2008 Junies and Friends

I thought that the stuff we puke has no stomach acid with it. It is just food as it hasn't got that far down. It doesn't smell like puke.
That is not good Debs but it sounds like a good reason for your other half LOL

EeeeekHoly cow Debs that is full on.

As someone who had dodgy teeth (I know all the dental lingo from going so often) I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

Oooh I wonder if, just maybe we will be on a similar journey sleeve (MAYBE) timewise ! Eeeek !!

Probably better to wait until you feel more comfortable Linda. My deciding factor to go and visit my doc in regards to all of this was a visit to my dentist. I have really good teeth, almost 40 years old and not a single filling or cavity. All of a sudden i started getting pain in my teeth and gums and never having had any teeth issues before thought i'd better go and get it checked out.
Anyway, the dentist said my teeth were in great condition but strangely the enamel has started to wear away and this is causing my pain. She wasn't really sure why it was happening when my teeth looked good in all other areas but she said it looks like the sort of thing she sees in people who are bulimic and do alot of vometing....the acids in the puke wears away the enamel. She asked if i was bulimic and i said no, and it wasn't until later when i was thinking about it that i realised all the vometing i have done with the band. If its destroying my teeth i think it needs to come out.
debs

My doc hasn't been doing sleeves that long. I think I will let him practice a bit more.

Lol girls I wonder if in 12 months time our bandit site will be mostly sleevers !!



Grrrrr - just got up the guts to call my surgeon and book in to talk about sleeve and he's away till next week.
Murphy's law eh !

I'm really looking forward to seeing my doc now Zip. I'm nervous of course but not as nervous as i would have been thanks to your posts. Come on the 4th! lol
Linda, could you have a talk to your doc about it too, see what his take on the whole thing is? Maybe with doctor facts your hubby might come round more?
debs

My hubby was dead against it too and he only agreed to disagree on the subject when I got it. Anyway he thinks its the best thing I ever did now because Im normal... when we go out for dinner Im happy and its not an ordeal any more...yet I am thinner.

I cant put into words how much of a difference it has made to my world.. it is like being cured of an incurable disease via mirical cure.

Life is wonderfully normal. I truely understand all of your hesitation and doubts at it working. I dont know if you can remember me turning myself inside out on here about the decision but it was very hard and I was sure it would not work for me cos I failed at the end with the band.

Also my doc as debs will know is not the rha rha type so he did not try to persuade or put me off the idea. He just gave me the cold facts with out any hype or pretty sparkles and let me go to make up my mind. In fact he wanted me to re do the band initially and offered this a first port of call.. but I was determined not to have another band point blank an did not want to regain so he just smiled and said next option is the sleeve then and booked it in. Now though on the other side he says it is a much better proceedure and more successful so go figure.

Hang in there girls. What ever decision you can live with with out regret is always the right decision for you.

Yeah I want one too. My husband is not in favour.

Well done zips.

Good on you Zip, sounds like its really working. Well done on such a great loss. I've been easing my boyfriend into the idea of me possibly swapping over. He thinks the sleeve sounds much better but i think he doubts that i will make a success of it. I've felt quite down because of his attitude. I should go and vent in 'what cheeses me off''...this is not really the place for it huh. lol
Well done Zip, so happy for you.
I've been lurking over there too Tara, just trying to get a good read on the overall experiences of the sleeve, they seem quite positive hey.
debs

Oh Zippy thank you so much for explaining all that.

OMG I cannot imaging having the band removed and getting sleeve (with the thingy over it) and then still having all the dodgy band parts, like slippage, erosion etc ! EWWWWWW

I shall keep researching on as I'd LOOOOOVE to be able to eat healthy stuff again.

You may have seen me lurking over there - haven't said too much yet cos I just thinkin.
Tara

19.4 kilos with the sleeve and I am no longer trying to lose weight. Im a size 10 now... size 12 in a small make so really dont need to go any further. I have a bottom weight that I dont want to go below and that is 68. I am now 70.5

I went up to 89.9 kilos ( in fact I was prob over 90 to be truthful) and gaining rapidly with the band and could see that it was hopeless. No matter what I tried I could not get the healthy stuff down to lose weight even with my fill out. I lost a little after band removal for the first month then regained it plus a bit, lost a couple on opti, got the sleeve and lost the rest of it.


Its been pretty easy and I cant say I have been really good either.. I mean I have weekends off and eat crap and drink rum and diet coke ( let it go flat with ice). During the week I just eat low carb but I dont restrict my intake, I let the sleeve do that.


So that wa it. It was either get the sleeve or regain to the 135 I started at or worse get heavier.

