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They counted as clears for my band surgery, and for my revision.

@oregondaisy..I was widowed at 36. it was also a long time ago but I sure do have a good idea what you went through and what Julie is going thru. She and I have PM'd as well. Also sorry to hear about your band. I too am banded and am always super alert to anything in order to be proactive. I'd hate to have issues and have to revise to another WLS.

My surgery was 12/18/17. No regrets at all! I feel better every day. The only thing is, I tire out easily. I was extremely tired after a trip to the doc and nutritionist a week post op. It’s a 2 hour drive one way. Also, because I was a revision from lap band to Bypass, my surgery was 5 hrs long due to scar tissue and my surgeon took his time and didn’t rush things to get it done properly. That last was from his PA. She is impressed with his patience in surgery. That’s exactly what you want in a surgeon! I was on full liquids the first week with no issues. After my first post op, I was able to advance to soft, puréed foods. That’s working out well too. I won’t lie to you, that evening after surgery, I was sore. Obviously, my stomach hurt, it hurt to move! I had right shoulder pain from gas they put in your stomach for surgery. But the nurses I had were awesome and experienced in dealing with Bariatric patients. Even thought they came in during the night to check vital, I still got a good sleep. Felt so much better the next day. I walked, sat up on the chair for 3 hours and was able to eat jello. I saw my doctor, nutritionist and his PA all before going home. I hope this is as the information you were looking to get. My highest weight 309, I do not have my surgery day weight, thinking it was about 301. According to the doc’s office 1 week our 290! I’m happy with my results. I haven’t stepped on the scale, but plan to every Tuesday. I would be happy to answer any questions for you. Good luck on your decision.

I have terrible Gerd. It’s. So. Bad. 😩 Originally I was going to have the nissen fundiplication surgery for Gerd but the surgeon talked to me at length about getting gastric bypass instead. I’m still pre op at this point, but my main motivator in this process has been to try and stop my severe Gerd. (Also I’m quite heavy.) I’ve heard from quite a few doctors at this point who recommended gastric bypass for greatly improving or curing Gerd. I’ve seen some people I follow on Instagram who have had sleeve surgeries revised to a bypass due to the Gerd the sleeve caused them. It’s definitely worth discussing with your doctor.

I had a revision from lab band to sleeve by Dr. Aceves for $10,000. I can't recommend him highly enough. He has sleeved over half the people on this board and you won't find anyone who has anything but wonderful things to say about him, the staff and the beautiful hospital.

Thanks so much Everyone! Congrats on your success! Wow Crazypants that is amazing that your dr doesn't do lb anymore...that speaks volumes. So happy to hear from people who've had the lb and revised to sleeve. It's such a scary decision because every body's body is do different. U w has 2 csections do I'm not as worries about the surgery as I am the recovery with 3 kids and full time career. What was your recovery like? Is 11 days off work enough (I can be at desk if needed ).

I am almost 5 months postop and I'm a band to sleeve revision. I have lost 58 pounds. And I had to have a rotator cuff repair so for the last 8 weeks I have NOT been able to exercise. I am almost at goal, and love my sleeve.

I told my surgeon that bypass was what I wanted and that's it.They like to do the sleeve because it's easier.I have a lot of weight to lose and the band was the "IT" procedure at the time and it was a failure and messed up my stomach and other organs.I developed Gerd and Esophagus torture.I had the revision to the "Gold Standard" RNY on December 28,2015.I have not dumped once and my acid reflux is gone.I feel great.I take my vitamins and although I am a slow loser because of my PCOS and sluggish thyroid issues I have lost 40 pounds so far....and feel great.I made the right decision .Once the cut out 80% of your stomach.Thats it....By the way my friend had the sleeve and she has complications...vomiting and bad indigestion.Do what you know works.You don't want to have regrets later down the road.

I am still in the process of fulfilling requirements for insurance submittal for revision to RNY. I have considered a sleeve, but after much research I have decided on RNY. I wish I had done it from the get go. I feel sleep and band are similar... I feel I have better chance at weight loss with RNY, as scared as I am to go through it... But I am soooo done with band!

