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Hey y'all! I had my revision from a lapband to a sleeve on Monday.I agree with teitei636's description of the pain. When I was in the hospital, it felt like I had done too many stomach crunches. The gas pain that I'm feeling whether I'm drinking something or not feels like muscle spasms. Don't get me wrong, it hurts. But I think I was expecting to feel like I had been cut and that's not how it feels at all.

I was band to sleeve revision on Aug 21st I am not doing as great as I had hoped. Only down 21lbs but not giving up I am from Salisbury Maryland

Ok for the past 2 days every time I eat I get really bad cramps then starts the diarrhea... and I mean within minutes of eating my stomach is hurting and the saga begins... Is this dumping syndrome???? Or how long should I monitor before calling my doctor.. I had a revision surgery on the 26th of June for a flipped port prior to that I had no issues. On the flip side I have lost 3 pounds in 2 days because of these symptoms... HELP anyone else have this problem....And I only have 3 cc in a 10 cc band so I know this is not the problem. I also do not have any nausea or vomiting...

Why are they being negative? Realistically, there are risks to any surgery. There are risks to walking out your door in the morning too. Lapband has a death risk of 1/2000, and the people who die usually have other severe health complications. Do what is in your heart, and don't let anyone tell you different. Most people seem to have a negative view of the Band because it seems to get the most negative publicity than other WLS. I'm not sure why this is, but I'm guessing when people see you succeeding, they will change their opinions rapidly. I used to be against the idea of WLS, until my Aunt got the Lapband three years ago and made it to goal and has MAINTAINED her weight for all this time. She was a yo-yo dieter and so seeing her successful with this tool gave me the push I needed. I know I have made the right decision. If, unfortunately, something goes wrong a few years down the line, I will still be thankful for the tool and the changes it will have made in my life. Nothing is ever for sure in life. And, at least I have the option to revise to a possibly better surgery or other weight maintenance thing that is not yet developed without cutting out a large part of my anatomy.

I am almost 2 years out. I do not regret the decision to have weight loss surgery at all although if I had known I would end up needing a revision due to reflux I would have chosen bypass initially instead of sleeve but I had no way of predicting that. I'm down 172 pounds. From a 54 BMI to a 24 BMI. Russell stover makes delicious sugar free peanut butter cups. There are reese's and quest ones too. I made what I call peanut butter cup oatmeal for breakfast today which is oatmeal, pbfit powder for protein and Walden farms zero calorie chocolate syrup. I've had diet coke a few times but carbonation bothers me so I have to let it go completely flat and it isn't worth it. I don't miss it too much. My PCP wasn't super big on WLS but my insurance didn't require a referral from him and honestly when I went back for a regular visit about a year post OP he was happy to see that it had been successful for me to have surgery. I don't eat red meat often as I don't do as well with it since my galbladder was removed.

Hello all I just wanted to give an update, I was banded 3/6/12 and had (up until this am) 8.5cc in a 14cc band. I was having great restiriction and was in my "green zone" When I weighed in this AM i was officially at the 50lbs down mark! Unfortunatly I also got the news this AM that I have a slipped band I got stuck on a grilled cheese sand last night (only had about 2 - 3 small bites. Then proceeded to throw up a few times before heading to bed. I knew something wasn't right because I had a weird pain around my port area that I have never experienced before, I figured I would sleep it off and call the Dr in the AM if I didn't feel better. Well sure enough this AM I couldn't even keep fliuds down, got to the Drs at 9, he drained my band and had me do a barium swallow, and it had slipped! I now have my revision scheduled for tomorrow morning at 10am. Another night in the hosp and I have to start the whole slow process of getting back to my green zone. I now wish I had called the Dr right away and not "slept on it" I might have been able to avoid surgery! I hope you all are doing well, and wish me luck tomorrow!!

I had lapband to sleeve revision and sorry to rain on your parade, but I am complication free. I have had NO problems and only wish I had done this last year. getting sleeved was one of the best things I could have ever done. EVER.

