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Update for my August revision: I had my revision earlier this month and although it feels the same as VSG physically, it is different in that I am just not hungry at all. After 1 oz of unsweetened applesauce for dinner last night, I just didn't want another bite. Some people got that with their VSG, I never did. It's hard to eat if one has zero appetite. This week my average calories was 296. I have no idea what my goal is for this stage. My surgery water weight gain is finally coming off then I can see where my weight is at but at 296 average a day, I know I lost quite a bit. Luckily, so far, it's been a pretty easy recovery. I do not have any nausea, and have not vomited. I do have off and on diarrhea. I took an Equate equivalent of Imodium, that fixed it. I still have a stitch feeling on the left side though, maybe due to CO2 still in there. I drink with no problem but I still try to sip slowly because if I do drink fast, I just know I will get nauseated. I've slept better than ever because no Gerd. I have good energy due to good sleep. Of course, I'm always worried about future complications though since it is a more serious operation compared to my sleeve.

Hello everyone! I am in need of some help/guidance! I had gastric sleeve in 2012, out of the country, due to no insurance at the time. Now I feel I need a revision. I have insurance - United HealthyCare Oxford. Does anyone have any experience with these circumstances? Any help/tips would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

You could have intentionally bad posture that day. If you don't stand up too straight when your height is measured, it will revise your BMI upward. <innocent whistling>

I'll be 61 in October. I just recently got a revision from vsg to RNY. There is gas pain, some stomach pain but never over lvl 6 pain for me. The nurses told me that they thought I'd be one of the ones that needed most help but I never called them in. I stayed one night. There must be some truth to the older the patient is, the better they do in surgery and handling the pain. I think you'll do great.

I am so incredibly happy for you. I had Gastric Bypass in 2001. Most weight lost AFTER bypass (279) SW (before surgery) - 345 CW - 315. After enduring stage 4 breast cancer in 2010, I gained most of my weight back. I decided to return to my original doctor and request testing to find out if something went wrong with my original surgery. I was told everything was still in tact and I just need to start from SCRATCH! But I explained that I was able to eat a heck of a lot more. And that I would like options as to what can be done to tighten and/or revise my surgery. I believe my doctor was so eager to NOT have any "revisions" needed that he just sent me away - RUDELY! So I decided to ask around and seek a second opinion (of course - years later- because I believed there was something wrong with me). I followed his advise - but still believed something was wrong. Fast forward. I met a woman in my SAME situation and she referred me to her doctor for help. NOW, I am just waiting for an appointment. I will be researching the duodenal switch. I was never given this as an option. I am so excited for you.

I posted this on a different thread, but wanted to share. Not sure why the revision has been so successful for me, but I'm loving the results. Here are my stats over my 6 year journey. Highest weight May 2012 - 222 lbs. Gastric sleeve surgery weight November 2014 - 212 lbs. Lowest weight post sleeve May 2015 - 151 post op 6 months (61 lbs. lost) Highest weight prior to revision surgery January 2019 - 205 lbs. (54 lbs. gained) Weight day of revision surgery October 2020 - 185 lbs. Current weight August 2021 (10 months post op) - 128 lbs. (57 lbs. lost) I hope that I never have to add a line that says I've gained weight back again!!!! Good luck on your journey!!!!

I haven't had the revision you are contemplating, but I hope you find someone who has to chat with, and I wish you well with it.

Ahhh, I wanted to add that my throat no longer burns all day and I can sleep without acid rushing up to my mouth. The revision was successful (so far) for the original purpose and that was Gerd/esophagitis.

Hi, I'm new to this site. I was hoping to hear from anyone who has had a revision from RNY to Duodenal Switch? I had Gastric Bypass surgery in 2006 but have gained half the weight back that I lost. The weight I lost was good but not near my goal weight. I'm scheduled for revision surgery 8/12/21. Thank you!

Had the revision a few days ago. I went from vsg to rny. From day one with the sleeve, I was hungry. I don't know why. From beginning to end, the most I could eat was 10 oz with my sleeve, and I still lost weight but I remember it being a struggle to keep under 1200 cal. So with the RNY, the recovery pain isn't much different than the sleeve. Every pain was doable. I didn't feel nauseous, never threw up when I was in the hospital. I do feel like I did 1000 sit-ups. GasX helped a lot. I felt like I could've walked out of the hospital that evening but I had to stay overnight (due to insurance). I walked out of there at 11 am the next day. It's been 4 days, and I'm not hungry at all. The two days of clear liquid for pre-op was difficult, but now 4 days post-op RNY there is zero hunger. It's a new feeling for me. Some notes for the curious: I had a urinary catheter while asleep. My revision took less than 1.5hrs. I had a serious dry mouth and a sore throat that made me want to eat more ice chips and drink more water, which is good. No nausea, I took Aprepitant 40mg capsule two hours before. That helps with post-op nausea and vomiting. If any of you have any questions, please just ask and I will share my experience.

