Search the Community

I know your revision was today. When you feel up to it, update us. We r praying for you and success.

For my band I had to have a letter of medical necessity, a psych eval, and a nutrition eval. I was just wondering if you had to go through all of this over again in order for you to have your revision.

Hello, I am having my revision surgery on June 12th. The past couple weeks I have been getting stuck more often and have been throwing up more than usual and with more force. I am wondering if I should just do liquids and puréed (things that will not get stuck) until my surgery to prevent things from getting worse in there. There violent throwing up/stuck spells are prob just getting things all inflamed and worse in there.I feel like I am having this surgery just in time but am afraid what the doc will find when he gets in there. I am having my surgery in Mexico with Dr. Jose Rodriguez. He placed my lap band 9 years ago so I figured he would be best to get it out. Do you guys think me sticking with liquid/ pureed food until my surgey is a good idea to give everything time to calm down in there and not cause anymore damage?

I was banded 10/04/11 and between then and August '12 lost about 40lbs. In November I had redness and pain in my port area and my surgeon put me on an antibiotic and the pain and redness resolved. Then about 3 different times between November and August, I would have pain in the port area that would go away the next day after applying heat. Finally, though, in August the pain would not resolve and taking extra strength tylenol did not touch the pain. My surgeon started me on pain medication and his office went to work trying to have a port revision covered through my insurance. I paid cash for my original surgery. After a month, I was finally scheduled for an EGD and possible port revision, but when the doctor did the EGD he learned that the band had eroded into my stomach around the buckle area. This was on a Tuesday and by Thursday I had the band removed and spent 5 days in the hospital. I am not going to sugar coat it, it was awful. I've had surgeries before but this was the most difficult. In fact, it's now 5 weeks later and I'm still dealing with a lot of pain. The surgeon said that this was a very difficult surgery that would require a long recovery. He also said that if I wanted to in about 6 months I could revise to the sleeve. I am extremely down about the whole ordeal. I am so tired of being obese. I have tried every diet/program out there and have not been successful to become thin and healthy. That is why I took such drastic measures in getting the lapband, I need help outside of myself. So, I don't know what to do now. The lapband surgery was difficult, the removal was even more difficult and to consider another surgery scares me. Thanks for "listening"...I just don't know what to do. =(

Hi Everyone! I've been reading one of the posts about complications and then went to the "complication" forum and of course that gets your mind racing. I am having the bad to sleeve revision surgery in about 14 days (I know my band is not eroded, because I just had all the rests last month at a hospital here in the states) but the stories are scary. Does anyone have a "complication" story to share with the rest of us??? Clots, leaks, etc.???? Thanks!

Wow, so you had to do the liquid diet to mushies to solids and didnt lose any weight? That sucks - although I too am below goal, I always want to lose more weight, lol. Not that I'm scheduled for revision surgery but I've always wondered if you would lose a ton of weight you didnt need to lose. I guess now that I think of it though, its extremely hard to drop weight now.

Kai Not quite sure why I thought this was a revision for you, well that is great you will heal faster with just the sleeve being done!! Yes day 2 is the worst, just know that everyday after that will be just a little better. Make sure you walk as much as possible, it helps with the gas and helps you heal faster. Sorry about the dry heaves, I bet that was no fun! Drinking that blue stuff was horrible, but it is always great to know that the sleeve is working properly and not leaking. So many Dr's do 3-4 tests I think that is great. Especially for us who have been to Mexico, I don't want to get home and have a leak. You will find that even sipping for the first few days will make you feel very full, this is the same feeling you will get when you start eating. It is great because you know right away when to stop eating. So glad to hear you have an amazing medical staff, that makes all of this so much easier. I have to say surgery in Mexico is different, but in a good way!! The nurses are much more attentive than here in the states. Glad to see you are doing so well, and remember everyday you will feel better and better!! Good luck.

Laura-ven took the words right out of my mouth. When I started researching WLS I was locked in on the lap band but the more research I did the more I started questioning my choice. I talked with my doc and watched some videos that he had prepared about the lap band, sleeve, and bypass. He does all three surgeries but I decided that the sleeve was the best for me. The lap band is also really high maintenance and with the hours I work I don't have time to make a follow up appointment every six weeks for adjustments/fills. Also my insurance covers one WLS per lifetime, after the research I did and finding all the people that had revisions from band to sleeve, I decided to go with the one lots of people end up with and just bypass the band all together. Good luck with your decision. I am only three weeks out, I'm in a stall right now and have been for two week so I'm a little bummed BUT I still feel like this is one of the best decisions I've ever made for myself. I have not had any problems and would do it again tomorrow if I needed to.

