Tomo

I went that exact route and the bypass was the easiest recovery for me and with no side effects except Constipation which is easy to treat. I take miralax (a tsp a day) is perfect for me. But I have to add the common "everyone is different" so this is my story.

I had to go from band to vsg due to serious complications of the band, and then I had to go from vsg to rny due to developing severe gerd.I really think the band created that environment by damaging my esophagus before the sleeve. The best way for me to describe the rny revision is... Finally a feeling of normality. I feel so good and normal now, pre-any weight loss surgery normal except I can't eat as much. No severe gerd, no side effects, no hassle anything except taking daily Vitamins which I always did anyway pre WLS.I hope this helps.

He’s the only one I can find in my area that accepts my insurance :/ But I really don’t think I want the sleeve. Thanks

I think a lot of surgeons prefer the sleeve because it's an easier surgery to do. It seems like it's also overtaken bypass as the "gold standard" (although that wasn't true when I had my surgery since it was still relatively new then - at least as a standalone surgery). Although there are a few situations where bypass is the better option (like...GERD).
I had GERD prior to surgery. My surgeon said he'd do either, but he recommended bypass as it usually improves - and often outright cures - GERD - whereas, as you know, sleeve can make it worse (although only in about 30% of cases. But I didn't want to take the risk). I'm glad he encouraged me to at least consider bypass because I didn't want to end up one of those 30%. But there are sleevers on here whose GERD never got worse, and for some, it even improved. It's really a crap shoot.
anyway, yes - it's definitely a risk. I'm not sure what to tell you since this guy seems deadset against doing a bypass. And you're sort of limited by your insurance. Yikes. What a predicament. Although maybe you'll luck out and be one of the 70% who DON'T experience GERD issues (or in your case, worse GERD issues). My heart goes out to you - that's a difficult position to be in.

I had reflux before my sleeve surgery. It was mild & I managed it through dietary choices. Only needed to take esomepraole 3 or 4 times a year (usually when I had too many champagnes or G&Ts). My surgeon & I discussed my situation & he decided to proceed with the sleeve because I managed my reflux & it was mild but he would have done bypass if I wanted,
After surgery I take esomeprazole everyday & I always will. My reflux manifests itself a little differently now - more burning in my throat but way less incidences of the hideous hiccups & bad taste in my mouth.
I would question a surgeon who will only do a sleeve regardless of your gerd which usually means sleeve is not for you. Are there any surgeons in a neighbouring city who will take your insurance & you could meet with?

I eat porridge a bit, especially now I'm in maintenance. Potatoes almost never but if I have to, then skin ON. They were an absolute staple before surgery (I'm Irish) but I approach them with real caution now. White carby things (bread, rice, Pasta, potatoes) don't contain enough goodness to tempt me any more. If I do eat them it's wholegrain/brown/skin on versions and in small portions after I've had something properly nutritious.
*Obviously other than during the holiday season when I loosen up a bit without guilt*

Raspberry Chia oatmeal- (not my portion but it was pretty). I eat oatmeal maybe once a year.
Also Steak fries w/ketchup and BBQ Sauce. I eat potatoes at least once a month. Anyone else still eating these carbs regularly?

pizza ish. I used a mini naan bread and spoon full of Tomato basil Soup that was already cooking. The real star is the turkey pepperoni, which next time I’ll just eat alone.

pizza ish. I used a mini naan bread and spoon full of Tomato basil Soup that was already cooking. The real star is the turkey pepperoni, which next time I’ll just eat alone.

I went that exact route and the bypass was the easiest recovery for me and with no side effects except Constipation which is easy to treat. I take miralax (a tsp a day) is perfect for me. But I have to add the common "everyone is different" so this is my story.

I had to go from band to vsg due to serious complications of the band, and then I had to go from vsg to rny due to developing severe gerd.I really think the band created that environment by damaging my esophagus before the sleeve. The best way for me to describe the rny revision is... Finally a feeling of normality. I feel so good and normal now, pre-any weight loss surgery normal except I can't eat as much. No severe gerd, no side effects, no hassle anything except taking daily Vitamins which I always did anyway pre WLS.I hope this helps.

