LAP BAND REMOVAL TO VSG

Hello All:  I'm new here to this board.  I have a Lap-Band that has to be removed due to leakage and am going to revise to the VSG.  Don't know too much about the VSG, but will read more here for information.  I just got the new yesterday that I have to have my band removed, and spoke with the doctor and with his consultation have decided to revise to the the sleeve.  He wants to remove the band and wait for 2 months before we do the sleeve.  Just wanted to check in and say hello.  Thank you.

The band can cause a lot of damage to your stomach, so revising to VSG usually requires a wait in between, to help the stomach heal. Revising to RNY can often be done all at once, because it doesn't require a waiting time.

Best of luck. You'll be happy getting rid of the band.

Welcome to the board......it's a safe and supportive place, so don't worry about asking questions, getting support, shouting for joy over any and all accomplishments and just being able to have all the help you need at any time of the day or night.....seems as though there's pretty much always someone around on the board.

My band was removed on March 22 and my sleeve surgery was on June 6....11 weeks. At first it felt like the day would never get here...it felt like forever, but all of a sudden I was doing my pre-op diet and the next thing I knew I was on my way to the hospital.

Yes, the stomach needs to sort of heal itself after being banded and go back to it's normal shape (at least that's the way my doctor explained it to me). It took about a week or so for what felt like post surgical swelling to go down once the band was out and then about another month for it to feel like I wasn't eating like before.....I'm not sure, but perhaps there was also internal swelling post op.....I could be wrong, but that's the way it felt to me.

Bottom line, depending on how long your band has been in place it could take a few months for it to heal. Not a great idea to put unnecessary stress on any of your internal organs. You'll need all that time to get all your pre-op stuff done too.

Be sure to keep up posted on your progress and definitely on any concerns you may have and then once you have your surgery we can officially welcome you to the Loser's Bench.

Congrats.  I got rid of my band (due to complications) waited a few months and got the sleeve and it's the best thing that ever happened to me.  

Congrats and I think you will enjoy the sleeve much more than the band. I had a successful lap band for many years but I recently go the revision. Lots of similarities and lots of differences. I had my band removed and sleeved in the same operation, however, they did have to unfill me for 5 months for my stomach and esophagus to completely return to normal. 

Would you mind updating??