Search the Community

Hi there, sorry you are experiencing this. I just had my revision from band to rny. You are doing the right thing by getting a little infill. I you can have huge issues if you are throwing things up. I would Try drinking Protein shakes till u get in doc and maybe cream of chicken Soups with added unflavored protein. I wish you well.

Anytime, Rose. I, too had a revision from the band to VSG. Best decision EVER.

Hi All, Well there is definately a difference between my first band surgery and my revision. There is no fill in the band at all and I am STARVING. I've been on Clear liquids up until I had some tomato Soup this evening (same consistency at Slim Fast) and that finally took away the terrible hunger pains I was having. I mean, it was actual PAIN. And it's only been four days since the surgery. I am surprised I am so hungry even though I don't have any fill. Anyone else here had a revision have the same experience? The doctor did mention to me I didn't have to be on the clear liquid phase for as long as normal because I would be hungrier, but this is bad! Hopefully when I add yogurt to my diet tomorrow that will help some. Any thoughts? Mae

Great post! Couldn't agree with you more. After going through the lap-band roller coaster, I was so happy to find that I am able to eat whatever I want after having the sleeve for a few months. The awesome thing is, I crave healthier food in general. When I feel weird, I eat some chicken and I feel better. I carry string cheese and Peanut Butter filled pretzels in my purse and that will get me through several HOURS of the day. I can say that I never feel hungry, but I start to feel weird if I don't eat for a few hours. Most of all, I can't compare my weight loss to a lot of people on the board because I was a lap-band revision and I don' t have as much to lose. However, I think the percentages are extremely similar for everyone. I am 4 months out and I have lost 66% of the excess weight. I am on target to lose it all in 6 to 8 months. But, if someone hears I have only lost 40 pounds in 4 months, they might think I was a slow loser. Bottom line: you are right, it all comes out in the end. I don't count carbs, but I have more of a yearning for healhty food. I eat a lot of cheese, I have developed a weird craving for Starbucks iced mocha lattes (which I can only handle about 1/3 of then I throw it away), I have rekindled a torrid love affair with chicken, and I eat one serving of oatmeal every day (for fiber) which I have never done before in my life. I focus on Protein first because it makes me feel better - that's it. If chocolate made me feel better, I would probably eat that first :-) Nice to hear from you and really happy you are cruising right along!

