Returning to Forum ... Band gone, now the long wait for a sleeve

Thanks Trishah, a good reminder about the value of high protein. I am hoping that my Dr won't make me do the optipuke ... I hate that stuff and I think it gets harder everytime that you have to revisit it.

make hay while the sunshines I say... you wont feel like any of it once your sleeved.

I found getting a good low carb high protein shake from the healthfood shop...not opti it has way too many carbs, and supping it for one meal, maybe breaky can help keep the cals and carbs down at this stage.

Mind you after a month with out a band its like letting a feral dog of a chain ( or it was for me).... good part is the opti phase dumps it all pretty quick...bad part is the cravings on opti after being able to eat eeeeeeeeeverything.

Try stick to protein first, it will get you in to good habits for your sleeve

Good luck to everyone!

Go the steak first, bread is too adictive ! Sorry I reminded you ...

yesican - good to see you are feeling better. I have to say I am a little bit over it at the moment, my Dr has prescribed clexatane, which is a daily needle for blood thinning .... I have a whole new found respect for insulin dependent diabetics. Six more needles to go.

Bread ... oh, I am salivating just thinking about it! It hadn't even crossed my mind ... I have been able to eat toast but fresh white squishy bread has been off the menu for years!

I think I am going to have to pace myself ... write a list of all the things I would like to eat and allow myself one thing off the list per week ... which comes first, the big fat juicy steak or a great big fresh sandwhich.

Back to work tomorrow ... blah. Oh well, at least I will be distracted and not obsessing about the next three months going by.

I hate to wish my life away... BUT ... Bring on November!

I hate to think what we all might look like in our skinny clothes by the time surgery comes. I know what you mean Amanda by fresh fruit and veg, its heaven when you haven't been able to eat it.

Yesican I know what you mean by bread. I have found the delights of my breadmaker again, very dangerous. I make bread for my husband and never touched it when I was banded, but now oohh its so good. I have been using my fitness pal also, its quite a shock to see how quickly the daily calories add up even when you are being good.

Amanda November 2012 is there under the Sleevers Monthly thread.

Lets hope the time goes fast for all of us.

Oh no! I discovered bread again. Must use restraint. I am trying to use My Fitness Pal to keep tabs on my eating. Today is the first day since band removal that I have felt like eating. I was babysitting my granddaughter,a bit sore still and trapped inside. I am hoping to be able to keep a grip on what goes in . I get my stitches out on Wednesday. Wish I hadn't been so fast clearing out my wardrobe too.

Hi Nicky

A November thread sounds good.

Bloody clothes what a nightmare ... I am looking forward to getting into some of my skinnier clothes, I bought so many clothes when I got down to my lowest weight. It was all the excitement of buying clothes in normal sizes and now none of them fit me.

I know what you mean about the work pants ... mine are hugging my thighs just a little too much at the moment. Hopefully I can just hold out for a couple of months and not grow out of my fat cothes, cause there are no others!

Although I know its early days, I feel like the last couple of days without the band have allowed me to have some lovely fresh fruit and veg which I've not been able to readily cope with for a long time. So hopefully, I can keep my interest up. Three months isn't long .... right?

Anyway, the cats are screaming at me for their dinner. I'll look for the November thread.



Amanda

Hi Amanda

I know what you mean about fat clothes !! I threw all mine out not thinking I would ever need them again. November can't come fast enough. I can probably hibernate in tracky dacks socially but when it comes to work OMG, the pants can only stretch so far and I am being so careful food wise. Its like my body was in drought mode with the band and now the band has gone the flood gates have opened woo hoo. I am starting to feel so uncomfortably fat.

Anyway I have been waiting to find someone else who is being sleeved in November, so I am going to start a sleevers monthly thread for November if no one has beaten me to it.

Cheers !!

OMG, I had an apple for breakfast!!! Pure heaven. I don't think I had realised just how bad my eating habits had gotten to try and avoid the pain and vomitting.

An apple ... oh the sweet juicy crunch was amazing

Hi Yesican,

congrats on getting the band out. I know what you mean, I ventured out of the house for the first time today ... now paying for it, I am absolutely whacked!

