I am confused.

I am on the Eyre Peninsular....740k's from Adelaide...:)

Thanks for the link. I too saw Dr Chisholm. He seems really nice was happy with him. I had Dr Bissell do my lapband too. I did think of going back and discussing a bypass with him. I thought it might be cheaper because he did the first op. I think i read somewhere that you live in country SA. So do I. I live in a little town called Karoonda its 2hrs from Adelaide 65kms from Murray Bridge. Are you near me.

Cheers Sharon

I had my band done at the obesity clinic at Wakefield Hosp. Dr Bissell. He doesnt do sleeves....

It is a really important decission and the only ones that can make it is you. I am reading all I can about the sleeve and the bypass. I feel as long as I go to a reputable surgeon who know what they are doing, I will be fine. Dr Chisholm is a very capable surgeon I feel.

I also found this web site http://www.rnytalk.com/ this is very informative as well. I am taking one step at a time. 22 june is band out time. I will then worry about the other...

Hi Kity1-cat I went and saw a surgeon on Wednesday at the circle of care clinic at Flinders Private. I too am wanting my band out and was asking about the sleeve. He told me the same thing that a bypass would be safer than the sleeve. We he actually said that he wont do a sleeve he said there is too much scar tissue from the band and there is a 10% chance of a leak by doing the sleeve on a ex bandit. So I went away too feeling very confused and a bit shell shocked. He told me there would be a 3-6 month wait from haivng the band removed to gettting the bypass. Just wondering who did you band in the first palce. Think I might go and discuss my options with my surgeon that did my band.

Kitty

Another Ex Bandit here.

Yep gotta agree with Trish your Surgeon is feeding you Crap. You need to find another Surgeon.

Had my Band - removed waited the 8 weeks and on the 20th March 2012 woo hoo had the sleeve. Surgeons are now doing more Sleeves than the band.

LOVE MY SLEEVE - Please find another Surgeon, who wants to work on your behalf.

Val

i just want to put LIKE LIKE LIKE LIKE this post and all the answers

fantastic your all a support and understand

i didnt have the band cos i didnt like the idea of the port sticking out etc this was before i found this site!!

just knew what i wanted and the band wasnt it - i have a long way to go but yes i a a few months out and eat what i want just smaller lol

kity1_cat wrote:

Thanks for your story...At this stage I have decided to have the Gastric Bypass....and I was also told that as an ex-bandit I will have a slower weight loss that a 'virgin' bypass...

Well 3 years of the band and I have only lost 2-3 kg, so it can't be any slower than that surely..lol..

I lost most of my weight on the pre-op diet of optifast and then I put in on and then nothing.

I supose if I didn't try then I wouldn't have know what it is like to have a band....another chapter in my weight loss journey....

Hi Kity1-cat,

I have a friend who recently went from being a bandit to a bypass and she is doing fantastic, she was done in Feb this year and is already down around 30-40kg so I wouldn't be too worried about getting the bypass. Her husband has the Sleeve and is also down around 70kg (he was done in August last year).

From what I can gather they are both very happy with their ops and wouldn't change anything at all. She was telling me how before getting the op she couldn't tolerate Pork of any description at all but since having the Bypass she now can! lol which makes her happy but she can't drink Pepsi now as it makes her feel ill so she steers clear of that, but other than that she can drink whatever she wants (she likes a nice red wine) and is fine with that.

She was also saying how sometimes they don't feel like eating much so just have a cup of soup for dinner and they are satisfied with that too. Apparently the food bill is somewhat smaller than it used to be so theres that side of it too.

I also had a band removed in April this year and am in waiting mode at the moment (hopefully in another couple of months I will be done?) who knows! but I will be getting Sleeved at this stage but sometimes people go in to the op expecting a sleeve only to come out with a bypass (I guess its hard to know what they will do depending on what they find I guess) to be honest I'd be happy with either Op, so long as it fixes this bloody problem for good I'm happy.

Anyway good luck with your op and I wish you all the best.

Scott

Thanks for your story...At this stage I have decided to have the Gastric Bypass....and I was also told that as an ex-bandit I will have a slower weight loss that a 'virgin' bypass...

Well 3 years of the band and I have only lost 2-3 kg, so it can't be any slower than that surely..lol..

I lost most of my weight on the pre-op diet of optifast and then I put in on and then nothing.

I supose if I didn't try then I wouldn't have know what it is like to have a band....another chapter in my weight loss journey....

I was banded for 10 years, had it removed April last year and waited for 6 months to be sleeved. My surgeon told me that he would tell me after having the band removed whether sleeve or bypass would be the best option for me (depends where scarring is). I had very extensive scarring around the stomach (but not on it) so bypass was NOT an option for me (I didn't want that so I was happy). WHen he did the sleeve I had lots of bleeding in surgery that he had trouble controlling and my stomach had fused to other organs where the band had been removed.

Apparently in the letter my surgeon sent to GP after surgery he said I should avoid any future surgery to that area as the scarring is just so bad.

However, apart from the trouble in the actual surgery I have had no problems since and LOVE my sleeve. I am finding my weight loss a lot slower than some (this seems to be quite common amongst ex banders) but I am still really happy with the results and am lower than I ever was with 10 years of the band. I don't have anymore abdominal pain, don't throw up, can eat bread and meat without any trouble.