I was a band to rny revision. I was self pay so for me the #1 reason was I saw the band to sleeve to rny forum and said oh hell no. I am 5 months out and doing awesome. No hunger pains ever I have to actually think to eat. I never feel hunger at all! No issues, no dumping and I eat healthier than I ever had.. Feel free to pm any questions.. Good luck!

I just revised 4 days ago. My head hunger is practically non existent. I have jo stomach hunger yet either. It feels like my stomach use to feel before the band. That is the most refreshing feeling as I was consistently stuck even while unfilled. I'm having pain but I would assume it's due to having to clear scar tissue to rid the band from my body. My surgeon wouldn't do it because he said it would be the same as having the band in as far as little results I've had on the band. I already feel like a failure for the band and I didn't want to do that again with another surgery. The next surgery I ever want to do is augmentation. I can't answer about co morbidity e's since I had none going in to whether surgery, just short and fat which gave me a bmi over 40. I was afraid of the rerouting too but after a year I believe the tiny finger nail hairs in our small intestines get longer, therefore absorbe more nutrients. We are getting in 3/4 ths of the calories we consume now (per my NUT). I hoped I answered some of your questions.

Yep, me. I had to be on 80mg of Nexium daily, Pepcid as needed for breakthrough, and it still didn't help. I had severe gerd, gastritis, esophagitis, and polyps all through my stomach and duodenum. 4 endoscopies later, I had to have a revision to a bypass. Changing my diet didn't help. Eliminating exercising didn't help. All the antacids didn't help. I never had any gerd or reflux before the sleeve, but it was debilitating after. Revision was the best thing I ever did.

I just had a revision from the sleeve to a bypass a week ago today. I'm already 16 pounds down. I had horrible stomach acid... the thing is, lifelong taking medicines for stomach acid is bad for you. Increases cancer risks, dementia risks, and accelerates bone loss. I did not want to be taking these meds for decades to come when science has proven how dangerous that is. I've had no vomiting or nausea while healing. This time around, the vitamins don't even make me sick which is a huge relief. They used to.

I start my two week pre-op diet on Wednesday. I'm revising from the band to the sleeve on August 12th. I'm so ready to get this started. UPDATE: I just got a call asking me if I wanted to change my date to August 10. Hel-lro! Yes Indeed!

Welcome @@Good apple I initially went into the process dead set on the sleeve. I too had no compelling medical conditions, and was given the choice of either the sleeve or bypass. My BMI when l started the process was 46, but by the time I got to surgery it was a high 39. I had a number of reasons for finally opting for the bypass. One was the GERD issues that some, but definitely not all, experience with the sleeve as post ops. There are even a few who have had to revise from sleeve to bypass for this very reason. I just didn't want to take the chance that I might be one of the unlucky ones to develop this issue. I don't think I could have handled the possibility of a revision down the line. I also thought that I might benefit more having the restrictive and malabsorption components working together to help me reach my ultimate goal weight, and more importantly, maintain it. I had a very wicked sweet tooth and knew the mere "prospect" of dumping would aid me in keeping that in check. I was never really concerned about the Vitamin deficiencies as I've always taken them. Now at five months out I can say in all honestly that I made the right decision. I feel better than I ever have, have more energy, and I'm only 22 pounds away from goal. I've never dumped, had no complications, an easy recovery, and I stick to a very healthy diet. I finally kicked a lifetime soda habit, don't eat bread, Pasta, rice, or sweets. I never could have accomplished any of this on my own, because I've certainly tried. I was always hungry before, no matter how much I ate, but now I'm in control of my life again. It is amazing, simply life changing. I feel reborn! Either procedure is great. If the sleeve had been my only option I would have taken it in a second. But I had a choice and this was the best one for me. Good luck!