I've had both. I had the sleeve for 5 years and revise to a bypass just recently. The urgent diarrhea happened with the sleeve too, and some of them dump. I dumped with it, unfortunately. This is just for me... But if I had to do it all over again, I would skip the gastric sleeve and go RNY. Post-op sleeved, I was hungry from the beginning and not too long after I develop Gerd. I'm post-op RNY now and I don't feel hungry at all. The VSG surgery and RNY was basically the same pain level. Having said that, they are both good choices. Not everyone develops Gerd from the sleeve.

Deciding which surgery to have is not straight forward & it’s a good idea to ask for real life experiences to help you decide. Some factors will direct you more to one or the other more easily. Like some surgeons recommend bypass over sleeve if you have a larger amount of weight to lose. If you have reflux/gerd already the sleeve really isn’t for you. Then it becomes lifestyle choices, existing medical conditions, weight loss history, etc. that will influence your decision. I had sleeve surgery even though I had occasional reflux. I experience it more now but it manifests differently. One of the reasons I chose the sleeve was because it would change my digestion the least but also because I could revise to a bypass if I needed in the future. My tummy has always been a sensitive (lactose, spice esp chilli, fatty or oily foods, etc.) because of the reflux, a parasite in my gut, an acid tummy & just me. Consequently, I thought I’d be more likely to end up with additional food limitations with a bypass. 27 months on & I’m happy with my sleeve. There are odd foods I’m not good with. Bread, pasta, rice, potatoes sit like a weight in my tummy. Dry meat & vegetables like char grilled ones cause the foamies & gagging. Oily fish upset me more now than before surgery. But this is very individual & you can’t predict it. Amusingly I’m way better with dairy than I was before - tossed that parasite with most of my tummy. I find it harder to find non spicy & non chilli food than foods I eat with my sleeve. Foods you struggle to eat in the first couple of months after surgery may be fine later on. Your tummy can be sensitive to begin & you might have episodes of diarrhoea, vomiting, dumping, foamies. It can help if you introduce foods back into your diet slowly. Most of this is temporary or only if you eat a specific food & I just try to avoid those I know upset me. Some people, though, seem to have no issues with food at all. These experiences seem to be similar across the surgeries. I remember my mother lamenting she didn’t know what food to buy when I visited her. The reality was she didn’t have to buy different foods or cook differently (mind you I’d always do the shopping & cooking when I’m there). I just bought my own yoghurt & protein bar snacks but otherwise we ate the same foods except she has dessert & slightly larger portions. You may choose to make a lot of changes to your long term maintenance diet (I have - rarely have sweet cakes, biscuits or desserts, no fast foods, etc.). You may chose to go the moderation path & still include the odd take away, sweet treat, etc. Doesn’t matter what form your maintenance diet takes it just has to be sustainable for you & how you want to live your life. Good luck with which ever surgery you choose.

I haven't had the enlarged fundus personally, but I have read about this happening to people after the sleeve. The "good" news about it is that it gives you additional options in how to treat the reflux. Most sleevers do not have enough fundus left for a fundoplication to control the acid to be an option, but since you have a larger fundus than normal, you probably can have at least a partial fundoplication (aka Toupet fundoplication). You may want to talk to a surgeon who does reflux surgery about that option if it is looking like they won't cover a revision to bypass.

I've been in this WLS world for close to twenty years, since the initial work up to my wife's DS and then my VSG some years later, and from what I have seen from many in our support groups, most everyone can lose up to around 30lb of regain - it takes some effort and a few months, but it comes off more or less like a "normal" person. 50lb or regain is more a a 50-50 proposition - some can lose it on their own, and some need a revision to help it along. My general feeling is that the revision should be your last step rather than your first. Go back to some basics and try to understand where your regain happened, as if it happened, once, it can happen again after a revision., so you need to get your head around the root of the problem. Is it a head problem, meaning that maybe some therapy is in order, or not really understanding the nutritional side of things and how to eat and live to maintain a healthy weight - an RD can be helpful for this. Or, maybe a bit of both. Unfortunately, our WLS, and by extension a revision for regain (rather than for complications) is really more of a "do over" rather than a cure for the problem Very commonly, before we had WLS, the most frequent reason for failure in dieting is that the diet will yield some weight loss, maybe even to normalish weight, but then the person declares success and goes back to their old habits, and diet, that helped to promote the weight gain in the first place - they never really learned how to live, and eat, to maintain that healthy weight. This is why we frequently see people regaining fairly rapidly after notionally successful dieting. The same basic profile often happens after WLS, only it takes a while longer to happen owing to the lower volume that we can eat, but that tendency is still there. Another consideration is that every time we go inside to do surgery, we back ourselves further into a corner, limiting our options for future treatment should that be necessary, whether for regain revision or for something completely unrelated; you have limited any future surgeon's options in what they can do to help you with some future problem. This is why I am very shy about "wasting" a surgery if I can possibly treat the problem some other way. Again, let it be your last choice, rather than your first.