Thanks for that very interesting info Zip. It doesn't sound too good now that its explained. The straight sleeve definitely sounds better, if one needs/wants to go down that path.
You're right about band brain and the feeling of failure though. I get in those down moment and think 'whats the point, i failed the band, why shóuld thi be different.'' But i guess those are just thoughts and have to dealt with like everything in life.
So glas to hear the sleeve is going well for you zip and you're still losing weight. How much have you lost since getting the sleeve? I know it'll be less because you've been a bandit, but its good that you're still losing even though you're a skinny minni now.
debs

Tara I researched the band over the fundis thingy but decided against it. It was developed for bypass where the stretching of the pouch is generally an issue a few years out. This is not usually the case for the sleeve the stretchy part of the stomach is removed in the sleeve op. It is being used in America on a small amount of sleevers but from what I understand it is used on those who may be in a group that are in the doomed to fail catagory and would normally be offered by pass.

All the Aussie sleevers I know have not had isssues.. those that do regain some of their weight have done so by giving into the wrong foods and grazing constantly.. a band around the sleeve will not change this. I have not met any Aussie sleevers who have complained of a stretched sleeve... in fact even on the American site I have not read of one but it does seem to be somewhat of an urban legend.

Also I know the pit falls of a foreign object around the stomach and going back to that does not thrill me.

Having a sleeve I know that I would not want the fresh restriction of a new sleeve for ever.. it is too small an intake so the thought of keeping it at that level would not be my idea of living and would encourage slider food eating. I like to be able to eat steak and salad etc which if the sleeve was kept at this small level it would not be able to do...so it really would be no better than the band I would think.

Also I would imagine..slipping.. and erosion and vometing are going to be an issue at some stage. I have seen pics of it and it is a wide band not like the lap band as it is approx 2 inches wide and fits the top of the stomach.

Stretching of the sleeve can only be done with continuous over eating which I will tell you is a very unpleasant experience so you would have to be a serious over eater to be able to put up with the pain at every meal.... or by drinking at the same time as eatiing, which again is very uncomfortable. The sleeve does relax over time from the initial 1/4 cup to a volume of approx 1/2 cup or 1 cup but it can not go beyond that as the tissue of the stomach is gone and will never regain the size it was prio to the op. It is possible to reset your sleeve with a few days of liquids and regain the smaller volume you once had.

I would be more inclined to have it placed later in the journey if stretching was an issue ( this is also a practice) which I would doubt having read many many long termers stories.

From my research on it, it is used in America when the sleeve is placed on people who are grossely over weight and have an enormous amount to lose. This keeps the sleeve at the super tight level for a longer period allowing for larger amounts to be lost.

I would think Tara after the band you want quality life with your weight loss.. so I would seriously research this idea before jumping. I too read the lady on the gastric sleeve site who got it done and she has never had a band and I wonder how she will cope with band like symptoms.

When people say they have regained their hunger. From private convos I have had with these people it is never as it was. Nor is it to the capasity that they had prior to their sleeve. I do feel hunger from time to time but it is never the gnawing, hunger I can definitely ignore it and from talking to these people this is what they explain that they regain.

Nothing will fix our brains and the sleeve, band or bypass are simply tools.. I find the sleeve a very good tool but I could if I chose too, ignore the signals it gives me and eat all the wrong foods just cos I wanna.

It is everything I was promised in the band. I have no discomfort or lousy side effects or the worry of slippage or erosion. I am a normal eating person with normal food reactions except I dont get hungry...or rarely and when I eat I only desire...want... feel like a small portion.

At the moment I can eat approx a 1/4 to half a cup of food depending on density of it. I can eat slider foods...but not as much as I could with the band. When my sleeve was new I could only comfortably eat a couple of Tablespoons of any food...less if it was dence. I was like this for approx 4 months... I would not want to be like this forever.

Good luck girls. I know I have made the right decision. I doubt my sleeve at times but it is directly linked to my band brain. I tend to second guess it and think I am going to fail. I am still losing weight even though I am not trying and and eating what I please... 500g this week when I weakened and got on the scales.

This has been the best life style change I made...for me that is...each to their own.

Hey Tara, yeah i have thought about the sleeve, only in the last few weeks really. I feel like i'm not going to get much more out of my band...not fluid wise, but help wise. I need help to lose weight and my band is just ot very helpful. I'm sure i could make it work if i was very strict and diligent, but if i was very strict and diligent about my weight i wouldn't need a band in the first place.
I think i might talk to my doc about the sleeve. I don't know a lot about it but from what i read it sounds more like how i thought the band would work. I've not heard of the procedure you mentioned? Do you know more about it? I have heard that as the years wear on the sleeve can stretch and the hunger hormones can come back etc... sounds interesting though. The cost concerns me also but i'm lucky that i've stayed in my health fund so if i were to be offered to opportunity get a sleeve i would hopefully be covered and not have too much out of pocket.
If you find out more about the vertical band/sleeve thing let me know. I see my doc early next next month....i hope he's not disgusted in me when he sees i've only lost between 15 and 20 kgs in three years. If i could stay at this weight and i felt the band was working i would probably keep it and be ok, but i can see the weight slowly creeping on already and that is really worrying.
How has your band been going Tara?
debs

Debs,

Your band has never been the friendliest of bands (insert swear words here.)

