VSG or Lap Band please HELP!!

listen to your surgeon on this, not the shrink.  if you want the sleeve, do it. look at the stats on sleeve vs band.  band only results in 59% weight loss. do it right the first time. i am sleever 4 years out and still at 100% goal.    gl diane

After reading all the posts here about complications with the lap band, there is no way I would ever consider it.  

Also.. I wouldn't be looking to a psychologist for advice on which weight loss surgery is best - even the statement you posted from her makes it clear that she's clueless. 

JUST SAY NO TO THE BAND!!! It is the least effective form of weight loss surgery many of us lose so little that it wasn't even worth the surgery itself. Not to mention that a great many of us end up having to get them removed several years down the road. Even the manufacturer says they should be removed after 10 years (if they last that long), the sleeve not only gives you better and life long restriction but also removes the stretchy part of the stomach where grehlin (hunger hormone) is. So it also helps by taking a big part of your hunger hormones away.

That alone helps more than a band because I was still hungry no matter how tight my band was. If I had known back in 2007 what I know now, I would never, ever have gotten a band. I had mine removed last month and am still having some problems with swallowing because of it. I did however finally get rid of the horrible pain it was causing me and I still don't know if the insurance is gonna pay for it but I had too much pain to live another day with it.

The sleeve is a so much better choice, it is permanent, it helps with hunger and it actually works! Oh I do know a few people who did great with their bands and have lost great amounts of weight and kept it off. They so far haven't had any serious band problems, but I didn't think I would either after 5 years with it but I did and I was one of the most compliant people you will find. It just is a really bad form of surgery when there is a so much better one in the sleeve. I'm not even able to revise to a sleeve like some of the others because I have bad lungs and barely made it thru the band removal surgery.

However before that I had studied a great deal about the sleeve surgery and had hoped to get that but alas I can't. Please don't make the same horrible decision I did, get the sleeve it is so much better than the band. Many surgeons won't even do the band anymore and many insurance companies are going to a once per lifetime with weight loss surgery so don't blow what might be your only chance on a bad surgery. If you have any questions or want more info feel free to PM me and I will be more than happy to try to answer them for you.

hello there!  I am a band to sleeve revision.  I have lost more weight removing the band (7 years with the band, 7 years of complications) and getting the sleeve/

I love my sleeve and only wish I would have done it years ago!!!

So glad I have the sleeve. The band and up-keep seems way to risky. It is unusual for a psychologist to be giving you such advice. I have no regrets with the sleeve. I have family members who have the band and their lives appear to be very complicated whereas my life is so normal. My weight loss is highly successful.

your psychologist isnt a specialist in bariatric surgery.  talk to a surgeon, they do not even perform lab band in my city any more because people fail to use it properly and are not successful in weight loss and regain as soon as they stop getting regular fills.  lap band is very high maintenance and you need to be acutely aware of your restriction at all times to know if you need a fill or whatever.  weight loss tends to be slower as well,, doesnt address hunger as well.  a sleeve will take you as far as you want it to and that you have discipline for.

Hi I had the band had 2 slips of the band within one year and became dangerously dehydrated to the point it affected my heart I did my research before  the band and I did lose weight from 266 to 187 but was so sick in the end it was not worth it. My surgeon took my band out a year ago this month and one week ago today I had the vertical sleeve done so all I can tell you is my experience with the sleeve  this far has been much better than it ever was with the band this is just my opinion you have to do what you feel is right good luck on your journey ...dawn

I also was firmly in lap band territory and my surgeon did not try to persuade to pick one surgery over another but presented the facts and let me come to my own decision. I say get the facts about both surgeries and look at the other weight loss surgeries like the rny and the ds. The loss of restriction to which the woman might be talking about is that the sleeve can stretch, but I think usually you have to keep pushing the envelop as some would say to stretch it, but it will never stretch to the size that it is now. I'm not sure if the feeling of fullness goes away with a stretched pouch and that's only if you stretch it, she seems to not know that the pouch that the lap band makes can stretch too, the complication rate over the long term isn't good either, not to mention that the hunger hormones are still there with the band, with the sleeve most of the hormones are taken away with the stomach that the surgeon removes, so not only do you fill up on less but you won't feel as hungry anymore either. Do your homework and choose what's best for you. Good luck

Please, please don't get the band. Total failure for my sister. Terrible. I've lost 105 lbs and jep it off. Sleeved 3 yrs ago in Jan. I had the exact thing happen w psychologist who did my eval. It's not their call. It's up to you and your surgeon. Restriction is great w the sleeve.

Good luck!

just search band to sleeve revision on here and you will get countless stories of the failure of the band and the success of the sleeve.  Don't listen to your therapist, listen to your surgeon and yourself!