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Did reflux cause weight regain, or was that the reason you were approved for the revision?

My date for revision from lapband to sleeve is February 8! How do you get the weight tracker?

I got my Lap Band almost ten years ago, and I can't remember if they did pre op blood work and if they did what the results were. I'm almost three months post op revision Bypass now and this surgeon did do pre op blood work, but it was all normal. I've been on continual vitamins/calcium for nearly ten years, so that's probably part of the reason my labs were normal. It's not uncommon for obese people to be malnourished/have low vitamins & mineral levels. If you think about it, for most obese people, the choices that they make/made is part of the reason that gets a lot of us to wls. Fast food, pizza, burgers for the most part has very little nourishment as far as vitamins/minerals go (besides carbs, lol). I'm sure your team will get your levels up to normal before you have your surgery. As a matter of fact, after my pre op labs came back, even tho they were normal, I was started on chewable bariatric vitamins. It was standard protocol for pre op patients. So don't fret, you'll be fine! Best wishes!

I made some rookie mistakes yesterday when I added fruit and vegetables to my protein shake. I put so much in that there wasn't room for hardly any ice. By the end of the drink, it just tasted like lukewarm beet juice. Today's is much better! 1 scoop of market pantry chocolate protein 3 tablespoons of organic fat free vanilla yogurt 1/2 large organic cucumber 1 handful of organic blueberries lots of ice This is a much smoother taste. And according to the interwebs, cucumber is a natural anti-inflammatory!

As I have posted last week, I do indeed have band slippage (by the way with no apparent symptoms except vomiting/spitting up nightly) and was able to eat normal, solid foods so I must say you can have slippage and still be able to eat and drink and food go down fine. Scary that there are no symptoms I know.... I am supposed to hear from my insurance today on approval for revision and surgery for fixing of the slipped band. Please pray they do cover. If so I am to be scheduled for surgery either tomorrow morning or Feb 14th. I will keep you posted. I have faith in God that he will help me on this... Thanks for your prayers and concerns....

I'm wondering if anyone has had any denials through Molina or Medicaid insurances for REVISION surgery???? If so please let me know the outcome of it??? I am waiting for my approval and I am apprehensive about this!!!! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I regret my Lapband 100% because after a year it stoped working and now here I am six years later and i'm just a big as before. Time to revise, To what I have no clue. my advice: Look at your other options such as bypass or vsg(formerly called stomach stapling) This balloon thing that is a sham and only a temporary fix.

I don't have a date yet but I'm hoping for February if finances work out. I will be heading to Mexico as my insurance doesn't cover anything related to weight loss. I will be a band to sleeve revision. Eek! So many issues with my band it's time for a change. Looking forward to seeing everyone's progress! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

O i was revised to the sleeve on monday the 27th. Thngs have been getting progressivly better with minor setbacks that have left me in the hospital until today, in fact i am going to digning my dc papers. I have been sooooo pleased with vcu health because they really put my health and safety in the forefront. I ahve a couple of issues that maybe some already sleeved can answer. I have been having pain in the center of my chest, kinda like heart pain. It is made worse when i take a deep breath. Thw doctors tested me for pulmonary embolism and heart condition and everything is perfect. I am chalking it up to gas pain but wanted to know if anyone else had experienced this. There is no leak as they have been testing. The fluid from my drain and the pain is reallyo not severe so i convinced the dr to let me go home. I can honestly say that my pain rating throughout my stay never went above 2 and thats because i was out of bed and moving within 10 hours of surgery. And had great pain control. I did have low blood sugar once and after taking so sips of juice it corrected itself. So i just got home and guess what i did....hopped on thw scale and low and behold i am 1 lb heavier than when i went in for surgery. Wtf...i wasnt expecting much but it has been 5 days since surgery and so surely i am not still retaning that much fluid.

