% of people are happy with their decision....The MODERATORS delete all the adverse comments..ONLY JOKING!!!!!!!....It is fantastic having a new life back..Ask my wife!!

Cya
Greg

Hi dadof8,

I havent been sleeved yet, but have it booked in for 12 days away. I was in the same boat, although my brother got the band nearly 2 years ago and to date he has only lost about 15kgs (most of that was when he was on the optifast diet) and so for me I didnt even contemplate having surgery to loose weight. When we have family dinners I watch him struggle to chew and swallow and many times runs to the toilet to throw it all back up. I know if you do it "right" people have lost weight with it.

A friend of mine was the one who bought the sleeve to my attention. He and his sister had it done and have done an amazing job - no regrets at all! That is how I became to know of it and am so thankful as I didnt know it was available, as I owuldnt have gone to the doc to discuss the band,

Anywho Good Luck!

Hey there and welcome to the sight.

I had my sleeve done in September 2008 and have lost 53kgs (116pounds), still have a few kgs to go but am very happy with the results anyway. When I first started to consider surgery I was looking at the band. My mother had been banded and had lost some weight ie around 25kgs but I was concerned about the lack of good food she could eat, the constant vomiting and the lack of good nutrition. She then stopped loosing weight, so as you can imagine I had some big reservations about being banded but despite this investigated it for myself anyway. Then I stumbled onto this site and started reading about the sleeve and thought this is the right option for me. Can eat more options food wise and no foreign object in my body. It was much more appealing to me and although was a bit concerned about the permanancy, I thought that well I can't get it reversed anyway because I will regain what I lose. So I went with the sleeve. I LOVE MY SLEEVE. I don't feel deprived of food, I can eat anything, have not vomited once and my weight loss has been much more successful than my mum (feel really bad for her though). I am no longer diabetic, have high cholesterol or high blood pressure and now eat like a normal skinny person. In fact my partner only eats marginally more than I do (although he is not a big eater either but he is very fit and toned).
Anyway it is your decision, but for me I cannot recommend the sleeve highly enough.
Good luck in whatever you decide and I look forward to reading your journey.

Hi,
I had a band, hated it, had it removed, now have a sleeve, love it.

I never knew if I would be able to eat or what I would be able to eat with the band. In the morning I might be able to eat somethiung but in the afternoon I wouldn't be able to eat the same thing. I always had to know where the toilet was when eating out ..just in case.. & usually I did have to go vomit. Very embarrassing and nasty. I couldn't eat a healthy range of food. Most meat would get stuck as did a lot of fruit & vegies. Unless it was very soft. I worried about slips, erosion, port flips, infection. As it was I used to get oesaphageal spasms that felt like I was having a heart attack and scared the daylights out of me the first time it happened. The bottom of my oesaphagus started to dilate, I got nasty reflux, and never had successful restriction. Going for fills & unfills is a pain in the butt.

With the sleeve I can eat & drink anything but in small amounts. I dont have to look for a toilet when out. I can eat in front of friends who are 'not in the know about my op' without being worried I'll vomit; and now my meal size is normal for a slim person. I feel great and have absolutely no regrets. Losing 80% of your stomach is a scary prospect but the more you learn about the sleeve the less scary it is. I dont miss that part of my stomach at all.

Good luck with your decision.Read all you can on this site as there are quite a few of us who had bands and now have sleeves.

Hi Dadof8,

Welcome to the site, it's a great place, full of warm, caring people always ready to provide support when we need it. I found the site in Sept last year and it has been my lifeline as I have undertaken this adventure.

I initially went to see my surgeon to enquire about a lap-band. I admit that I wasn't that keen on some of the stuff I'd heard about it, but had resigned myself to the fact that it was the only option left to me if I wanted to have any quality of life. At that first meeting, my surgeon told me about the band, bypasses, but also told me about the sleeve (which I'd never heard of before).

Even though he insisted I go away and think about my options, I knew straight away that the sleeve was the right way to go for me. I am even more sure of that now. I have lost 66kg (appx 146lbs) so far, and have another 34kg to go. I am happier and healthier, and I have become a bit of an evangelist for the sleeve.

Have a good look around the site, The Diaries in particular would be a good place to start. The Pre-op and Post-op sections will also give you a good idea of what to expect.

Have a read of the Welcome to Newbies section too, it will give you an idea of how the site works.

If you can't find answers to your questions, ask away, there is sure to be someone who can help.

Read all you can about all your options and choose the one that feels right for you, for me it was the sleeve.

Cheers - Carrie

I started out just like you - band or sleeve? And just like you, I thought "But the sleeve is permanent".

Let me ask you a question that a very wise person asked me on this forum. Why would you want it to be reversible?

I personally have proven time and time again that I can lose weight - and equally I am capable of putting it back on, plus some. I needed a solution that would be with me for life, and allow me to move on as a healthy, not overweight person. And the sleeve is exactly that.

Add to that the fact that there is no danger of erosion, no foreign bodies to worry about, and much less restriction on the WHAT you can eat - just a restriction on HOW MUCH - and I think it is a perfect solution. It has worked really well for me - I've lost 88 lbs (40 kgs) and am below even the stretch goal I set myself.

Your decision, but that is my two cents worth.

Good luck with your decision.

Caz

Hello!

Never done this on line support thing before. Not sure how to even navigate through your site but here goes.

I'm male, 52, 6 ft 2 and 330 lbs, have a wonderful wife and 8 great kids. Lots to live for. Health is still pretty good. The only way I have ever been able to loose weight is the Atkins diet or eat 1200-1500 cpd.

I thought about lap band last year but the insurance I had would only cover it after a 20 week attempt on a liquid diet, so I passed on the idea. It's a year later now and different insurance, Blue Cross of Michigan, which doesn't require the liquid diet up front. I see my surgeon for the first time in a couple weeks and have had a couple of up front visits with the medical group helping me with this decision and surgery. That group is Grand Health Partners for those who may be familiar. I've had in my mind that lap band was the only option I would consider because it was adjustable and reversible. Permanently losing most of my stomach to gastric sleeve didn't seem like a great idea. So far GHP has not spoken highly of lap band and their favorite seems to be the gastric sleeve. As I have opened up my thinking a little more I see that eventual erosion around the band may be a bigger concern than I thought along with eating difficulties. Some have lost a lot of weight with the lap band and some have been very discouraged with the results according to my reading and GHP. The sleeve may leak and seems to work better and I have no real idea what eating would be like with it either. I want to lose a hundred pounds at least and still feel like I can enjoy eating without fear of pain, vomiting, dumping and any other unknown in my ignorant understanding of what is to come. So, I am at the beginning of my journey, confused and in need of some help to make this decision.

I'm an open book so teach me. Thanks for your help.

dadof8