Two weeks ago I got the flu and vomited several times then I was ok for two days and started throwing up again this time the pain was unbearable. I had my band done in Mexico and found a fill doc four hours away from where I live. There is a doc here but he wanted $2500 just to see me because of the Mexico thing. My pain was so bad I was sure I needed to go to the ER my husband convinced the doc here to see me for an evaluation. The next 24 hours are a blur to me as my pain because so intense. My BP was 175/157, low grade temp., pain so intense it radiated through my abdomen, chest, back, both shoulders, and jaw, sever nausea, vomiting bright red blood lots of it; at one time the did and ekg because they thought I might be having a heart attack. He said I did indeed have an extreme slip to where my entire fundus had passed above the band and yes I had the stitch method used to prevent the band from slipping. That day my wonderful surgeon rushed me to the OR and removed the band. He said when the first saw the stomach it was COAL black. He was afraid the tissue was dead. Luckily, when he removed the band, the tissue above the band began to turn deep purple which meant the blood was beginning to return. Fortunately my doc does BAND TO SLEEVE revisions so that is what I asked for and got. Cost $17000. Ouch! band was $9000 and fills and time travel for fills was $2000. I am glad to be rid of the band if I knew the flu could cause a slip I would never have gone there. I am only 10 days post op from band removal and still very emotional. I am so happy that it's out. I was told about complications of slippage and erosion, but NO ONE every told me about complications of possible neucrosis/death. I keep replaying the whole thing over and over in my head and realize how close I was to losing my life. If I had indeed developed gangrene, I may not be alive right now. The doc said if I would have waited two days I would have died! NO I WOULD NOT RECEIVE ANOTHER LAP BAND NOR RECOMMEND LAP BAND TO ANYONE.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p> Seems like the sleeve is the way to go and having a doc near by. ***************

It's rough, there are two docs that I know of that are absolute horrors. Their infection rates, placing bands wrong, patients losing their bands... it's horrible. But any of their patients (and coordinators) will slam dunk anyone that points out the facts. I'm not much on believing individual stories (not referring to you, but a couple of newbie posters slamming doctors recently instead) but I do look at the whole picture. The stats that come directly from the doc's office. If they say their stats are X% and that is a high percentage, that is a concern. If a whole bunch of people are saying the same thing about the same doc, then I pay attention. We've had a couple of people come lately, newbie posters, one post each, absolutely trashing two different docs. Why should anyone believe it? You get some doc with a gazillion bands under his belt, fantastic stats, excellent history, what are we to do? As patients believe the one out of 4000 or the other 3999? I also look at the overall picture when it comes to aftercare, how much time does the surgeon stay in OR during surgery vs. having the asst. do the bulk of surgery, all kinds of issues have to be taken into consideration. My own doc had a patient who had bypass and less than 24 hours after surgery his wife decided to sneak in Mickey D's for him to eat. Well, he ripped out staples, got a leak, and an infection. The doc took him back to OR and fixed it. Didn't even charge the patient for the additional surgery or hospital days. Five days AFTER the leak his wife requested he do revision surgery on her. Failed bypass to band. She was running around posting on message boards what a horrible doc my doc is because her husband got an infection. Well, she didn't tell the rest of the story. She didn't tell anyone about Mickey D's, she didn't tell anyone that he reoperated and didn't charge the idiot a dime, she didn't tell anyone that she asked him to do her own revision AFTER her husband was reoperated on. So to hear her tell the story it sounds bad. I was in Mexicali that day and my friend and I met these people. Her husband told me the whole story and his wife was being so obnoxious that he was even apologizing for her behaviors and they hadn't even left the hospital. When these patients go telling their bits and pieces of the story the doc cannot possibly come and defend himself telling the rest of the story. So that's why I think it is important to look at the whole picture and not the individual stories people come up with. Some folks are amazingly good at not taking responsibility for their own actions. When people post these single posts trashing doctors and others go around copying and pasting them to other threads, it's obvious the intent of the people reposting this trash. Anyway... I got off on a tangent. My point is that you are right, you get some idiot doc and if you dare to tell the truth about them you are slam dunked. It's not stopping me though. I'll tell what I know about docs and if people don't like it, I don't care. They can continue creating fake IDs and chasing me around like little yappings dogs attached to my ankle. I'm doing what is right. Period.