So let me start by saying this , I got the lap band to improve my quality of life. Because I have PCOS ( Poly Cystic ovarian syndrome ) and migraines I am at greater risk of things like stroke, diabetes and high blood pressure as it is. Being over weight adds to that. So I wanted the band to reduce that risk BEFORE anything bad happened to me. I am a mother of 2 boys who need me . After I first got the band things were great, I could eat what i wanted, just smaller portions and occasionally threw up after eating too much , or so I thought .. I even changed the way I ate, what i ate , i felt better so I ate better. I was , as you can ask my doctor , the model patient, i did everything I was suppose to (with the expectation of working out and that lesson has been learned trust me ) Eventually what I ate seemed to come back up more often , But after losing 125 pounds I thought I was doing ok. At a year out a slipped my band , that is where my stomach comes up through the band and can potentially be very serious. After it corrected it self I gained some weight ... It slipped again , more weight gain . I was then told my band had scar tissue build up around it and I could no longer get the fills I needed to lose the weight the opening to my stomach would be closed off it was filled again . That was around 2-3 yrs ago . As time has gone on I have slowly gotten worse. You see because of where the scar tissue is I still have " restriction" Meaning , I am still limited on what i eat , so things like steak, pork, chicken , solid Proteins wont go down . The food literally sits on top of my band until it gets either pushed through , which is very painful , or it comes back up . If I throw up too much, my stomach swells and eating any form of solid food is impossible for several days. So i have to go to liquids, milk shakes, Protein shakes , mash potatoes things like that. Those type of things are high in calorie and cause me to gain weight , but what other choices do i have ? broth, Water ? Yeah those fill you up ?? NOT ! So my day goes like this ... Breakfast: Protein shake cause eating in the morning is nearly impossible. That's if I can get it to go down if I cant and anything comes back up then its liquids for me the entire rest of the day Lunch: I try to eat something semi solid but I usually end up eating Soup Dinner: Some times a salad works but most evenings I throw up my dinner several times over and end up in pain from the swelling . By that time liquids hurt to go down ... NOW that leads me to my "other issues" Joint pain Fatigue body aches head aches My teeth are deteriorating because of how much I throw up Cold feet cold hands numb feet cysts on my feet numb hands You see they are finding out now that people who have had bands for several years are developing auto immune disorders like Fibromyalgia .. Problem ? Docs done believe it yet .. So no doc will help me out . With out insurance I cant get proper diagnoses . You can read more about that stuff here . I am now 20 or so pounds away from my original start weight before surgery . That's right I have gained nearly ALL My weight back . And at the rate I am going by next month or so I will exceed the 250 pounds i was before my surgery . I had my revision surgery on 11-14-2012 after surgery they told me the band removal went fine and they were able to repair a hiatal hernia , that was a surprise to them ( and me ) and sleeve me in one procedure. I was SO relieved to have had it done in once procedure. The day after surgery I started throwing up water and unable to keep it down . After a couple more tried they ordered an EGD for me . They told me if the scope went through easily then and showed no obstructions I should be fine and not need another surgery , but if it did not I could have excess scar tissue from the band and I could need another surgery . WHAT !! Yikes . So they did it and it showed no obstruction some swelling around the band area ( where the band was ) they told me to take liquids slow . For several days I was still throwing up just water, in fact it freaked me out because it looked like I was throwing up some blood as well. Finally around day 3 or so the water was staying down . So finally I was able to go home today . NOT an easy process that's for sure , but I am glad its over. The doc told me to progress my liquids slowly , as long as I was keeping liquids down I was fine , the minute i started if i did throwing up liquids I needed to come back . But to just take it slow . I have been home for about a week now and its still a back and forth issue with food. I encourage ANYONE reading this to NOT get the lap band, do not ever tell anyone abou the band and Hope some day it falls off the face of the earth !

I am sorry you are having problems. And sorry abut the possiblity of removal. Have you spoken to the doc or considered having a revision done to a sleeve if you have to have it removed ? That could be a possibility ? GOod luck ! Mindy

Hi I haven't posted in awhile but I need you guys help please. I was banded in Nov. 2007, I've lost almost 60lbs, I'm pretty much at goal. Over the last several weeks I'd noticed the band becoming tighter and tighter. I had major surgery 4 weeks ago, so I put the band on the backburner. Today I went in for an unfill and they said the band had slipped!! My doctor wanted to revision surgery tomorrow. I was and am in hysterics. First and foremost, I was self pay and in no way can afford to pay for additional surgery. Now they did say that my insurance "should" cover this emergency surgery. I am still not healed from my surgery on Aug. 1st and it was horrible. My surgeon did call me back and say it was ok t ohave the band repaired. This is my dilemma. Should I just have the band removed? I know I will gain every pound back but I'm afraid of this happening again and if my insurance decides not to pay we are sunk financially. How hard will this revision surgery be. Having the band placed was ruff, I don't want to go through that again. My doctor stated he just needed to go in and reposition it and stitch it back down "most likely" or he may have to replace it. Anyone with insight on this please post. I am crying as I write this, I'm trying to calm down. Ironically, today I told my husband, was the first day that I've woken up pain-free since my surgery on Aug. 1st. Now this:cry_smile:

The DS has even more of an absorption issue than the bypass from what I understand. I had researched both since my comorbidity is diabetes but DS is used for more extreme now. I am a month post bypass and it did get rid of the diabetes. I was a band to bypass revision to be specific and very happy with my bypass.

