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A surgeon discussed this at our last support group meeting. He said that while by-passes are "technically" reversible, it's still another major surgery, it can have complications just like any other, and there may be a lot of scar tissue on the portions of the stomach that you'd like to rejoin. It is a very major undertaking and really shouldn't be considered one of the "pros" of bypass.

I did a huge amount of research before making my decision and one of the main reasons I went for a gastric bypass is that if you get complications you can reverse the operation as nothing is taken away. With a sleeve you remove most of the stomach so once it’s done it’s done. I found very few advantages to the sleeve and the Acid Reflux is a major reason why it soon became a no go for me. Another big factor is if you have diabetes a sleeve doesn’t really change that much, where a bypass can reduce it hugely or in some cases eliminate it completely. That is a huge reason to seriously consider a bypass over a sleeve. I am not trying to say that everyone should have a bypass, but every day I read more and more people who say Sleeve to bypass for me. Something seems wrong about that. I think you are right James, it seems to be on trend right now, which is extremely worrying. I get the feeling that most people get told what to have, rather than make there own decision based on evidence. I bet if the patients are told with a sleeve is final or with a bypass it’s reversible if you have complications, most would go for a bypass. Anyway rant over 🤣🤣

Revisions from restriction only to restriction and malabsorption are common. I'm a Band to Bypass revision myself. Reasons will cover a wide range of situations. Maybe someone ended up with GERD after the sleeve, or they lost some weight but plateaued out and couldn't lose more (like with a lot of folks with the band did), maybe the sleeve didn't "work" (IE the person didn't change their habits enough or figured out how to eat around the sleeve), maybe they had complications that required the revision. There are quite a few reasons. But all of them fall into one big category "something didn't work right the first time"

Some individuals encounter strictures. Here is a link that discusses the problem. https://www.obesitycoverage.com/uncomplicating-gastric-sleeve-complications/

Do you know if your surgeon requires a one week or a two-week liquid diet? I don't think you're doing it for "no reason". The fact that you're willing to jumpstart the process shows how serious and committed you are. You'd be surprised by how many people aren't as motivated as you are. That's a good sign that you are going to be a big success story! My surgery was tentatively scheduled before I was approved, too. Insurance companies often say they take weeks to approve you, but often the turnaround is much, much quicker. It only makes sense for them to be conservative with their approval timeframe. At times, there may actually be a backlog of paperwork awaiting evaluation. My paperwork was sent in on a Friday, and I was approved on Tuesday of the following week. The doctor's insurance person/staff tends to know which carriers take longer and which don't. I have UnitedHealthCare, PPO. I think it's great that your doctor's office got you locked into for that date. How disappointed you would have been if they had required approval first. What if the approval had been received in time, but your surgery date had been given to someone else. On my surgery date, my surgeon had two other patients. I was number three in his queue. Ask if you'll be his/her number 1, 2, 3, etc. The smaller the number, the earlier you have to show up for surgery. The first two cases ahead of me turned out to be complicated cases. I was tentatively scheduled for 12:30pm, but ended up on the table at 5pm. I was slightly disappointed, until I asked myself, "Hey, would you want Dr. S to rush his surgery with you just because someone else was anxious for their surgery to begin?" My answer was, "No."

Hello? Are you out there? Are you still feeling unsure about WLS? It's one thing to be unsure about getting WLS surgery and all the lifestyle changes involved and another thing to be unsure about the surgery itself. Millions of people have had successful surgeries with few or any complications. Why not tell yourself that you will be among all those people who will have a successful surgery, too?

It is major surgery, but the percentage of complications is very low. You will most likely have an EGD as part of preop diagnostics and be put under for that, so you will experience being put under prior to surgery - then you will get an intro to anesthetic that way. Why did you choose bypass? Do you have reflux? Do you want the 'dumping aspect' as a deterrent to sweets? I am just curious.... Welcome and try to read the forums, and ask questions.

Wow that’s a lot !!! I am so happy it went well no complications!!!! Heal up !!!! And take it easy

Thanks Frust8 but that photo isn't of me. It's of another poster. I'm doing quite well now actually. I'm 3 months post op and have had zero complications. I'm down 80+ pounds and 10 inches off my waist! That first month was tough, to say the least. The cravings for all the junk food I used to eat were really weighing me down. Today I have no desire to resume my old eating habits. I've discovered I don't experience dumping syndrome nor have I had any issues with food getting stuck. I can eat just about anything I want although I stay away from breads, rice or pasta. Some foods sit rather heavy and I feel full a long time (like meatballs) and other foods I can eat much more than the 4-7oz my pouch supposedly holds. My biggest challenge now is to find foods that I look forward to eating. My diet is still kind of bland and boring. I've never been one to cook so I'm learning different recipes. I've read so many posts where people would say they don't regret the surgery at all and they're right. Sometime it's hard to see the forest through the trees I guess.