I know we shouldn't worry too much about putting weight on over the next couple of months, but I know what I am like and I can stack it on so quickly, even with the band on. Besides, I really don't want to have to buy new clothes just for the next couple of months. I am not looking forward to it, but I suspect I am going to have to try and diet. Although not feeling like eating a great deal at the moment, I know that won't last lol!

I have been a bit pushy with my surgeon, as I want it done and recovered before Christmas, as I am hosting the whole family Christmas thing this year, so I want to be back on my feet. He originally said 4-6 months, but he has booked me for early November, he seemed pretty happy with the state of my stomach when he took the band off. I was a bit nervous because when I had my first band off there was lots of scarring, but this one doesn't seem to have done as much damage.

Anyway, hope your recovery goes well.

Amanda

Hi nutbags. I had my band in for about 2 1/2 years, lost 14 kg in about 6- 8 months and then struggled with dieting and restriction. My band ended up with 9.5 ml fluid in , very tight, lots of sliming and chucking! Yuck!
Anyway I had mine removed on 2nd August. Still a bit sore and not feeling like eating much. Its really hard getting out of bed and lounge chairs. I too am hoping to not put on too much weight even though everyone says don't worry about it. Thats what I have worried bout for the last thirty years.
Anyway we'll be fine, step one is out of the way. Now the wait for sleeve surgery. My surgeon won't give me a date yet. But he said about six months. I would really like it to be this year . We'll see.

Congratulations Nutbags, and I hope the wait until November doesn't feel too long for you. Best of luck with the sleeve!

Oh no I found band removal worse than the recoup of the sleeve.

Remember they have to dig and cut the band out of your stomach and you get quite knocked around and bruised.... I was a good solid 2 weeks before I started to feel ok.... it took approx a month for appetite to fully return.

Ha haaa... you wait... you will get that steak on your fork ...chew the shite out of it and as you swallow you will brace yourself for the pain as it hits the stomach... when you realise there is no pain you will feel so elated.

Take yourself of to a nice steak house and go buck wild honey....after all that time with a band you deserve a great meal.

Wow trishah, that does sound exciting. You are right, I can't remember the last time I felt actually comfortably full after a meal ... it was either pain and vomitting or I just could not seem to eat enough.

I know that if the sleeving works then any weight gain over the next couple of months won't be a big deal. The problem is, I am already in my fat clothes and I just can't afford to buy more clothes so I will need to try and be moderate with my eating. Although, once I have recovered from the band removal, I am looking forward to a nice big piece of juicy steak ... OMG, I so miss steak.

I am still a bit tender from the band removal and haven't got much of an appetite yet. I wasn't really expecting the removal to be like this. I kinda thought it would just be whipped off and all would be good. But the surgery seems to have been just as big as having the band put in ...more scars on my tummy ... as my partner said, it has ruined my chances of being a swim suit model LOL !!

Well get even more excited because with the sleeve when you eat you feel sated... its good and its warm and its comforting.

With my band even though I was uncomfortable and knew I needed to stop eating I was still hungry under the band....now my belly is completely full and happy....its so nice.

I just went out for lunch with my daughter and ordered a chicken schnitzel, chips and salad.... I peeled the breading off the schnitty...ate a 1/4 of the chicken fillet and a few fork fulls of salad and could happily push the plate away...no pain or sliming or anything stuck...just comfortably full.

I can not drink when I eat....that produces pain so that is the only draw back if you could call it that.

As Jane said....enjoy your time unbanded and unsleeved....eat and live and dont worry about weight gain....it will come off during opti and post sleeving.

Good luck hon.... I have never regretted my decision!

Thanks Jane, I am certainly looking forward to not vomitting all of the time. So much of my time with this last band was filled with pain everytime I ate. I can't remember the last time I sat down for a family meal and didn't have to get up to go to the bathroom. My step-children don't know that I have had this horrid thing in my stomach, they just think I have a very tricky stomach ... they are very funny cause they are always taking me off about the way I sit at the table and try and sit up really straight to make the food go down or I get up and walk around to try and stop the pain.