Hi Revision buddies! Just a bit of backstory: I had a lapband placed back in fall of 2007, so almost 12 years ago. Unfortunately, I have always struggled with my band when it had fluid in it (vomited frequently, inability to eat most proteins, GERD, could not drink anything that wasn't warm or at minimum room temperature.) My band and I officially "broke up" in 2015. All of the difficulties I had been struggling with had gotten so bad that I had developed acute gastritis, and esophageal spasms due to the GERD and persistent vomiting, which resulted in me having to have all of the fluid removed. While the vomiting every time I ate and esophageal spams stopped, the GERD remained and the last 60 pounds I had managed to keep off after my initial loss, rapidly returned. So here we are in 2019, through an unfortunate incident my husband had earlier in the year, our deductible and out of pocket maximum have been met for the year. The window of opportunity for me to finally end 12 years of GERD and struggle with this band is finally open. I found a surgeon I really am confident in and have had an EGD to check for Barret's and see what kind of shape my stomach was in. I was lucky in that my hernia had not returned and I didn't have any ulcers, but he did notice that even with no fluid in my band, that it seems tight, I'm not really sure what that means, but it would explain why I still struggle with most proteins. At my last appointment, we reviewed my EGD and he was sending the letter to the insurance company. Because my revision would be due to band complications, my insurance doesn't require the 6 months of dieting, psyh visit, etc, just a letter from the surgeon showing medical necessity for the revision. Since I have a history of GERD, we have decided that RnY is the best option. The paperwork was probably sent in sometime after July 3rd, my appointment was late afternoon on the 2nd and I can't imagine that they would be able to get the letter done and submitted the same day. And now I wait. UGH! It's the worst. I don't have any idea how long it should take. I've read the boards and for some people, it's taken as little as a single day for approval. and some waited for weeks only to be denied. It's maddening!! Thanks for the vent! TX2NC

Regain is always a possibility. However, not doing something is about 100percent chance of remaining obese and all the consequences. I revised from band to sleeve 4 years ago, lost half my body weight, and remain at goal. It isn't easy, but it's possible.

There's a revision board on here and at least 1 thread full of sleeve to RNY revisions. I was a band to RNY and I'll tell ya what I've told everyone else. After the misery I had with my band I wasn't having anything but RNY, the success rates are the highest and I wanted nothing but the best. I had HORRID reflux with my band and absolutely wouldn't risk having similar misery with a sleeve. Sorry it's been such a long road for you! Good luck!!!!

I am scheduled for June 26th, 2008. I will be having the traditional surgery but with the special consideration for my gallbladder scar. The first consult made it clear that they couldn't do much about my bulge right above the belly button. I have an extra bit of fat on the opposite side from the scar due to the revision I had on the scar a few years ago. They took out some of the fat under and around the scar but it left a bulge of fat on the other side from the scar. I want it to be more symetrical by removing that bit of fat. They have decided to go ahead and incise above the belly button which was not in their original plan. In my second consult I made it clear that I want that fat gone or reduced somehow. So they will do the above the Belly button incision and then if needed will do liposuction later as is deemed necessary. I am 60 and so want this to make me look as good as possible for my remaining years. I didn't get the lapband just to look almost good. I don't expect to be gorgeous but at least look and feel as good as I can. Since I am paying for this I want it to be much improved.

I got the lapband Sept 2004. Around December 2005 I started having pain issues in my body and by May 2006, I was a total mess. I've spent the last few years in severe daily chronic pain and taking oxycontin and still not having relief. I had a team of 6 doctors and lots of loving friends and family and no one could figure out what was wrong with me. 9 months ago I figured it out. My body rejected the lapband.. not slippage, erosion, or psychological intolerance.. true full-on rejection which is pretty rare. I'm being revised to VSG on Friday and I cannot wait for my new life to begin. Yes, what happened to me is rare, but all the other problems are WAY TOO COMMON. You're the only one who can make the decision for you. Do your research and make the best choice for yourself, but please remember my story in case you need to know it later. *hugs*

Badwolf... Im not extremely overweight either (10kgs above goal prior to revision surgery) and I have also exercised and remained fit right up until my revision surgery. Get your surgeons advice as he is likely to know what will be best in your own situation. I eat all my protein and drink all my water and have protein shakes etc but my energy levels are still really low. As I said Im only 3.5 weeks out but could not imagine running a marathon in 5 weeks despite my good fitness levels.

So excited. Put my stats into a BMI calculator and realised I'm no longer overweight. Yay. Still got a bit more to lose as my middle is still too thick to be healthy but being in the healthy weight range again feels amazing!

