John04073

I had full RNY bypass in 2005 and lost approximately 80lbs. I was able to keep the weight off consistently for about 10 years until I suddenly lost the “Feeling Full” after meals and the weight started to creep back on. I struggled with almost a constant feeling of being hungry, which I had never had, after the RNY bypass. I returned to my original surgeon to no avail. His feeling was that I must be doing something different and not following the same lifestyle. I was referred to another Bariatric doctor who found a gastric fistula (essentially an opening in the pouch), and via surgery installed a metal clamp (also referred to as a bear paw). While this seemed to help initially, something still was not the same as it had been for the first 10 or so years. After much research and visiting several other Bariatric Specialists over the last few years, all while the weight slowly continued to increase, it was recently discovered that a portion of my pouch had attached and formed a connection to my original stomach, thus allowing food to be processed by both the new RNY pouch/digestive path as well as the original stomach/digestive path. Also the metal clamp previously installed was missing, and probably passed in the normal digestive process. This leads me to where I am today, having been informed that the best solution at this point is for a RNY Bypass revision. They will be going in and separating the pouch from the original stomach again, and suturing/stapling both sections off. I am waiting for the official revision date/insurance approvals etc, but the doctors office does not think it will be an issue at all. Fingers crossed that I will be back on my way to weight loss soon.