I've been to Dr. Aceves twice for surgery, as well as my sister having surgery by him the same day as my first surgery. Both Dr. Aceves and Dr. Campos excel in compassionate skilled care. The staff is very responsive to any needs you may have and their on-site patient coordinator, Yolanda, is a gem. I was there last Monday for my revision surgery from Lapband to VSG. I went totally alone, not having a family member that could go along and the friend that was planning to help me got terribly sick with the flu. I still went for surgery and I never had a doubt. From the moment I was picked up at San Diego Airport until the moment I was returned I knew I was in safe hands.

Thank you! Too many think the band is supposed to lose the weight for them. It is a tool. You have to make healthier choices and develop better eating habits. The band is a lifelong committment. I recently had to have my band revised as well as have tons of scar tissure removed and have a hiatal hernia repair due to a fill that became too tight and caused the band to slip. So be careful with the fills and any doctor that is has my vote.

good luck everyone, my revision is Thursday 23....

As I retired nurse I have heard a lot about duodenal switch being done in European countries for years before it was done here. It is much, much safer as it doesn't mess with the intestinies, but still is major surgery. Sue, if you had the choice at the beginning would you have chose DS over the band. I can see that the DS revision is not going to require the constant and unending fills and work that the band does, so in your honest opinion what would you have chosen, and did your esophageal problems exsist before banding or did it come along with the banding and continue to get worse. I've heart this to be true with lots of people. They never had esophageal problems before. I'm so glad you switched over and are doing well. I think Gastric Bypass will become a thing of the past with DS on the horizon. Best of everything to you. Sounds like you have been through a lot. Hugs Dody

With my sleeve, I took 2 weeks off and needed every bit of it. With my revision to bypass, I was up and doing things after 4 days. Only took a week off, but honestly didn't need it. Still took it, though lol

I had a RNY and the Vitamin requirements may be different that those who undergo a sleeve. I was directed to take 3 Flintstone multivitamins a day. I have heard that those requirements have been revised down within the last year. The current requirement is 2.

Big debate on if you can stretch your sleeve. Very few people need a revision..Enough said. A couple gulps and you feel uncomfortable. To me, it sounds like you are feeling the restriction from your surgery. I distance run. I can't chug or gulp water at the aid/refueling stations on the route. I feel the same sensation you are describing. Stop gulping and chugging water. Start sipping.

I had lower body lift and both arms done last Aug 25. It was tough for the first few days, The arms were painful but the lower part not so much...I had a nerve block for that. I only used one dose of narcotic once I got home. The combo of gabapentin and robaxin on a round the clock schedule is being used more and more post op for pain control and has been effective for me after my RNY, my hip replacement and now plastic surgery. I was in surgery for 12 hrs for all 3 procedures and spent 2 nights in the hospital. I recovered at home alone except for my brother would come over every day at lunch time and bring me food and change my arm dressings. The first 2 weeks I didn't do much except sit in my recliner with my arms elevated. After that, recovery became much easier. I had 4 drains for my LBL and I managed them myself and even was able to wrap my own arms and then get into my compression garments once I got them. My brother drove me to my first post op appointment but after that I drove myself to my weekly appointments. I have now scheduled my next surgery, breast lift and back lift and scar revision on left arm, for Aug 2. I'd love to do it sooner but that's when I could get enough time off from work. My third surgery will be a thigh lift and scar revision on right arm, hopefully in January (depends on work schedule). I wouldn't change anything other than wishing I had done it all sooner! My arms are 10 inches smaller and my hips are 33 inches! I wear a size 2P and will probably be a size 0P after I get my thighs done. I never dreamed I'd have this kind of success when I was at my highest weight a few years ago! Good luck with whatever decision you make and you can do it alone with a lot of planning and determination!

Yeah, everybody is different. I was able to sleep in any position after both the vsg and rny revision. Although I have seen many posts talking about sleeping in a recliner. Not sure about the dry mouth problem... I experienced that before surgery but I have asthma and sleep with my mouth open often. I remember whenever I went on any strict diet, especially if there was fasting involved. I would get funky breath due to not eating but because I had to drink Water all the time after WLS, and I eat every 2 hours, I didn't have the dry mouth problem either.

I waited 6 months and had no problem- though in excess the hang overs are much worse than before. I guess the revised digestive system cannot process it as well or something