Hello all! I'm pre-surgery. waiting on a surgery date - I have been approved by insurance but will be out of the country for two weeks in July and told them I'd like to wait until back. I have lots of questions but two of them are below. I'm hopeful someone can wrap their brain around what I'm asking because I have struggled to find anyone who is able to really answer it for me. It's not that they are telling me what I don't want to hear, it's just not addressing the crux of the question. I'm hopeful this will make sense: Once you have WLS, in the first couple of months post op - what is your mind doing? I know people struggle to hit their protein and water goals a lot. I know it's a huge learning curve to adjust to the new stomach and relearn your limits and to feel full faster. But for those of us with food addictions who are looking at this as tool to get us through therapy and really force change - what is your mind doing?? when you realize you can't anymore - are you ok with that? are you angry? are you still craving the food? are you sad? are you relieved? are you satisfied? what is your brain telling you and your heart feeling in those moments as you adapt to not eating foods you used to crave, or if you can eat them how does it feel to limit those portions? I understand this is a tool. I KNOW this is necessary for healing and retraining and to make it through therapy successfully but I'm really wanting to try to know what to expect my mind and heart to feel when this massive part of my life is just ripped away. I am probably to equating it (albeit maybe not fairly) to a drug addiction rehab where they make you go cold turkey... i know i won't have physical withdrawls (aside from minor, potential repercussions while i learn to adapt to the new food intake) but what is my mind going to feel? what will i tell myself? what was your experience? does this question make sense? Also - i've never had problems with Heartburn or GERD beyond any sort of one-off meal once in a blue moon that may have caused a smidge of heartburn but it didn't last long and those instances are few and far between. BUT - I started taking Omeprizole because i clear my throat a lot and a nurse friend of mine told me it's likely acid reflux. I've not really noticed a difference in taking omeprizole so maybe it's not acid reflux and is just a weird habit. Anyway - should I be concerned about developing heartburn? My biggest fear with this is worrying that they might have to revise to bypass and i don't want a bypass. i'm fine with losing 80% of my somach but i'm not ok with bypassing it altogether... any thoughts or experiences anyone can speak on?

Question 1- I struggled. There was a time right at the beginning of the pandemic (1st surgery was Dec 2019) where all I could drink besides hot tea was grape powderade zero (hated artificial grape pre-op) and everywhere was out. I distinctly remember crying in my car, like full on grief crying. I had buyers remorse for several weeks after that wondering if I’d ever be normal again. Be prepared with emotional/ therapeutic support if you’re already battling disordered eating. Question 2- A dry cough is indeed a symptom of gerd. For me, it’s now hiccups. If you’ve ever heard those honking plastic chickens just know that’s what I sound like. I did end up having a revision to RNY and hiatal hernia repair. They don’t remove your stomach, it’s still in there, they just bypass most of it and attach it in a y shape to another part of the intestines while keeping a small portion attached. The only reason I have hiccups again is because I have another hiatal hernia that needs repaired. Would I do it all over again knowing the journey I’ve been on? Absolutely. Would I also be more prepared mentally? Also, absolutely.

I revised to the sleeve. Before I had the band in 2008, I had horrible reflux!! During band surgery , the surgeon told me I had a hiatal hernia which he repaired and reflux was gone. In my 5th year with the band I started getting a throbbing in my chest - after X-rays etc. I had reflux again so he removed some of my saline and I felt fine again but was already gaining my weight back. I was sleeved 2/4 - he repaired another hiatal hernia during surgery but this time I was getting reflux after the surgery. I bought an over the counter antacid, took it every night before bedtime and I was fine. Only did it for the first month. Now I only need it occasionally.

Day I finally went to the emergency and they discovered that Lap Band I had put in my stomach on October 2010 has severely slipped. and I was way dehydrated since I couldn't drink more than a half a glass of Water a day before and couldn't get out the bed because of the weakness. It was also the day I reached my goal weight of 150lbs.... Now, completely unfilled waiting for my lap band to gastric sleeve revision. food... My roommate though something was not right when I came home with groceries one day. 6 IVs a day keep the dehydration away... It would be interesting to see nurses faces when they will be stapling 90% of my stomach off - I am so tiny now... but I love it. Now... The question part - should I just have it taken out or should I do revision to sleeve surgery at the same time since they can do it for free for me since it was a slip. Even though I am at my goal weight - they offered it. Well, I just feel like I am greedy. Surgery cost 27,000 and now even though it slipped, I finally reached my goal. But you know you never know - I am just afraid that some day I will be fat again and I will regret that I did not do sleeve when I had the chance. What would you recommend?