I have surgery in the 20th in Mexico with Dr. Q at Santa Fe Medical Clinic. Thanks to this forum and a support group on FB, I have no fear! I am SO STOKED!!! I only learned of the VGS about a month ago, as soon as I learned about it I said yes! I feel so lucky not to have pursued the lap band! Dr.Q won't even do them anymore. He is so busy doing revisions. The sleeve seems to be so effective! I am ready!!! And hungry! Guess it's Soup time.

My endo suggests I have a revision to sleeve or bypass from my band. I am pretty sure insurance will approve a revision pretty easily as I have regained almost all my weight. My question is this: My insurance requires a 6 month preop diet. (I did that with the band.) Will that requirement stand for a revision, or does the fact that I have a band serve as my medically supervised weightloss attempt?

Hi Vicki, I also, had band slippage and a revision. It will be 2 years in November that my revision was. I am in green zone, but have gained some. I still have to stick to low calories because my surgeon will not fill me any more than I have due to my getting too tight. I am at 5.cc. i am happy where I am at. i hope to hear from you, I can try to talk about my revision, but its been awhile. Karen

Yes I read about someone who had her stomach imaged and it was an improper VSG. Her doctor offered to redo the surgery for her after she sent her a picture of the image. She decided after her husband used Dr. Aceves to use him for the revision instead of the initial surgeon. So I would guess getting the stomach imaged to see if the shape is proper or if it indeed was made incorrectly would be the first step and also it would give another doctor an idea of the ability to have it revised or not.

So I’m a month out from my revision today! Losing very slowwwwly... I’m looking for some advice, so I’m on purée foods and I got asked on a date for tomorrow! I really like this guy but he has no idea of my revision, I do want to go on this date and I asked him to send me the name of the restaurant so I could scope out the menu... besides soup there was only one other thing that I think would be ok for me to eat, it’s Tilapia in coconut sauce with white rice... I’m thinking of skipping the sauce and asking for mashed potatoes in replacement for the rice. Any thoughts? I’m nervous and kinda want to cancel... I asked to just go to the movies lol but he is not having it...

Please bear in mind that I am a very happy and very successful bandit now 9 years post-op. I do not regret my band, would do it all over again and if I ever have to have it removed, I would hope to have a replacement. When I was banded in 2006, it was a miracle surgery. And for some people, who accept that they will still have to work hard, it is just that. It was and still is for me. But over the years it has become clear that serious complications necessitating further surgery are much more common than originally thought, some of these are avoidable by careful eating and by not keeping the band tight; unfortunately others are beyond our control. We used to be warned about band slips, leaks and about ( very rare) erosion into the stomach tissue but it turns out that a build up of scar tissue round the band (causing it to tighten) is quite common. It can be very difficult to get the right level of restriction and some people are tempted to keep it tight enough to physically limit food, in fact it was once thought this was how it should be. But this causes food to back up into the oesophagus and that risks problems such as oesophageal dysmotility which may be irreversible. It can also damage the vagus nerve. Quite a number of doctors have stopped implanting bands as they found the removal rate was unacceptably high and it was too easy not to lose enough weight. Revision from band to sleeve is not uncommon! We still need lots of will power. The band makes it easier by dimming hunger, but it does nothing for head hunger and, contrary to popular opinion, it does not and should not physically stop us eating. If it does it is too tight! Having said all that, I love my band, I know many successful long term bandits in real life. My own experience has been good and so has that of almost all those I actually know and have met. But don't rule out bypass. For many people the element of malabsorption is a key factor.

Hi Heather, You are not alone! I was terrified to go through with RNY, same as you I chose the band because it was less evasive and not "permanent" I underwent revision on May 21st after 7.5 years with the band. Absolutely best decision I have ever made. My band experience was great for the first year or so, I lost more than 100lbs and felt great. Slowly, I started having all of the problems others report and it escalated from there. After the birth of my first (and only atm) daughter, I had a band revision because it slipped while I was pregnant. I had a little relief but as soon as I got a fill, I had issues. By this time, I was over it. My new surgeon believed I was a great candidate for RNY but with a bmi of 33, it was unsure if it would be approved. Well, it was and within days. I have BCBS of Michigan and the approval was easy. So easy that I was sure it was a mistake. It was not and insurance has paid. My recovery wasn't awesome but I'm a big baby and ended up with an infection in my port site. I'm sure it was my fault as I don't know well enough to relax and follow the rules. All is well now and 5 weeks later I have lost 33lbs. Good luck in your journey, it will be worth it!

Some insurance companies will not cover revision without medical necessity. The insurance companies believe if you've blown one surgery, you will not succeed with another. Some employers do not have weight loss surgery covered under their policies.

