Loooooonnnnnng story!
Here goes:
I've had band, to sleeve and now to bypass (of sorts!). The band was put in 2007 privately (in the Fern Britton scandal days!) and I had no aftercare whatsoever. It was never right from the start, I was being sick constantly,I ended up having fills twice a month at £100 a go for 5 years, I never had a "sweet spot", protein never stayed down but the bad stuff did. I lost 8 stone in 3 years before having it completely loosened to go for a surgical procedure. The weight piled back on but I was still being sick. I ended up a stone heavier than I was pre-band after breaking my ankle and being off my feet for 12 weeks. I went to a different private hospital in Edinburgh for a second opinion because I knew something was wrong if I was still being sick when my band had been completely emptied and they found my band had slipped badly, my port had flipped and I had stomach damage. They suggested either taking it out altogether or revising it to a sleeve. I knew if they removed it I would be double the size because my brain has never been fixed! So I opted for the sleeve as the bypass freaked me out too much. Unfortunately, the band had been so tight and had slipped so severley, it had cut through my stomach and caused terrible ring of scar tissue, an imprint of the band around my stomach. It was difficult for food to pass through this scar tissue so I was being sick alot again. My bariatric team offered to do a sleeve re-shape/bypass type surgery in it's place to allow food to pass through. I am 2 weeks post-op but I am so glad I have done it. I should have just gone band-bypass and not bothered with the sleeve, but the sleeve has got me used to eating much smaller portions and eating much slower. I lost just over 7 stone with the sleeve since September 2012 and I have 1 stone to go to my target. I know the band works for many people and as I have said before, I wish it had worked for me and I am one of the few it didn't work for. There are so many banders on here who I admire so much for their losses with the band. They are all amazing. I just wish I hadn't bothered with it financially and mentally! Of course, I maybe should have gone back to my band surgeon, but I had to beg the guy 3 times to consider me for the band. He warned me of problems, slippages and scarring but I ignored it so it was my own fault really.
I'm just so glad I am on the right track now and with my amazing bariatric team, there is no chance of going back to 19 stone for me!
xx