All the great responses above and...

For me, 100% worth it. Like@summerseeker said above, if I had the chance to do it when I was young, I would've done it in a heartbeat. I wanted to, but didn't have the $ resources as well. My family was deadset against it so no support system at the time. Not financially nor emotionally.

When I finally did it, I was much older (40s), and I did it completely alone. I was a "healthy" active heavy young adult, but in my 40s, all my commorbities flooded in. I was miserable. When I was younger I felt that anything would be better than the life I was living, and I was right. lol. It would have saved me years of pain, suffering, embarrassment, isolation. I really can't be happier about finally getting it. I'm in my 60s now.

All the great responses above and...

For me, 100% worth it. Like@summerseeker said above, if I had the chance to do it when I was young, I would've done it in a heartbeat. I wanted to, but didn't have the $ resources as well. My family was deadset against it so no support system at the time. Not financially nor emotionally.

When I finally did it, I was much older (40s), and I did it completely alone. I was a "healthy" active heavy young adult, but in my 40s, all my commorbities flooded in. I was miserable. When I was younger I felt that anything would be better than the life I was living, and I was right. lol. It would have saved me years of pain, suffering, embarrassment, isolation. I really can't be happier about finally getting it. I'm in my 60s now.

He's so awesome. He is so knowledgeable and he always seems so sincere. Thanks for sharing this. Watching it now. [emoji1]

If you ever get the opportunity to do yoga with baby goats, do not pass it up. You will get very little actual yoga out of it, but you will get to spend time with baby goats romping around in diapers! I really can't imagine a better way to spend an hour.

Hello all! I’m scared for my surgery on Monday because I have had grade 4 EE , hernia & weight stall etc. I’m very nervous this time around because… the odds / number of procedures. Has anyone else ,here, had so many revisions? 😔😔😔 any words of encouragement or advice? THANK YOU!

Love this new podcast! Dr. Weiner is one of my favorite sources of information.

Thanks @GreenTealael. Been enjoying the bite sized (pun intended) snippets on his instagram account but hadn’t got around to listening to the complete episodes yet.

Dr. Weiner’s new podcast, enjoy!

I had this post op. I'm 6 weeks out from a DS surgery which reroutes the small intestines as well as a sleeved tummy. I swear for about two weeks everything gurgled. It wasn't gas, I wasn't gassy, it was this literal gurgling, bubbling feeling in my tummy. Sometimes when I drank Water I'd hear this sound that was like water going down a drain pipe that was narrowed. I could feel water displace air. I suspect my stomach was so swollen inside I had this narrow tunnel for things to flow through and the Fluid would get backed up and slowly funnel down. LOL It gradually went away after a few weeks, but the sound effects and body sensations were really funny!

Yes same! Such a weird feeling. I don’t remember having that experience with my sleeve. I’m just like bubbly. 😂😂🤷🏼‍♀️

The thing to watch out for when doing a minimally malabsorptive RNY is the prospect of bile reflux instead of the acid reflux that you had with the sleeve. When I was looking into this for a non WLS reason (it's has long been used for maladies such as gastroparesis and gastric cancer,) was that one of the most common problems reported on the patient sites such as Facebook was bile reflux. Talking to the surgeon about it, he said that as long as he keeps that roux limb at (IIRC) 80cm or more, it's not a problem; it seems that many surgeons going for minimal weight loss for such patients go overboard on shortening things. The extreme of this would be the "mini bypass" that attaches the pouch directly into the intestine without the roux limb, and that is well known for bile reflux (and why it was never adopted here in the US as a mainstream approved WLS.
However, there are also definitions and standards of care wrapped into the CPT codes that the docs use for billing, that define these things depending upon usage. I know this came up in one of the support groups with my wife's surgeon, and he noted that when he did the RNY, which he rarely did preferring the DS, he liked to make it as malabsorptive as the codes permitted. So there are standards that the surgeons are obliged to follow if it is to be a WLS procedure, and it doesn't seem to be a problem with most RNYs that we see as WLS, but could have been for what I was contemplating (but never proceeded with.) There's always an up side as well as a down side with anything we do.