I am once again considering how to fix my health without surgery. I am self pay and was planning to go to Mexico to Endobariatric. I’ve decided that the potential need for revision due to GERD is going to hold me back. I would not be able to afford a revision and my health insurance would not cover any part of it. Part of me feels let down by this, but I know GERD is no fun. I have it from medication and a handful of times before not medication related. I did notice that Dr. Alvarez mentions the sleeve surgery can potentially heal GERD in those that have it. I do find that interesting since so many end up with revisions. It makes me wonder if I would get lucky and not end up with it. That’s a big roll of the dice though as I would be stuck if I did. This forum has been incredibly helpful to me. Most people here are really kind, which is so nice to see these days. Perhaps if my insurance changes I will reconsider this option. I just wanted to share where I am with it and thank you all for sharing your stories and hopes and struggles and successes.

Wow great job!!!! That is amazing!!! Stories like yours give me hope! I have had my band for 9 years and I have been dealing with horrible acid reflux for the past two and a half years, and now I have found I have a small slip and it may need a revision. I'm so terrified of surgery, I'm so afraid I won't wake up or I'll have a horror story ( I read the complication forum first ????) like a leak or I won't be able to stop losing weight etc. I am glad I read your post! It has eased my mind a little in case I do have to have my band revised to the sleeve

My dr recommends a Protein shake everyday forever, thinking that there's no way I can get in 80 gms of protein eating as much as I do. I'm 7 weeks out and drink maybe 1 a day at most. Sometimes I only drink 1/2 of one. I'm getting pretty sick of em and can't imagine drinking them forever. I was sposed to drink 1 forever after my lapband almost 4 yrs ago. After the first month, I never drank another one till my revision 7 weeks ago. It's a good idea, however, since I don't really count my protein. Hate counting anything...

i said the following statement up above post IMO i agree with surgeon - i would have the bypass over the sleeve any day of the week and twice on sundays!! ________________________________________________________________ @Kawkab i didn't say the above statement correctly even i got confused when i re-read it!! i meant to say i think bypass would be a better choice if you already have reflux many OP choose the gastric bypass over the sleeve to avoid acid reflux I hardly ever had heartburn in the past no revision for me from sleeve sleeve and have walked "arm and arm" almost 6 years"we" couldn't be happier 105 lbs down and maintaining (fluctuate a little) G O A L !!! good luck bud with your important decision kathy

I personally think it's ruder for someone to pretend that it'll be ok when you may be causing yourself real harm by going against your dr's orders. And you know what? It's not like I haven't done it myself (more than once) so I think I'm in the right place to tell someone who is cheating to stop doing it, for their own good. You're hungry? Hell, so were we ALL at that stage. It's not called bandster hell for nothing. Eating solids when you're not healed is like picking on a wound that's still raw. I'm NOT going to tell you it's ok. But if you still want to do it, who am I to tell you not to despite the advice you've been given. You own your own decisions, good or bad. I personally would rather someone was blunt and told me to stop doing something that may cause damage than tell me it's ok only to find out later that it made me need a revision. To me, support isn't all heart and flowers and lies to make you feel better. It's about telling you the truth so you know not to do it in case you cause yourself harm.

Hi Everybody! New to the game. Had my revision surgery(Hence, "band to bypass" title)Monday August 6th, 2018. Doing well overall. Thought I was Super woman for a few days and over did it on the walking and consuming of liquids. Foolishly thought more was good(I mean aren't we suppose to get moving and increase dietary intake?). Paid for my aggressive start with VERY uncomfortable bloating and soreness.:( Had to regroup and scale back my regime and diet. Oh well, you live, you learn...hopefully.;) So i'm looking forward to a much healthier lifestyle with one of my first short term goals being able to decrease(or eliminate altogether) my need for insulin. Off to a great start already, no short term units needed and no high readings since leaving the hospital Wednesday! Yay me! So I wish all of us much success in our personal journeys and I hope to make some kindred friends along the way! Til we chat again, Take care of u!