My first lap band was amazing. Second one has sucked, but I was informed and the band changed my life. Now having revision due to some complications. But I was aware of these complications. Sorry everyone's experience wasn't good. Sent from my iPad using the BariatricPal App

Yes I would definitely join as I listened to my Dr that assured me this was safe and 7 years in I have had 2 port revisions and a band revision and now it needs to come out from the damage it's done to my stomach. I don't know how they get away with selling these things. I did lose my weight and just now have gained some back but that's not the point. Health is the point and this device puts people at risk and it's a temporary fix at best. So either way we should want our money back. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-T377A using the BariatricPal App

I would join 100 %! While I have been approved to have my band removed and then revision sleeve, with insurance, my portion would still be approximately $13,000. Why? Most insurances won't pay for the removal. They will cover the revision and it is all tied in with the surgeon but since I have $6000 out of pocket and the surgeon isn't contracted for removal, that cost is on me. I am stuck with this "thing" inside my body, even though I have developed a hernia and am no closer to my goal weight than I was when I had this put in, in 2008. I know that some of it is me, of course, but due due severe spinal issues I can not exercise the way I did in the past and unless starving, I am at a loss. I had the band opened completely and while food goes down, the nerve endings in my stomach have been altered to the point that I just don't feel full or even satisfied. The hormones released to tell the brain, stop eating, you are full also seem to be off. I will be seeing an eating disorder specialist but as a cash patient, for the lapband, all I want is to be reimbursed to have this horrible device taken out. I don't even care as much about revision but I don't want this in me anymore. I feel that as a patient the description of feeling "full" was so incredibly misleading and it has caused an even worse effect on disordered eating. I have to work diligently to not gain weight now that it is open. I feel that everything has changed so much metabolically and physically that I was never warned about as a side effect.

Willie (my band name for free Willy(fat)) lol Willie and i did great at the beginning we worked together and understood each other until he turned on me. I too was told this band can stay forever if there is no complications, slips, infections ect.. But after about 6 to 7 years he refused to get filled properly so insurance paid for fills and unfills more fills and unfills sometime 2 times in one day, xrays, barium swallows prescription omerprazoles, Over the counter TUMS, Endoscopy ect. ect. They could have paid for the removal of band and getting the sleeve done with that money. And to thing i was denied and had to resubmit (last week) while they (insurance) continued to pay for three back procedures in 2 months ranging from 4000 to 6000 plus a whopping 2500 for accupuncture lol and they (insurance ) think they are saving money by denying the revision. For crying out loud i have degenerative disk, sciatica, bulging disk slipped disk, lumber L2, L3, L4, L5 something that is getting worse with my increasing weight. Oh i'm sorry, i lost track of what we were talking about Yes sign me up!!

I would definitely be interested. I had the lapband back in 2003. I have had other surgeries due to slippage and to put in a new band. I just got it taken out on the 19th of December due to dilated esophagus in which they expected to get better when they took the saline back in February. I got the lapband done in Colorado where they have since closed the clinic. Which I don't understand since they had at least 900 patients. I was 281 down to 140 and now back to 220. My insurance denied a revision to the sleeve. I will be working with primary and surgeon who took it out to hopefully get a sleeve. Kinda stupid that got denies since I am headed to the same place I was before. I have invested so much time and money in the lapband. I live in New Mexico and the many trips to Colorado due to problems and other surgeries such as tummy tuck and arms done due to that insurance doesn't cover. I have paid out AT LEAST $40,000. out of pocket for me. I AM DEFINITELY INTERESTED. And still wondering about the Doctors where the clinic closed.

Nychkole2, yep! Same here! I am African American and have always had super long, thick hair. No longer the case! My hair is so thin that it scares me to think of what revision wls surgery would do to what's left. I am SO afraid of losing the rest of it! I can't afford to have it become any thinner!!! I have to get this thing out if my body!!! Surgery freaks me out though. Yikes!