I had an easy recovery, so I would have had no issue on this kind of trip at 8 weeks post op. I started back to work travel at 3 weeks post op. On most programs, at 8 weeks you should be on regular food. I have an iron tummy, so I was and am able to eat just about everything. For activity, at 8 weeks your incisions should be well healed. I'd just play all the activities by ear though, as you might have low energy or be more easily exhausted because of your low calorie intake. I'd suggest taking a B12 sublingual, as it can help with energy levels. Unless you have serious complications, there is no way I would cancel this trip. Even if you're not able to do all the activities, being in MX with your friends sounds better than being at home!

I never crushed or cut in half any of my pills. I took my horse pills whole, even from day one post-op. I was never told otherwise and I didn't feel anything unusual. That said, I wouldn't recommend this. I suppose I was lucky. I'd prefer not to rely on luck, however. Had I experienced a complication, it would have been all on me.

I have Gerd and other complications from my sleeve.

I had the sleeve to bypass in May of this year, 2 months out today. I have lost a total of 56lbs (since pre-op). I am still shy about eating food and am only allowed to eat fish, seafood, chicken, turkey & veggies. I am now able to eat about 3 ounces of food but at a time but I never finish it. I don’t feel full, I just feel like I have had enough. I am still nervous to eat to full for fear of overeating. I had no complications and am so glad I got it done. I didn’t lose much with the sleeve and developed GERD. I am currently on my second stall since surgery but that’s to be expected

Absolutely! I had the band placed in 2011. From the getgo I’ve had nothing but issues. I never had much fluid put in because I would have terrible problems getting fluids down much less food due to excessive swelling. After several years of dealing with it I finally had all the fluid removed, yet I still have problems with swelling around the band that cause me to vomit and not be able to eat. It is common to have this issue during rain or thunderstorms. Other days I can eat like normal. I was told that the insurance company would not pay to have the band removed even though they paid to put it in because my issues, according to the doctors, are non issues, ie not acknowledged complications or band failures. I’d rather be fat than live with this any longer and I’m scared to death I’m going to end up with even worse complications like esophageal failure. How do I get the insurance company to pay for it? Lap Band makers should be forced to study this complication and acknowledge this is a real problem. I’m not the only person suffering with this. If there are others who have contacted you dealing with the same issues I’d love to see if we have a suit.

So I don’t really know exactly how to put this into how I’m feeling but I’m increasingly down in the dumps at 1 week post op RNY. I did all the research and felt prepared but now I see myself being very worried about complications and that my entire life is going to just suck from now on. I’m not worried about the food aspect of it. I’m more afraid of the what if’s that may happen down the road. I’m 21 and I am just now beginning life. I’m worried about if I will ever be able to have kids and if I will have a normal life with this procedure having been done. Don’t get me wrong I am extremely thankful to have had it, but I also hate how I feel right now. It’s mostly feelings of isolation because I haven’t been able to do anything or go anywhere since surgery. Hopefully things get better because I’m seriously struggling right now.

@Frustr8, . Thanks for the warm welcome. I am single and always have been. I was a dispatcher for 36 years and retired last year. I live with Labrador Retriever who I adopted and is between 8-10 years old. I have three sisters. My oldest sister will be 66 and has been supportive of me, my other sister who is 60 just says it a personal decision and my youngest sister who will be 50 next month is strongly opposed to my decision even though she says she will be there for me. She is the one I am closest to and was hoping she be much more supportive of my decision. She has always been the thin one in the family and her idea is to just stop eating. She doesn't get it not being in my shoes. We lost both are parents my mother at age 69 in 2003 due to diabeties, COPD, and congestive heart failure. I was the one that took care of her through most of her illness when she was diagnosed in 1995. I promised my mother I would stay with my father until he died. We lost him in Dec 2011 at the age of 79. I have always been the heavy kid. I would lose the weight only to gain it back mo this or years later. After discoverying in 1999 I had stage IV endometriosis I have a full hysterectomy at the age of 37 and from there I blew up within a year and continued to expand. My highest weight has been 253 pounds which was last year. I felt bad at my nieces wedding after seeing some pictures of me. I took 20 pounds off and know I need to get on a different path in life. I want to live longer than my mother or father. I am afraid of failing with this surgery as I continually have lost weight and found it again. I do enjoy food and know I eat too much and so much of the wrong things. I feel like I am so addicted to carbs. I want to break the cycle so I can lose weight get healthier, run a 5K, go hiking, camping, fly. I want to enjoy sports again without the bad things that go along with being overweight. i too am on dexilant, my GI says it's the best thing out there, thankfully my insurance covers it too. I too sleep with a cpap, have a history of medical issues that I believe is all related to my weight. I was all set to have the sleeve surgery but with a recent scope and bravo monitor that won't be happening, my GERD is too bad. I am afraid of the bypass as it seems there can be many complications. If a complication can happen believe me, I would be the one to get it. I have been writing many questions down for the surgeon and home he can relieve my fears next week. I have even thought about doing the new direction liquid diet which is medically supervised instead of surgery but not sure if that is a good option either.

