Search the Community

Let me first say that you're doing fantastically. Don't let this little set back matter in the least. Are you in the hospital now? I am curious as to why you're going to get a revision to bypass if the sleeve is working well. Not a judgment at all, I am simply interested in the doctor's reasoning

updated: my band eroded and had to be revised on May 21, 2014 to bypass.

I had lapband in 2011. Did very well with it. Got to goal, but as others have said, had complications and had to have it removed. I revised to bypass at the end of March. My doctor is revising many of his band patients due to complications. It was a great tool when it wasn't causing problems, but it doesn't seem to be a long term surgery without having additional surgeries later on down the road. And this is not to bash the band, because I loved it when it wasn't causing problems, but more of an observation of what I've seen and experienced. Sent from my LG-H631 using the BariatricPal App

My insurance will not cover revisions. I don't consider this a revision, I have been 7 months since my band was removed. I have had my PCP refer me..now we shall see. Hopeful at best

I'm 5 weeks out from revision from band to sleeve and I have been taking Prilosec daily for acid reflux/heartburn. But the past couple of days I am have pretty bad heart burn. Any one else experience this while taking an acid reducer?

I just got off the phone with a nurse at my doc's office and had several things clarified. I WILL be staying overnight at the hospital - I'll be admitted as an outpatient, then he will sign for me to stay. I will also have a morphine pump that will last 3 days. He will do a leak test day of surgery and again before I go home. Then I will return a week after surgery for staple removal and follow-up. I also got all the pertinent info regarding quantity of surgeries he's done (sleeves, revisions, etc.). His overall complication rate is 0.04%, which I consider pretty darn good. The info the nurse originally gave me for going home the same day was because she thought I was only having my gall bladder removed. She had no idea I was having a revision. Boy oh Boy - this confusion caused me a lot of mental anguish. But things look good now. The only thing I'm concerned about is having to dish out all my savings if there are complications from the sleeve - but with my guy's complication rate I feel like my chances for success are very good. He's the same one that did my lap band and I've not had a slippage, erosion, or flipped port, etc. so I trust him. Thanks for everyone's input. It really helps to know what your experiences have been for those of us that have yet to go through it.

I'm scheduled for a band to VGS revision on October 30, but will also be having my gallbladder removed at the same time. My surgeon (who banded me in 2006) said it will be an outpatient procedure just like my band was. After reading about all the people that went to Mexico for surgery and were in the hospital for several days, I'm wondering about being able to go home the same day. Has anyone else on this board gone home the same day? Any complications from doing so? My doc is right next door to a hospital and I do barium swallows, fills, etc. in his office which is not far from where I live (Dallas metro area). I'm not worried about having a problem and not being near medical help, but just wonder how others handled pain, etc. at home.

I just had the same revision 3 days ago and they did it at the same time -- I will let u know how it goes in a month :-)

How does the pain compare to the band I'm getting my revision tomorrow all in one like u the worst part I think is the port can't wait to not feel it. I'm scared of the pain after surgery

VSG is actually stage one of the DS. Years ago many surgeons did the DS in two stages (first, the sleeved stomach, then a few months later, the bypassed small intestine). Some patients did really well just with stage 1, so they started offering the sleeved stomach as a standalone surgery. Ta da! The VSG was born! so yes - lots of DS'ers had their DS done in two stages (esp those who had it done several years ago), and there are definitely people who've revised from VSG to DS. It's a more straightforward surgery than going from VSG to RNY, since you're already halfway to the DS when you have a VSG.

Sometimes they can't get a nicely shaped and size sleeve on revision so ask about it. I was revised in 2011 and very happy with my sleeve!

Thanks Mis73 - Trust me, I'm not even entertaining the Sleeve comment, I was just horrified and couldn't believe he even said it. As I mentioned, he gave me a fill/adjustment yesterday, I called today because now I'm so tight that I can hardly swallow my own spit, but my stomach is growling and I'm still starving. Evidently, he is i surgery tomorrow and I as told not to force food, drink hot liquids and come in on Saturday. My husband is staring at me like I'm a space alien because every time I swallow anything at all loud ungodly noises come racing out of me. They did do a barium thing yesterday, he does one every time we do a fill or adjustment so I assume the placement is fine as he didn't say a word. It was after my barium thing that he made the Sleeve comment and said the revisions don't work. That is a really good idea about the informational seminar, I hadn't even thought of that, a great example of why the forum boards are helpful.