By all means, make the lifestyle changes, as they will be essential to your long term weight stability and well being, even if they aren't likely to get your weight down to where you want it to be - once we get to the size where we are considering WLS. there are enough various factors stacked against us that we run into that 5% success rate noted above. The way I approached this problem, when my wife and I got serious about our respective weight problems and started toward WLS was to start doing those lifestyle changes that would help to ensure my long term success. We know what we have to do - be more active (it seems like you already have that inclination), cut the junk out of our diets, improve the overall nutrition while reducing the calories to a level that will maintain us (if not leading to total weight loss to normal.) Most have already found that the various fad and "book" diets (any book entitled "The _____ Diet", most particularly if it also mentions "miracle" and is authored by a "Dr.") don't work in the long term. They may get your weight down to something approaching normal, but they teach you nothing about how to maintain that loss over the years, and the weight builds up again when trying to go back to a "normalish" maintenance diet. I avoided those diets, but worked on moving my diet as close to the ideal as I could sustain in the long term. It was not "perfect" by any book or nutritionists' standards, but it was what I could do within my tastes and it was something that I could do forever, and it was much better than the normal American crap diet that got most of us where we are/were when considering WLS. I kept tweaking things to carve out a few more calories where I could, and improve the overall nutrition of what I ate. That was almost 13 years ago, and I dropped about 50 lb over six months (335 - 285) or so and came to a halt. I could make small moves down and then back again. But I did maintain that loss for several years. In the meantime, my wife had her WLS after the serial insurance denials and ultimately self paying for her DS, and we settled into a reasonable maintenance lifestyle, though I usually ate about twice what she did. Once our insurance started covering the sleeve, I went for it as it was clear that I was not going to lose the rest on my own in any sustainable manner. That was five years ago, and so far so good. I also used that interim period to test my maintenance ability and help choose which surgery, if needed, was most appropriate for me. Had I regained what I had lost over those few years, that was a sign that I should go for the DS, with its better regain resistance. With the stability that I had managed over that time, the sleeve seemed like a good bet that I could avoid any revisions due to regain problems.

Not sure if you have Kroger by you but they have this CARBMASTER MILK! Chocolate, Plain and Vanilla, 8 onz has 11 grams of Protein and 60 Calories. I know you need more but you could maybe mix protein powder with it. A Christmas I used it with Egg Beaters to make Eggnog. I told a friend of mine who's daughter has medical issues she was talking how her girl needed more protein but wouldn't drink ensure etc. I told her and she loves it. Tastes like regular chocolate milk. I mentioned it to my Dr he said it was find but as space is at a premium perhaps mix some additional unflavored protein powder with it. I currently have a band and am having a sleeve revision in May.

I had my revision from band to sleeve on Apr2016 and at that time I was a floor nurse on a telemetry unit. My revision was done in one surgery and only had to spend one night in the hospital and was released the next day with no complications. I took two weeks off and went back to work doing light duty for another two weeks. The first couple of days was very difficult for me, meaning that my abdomen was still sore and I had to be extra careful not to be doing any lifting or bending. I was mainly doing administration work such as patient admits and discharges and passing meds for those who needed help. After about one week of light duty I was feeling much better and had lots of energy. I still took it easy and followed my doctor's advice because I did not want to hurt myself in the healing process and I did not want to take more time off than I needed to. One of my co-workers had gastric bypass and she took six weeks off of work, not because she had complications but because she had that much time that she could use to take off of work. You know your body best and you don't know exactly how much time you need to take off before returning to work until after you have the procedure. I was ready to go back to work after two weeks but my body was telling me differently and that's why I was placed on light duty. I remember leaving work crying my first day back because I was in a lot of discomfort and felt I returned to work too soon. Listen to your body and take the time to heal and enjoy the new you.

Hello, I had the Sleeve January 9th 2013. Had Gallbladder removed February 1st 2013? Contained to have pain on right side, and acid reflux. I reached my goal weight of 155 in August, My start weight was 263. I continued to lose weight, and be sick. Throwing up, nausea, and heart burn. Surgeon found out I had Bile Reflux in October. I lost down to 130lbs, and was in hospital for dehydrations every few weeks until November. I was revised on November 21, 2013. I ended up in hospital December 8th, for extremely Low blood pressure, and dehydration, was in hospital for 6 days. I am slowly getting better. They have my blood pressure under control with medication, and I am starting to be able to keep small amounts of food down, I have gained 4 lbs. I did not want the Gastric Bypass, but it is what I had to do. Surgeon said I should be much better and able to start working out by end of February. Good luck, and keep us posted.

