Revision Recap

So it's been 10 months now and for some reason, at this time, I feel very compelled to re-tell my revision story.  Why did I do it?  What is it like?  Am I satisfied?  Maybe all this is coming up because the revision rate among the bloggers I began with is INCREDIBLY high.  I have also been asked 5-6 times recently in a facebook support group about my experience, so here I am documenting it all again in one post.

I had lap band surgery on 17September2012.  I had read lots of blogs and forums about the lap band, but I wasn't really prepared for my own personal experience.  I wasn't prepared for all the throwing up.  I mean, it was really a daily thing for me.  If I didn't get sick during the course of a day, that was akin to a miracle.  Then, after about a year, I couldn't get my restriction right with the normal 4-6 week fills.  I was literally getting a fill every 2 weeks in an attempt to maintain the 100 pounds I'd lost.  I spent a lot of time fearing food... was I going to eat too much?  Was it going to make me sick?  Was I going to get that painful 'stuck-in-my chest, can't breathe' feeling?

So I began the revision process and it took 3 appeals to finally get approval.  I was an emotional wreck during that 6 months, but I finally got the approval and I was so happy.  I actually planned to revise to RNY on my doctor's recommendation, but that provided further insurance hurdles and I revised to sleeve to avoid losing my approval.

The surgery itself was quite easy.  Not much pain and I healed so well.  It was definitely easier revising to the sleeve than my initial lap band surgery.

So here we are 10 months later and I'm so happy.  The weight loss hasn't been phenomenal.  I'm about 60 pounds down from what I was at the revision surgery and only 20 pounds from my goal weight.  I'm not going to complain about that considering I'm 6 months pregnant.

The REAL difference though is my quality of life.  I never worry about how the weather will affect my tool.  All of you who are banded know that things like PMS, weather, waking up on the wrong side of the bed, etc. can make that fickle bitch of a band tighten up like you couldn't have imagined.  So no more worrying about that.  I don't fear food.  I never throw up after eating.  It's a whole new world.  The sleeve is everything I THOUGHT the band was going to be.  It's perfect.  There is still a small part of me that wishes I'd gotten the RNY just because weight loss is more rapid and it prevents acid reflux, but overall, I'm so happy.  I wish I'd done the sleeve or RNY initially.  The Lap Band just really wasn't a good option for me.