I had a port revision (mine had a hole and was leaking the saline) and I didn't have any issues whatsoever so please don't think that is how you are supposed to feel!

I went with Michael Talbot. You don't get much face-time with him, but his staff are all really good. Especially his nurse Patricia. Progress is going alright. Mine was a revision from lapband so my weightloss is probably going to be slower. But so far I'm really pleased. Start a new job this Friday and they were able to get me in for surgery with enough time to recover so I'm very happy.

According to one surgeon, the term roux en y just means an incision. So any of the surgeries like DS, Loop DS and MGB all use roux en y incisions. But in bariatric circles, the RNY pertains to the regular GB. All I know about the MGB is that it can be revised and is less invasive. As is the case with all of us, my biggest concern was/is weight regain over time. I chose the Loop DS because it seemed to be more effective with weight loss than the GB and MGB and equally as effective as the tradition DS with one less incision and less intestinal bypass, diarrhea, etc. As far as the DS vs the Loop DS (SADI), I am concerned about weight regain because of the significant difference in the amount of longer intestinal tract that is left with the Loop DS. But I also have to take into consideration the side effects of having that much shorter intestinal tract with the malabsorption issue.

I saw this thread title and I thought - Hmmmm, definitely a PreOp poster. Not just this thread, but the rather-naive posted response on the other "what size do you want to be" page that you quote in your own thread. And I was right. I don't mean that in a harsh way, but this is one of the things that absolutely consumed me before I had surgery, and now it doesn't really vex quite as much. I'd love to do it, but I have more bottom-line concerns now - like getting to the right fill level, not PB'ing, making good food choices - the basics of being Banded that we all deal with daily. Just an observation. Once you get "into the thick of it" after surgery, you sometimes find yourself concentrating more on the day-to-day process of losing weight and sometimes focusing a bit less on what the ultimate "fairytale ending" goal will be. Great - Count me in. Make me a Size 8. (Not after being sick, or just temporarily, but for the next say, 10 years of my adult life.) What do you want? Money? OK, sure, I'll get it somehow. Just tell me where to mail it. I don't know what I'd have to do to get it, but if you could guarantee me I'd be a size 8 - I promise you I would get it to you someway, somewhere, some how. Trust me! I'm willing to work, willing to work hard, willing to pay - and it hasn't happened yet. I am so willing, that I'd have a revision to a bypass tomorrow if I thought it'd get me there. Of course the insurance company won't pay (a BMI of 30 is acceptable to them, those dirty pennypinchers) as they don't think I'm obese enough, and my own original LapBand surgeon has resigned himself that I'll never get any thinner. Pfffft, I don't lack motivation but as someone who's been banded 5 years, trust me when I say not every single person will come out of this process in "bikini condition" no matter how hard they work, or how dedicated they are. It's a fact. After a lifetime of obesity if there is a Size 8 inside me, she is WELCOME to emancipate herself and take center stage. She has my permission, I promise. I care. I don't want to be chubby, a little bit chubby, and certainly not fat anymore. I don't know what normal standards are, and I reject normalcy as a desirable option. I would love to be at any weight/size that would allow me to wear upscale fashion brands, overpriced designer jeans and of course, adorable little swimsuits. Me too. But 1 and a half LapBand surgeries, and an Abdominoplasty later, I don't see me getting into anyone's bikini in public, unless there is some sort of cool prize being offered in return for sure public humiliation. No but seriously, no one wants to see me in a bikini - I'm just not there yet. At this weight, I could wear a one-piece swimsuit without the authorities being called or without raising eyebrows. But nobody wants to see a size 14/16 shoehorn into a bikini. Now, Check me out later on - after I get some real band restriction and some weight loss, a Boob Lift and some Lipo later - and we'll see. But right now, it ain't gonna happen. Do you guys ever go back and forth on this too? I'm never back and forth. I seriously want to be a Junior Size 9/10 or a Misses Size 8 or 10. If you know another way to go about it other than diet, exercise, surgery, prayer, and more - let me know. I was hoping I wouldn't have to trade my mortal soul for a single digit size but after some dark days I've had after surgery, even that thought hasn't been such an appalling thought. :eek: But take it from a post op Bandster: Don't think people who aim for larger goal sizes aren't lacking in dedication or hard work. And they aren't necessarily selling themselves short - some of us just don't know how to do it, and have begun to think it might not be possible. Thanks and Happy Band Journeys To All ...