Would you consider the Sleeve ??

I actually think I'll make an appointment in the next few weeks just to talk Sleeve possibilities through with my knife wielding man (haha it's not his knife that worries me though it's his billing process !!)

Hey, also have you guys heard about a "new" sleeve surgery where they put a kinda vertical "band" over the sleeve to stop future stretching. (I believe.) Gunna get me one of them I reckon.


Tara

Thanks ladies. Will keep you posted.

debs

I think I see Nige the week after you for follow up Debs.

Your prob right too, he will most likely syphone a bit off you. Which is scary I know but will give you a lil break from the misery and let you get a bit more healthy stuff down.

I will keep my fingers crossed for you that it works out well.

You can't live like that Debs. The band is clearly not working properly.

Thanks Delia, will check it out. I probably do need some out...just don't want to lose the little restriction i periodically get. Sounds strange i know. My doc will probably take some out when i see him on the 3rd of next month.
Cheers,
debs

Debs maybe you need a little out so you can eat better quality of food that will keep you full longer.
I have sent you a pm.
Delia

I'm inclined to agree Tara! It gives you shits doesn't it.
Hey Zip, well done on re-setting your ban...oops! almost wrote band when i mean sleeve :)
I didn't realise you could do that with a sleeve but it makes sense. Can't imagine not being interested in food. It seems its all i think about. I wake up and realise i can't eat breakfast with my man so just gurgle down a coffee while he has eggs or baked beans or toast. I start to get really hungry around 12-1pm but band is still quite locked up for most things...chicken nuggets mostly go down and fish cocktails mostly go down (with tartare sauce)....no chance with nice healthy sandwich though, and crackers often get stuck. Then dinner time comes and my band is loosening up to where i can eat chicken with sauce of some description and some veg and potato or pumpkin, or some rice or noodles etc...but if my band is in a good mood i can eat a heap of it, if my band is in a bad mood i will eat some and end up stuck with sliming and vometing. Then i'm hungry a few hours later and hoovering down chocolate. Grrrrrr..... That's one thing i find really hard, the band being so tight in the mornings and too loose at night. Night is where i have my eating issues unfortunately, but its this time the band chills out and lets me get almost anything in.
Sorry, don't mean to bag out the band...i know people are having a great time with it and its working for them...just having a whinge about my band, not bands in general.

Congrats on making that appointment debs!!!

Hope your rocking and your band settle Linda... one is bad enough, two is Just bloody depressing.

Worked my ass off in the yard today... not hungry at aaaaaall lately. I decided a week or so ago to reset my sleeve as I felt like I was able to eat more (larger volumes..not huge amounts just a bit more and wanted to nip it in the bud) so I did shakes for 3 days and it reset it to post sleeve portions. Which is very low so now I am at the opposite side of the scale and trying to eat more. But I am soooo not hungry that its hard.

Today I had a coffee for breakfast and during the day 2 large glasses of cordial.

I just had about 50g of chicken and Im stuffed.

I will try eat more later but I am so not interested in anything.

Im not weighing myself anymore just going by my clothes which are getting looser. I dont want to weigh as I want to take the emphasis of weight loss and put it on balance and health

The more time goes on the more I want a Sleeve !!

Yeah it's just not fair. Temperamental little bastards!

Yep he is the same Doc. I haven't seen him in 18 months and i'm so nervous to go back. I know i need to though. I've put on about 5kg in the last few months, even with my flukey 'tight one minute, loose the next' band. Get this weirdness...i have not been able to eat bread in almost three years, then this morning a teabun comes home, you know the bread thing with the sultanas in it and the icing on top? I thought i'd never be able to eat it but i was having a coffee and though 'i'll try a little bit' and lo and behold, i ate a whole wedge of it without the hint of a stick, without any slime, without vometing...it felt like i had no band at all. And it was bready dough! How weird is that? A couple of hours later i thought i might be in luck and would be able to eat half a sandwich or something so i made a sandwich with a bit of ham and lettuce...nice and healthy....but do you think it would go down? Not a chance! Why would crap sweet bread go down and not some healthy bread? I can eat pieces of ham on its own, sometimes lettuce too. Hmmm....there seems to be no rhyme or reason some days.