Good luck with whatever decision you and your surgeon feel is right for you!

I will do that..thank to everyone here...:)

hi kity, if you are worried about putting on weight whilst waiting for other surgery, feel free to contact me and I can help encourage you. I need help to get motivated to eat well and exercise.

cheers

Hi Kity - I too have had a band and also had it repositioned, so when I saw my sleeve surgeon today, he explained that because of the stitching of the band to the stomach (twice for me) there is scarring and thus the likelihood of a leak, which is about 1% for "virgin stomachs", is about 8% for "re dos". So for me, he is going to hopefully sleeve me, but if there is scarring and adhesions, he will clean it all up and not do a sleeve for 3 months. I am really happy with this better be safe attitude.

Good luck to you.
Jane

It's great that you've chosen which type of surgery that will be best for you.
I'm trying to get my head around the fact that in less than 3 weeks I will be band free. 7 years is a long time to have this thing on board.

Whilst it has allowed me to lose 36 kg, I have put 10 kg back on in the last 12 months. I should have had it tightened but was enjoying being able to eat a bit more normal without getting food caught and then throwing it up. The final straw was when my port moved south and had to be relocated. The doc put it very high up on the base of my ribs, it has to be the most uncomfortable place to put it. The port sticks out and is painful when I bend over, even just to do up my shoes. No way am I going to put up with this. So out she comes.

Yes he is one of the Dr's at The circle of Care and yep..I have decided to go with Gastric Bypass. I have and still reading about the whole thing..and yes it will be a long 3 months as I am putting weight on with this band. I can't be bothered eating food that wont go down so I am chosing food that isnt so good at the moment....:(

Dr Michael France is removing my band at Ashford Hospital and then will do my sleeve after things have healed. Won't know how long before he can do the sleeve until he removes the band to see how much damage has occurred to the old tum.

It will be a very long few months waiting for the sleeve.

So have you decided on the bypass rather than the sleeve? Is Dr Chisholm one of the Circle of Care Doctors?

That's great news...who is your surgeon? Mine is getting removed on the 22 June with Dr Chisholm....at Calvery Hosp....then I have to wait 3 months for gastric bypass....Its a bit of a worry about putting more weight on without band...

Thanks again Trishah.

Yes I will have everything crossed also. At the end of the day if it is longer and means less complications I will go with what he says.

Kity,

You are so right about being able to discuss our situations with others that know exactly how we feel.

Friends and family whilst being supportive just cannot imagine what
its like to be in this situation. I know for about the last month I have been spending all my waking and sleeping time going thru things in my mind as to what to do.

At least we can try to support each other on this forum. There is currently a few of us arranging a get together in Adelaide if this is possible for you. Its under the get together thread. Would be great if you could make it.

I will keep my fingers and toes crossed for the three months.

Thanks Trishah you are so right about the salad. Would love a good salad or an apple. You forget how much healthy food you actually can't eat as you choose food that will slide down easily which isn't necessarily healthy. Gravy for one and heaps of it.

Saw my surgeon today and the 6th June is Band removal day. He said that depending on how my stomach looks when he removes the band as to how long I have to wait for the sleeve. So could be less than 6 months if all goes well.

The count down has begun...........

I just wrote you a reply on the gen thread Kity... like I said...'pass it on"

This support group is so amazing...it great that we can get together and know that someone else REALLY knows what we go through....As supportive as my family have been with my weight journey...they really don't understand what we go through...so much for the Lap Band being the 'easy way out'...This what I was told by one of my so called friends. I felt I have been a failure all this time as I am getting bigger and bigger and I have spent more and more money on "that" new diet program that promises miracles but only leaves me more depressed...now I think there is hope because I have people that really understand.....

Thanks guys...

Oh yes it absolutely does do what was promised to us with the band. Until you have the sleeve you will not really grasp what a mungrel of a device the band actually was.

Now I look back on it and I wonder why I put up with it. You know if they forcably put one in people captured in combat it would be considered a form of torture and they would get done for war crimes.

I think of all the pain, the reflux, hunger and constipation I endured and its a bloody wonder I didnt dig it out myself with a rusty fork.

Enjoy your freedom Jan...you have deserved it

Oooh Trishah - loved reading your post - who knew I was doing the right thing by eating a lot post band removal - and thus "ironing" out the pleats!! I think that makes perfect sense. I look forward to not having all those horrible band induced feelings and habits with the sleeve. I often reflect on one of your comments that the sleeve does everything we were promised with the band.
Always look forward to reading your posts.
Jane

Nicky at first you wont be hungry for a month or two cos they dig and cut that sucker out so there is a bit of swelling etc which will give you restriction. However after that you will get your hunger back...go with it.. after 7 years with the band I am sure you could do with a good steak and a biiiig plate of salad.

Eventually when its out of your system you will get back with the program and pull it into gear.

The eating normal helps to 'unpleat' the tummy somewhat and regain its normal shape again.

Time enough and you will be on the post op diet and the sheer pleasure of the previous months will be a thing of the past.

Good luck hon