Hi, I'm also 4 mos out with a stall between 192-195. I'm also became caretaker for my elderly Mom so lots of stress going on here. I know how that can impact a person's health but at least I'm not gaining. Still thrilled to be in "onederland" and really enjoying breaks I get from other fam members so I can do my. Reformer Pilates classes where my focus is now cardio/sculpt. I also hop on my treadmill at home buty water intake has really taken a dive. Need to work on that. The great news is that my A1c # for diabetes no longer requires meds. I'm so, so, happy about that🙂. Btw, my highest history of weight gain was 261, pre-op was 245 to 235 from the week fast, and now 192. Goal is 150 since I am 5'6". I had the revision from lap band to gastric sleeve. My niece had the bypass and she said that her stall required her to go back on protein shakes 3x a day un order to trigger more weight loss and so far she has lost 100 pounds. I think I will be trying that, too. Good luck to everyone and I love seeing the pics Mizzkay! You look awesome. Blueslily, thx for keeping this topic alive. I'm right there with you on the stall. We can do this! Sincerely, Trish

I did a revision and it's horrible 😫

I put on 40 lbs since my VSG in 2018. I filled out a health questionnaire for Mexico Bariatric Center. Just got approved from one of their Doctors. Not sure if I want to try and take this off traditionally or try the revision. I think it's 3 times the price here in the USA.

Did anyone purchase a secondary health insurance policy to help cover the cost of a revision?

SW 280, VSG DOS 263 LW 172 but weighed 177 for about 4years. Got GERD and went up to 233! Revision to Bypass 11/2/20 and today 165! Not even a year our yet. So yes you will lose. Not as much as the first time but I’m still working out a lot and I drop when I eat more calories. I’m at 1,000-1,200 a day right now and run 5x a week 2 miles a day and weights 2x a week. I wish I would have don’t this the first time around lol BUT the surg was so painful I was like omggg why lord. My doc said well you have to understand I had to make the stomach slim again since it was stretched , THEN do the bypass so it was a lot of work. Yikes! Lol so thankful. Anyways good luck! Now I get my plastic surgery so I can feel comfy and get rid of this old skin lol

4 years post-sleeve, yes, I do regret it. The sleeve has a pretty high rate of revisions to gastric bypass in the long run due to either really bad acid reflux or inadequate weight loss. It also makes you more likely to get a hiatal hernia post-operatively, which may not sound like a big deal, but it has had a real effect on my quality of life. I didn't have a hiatal hernia until after the sleeve. Knowing what I know now, I would have never had bariatric surgery in the first place, because I was quite healthy in spite of being fat and bariatric surgery made my quality of life worse instead of better. However, if I did want to go through bariatric surgery, I'd rather get the RNY. At least the RNY has stood the test of time over many decades and cures acid reflux instead of making it worse like the sleeve does. Personally, I would only recommend bariatric surgery to people who already have health issues from being fat. Then it is worth the risk that the surgery might create its own problems.

How many times did you guys and girls have to appeal an insurance denial before it went through (if it went through?) I have Harvard Pilgrim, and they have determined that my revision is not medically necessary despite reflux that wakes me up every night with imaging and an upper endo to prove this. I plan to call my surgeon's office and find the best way to appeal it, but I was just curious if anyone had successfully appealed before - particularly with Harvard Pilgrim. Thanks!

Follow up: I actually just got the denial from my insurance company about an hour ago. Even seeing this, they’ve deemed a revision “not medically necessary.” I’m gonna have a fight on my hands 😩

Hi! No, they didn't do a baseline swallow study, so I don't have anything to compare it to, unfortunately. Fingers crossed that insurance approves my revision and we can get that corrected intraoperatively, too. Thank you, and I hope you feel better soon too!

That is absolutely abnormal. Did your doctor say that it has been stretched over time? Did you get a barium swallow right after surgery to compare? I don't have a dilated fundus, my sleeve looks good but my esophagus is really dilated instead, so I think that is the cause of the really bad reflux, Gerd Etc. and why my doctor suggested I get a revision to bypass. I hope you feel better soon.

My surgery, revision from sleeve to RNY, is on 9/20 and pre-op diet begins 9/6. I’m feeling all sorts of feelings; excitement, anxiety and a little apprehension. Good luck everyone! I look forward to reading about your progress.