Hi! I am in the same boat as you! I had surgery in August 2014, got to goal (8 pounds below at 142) and maintained 150-160 for 5 years. Then a neck injury, cancer diagnosis, and the year 2020 hit and I’m up to 188 at this point. It’s so damn depressing having to buy new clothes because nothing fits anymore. My doctor has put me on a BED medication called Vyvanse for the time being, and it’s really helped suppress my appetite. I’m back to exercising at least 3 days a week, and tracking what I eat. Trying to keep it protein and fiber rich foods. We will see. I feel like I’m back on the diet roller coaster/fat brain thinking from before. Seriously thinking about a revision to bypass since I have reflux anyway, but have been through so much medical crap, I don’t know if I want to deal with another surgery again. You’re not alone, friend!

Abstract Vertical sleeve gastrectomy is a restrictive surgical technique that involves resection of a significant portion of the stomach by means of stapling the greater curvature. This procedure is rapidly gaining popularity and acceptance as a primary bariatric procedure with good results on weight loss. The other restrictive bariatric procedure is the adjustable gastric band. As the results on the vertical sleeve gastrectomy and the adjustable gastric band vary, there is still a gap that can be fulfilled by another procedure. The authors present an alternative procedure that is under investigation that can be as restrictive as sleeve gastrectomy with no staple line or prostheses. This procedure is called laparoscopic greater curvature plication, which is similar to vertical gastric banding, but without the need for gastric resection. The stomach is reduced by dissecting the greater omentum and short gastric vessels, as in vertical sleeve gastrectomy, then the greater curvature is invaginated using multiple rows of nonabsorbable suture over bougie to ensure a patent lumen. This article includes the background, method, initial results, and a brief discussion on this new procedure. Introduction Traditionally, the primary mechanisms through which bariatric surgery achieves its outcomes are believed to be the mechanical restriction of food intake, reduction in the absorption of ingested foods, or a combination of both.[1,2] Adjustable gastric banding (AGB) and vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG) are restrictive approaches commonly used in bariatric practice.[5,6] Although these procedures have proven to be good therapeutic options for some patients, they are not without significant complications, such as erosion or slippage of the gastric band or gastric leaks in VSG.[3,4,7,13,14] Leaks in VSG pose a particularly difficult challenge when they occur near the angle of His, potentially generating severe clinical conditions that require reoperation and may even cause death.[4] Since 2006, the authors have been evaluating the safety and initial results of the laparoscopic greater curvature plication (LGCP™), a restrictive bariatric surgical technique that has the potential to eliminate the complications associated with AGB and VSG by creating restriction without the use of an implant and without gastric resection and staple. Methods Using the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) inclusion criteria for bariatric surgery (patients with a body mass imdex >40kg/m[2] or BMI over 35kg/m[2] with at least one comorbidity), all patients underwent a multidisciplinary evaluation (endocrinologist, cardiologist, psychologist, and nutritionist), blood tests, abdominal ultrasonography, and upper endoscopy to establish baseline. The study design was a prospective, noncomparative case series that received approval from the local ethics committee with patients signing informed consent. From January 2007 to March 2010, 62 patients (44 female) were submitted to LGCP. Mean age was 33.5 years (ranging from 23 to 48 years) and mean BMI was 41kg/m2 (ranging from 35 to 46kg/m[2]). Technique Patients were placed under general anesthesia in supine positions. A Five-trocar port technique, similar to Nissen fundoplication, was used. Trocar placement was one 10mm trocar above and slightly to the right of the umbilicus for the 30-degree laparoscope; one 10mm trocar in the upper right quadrant (URQ); one 5mm trocar also in the URQ below the 10mm trocar at the axilary line; one 5mm trocar below the xiphoid appendices; and one 5mm trocar in the upper left quadrant (ULQ). The procedure began with angle of His dissection and removal of the fat pad, followed by careful dissection of the gastric greater curvature using the Harmonic™ scalpel (Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio), opening the greater omentum at the transition between the gastric antrum and gastric body. Once access to the posterior wall was achieved, the greater curvature vessels were dissected distally up to the pylorus and proximally up to the angle of His. Posterior gastric adhesions were also dissected to allow optimal freedom for creating a greater curvature flap. Gastric plication created by imbrication of the greater curvature over a 32-Fr bougie applying a first row of extramucosal interrupted stitches of 2-0 Ethibond™ (Ethicon, Inc. Somerville, New Jersey) sutures. This row guided two subsequent rows created with extramucosal running suture lines of 2-0 Prolene™ (Ethicon, Inc., Somerville, New Jersey). In the final aspect, the stomach was shaped like a sleeve gastrectomy but slightly larger. Leak tests were performed with methylene blue in all cases. No drains were left. Patients were discharged as soon as they accepted a liquid diet without vomiting. They also received a prescription of daily proton-pump inhibitor (PPI; single dose) for 60 days. Ondasentron and hyoscine (anti-spasmodic) were