Let's see... here are some things to consider. Here's my story. I had a band for 3 years. I was successful until my band slipped and I had serious enough complications that my quality of life wasn't too good and I started regaining weight. Once that I happened I also had to admit to myself that the band was farily unpleasant even when I was losing weight. I hated the feeling of food sitting at the top of my stomach and I had frequent sliming and stuck food issues. But I had just kind of been in denial about all my issues because my weight loss was good. I fought for insurance coverage for revision for over a year so I had lots of time to do research. My insurance would cover a new band but not a revision to anything else. It was a long, soul-destroying process - no point in detailing here . For a revision, I was willing to go anywhere in the country or Mexico and I spent a lot of time reading boards and researching stats. I also found out about the sleeve and spent lots of time researching it and bypass. I also went to an OH conference, met with several surgeons, did phone consults, you name it. I even watched video of all of the surgeons I was considering doing the procedure. I admit it, I'm a compulsive researcher. Surgeons - in Washington I felt the best choice was Dr. Billing at Puget Sound Surgical. He's done more sleeves than other surgeons in the area. He's pioneered a technique he refers to as a "lap-sleeve". He's always interested in learning and sharpening his skills - I found him to be both confident and caring without the arrogance that afflicts so many surgeons. Dr. Billing removed my lap band in October of 2009. Because of the insurance issues we didn't convert at the same time. He would have but his preference was to wait because he was concerned about damage to my stomach and giving it time to flatten back out and heal before doing the sleeve. The only two other surgeons I was willing to go to were Dr. Cirangle in SF and Dr. Aceves in Mexico. In June I did end up going to Dr. Aceves. I had a scheduling issue and had to have my surgery during a specific week. I also lost my legal case and had to self-pay. Dr. Aceves and his staff were fantastic and I appreciated have 3 full days of care in the hospital. Late this summer I developed a serious hernia. My abdominal wall was separated from my sternum to below my belly button. My primary care doc actually sent me to Dr. Billing who did the repair surgery three weeks ago. Other surgeons could have been kinda pissy in this situation - after I, he didn't do my sleeve. But he understood why I had to go to Dr. Aceves and was more than happy to help me. Once again, he was great, I trusted the surgical decisions he made, and I'm doing well. (He also told me my sleeve looked great and took a picture of it for me while he was in there - nice since he wasn't the surgeon who did it). Bypass or sleeve for revision: I did a huge compilation of research on revisions as part of my legal case. You can read my summary. The bottom line is that a sleeve is an appopriate revision for a failed lap band patient. Dr. Billing believes that sleeve will overtake bypass and may completely replace lap band surgery in the next 5-10 years just because the outcomes are so good. He said something really interesting to me a week ago when I had a follow-up. He told me that his sleeve patients, even his revisions, are far and away his happiest patients. They feel great, they have little to no complications and they seem to have little or no difficultiy maintaining their weight loss. http://vsgappeal.blogspot.com/2010/07/summary-appeal-letter-studies-and.html In my case I had regained my lap band weight loss and was back at 236 when I had my surgery in June. I'm already down to 174. I really didn't expect to lose that quickly. What really amazes me about my old band vs. the sleeve is that it's not just about limiting my volume. I don't know whether it's the grehlin being gone or just how quickly the satiety switch gets set off in a smaller stomach but I just don't really crave food or want to eat to fullness. When I first started eating solids I ate too much a few times and it was really uncomfortable. I backed off a bit so I wouldn't get to that point but it's really more than that. I just feel find and completely uninterested in food after a few bites so it's very easy to stop before my little sleeve is packed full. Somehow the sleeve changed how I feel about food - what I want to eat and when I feel like pushing the plate away. I haven't heard anyone I know say that about their gastric bypass. I also was uncomfortable with the other health issues of bypass like dumping and malnutrition. Another suggestion about surgeons: I've met most of the surgeons in the Seattle area who do weight loss surgeries. I think most are good doctors and are well intentioned. But every surgeon's opinion is colored by their own experience. They have what they do well, they have their comfort zones, and some are more willing than others to push beyond them. Sleeve is new and some surgeons are just now starting to look it it. Others, like Cirangle and Billing, have been doing them awhile and feel confident in the technique and in the successes their seeing with their patients. Dr. Lauter has done some sleeves but not a huge amount. He seemed like a great guy to me but it's worth considering that if he's most comfortable with bypass then that's what he's most likely to suggest to his patients. And it stands to reason that he would. All in all I'd say my research shows the sleeve to be as good and in some ways a better revision option than bypass. I prefer Dr. Billing to other local surgeons and would suggest meeting with him if you have the time to come up north. Even if you don't go with him it's good to have another medical opinion. Take care. I'm sure whatever you decide will be right for you. Happy to answer any questions you might have. At just about 6 months in to my revision I'm no expert but I can certainly share my own experiences so far.

I'm on day 4 of my 10 day liver reduction diet and have had a bit if food each day. Usually more veg, some lean protien, or cottage cheese. Mine is very strict (3-4 protein shakes and 1/2 c. Non-starchy veg each day), and I'm confused why I'm even on it, as I am getting a revision that is altering my intestine where the large and small connect, at the opposite end from where the pouch and liver are. I'm going to call the dietician tomorrow to ask about it. All the liquid is killing me, and I'm a teacher and can't just go to the bathroom whenever I want. :-( (Also, this diet is making me whiny. Please excuse my mope.)

I had surgery 2/4. I pre-made my jello the day before my surgery. Stocked up on soups and protein drinks. Costco sells Premier Protein which I love. I've been drinking them since 2008 when I got my lapband and just revised to sleeve. Plus they are 30 grams of protein. Walmart had an Atkins shake that's Mocha Latte. I bought a 4 pack and am regretting I didn't get more. They are delicious. I bought small paper coffee cups and I put my soup in those. Ocean State Job Lot sells little containers. I stocked up on those. I made a batch of ground chicken meatballs and stored those in small containers and put in the freezer