I've heard that slips are caused by over eating or by vomitting a lot ... I've never had one so I have no idea. Im sorry about your predicament. Have you been able to keep the weight off during your revisions? Best of luck!

Hello Malcolm!! Welcome to VST!! If you're anything like me, I love my sleeve far greater than I did my band. However, I didn't have close to the success you did with yours either. Big congrats for you did exceptionally well with it! Take a look around here, you will find so many of us who have revised. The sleeve by far is everything it's said to be. PS, we also have a Man's section here, since you asked about it.

Just got the call from Weight Loss Center. Insurance has approved my revision from band to RNY. Don't have a date yet. That call may come on Monday. But just knowing it is approved and it will happen is enough for today. I am feeling every emotion there is. Mostly good. I am ready for this. Thanks to all those who have been pulling for me. Your support is more than you will ever know. Hugs

Nope, not with my band installation back in 2011. But I did have to give myself lovenox injections 2x a day for 7 days after my band to bypass revision. I don't see why you'd need them for the band installation as there should have been zero internal cutting.

Oh I haven't had the bypass yet, that's what I'm in the process of doing. Revising from lap band (it's removed) and now hopefully I will have the bypass in the next couple of months. We're hoping that it cures the acid issues. I'm hopeful! And thank you, catwoman!

Wow, Tiff. I hope you feel better and praying that band repositions itself! Tracy--I'm so sorry you need to have a revision to yours :-( Good luck to the both of you!!

Hoping, I just found out my band has slipped...nauseated is not necessarily the sign of a slipped band. I think mine actually slipped a few months ago because I had .5 cc taken out and it was fine for a few weeks and then gradually kept getting tighter and tighter to where Soup wouldn't even go down. The last five days (last week) ice chips wouldn't go down, saliva wouldn't and the throwing up was retching up blood because clearly no food/liquid was being taken in. They did an x-ray at ER, then a fluoro before fill was taken out and one after fluoro was taken out. They could proceed with just trying to fill it again, because after fill was taken out the band popped back up to where it was supposed to be. So they think the stitches holding it have come loose. But my surgeons are relatively inexperienced with banding so they really don't know. So I go back in for a revision and they will check it out and make sure that everything else is okay while they're in there. But if you're not throwing up and not being blocked, I would say probably not slipped but a fluoroscopy and/or an x-ray would be the definitive way to tell. good luck trisha

Ok, I myself am two weeks from being sleeved, so this is secondhand knowledge. One of the gals in my support group is 4 weeks out and she was just telling us how she drinks 1 beer at bowling and a glass of wine after work on occasion. My first instinct was, is she nuts? However, she is a well educated, successful woman who has had great success with her sleeve, so who am I to judge? My doctor and physiologist said they recommend waiting a year to reintroduce alcohol, simply because they want you to reach goal and too many times, we waste calories on drinks. Also, you metabolize alcohol differently after surgery. I am a revision so I do know this from having the lap band. I would be drinking a glass of wine, it went down fine, so I had another and BAM!!! I was hammered, and throwing up... Not good!! I will probably get backlash, and I am NO expert, but I think if you can handle it, use in moderation, and are getting your water and protein first, then have a drink:) cheers????

Who was a band to sleeve revision patient? I am having this done in 11 days and would appreciate it if you would share your experiences.