prescribed for seven days. The postoperative diet was a customized liquid diet for two weeks, with progressive return to solid foods in a stepwise fashion. Dietary restrictions were removed after 4 to 6 weeks, depending on patient adherence. Follow-up visits for the assessment of safety and weight loss were scheduled for 1 week and 1, 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months in the postoperative period. Endoscopic evaluations were scheduled for 1, 6, and 12 months postoperatively. Results All procedures were performed laparoscopically without conversions. Mean operative time was 55 minutes (40–110 minutes). Mean hospital stay was 36 hours (24 to 96 hours). On average, patients returned to normal activities seven days (4–13 days) following surgery. Mean percentage of excess weight loss (EWL) was calculated to be 20 percent at one month, 32 percent at three months, 48 percent at six months, 60 percent at 12 months, 62 percent at 18 months, and 61 percent at 24 months. No intraoperative complications were documented. All patients had lost at least 10 percent of total body weight. In the first postoperative week, however, nausea, vomiting, and sialorrhea in occurred in 22, 14, and 33 percent of patients, respectively. In all cases, these symptoms were resolved within two weeks. There has been no record of weight regain in any patient to date. Postoperative upper endoscopy and radiologic evaluation were performed on 12 patients at one and six months and in seven patients at up to 12 months. Qualitatively, the upper endoscopies suggest that the initial greater curvature fold is smaller at six months when compared with the initial fold size at one month, but appears unchanged at 12 months. Mild esophagitis (Grade A of Los Angeles classification) occurred in four patients at one month postoperatively; these patients were symptomatic (nausea, vomiting, and sialorrhea) and were kept on PPI, following the standard protocol. The six-month endoscopic evaluation identified no lesions or symptoms. Lumen size appeared stable (e.g., no dilation) based on upper gastrointestinal (GI) radiologic series performed on these patients at one and six months Discussion Reducing stomach capacity to promote mechanical restriction to food intake is one of the traditionally accepted mechanisms used in bariatric procedures to promote weight loss. There are at least two surgical procedures that appear to rely on this principle in current clinical practice, AGB and VSG. AGB achieves around 50 percent EWL, but unsatisfactory weight loss occurs in more than 20 percent of patients with failure rate requiring surgical revision in up to 25 percent of patients.[7] VSG as a primary bariatric procedure shows medium-term results to be adequate (>60% EWL), with improvements in comorbidities.[4,14] These promising results are associated with some complications, however, such as esophagites, stenosis, fistulas, and gastric leaks near the angle of His. These leaks and fistulas are reported in nearly one percent of cases and can be very difficult to treat.[4,14] LGCP is notably similar to a VSG in that it generates a gastric tube and eliminates the greater curvature, but does so without gastric resection. Initial clinical reports by Talebpour and Amoli[10] and Sales[11] demonstrate satisfactory weight loss up to three years. Brethauer et al12 reported increased weight loss in patients receiving LGCP when compared to plication of the anterior surface. The present series, compared to findings reported in some series involving AGB, has the lowest early complication rates among all bariatric procedures. Even with no major complications to report in the present series, Talebpour and Amoli[10] report one case of a gastric leak associated with a more aggressive version of LGCP, which they attributed to excessive vomiting in the early postoperative period. Adverse events described by patients were minor, lasting up to two weeks. These events may be related to the restriction induced by the invagination of the greater curvature and/or edema caused by venous stasis. Qualitative endoscopic findings suggest that the greater curvature fold gets smaller. This may be related with the resolution of the initial edema, although the radiological findings did not reveal significant dilation of the LGCP at six months. The percent EWL achieved a satisfactory 61 percent at 24 months in eight patients, with all patients achieving at least a 10-percent loss of initial weight. This can be favorably compared with results from VSG. This series is limited by the low number of patients, the simple study design, lack of a control group, the noninclusion of patients with BMI >50kg/m[2], and the incomplete follow-up period. This limits the broader acceptance of these results. These limitations limit the broader acceptance of these results. In order to better study this procedure, an international multicentric trial with centers in the United States, Chez Repuplic, and Brazil was designed (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT01077193). LGCP seems to be feasible, safe, and effective in the short term as a promising bariatric procedure on this initial series Acknowledgment Experimental evaluation was provided by Fusco et al8,9 that had published two articles about gastric plication on anterior wall and greater curvature of wistar rats achieving good results in weight loss analogy and significant better results of the greater curvature group. Recent clinical experience with variations of this technique has been described by few surgical groups. The authors’ initial experience was sent to the journal Obesity Surgery and was accepted for publication. More actualized data are described in this present paper. Original source can be fund here.