I am looking into Mexico as an option for a revision from band to sleeve. Who did you use? Why did you choose them? Who would you not use, why? How was your experience? How much did you pay? Did they fix any hernia? Lots of questions yes. I have been scouring the boards for all any information. Thank you for any responses and any information on your experience.

Contact your health plan and request a copy of their criteria for revision of bariatric surgery - this is key, because most health plans have different criteria for revision than initial surgery. Hope this helps!

Juniper, I’m in the exact same place. I had severe reflux and had all the fluid taken out of my band. I quickly gained 20 lb over the 40 I had gained back over the last 2 years or so. I am approved for revision to bypass and am hoping to have it near the end of Feb. I had the exact same question . I would get stuck with the band and could either tough it out or eject the stuck item. I often chose eject and am wondering if you can do the same after bypass.

So your post sounds just like me...add a few advanced nursing degrees AND the fact that I had RNY done 25 years ago to make me feel like even more of a failure. I'm back going through the process of considering a revision to my original surgery at my highest weight ever. IF insurance will approve. While it would be awesome to get a total do-over with the RNY process (not just the reducing the stomach which is essentially what I'm not a candidate for) I don't regret my decision 25 years ago. I am sad that back then there was little/no follow-up, no real rules on diet/caffeine/timing of water intake/etc --maybe I'd have had better long term success. BUT I did lose just over 100lbs. Felt better than I had in my entire life and did more than I'd ever done - travel, marriage, shoppig in normal size clothing stores, etc. I have been morbidly obese since 6th grade and overweight since I was 7. That surgery got me closer to "normal" than ever. No diet I did before that or since then has been so successful- a year long protein shake diet did result in 70lbs lost but then I regained all + some much faster than after surgery. But, I realize now that I half-assed the process and expected that it would just magically work on its own. I'm sure deep down I probably still sort of think that way. I'm older have a couple kids that wish mom was more active and am restricted from doing things because of my weight and that makes me sad. This time I'm throwing everything at it...sort of feel like it's my last ditch effort. After my mandated psych eval for surgery I opted to continue working with the counselor who specializes in all types of eating disorders and am seeing a bariatrician who will prescribe WL meds. I've long thought until someone fixes the chemicals in my brain WL will never be long term, so I believe in meds. I'm taking the process so slow unlike in the past where I jumped into huge lifestyle shifts that were only sustainable for short-ish periods of time. I didn't even start a legit "diet" until just this week even though I've been going through the pre-cert process since October...and it's not really a diet- just replacing one meal a day with a shake per the changes prescribed by the bariatrician. On the advice of the counselor I've been setting one really small goal each week that is hopefully attainable and I'm able to maintain. Who knows what will happen with the WLS approval process. I'm hopeful the other adjuncts I'm working on will help me be successful for the long term. IF surgery is approved, it's really just another piece of the WL puzzle though a really nice one in terms of the ability to lose weight rapidly. It's up to me to keep it off though.

I am 7 weeks post op and am having difficulty with vomiting after eating meat or fish. I will chew it for at least 60 seconds and even after a bite or two I will throw up everything and it tends to continue for a few hours. I grill my meat or broil it with no oils and I do not understand why I can't keep it down. I can't even do protein shakes as they make me sick so i'm living off of yogurt and i have oatmeal in the morning. My doctor put me on meds but it's making it worse. I'm not losing a ton of weight. I have to add that my surgery was a revision to 2 previous nissen fundoplications so I also had work on my esophagus . Can anyone recommend anything else I can eat to get my protein? Also, any suggestions on incorporating fish or chicken without getting sick. Ren

You know, I don't know WHAT--if anything--my doctor submitted to my insurance for the band removal part of the surgery. He DID submit for the DS and they paid him. His "program fee" (that's out of pocket for me) is $1000 more for revisions...maybe that's where he makes up the difference.