Hi, I had the lapband as well and lost 100lbs. like you, with a lot of hard work. Then it tightened too tight but wasnt slipped or stretched and they took Fluid out. Then it did it again. Each time going in was 300.00. The last time they tried to refill it, I got GERD so bad I couldn't stand it. So only partially filled now and almost back to preband weight. I am going through the revision to rny and I am worried about what family will say about another surgery. My husband is super supportive and Im so thankful for that, but Im worried about what his family will say for sure. Good luck with everything! Jen

I was banded in 2005 and suffered many of the same issues. My revision will be in two steps. My band was removed about 3 weeks ago, my gastric bypass is scheduled for Feb 27. The band removal went very well. My post surgery pain was primarily in my shoulder from the CO2 used in laparoscopic surgery. All was manageable with Tylenol. All the best on your journey.

For those that have had revisions from Lap Band to Gastric By-Pass, did your weight loss happen as you expected? What difficulties and advise would you share? My band was removed Dec 10, and the gastric by-pass is scheduled Feb 27. With my band I had already significantly reduced my portions, and eliminated many foods, like pasta, etc. I have been told that the life style changes required may easier due to my 14 years with a band. However, the weight loss may take longer.

Hi all! I am glad I found this post. I was banded in April 2008 and did well for a very long time. I lost 160# and kept off about 140 of it over the last 11 years. But now, there are problems. I have been having intense chest pain, reflux, and lots of puking. I put off seeing my doc because I was fearful she would say the band would need to be removed. I finally met with the doc and she first unfilled the band, then scheduled an upper GI. Had that, and the tech noted that the barium was staying in my esophagus and the sphincter was not opening. Then, when it finally opened, that is when I had the chest pain. I followed back up with the doc and she said that I had a "lazy esophagus" that had been worn out from almost 12 years of banding and puking. She ordered and endoscopy, which I had last week. I have my follow up next week to talk about next steps. Since having the band unfilled, the reflux has gone and the chest pain happens much less frequently. However, I can eat anything now with no restriction.....and that has been a challenge. The doc said, before the endoscopy, that if the band has to be removed, she would not recommend a sleeve on top of a lazy esophagus...and the bypass would be my best option if I wanted a revision. It doesn't sound like refilling the band is going to be an option. So, I think I will have to decide to have bypass or have the band removed and try to live a "normal" life. I am having a lot of mixed emotions and nerves. Really, I won't know anything for sure until the follow up appointment next week....but I am preparing mentally for it. Curious if anyone else had similar symptoms/issues and had a revision to bypass? Or, and advice? Appreciate it!!

I've seen the same thing. I think people become very defensive of their procedure. I think I know the exact thread you are referring to as well. I think a lot of doctors do call it a DS as it is a modified DS procedure. I had mine done by Dr. Jawad at Orlando Bariatric and Laproscopy. It was a robotic procedure to boot! The procedures offered were thoroughly explained at the info seminar and at the first appointment when you determine surgery type. The biggest advantages are the pylorus is intact reducing dumping syndrome, lessening the gas and diarrhea issues and because it is a bit simpler the the surgery takes less time, so less time under anesthesia and a quicker recovery. While it isn't really a "new" procedure it is kinda the new kid on the block. All WLS procedures were new at one time and doctors and researchers spend hundreds of hours improving them. My doctor's office no longer performs the lap band because the long term results on many require revisions.

People knew i had the lap band because I was an evangelist, loved it, lost 100 lbs in 8 months. After 13 years of problems and revisions, I'm not telling a damn person except my husband and mother...because my mom is getting sleeved at the same time, across the country, so we can support each other. In fact I'm telling work that I'm getting my hernia repaired to explain the time off and liquid diet. I no longer care what anyone else thinks. I want this for me.