You are not alone! Im a revision too and am so tired of people asking me how much I have lost. (not that much) I dont count anyhow..and im not perfect..but yes I can relate to the slow loss:) I still have 45 pounds to loose =/

Most revision operations are higher risk than the first time a weight loss surgery procedure is performed. Revision of Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy to Duodenal Switch actually carries with it less risk than performing the Duodenal Switch in a single operation for the first time. This is possible due to the fact that Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy is one portion of the Duodenal Switch procedure. When converting to Duodenal Switch from Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy

I had a revision almost 4 months ago to the day (August 26, 2010). All is okay at this point, until today. Tonight I decided to finish my Christmas Shopping and was in the Toy Dept. at my local Target. Suddenly I began to experience pain in the same area where my port was located prior to my surgery. It feels like someone has a knife in my incision and twists it occasionally. I think it's just nerves growing back but don't recall having such a pain after having my two c-sections in fact almost 2 years post op from my last c-section most of my incision is still numb. So with all that, anyone have incision area pain 4 months post-op?

i know people who've had revisions if they've lost too much. If you don't lose enough some have had their sleeves re-trimmed.

Thank you so much!! I wish you the best on your revision. You can do this, we can do this! I'll be thinking of you and can't wait to here about your success!!

That is for sure! Dr. Nowzaradan is a bariatric surgeon. WTF is he doing performing plastic surgery? I have never in my life, through all of my research of plastics and bariatric surgery heard of a surgeon that was doing both. They are both very highly specialized fields! I would never let a bariatric surgeon perform plastics on me or vice versa. It's insane! And the two younger doctors on the show... what is up with them doing tummy tucks with no muscle repair? That's pretty useless! No muscle repair, no lipo, everyone of their patients have a shelf and a terrible scar. Well, I'll cut them a little slack with the scar, because we aren't really seeing the patients a year or more out, when scars will really start to fade. But the no muscle repair or lipo makes it truly just "skin removal" surgery, which is not what most people think when they think of a tummy tuck. It will definitely require later revision with muscle repair for anyone to get the "flat stomach" they are hoping for.

I always see posts without an update, so I wanted to be sure to come back & five one! we were all correct. The daily regurgitation was not normal. I went to a new surgeon in October. He was skeptical & wanted to blame it on too big of bites or overeating. I kept insisting I would have a feeling of being overly full eating less than one chicken finger, and I would still regurgitate it even an hour later. He decided to run some tests while giving me some food counseling. He was not a fan of the fact that I had little to no aftercare post surgery with my old surgeon. I went back on purées. Basically every time you vomit, it causes swelling & takes about 3 days for the swelling to go down. We needed to get the swelling down for many reasons. Getting it under control helped me move back onto solid foods with small bites & portions. We did the barium swallow test which showed liquids were going through fine, but I have a twist in my esophagus. Going in for my EGD scope, my surgeon was still claiming it was all bite size. He walked in after my scope & said, “yeah. So your anatomy is screwed up!” Along with the twist in my esophagus (which basically means if I need to be tubed, it could be “more difficult”), I have a major kink in my stomach from scar tissue on the outside of it. Instead of being sleeve shaped, as it should be, it is like a capital N or S. In the middle there is a kink that he had a hard time even finding the opening of. Basically if it’s not liquid, it has to sit to digest to go down. This explains why I resorted to drinking my calories & eating easy carbs. He said it could have happened when I threw up right after surgery (a staple could have caught on something) or anytime in the initial healing. So where does that leave me? I’m going in for a laparoscopic surgery to remove scar tissue January 13th. He can see the shape of my stomach from the scope, but he can’t know what the scar tissue is attached to or how bad it is til he gets in there. It could be attached to my liver. Yikes. So surgery could be half an hour, it could be 3. He may have to revise my sleeve to a bypass. I don’t want that because I have ulcerative colitis, so that’s very much so not recommended. However, I want to have the ability to eat without losing it. I’ll be on a 2 week pre-surgery liquid diet, and then after surgery, it will be the post sleeve progression. I have about 30 lbs of regain. He expects I’ll lose that fairly easily by the time I’m on solid foods again. That’s good news. Knowing I actually have something wrong with me, and I’m not crazy has been HUGE for me. I knew something was wrong, but I kept being told “bite size bite size bite size.” I have multiple friends with sleeves, and what I was experiencing was nothing like them. The eye opener was looking online & finding no one like me. So if you’re here because you’re searching, go for answers! :)

