HI EVERYONE!!!

Hi everyone,

Thanks for such a wonderful welcome. It's great to see so many Perth people on the site.
My surgeon for the lapband was Steve Watson at Murdoch. Does anyone know if he sleeves? And if he does will he do both the de-banding and sleeving in the one op?
I must admit that I have been too ashamed to see him again following my blockage. He is really lovely and I am so embarrassed that I have failed.
I must build up the courage to go and see him again. It's good to know that I'm not the only one who hasn't succeeded. LOL!!

Janey

Thanks MagicPrincess, I have an appointment with the surgeon tomorrow and I'll get my date then! I can't wait to get started!

Hello Janey and welcome, I also have a band which i am about to have removed and a sleeve done (10 Dec). I was banded March 06 and have never really settled with the band. Difficulty eating in the mornings (often up to about 2pm) so lived on soy hot chocolate and soup as I don't drink coffee then ate too much in the evenings. I have also had a swelling sensation in my throat for over 18 months which is apparently due to the band. I was informad of the sleeve when I went to discuss the band but only in passing, my surgeon also preferred the band and I'm not sorry as I had to try it first, I think the sleeve would have been too dramatic for me at the time, not now, I can't wait. Good luck

It's really amazing the amount of people who do the same thing. I think it's a lot to do with the publicity that the band has received. Because the sleeve is only relatively new for weight loss, there's not a lot of publicity out there. But the biggest selling point is the set and forget issue. It's gotta be better than going to the doc's all the time for fills and releases. Good luck with your sleeve journey MissKax.

Hi guys,
MagicPrincess, I'm the same as you, went in to see my surgeon wanting the band and came out wanting the sleeve! From all the research I've done, although the sleeve surgery is initially riskier than the band, once it's done there are no more complications. So I've decided it's the option for me. Good luck everyone!

Welcome Janey, as you've no doubt already realised, there are quite a number of people on this site who've had the band, failed, then gone for the sleeve. Or, like me, went to see the surgeon about the band and came out wanting the sleeve. It really is the way to go and there are no fears like the band about slippage, the biggest fear being a leak. But after the first few weeks, that risk is gone and it's onwards and downwards (of the scales :)). Good luck with it all.

Hi Janey and Lisa

I'm in the same boat as both of you. Although I've now had my band removed. I was banded in Oct 07, lost around 11kgs, then in September this year ended up with a major slip. The pain was horrendous, probably best described as being very similar to a heart attack, I actually passed out as I walked in the front door of the hospital. Luckily my Dr was operating that day, so he came around and took all the fill out but the pain didn't go away completely, so he did an endoscopy but warned me that if the band had slipped then he would go straight in and remove it. Which is the news I woke up to.

I'm now booked in to have the sleeve done on 6 Feb 09. In hindsight, I think I should have gone with this option in the first place, as it was offered, but I was hesitant about the permanency of losing part of your stomach. Now I'm just looking forward to not having all the fills and unfills, the constant PB'ing and possible slippages again.

I'm in Sydney and it seems that the Sleeve is now the operation of choice by my surgical team.

Good luck with your decisions.

Cheers
Gail

Hi Janey,
I have had a band in for 5 years now and I have also failed miserably. I actually weigh about 6kgs more than I did 5 yrs ago when first banded and I've had my band replaced 3yrs ago due to constant blockages causing the first band to slip, now I have no fill at all as I was sick of vomiting everytime I tried to eat solid food.
I am from Melbourne and the sleeve is not done very often over here as doctors here prefer the band, so I have had to find a new surgeon , which I now have, and he is going to remove the band and do the sleeve for me in one operation hopefully in Feb or March next year. At the moment although I am terrified of putting on even more weight, I am enjoying not vomiting and not having to visit the emergency room and looking forward to getting the band out of me and being sleeved. You Have come to the right place to get all of your questions answered everyone on this site is lovely and very helpful and there are a few on here who were banded and are now sleeved who I am sure can answer any questions you have....
Lisab

My name is Janey and I live in Western Australia. I have had a band for 3 years and have failed miserably. Lost 18 kilos to begin with and then plateaued for months. Then I had a severe blockage and ended up in Emergency where they would not help me by removing some fill, even though my surgeon, when I saw him the next morning, advised me they were trained to do it. This means I vomited constantly for 24 hours or so not to mention the pain!! This terrified me and I have never been back to have the band filled up again. I don't ever want that to happen again.
So of course the weight has crept back on again, even though I have been careful. Once your metabolism slows down with the lapband and you eat so little any increase in calories however small means you're going to pack on the weight whether you like it or not.
I have researched the sleeve and it sounds like the perfect option to me. Especially the part about not feeling hungry anymore. I had this to begin with, with the band and it was marvellous. I never thought about food at all.
I'd love to hear from anyone who has been banded and changed to the sleeve.

Looking forward to meeting you all,

Janey :<a href=htt