I gurgle all the time with my sleeve. I say it’s my poltergeist cause it literally groans & moans & whines too. It’s just a noisy digestive system. My young nieces & nephew think it’s quite amusing, I’ve never been able to burp so I think that adds to mine.
And yes I agree not feeling your restriction is likely from your nerves being cut during your revision restricting messages getting through just like after your initial sleeve surgery. Remember to keep to your recommended portion sizes until your signals can get through to ensure you’re not accidentally impacting your healing & recovery.
All the best.

They don't actually remove any bowel - they just bypass part of it - but the two parts meet up again about a foot from the stomach. He may have just made the "Y" shorter than usual - as in had the two parts meet up sooner.
I'm not a revision patient, so there are probably others on here who know more than I do, but you may not be feeling full because of nerves being cut during surgery. If so, they regenerate fairly quickly. Plus you're eating soft foods, also. I didn't really start feeling restriction until about a month out when I started eating solid food.
lastly, only about 30% of bypass patients dump. I never have - and know lots of others who don't, either. If you turn out to be a dumper, though, you can prevent it by not eating a lot of sugar or fat at one sitting (which we shouldn't be doing anyway...). I never worried about dumping (although at times I wish I DID dump since I have no problem eating tons of sugar at one sitting, unfortunately...)

I am old, it has taken me years to save the money for this surgery. Had I the chance to do the surgery when I was younger, I would have jumped at it. In my late 50's I started to get more and more disabled. I was almost housebound. Now this woman has a great life, she goes on holiday by herself, volunteers in a charity shop and shops till she drops. I could never have dreamed my life would be so great.
So I can not eat like my friends when we go out for meals, they think its an issue but I don't. This is the only issue I have ever encountered.
Its always scary to have any surgery especially self elected ones. Our brains are built that way. Try to dismiss other peoples worries. They really do not have the right information. You may not decide to do the surgery now but I bet you have it further down the line and then wish you mustered your courage now.
Like the TV ad says ' just do it'

having surgery vs weighing 373 lbs (and not being able to lose more than 50 at a pop - just to gain it all back a few months later) was a no brainer for me (well, maybe not a no-brainer as it took me a long time to come to this conclusion!). I was headed for lots of complications and an early death to boot. Major complications on modern WLS surgeries are really rare. This wasn't the case 20 or 30 years ago, but it is now - techniques have improved and these have become very routine surgeries.
of course the decision is up to you, but this was one of the best decisions I've ever made and like the above commenter, I'd go back every year and have it again if I had to. This surgery was life-changing for me and there's no way I'd ever want to go back to where I was.

Totally worth the stress and worry of it. I'm 7 weeks post op so those hard, early weeks are very fresh for me and I'd do them over every year if I had to. I've already been able to stop my diabetes meds (my blood sugar is in the 80s!), they also took me off my blood pressure meds (it is now normal!), and we expect my labs to have improved when we draw them in January. Truly, I think it is a modern medical miracle that a surgery can do that and do it so quickly.

My biggest wish is that I'd had it sooner. I let a lot of fear and misinformation get in my way for decades. I knew a woman when I was in my 20s who was an old school bypass patient and non compliant with her Vitamins and Protein. The health issues she had from not complying with good treatment were scary and I didn't want to be like that! I also didn't understand that these surgeries have a METABOLIC effect as well as the effect of making our stomachs smaller so we eat less. Those metabolic effects are something we can't get from a medication.
Can it make things worse? There is a small chance it could. But there is a much bigger chance it will improve your life by leaps and bounds. WLS is about as risky as gallbladder surgery and you don't see many people having a cow and panicking over a loved one having their gallbladder out. Educate yourself on the facts, read all you can, talk to the surgeon, have them talk to the surgeon, and really think over what you are willing to change in your world to make this work for you the way you need it to work. It is YOUR body and your quality of life being impacted here.