Hi @veisor, Sure........I've went back and forth and for the most part was Pro-sleeve..Back in April of 2019 my surgeon recommended bypass but said sleeve would be okay and my PCP said sleeve....The sleeve seemed easier, less complications. sure there was the increased acid relux risk with sleeve but I've never had that so not a risk for me. But for me, someone who is overweight not from overeating but from pcos and other things, somone who diets and can't lose a pound, i needed the true metabolic change that the bypass brings. Also....in the pre op stuff they did discover i had acid reflux, although it never presented itself to me. additionally, my bmi is 50...so I want the proven long term results that the bypass brings. If you know of anyone or follow these boards, for some reason many people gettting the sleeve gain the weight back or have to have a revision. Not everyone, mind you..but a lot. My pre-op psychologist said it best. Whatever surgery you decide on, you have to believe it's the one for you or it won't work. She said don't get the sleeve with any doubts in your mind. Don't get the bypass with any doubts in your mind.

My port wasn noticable until I lost a lot of weight. Finally I had a tummy tuck (well 3 ..... LOng story) and my port was moved under my muscle and now it is impossible to see or feel. There are people who have revision surgeries to move their ports if they do stick out. My blog has photos to show how my port used to stick put beside my belly button

I had my surgery 10/24 and went back to work 10/31. My surgery was a bit more complicated than anticipated. I was a revision and they didn't think my band had slipped, but it had and it was very difficult for them to remove. I have had some problems with my heart rate shooting really high just from walking a short distance. I feel like it's slowly trying to get better, so I'm just taking that one day at a time. I have another appointment on Wednesday to see if any answers can be found. Other than that, everything has gone great and I'm essentially pain free minus where I had a drain after surgery. I did buy a decent bit of protein powder to have after surgery and now I only like one of the flavors.. I knew that would happen, but it's still a bit of a bummer. 🤣

thank you for your comment. i thought i knew why i was doing this, and up until this week i was happy about it, despite some warnings and misgivings from others, i have a friend right now in kidney failure who was supposed to have revision surgery but the leak wasnt caught in time and he is now on dialysis. i know most wls stories are ones of success and happy outcomes. some arent. i just have been feeling depressed thinking others see me as a failure because i am overweight, and if i choose not to have surgery they are also going to see me as a failure, so either way i am feeling bad about which decision i make.

I need a little help from others that have been approved with CIGNA. THIS Is the most up to date policy (see below). They actually update their policy on the 15th of July so it was revised and updated today. No changes were really made. Anyways, I do meet the requirements but my question is regarding Cigna coverage. Most plans require a monitored 3, 6 or 12 month diet/nutrition/weight loss management through PCP or somewhere similar. Cigna's policy says NOTHING about this, only that "a statement from a physician other than the surgeon, that the individual has failed previous attempts to achieve and maintain weight loss by medical management" - it gives no other requirements or indicators. I called Cigna and two different reps confirmed that it is not required. Although when I went to my Drs appointment they told me they thought it was six months worth of supervised diet! I think they are confused bc of the “within the last six months” part. SIGH! They said they will look into it more So, for those of you that have been approved in the past few months, do I have to have a letter from my primary that recommends bariatric surgery? Would this be the same letter or separate from the on where they state I have made several attempts and failed? And what did you submit/have your PCP write to say that you had failed previous attempts? Thanks in advance for your help! Sorry I just know Insurance’s are so picky! below is link to coverage https://static.cigna.com/assets/chcp/pdf/coveragePolicies/medical/mm_0051_coveragepositioncriteria_bariatric_surgery.pdf

I'm planning on taking two weeks. Someone I work with had band to sleeve revision and was back to work within a couple days of being released from the hospital. We have sit down jobs but work 12 hour shifts. I think she was nuts though. My doctor said that a minimum of one week off was needed.

I had my revision and hernia repair on a Wednesday and was released from the hospital on Saturday. I had planned on working Monday ( I work from home as an accountant) and I tried each day but didn't start back until the following Monday and then I tired easily. If I was you, I would give myself more time.