I don't tell them I am vomitting because I don't want to model bad behaviour to them ... it is hard enough for teenage girls in this world without having one of their role models essentially being bulimic.

It is good to re-visit this site and see the good news stories of people who have gone from the band to the sleeve. I tried to just put the decision aside over the last twelve months because I had let my top level health insurance lapse, so needed to wait out the time period. But now that it is really happening, I need to try and not be obsessed over the next couple of months while i wait for my stomach to heal.

In the words of the immortal Big Kev "I'm Excited"!!

Amanda

Hi Amanda - for me, the difference is that I feel normal. Not everyone does feel hunger, but I think I do (getting used to different signals) and when I eat a small amount, I feel full. With the band, I was always aware of it - half the time, with my finger down my throat. And I feel the band really encouraged bad eating - takes a while to get over that when it is out.

The other day, I made toasted ham and cheese toasted sandwiches for my husband and I.. and I was able to eat just 1/4 of a sandwich - and felt comfortable and thrilled!!

The difference between the band and the sleeve was best summed up by Trisha a while back - she said that the sleeve delivers what we were promised with the band... and so far, that is exactly what I have found. I am so much happier with my sleeve.

Enjoy your time without the band - I loved mine. It was a revelation, remembering normal food again!

Jane

Hi Nicky I look forward to sharing our sleeve journey together, I have to say I am a bit nervous about the next couple of months ... I have run out of 'fat' clothes, so can't really afford to put on any more weight whilst the band is out. I am just hoping I can refocus for the next couple of months and as bad as I am at dieting, will just have to grit my teeth.

Hi Janojet and Trishah - How are you finding the difference between the band and sleeve? It has been so long since I have had that full feeling. With my last band I was either vomitting and in pain from it being too tight, or I could pretty much eat anything. I must admit, I have placed alot of hopes on this procedure, I remember with my first band, the weight loss being relatively easy ... I had to watch what I ate but was never hungry, it was such a lovely feeling of losing weight without starving all the time.

Thanks for your replies

Amanda

Congrats Nutbags, I am just over 4 months sleeved after having a band for 4 years. I also lost 70 kilos with my band and regained 20 so we share similar ground. Including reflux etc... which I have none of now!!

I cant tell you how good life is with a sleeve.... its normal and as Nicky said you will feel so much better with it out. This feeling will continue after your recoup with the sleeve because you can continue to eat the full range of healthy fruits veg and meat.

This is a great thing for you and I am very happy for you.

Hi Nutbags

We will be November sleevers as I'm having my sleeve surgery 5th November and can hardly wait.

I had my band for 7 years and had it removed 8 weeks ago as my body was rejecting the port.

I have been researching the sleeve for a while now and have met up with fellow sleevers. I have no doubt whatsover that this will be so much better than the band.

I saw my surgeon today and mentioned how much better I feel since having the band removed and he said its probably because I am eating better. Its true as I can now eat apples, pears and more veg than I have for a long time.

So here's to our new journey!!

Welcome back! Great decision! I too am an old bandit - was glad to get rid of it finally and 5 weeks on, am loving the sleeve. Hope your wait goes quickly!

Jane

Hi

I joined this form a little over 12 months ago to get a sense of how the gastric sleeve is working for people. I had my second gastric band removed yesterday. I was a bit worried as my surgeon would not guarantee that he would do the sleeve until he had gone in and seen how much scaring I had from the band.

Thankfully, the scarring is not too bad and I am booked in to have the sleeve done in November.

I had been very successful with my first band that I got in 2004, I lost 70 kg. But then had a slip and needed it replaced. My second band however, has been a complete dud. I have never had good restriction, it has either been too tight and caused reflux or not tight enough and I've been able to eat anything and everything.

Consequently, over the past four years I have struggled to maintain my weight loss. I have gained 20 kg back and have been absolutely miserable.

So after joining this forum a little over 12 months ago and doing my research I decided it was time to have the band out. So, I increased my health insurance again and waited the 12 months for my insurance to kick in.

So I would like to thank those who encouraged me 12 months ago and I look forward to commencing the next step in my journey.



Cheers