So i had an egd back in 2006 and was diagnosed with a small hiatal hernia. My surgeon now says she will repair it and give me the sleeve. She thinks i will be fine on the sleeve but says that I can always do a revision later if need be. She wants to take the least complicated approach first

Many people who get GERD after sleeve end up needing revision to bypass because their symptoms are so uncomfortable. It is a realistic risk to discuss with your surgeon. My advice is to make sure you are using a surgeon who does hiatal hernia repair, who has some expertise in checking for them. My upper GI noted moderate chronic gastritis...so I was a little concerned about developing GERD. My surgeon said my hiatal hernia was probably complicating this condition and fixed it when he did my sleeve surgery. I have had no problems with nausea or acid.

I am scheduled for a Sleeve this Friday however I have gerd. It is manageable now only really happens when eating certain foods. This is my main concern with the sleeve for me. Bypass scares me. I can take the pain and nauseau from the sleeve but the complications from bypass worry me more than gerd. So how bad did you get gerd after the sleeve?

Hello all, I am a 56 year old female who knows for health reasons I need to have bariatric surgery. I am also tired of feeling like garbage and limited with activities. However because of severe GERD, I am not a candidate for the sleeve the gastric bypass is what I would have to, and that scares me. Perhaps I just haven't had all my questions answered yet as I don't see the surgeon until 7/18, afraid of complications and the thought of not losing weight. I seem to always be hungry and way overeat. I am hoping that I can learn from all of you and relieve many fears I have. Have a great day.

I felt the same way. It took me years to see a doctor about my sleeve to RNY revision. It is very scary! but being anxious & scared is normal. But things got better when going through the program again and feeling confident with what my surgeon & team were saying. And honestly, being on this forum helped; to read about others revisions. Don’t give up and try to remain positive. If you have complications that can only be fixed with a revision, then it’ll all be worth it in the end. Hang in there!

Hey there! Yes I felt the same way I am 3 months out from a revision do to complication of my vsg. I just focused on feeling better I had really bad Gerd and hital hernia had returned along with few other things. I felt very confused and didn't want anything to go wrong. And things went good. Try and stay positive it will be ok[emoji4] hope that helps please keep us posted Sent from my SM-G950U using BariatricPal mobile app

Hello all, This is my first post on the site. I am a 56 year old female with severe GERD, Sleep apnea and bad joint pain. I see the surgeon on the 18th. I am tired of losing weight and seeing it come back on. I am also scared to death to have the bypass as I fear complications. I also afraid since I always feel hungry I will gain or not lose weight. Hoping I can get some fears resolved.

It's only natural to feel apprehensive. Yes, this is major surgery, but the overwhelming majority of surgeons would not take you on if they thought you were a high-risk patient to begin with. You didn't offer many details. Do you have any other health issues? How old are you? Have you ever been under general anesthesia before? What is your support system like? When you read only stories about people with the worst possible outcomes, it begins to appear that many, many people suffer from complications. Statistically, that's not the case. If you have an experienced, competent surgical team, you can expect a terrific outcome. You do realize that some complications are caused mainly because patients are irresponsibly non-compliant with their surgeon's discharge instructions or they don't follow other recommendations? Advancing your diet, being sedentary following surgery... you have considerable control over your actions -- things that would greatly minimize your chances for a complication. Prior to surgery, we see many professionals along the way whose job it is to explain to us what to expect, etc. (and often it seems as though they explain the same stuff over and over until we want to scream!) That said, these face-to-face meetings are intended to prepare you for your journey ahead. If you pay attention, ask questions, and make a sincere effort to follow their advice, you'll be fine. Really. How about sitting down and writing yourself a letter? Be sure to include of all your fears and concerns. Then wait a day or two. When you re-read your letter, pretend that you are reading this letter as though you're a good friend of the letter-writer. Now answer your "friend's" letter. Try to be comforting and understanding. Try to be positive and reassuring. You might actually surprise yourself at what a good friend you can be... to yourself. Share your letters here, if you think they might help someone else.

I keep hearing and seeing stories of people who had major complications or either died after surgery. I am so unsure now if I truly wanna go forward with this. I'm so scared. I am up in arms about this. I will pray and ask God to please guide me and help me to make the right decision. Sent from my LG-TP450 using BariatricPal mobile app