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I’m planning to pay for a revision. I’m looking for a doc in the Huntsville or Birmingham area that offers this protection. My insurance will not cover for any complications during my stay only after discharge.

Thank you for sharing your story. If your advice worked, none of us would be having weight loss surgery! Sorry..a bit simplistic.."just watch your eating habits" LOL!! Food is one addiction that we cannot live without..and it is hard to just "eat right". The band was not meant to stop you from eating chips and shakes..it also doesn't make you want to eat kale and fish either. It limits food good or bad. I got the surgery mostly to keep it off rather than just to lose weight. I was sick of the 5% chance of keeping weight off you lose..those are bad odds. Unfortunately, when I was unfilled when they found the esophagus issue, I gained 30lbs in a month..I ate barely anything..I watched EVERY bit and sip I took..counted calories..was eating like 500 calories a day and worked out and gained 5lbs a day..it was a nonstop freight train. I am afraid when the band goes, I will gain more. I originally lost 130lbs with the band..gained 50 so far after the unfill..but have now stabilized. I have a fill but no port or tube..so the band is still doing what it supposed to do..keeping weight off..BUT still not helping with losing these 50lbs no matter what I do to "eat right". I do hope that works for you..sounds like you have resolved to just try and wing it like the rest of the mere mortals. I cannot risk gaining that weight with no way to lose it and most importantly keep it off long term. I went back to the surgical office locally today to ask the surgeon more questions. Looks like insurance requires ANYONE getting a new surgery..even if a revision..to jump through all the hoops...psych evals, dieting, etc etc..all the BS that is important for a brand NEW patient, but rediculous for someone banded for 16 years. So I am looking at possibly just paying out of pocket and going back to my surgeon in Mexico. He has more experience, he can do the removal/revision at same time..no hoops to jump through..a lot to consider..but just winging it again and just "watching my eating habits" never worked and won't at my age to stop the gain that will most likely happen nor get off what I gained. Good luck with your journey!

I am 3 years post sleeve. I am in the process of revision, maybe May?.While I have nasty reflux the reason is 1 only lost 30 pounds in about 8 months, and then over the next 2.5 years I put on 40. My original clinic called me the 1%. At that time I posted on a different forum and was treated nasty. I stopped reading and watching anything bariatric. I now know that I was the 1st of 15 patients surgeon did a sleeve on. That surgeon is no longer practicing medicine. We dont yet know if his method is responsible for my lack of success. Probably never will. Now I try to find the emotional box for what is my own responsibility and what is somebody's elses fault. And keep moving forward

Can we stop calling Isopure zero carb "protein water" nowhere on the bottle does it say "protein water". I just find using the term very misleading. I have been using isopure since 2010/11 when I was banded, lovely product overall. Very helpful now that I've revised to RNY. Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

Thanks! I’m going to get my lap band to a mini gastric bypass revision and I’m nervous that they might not be able to do it at once, I have no problem with my band other than not losing weight

I know you asked about sleeve - I just revised from band to RNY and have had great, quick return to band weight. I loved my band, but my port broke so leaked, got replaced, got repeated infections, then when all fixed just never ever hit the sweet spot. New port was on mesh which made its own mayhem. Now I have bypass, I can’t really understand why I didn’t do it years ago - such a better surgery for me!

Hi all! I was banded in mexico in 2002. I started at 285lbs and over the years (I was a slow loser) I had lost just over 130lbs by 2009. I had stay steady at same weight from 2009-2014. Was filled to where I wanted and THOUGHT I was ok. I decided to just get checked out at Kaiser just because it had been so many years since I had ANY type of checkup on it. They did a flouroscopy and found my esophogus had doubled in size. My band had been overfilled all those years..my doctor in Mexico ALWAYS does fills under flouro, but eventually had started getting "blind" fills by a local doctor. This is what caused the overfill. But I lived with it over the years figured just the band quirks..my weight stayed off so it worked. So when they found the expanded esophagus they completely unfilled my band and had me weight about 3 months for improvement. My esophagus returned to normal, so they agreed to refill me slowly. I got a few fills at Kaiser, but then moved to central california from northern..and went back to surgeon I had been getting blnd fills before at his northern cali location. I was now closer to his central ca location. So in Feb 2016, his NP filled me and most likely introduced an infection when she filled me. She may have stabbed me twice. So not knowing I had an infection, I was starting to have pain shortly after. I felt a hard lump in my stomach that felt like my port but the lump was now higher than the port was always stitched. So I thought my port had become unstitched and moved up to my waistline. SO I contacted my surgeon in Mexico and he advised I head down there to get checked out, so I did. He did a flouroscopy and everything looked normal..but he decided to go in and open me up to see what was going on. He found a massive infection brewing in there. He did an endoscopy to make sure my band had not eroded. It was fine.So he cleaned me out, stitched me up and sent me home with a few heavy duty antiobiotics. After almost the full course of antibiotics, my incision wasn't healing and was still oozing. So he figured my body was attacking the port and tubing, so he had me come back to Mexico to remove the port and tubing..let me body heal and said to come back in 4-5 months to put port and tubing back in. This was May of 16. My band was filled again..and I know I need to have the port/tube in but for almost 2 years, did not go back due to time and money. I had NO issues. I had gained 50lbs quickly after that initial unfill, but have not had luck really losing this 50lbs. Admittedly had not been trying extra hard..but figured my body was adjusting to all the fill, unfill, fill activity. I was glad I had not gained ALL my weight. So fast forward to today. About a week ago in the midst of being sick with bad flu for over 2+ weeks, developing a yeast infection and ear infection, I started having pain in my abdomen at the site of the incision from 2 years ago. I feel a lump now underneath and was feeling like it did when I had the infection before. Not sure why now..so I went to ER and they did a CT Scan. They sent to a local bariatric surgeon to review..he said he didn’t really see anything unusual..he didn’t know I didn’t have a port so I think whatever lump I have he thought was my port. Before I could get my story out, he basically said he advises to remove the band now, wait 4-5 months and revise to sleeve! I was floored. I was not expecting that AT ALL! I never really thought about the sleeve, know anything about it and know if would be successful at this point. I am more worried about gaining back all my weight and keeping it off long term. Like I said I have 50lbs of it I still want to lose, but given it is a revision and not a brand new out of the box patient..will I still have a hard time losing it with a sleeve revision or will having a new surgery help? I am still deciding if I want to have the surgeries local or go back to Mexico. I would have to pay out of pocket in Mexico or get it covered 100% here in town. BUT I trust my Mexican surgeon more..more experienced with bands and surgery in general. I need to decide quickly because of the infection going on. What has been your experience if you revised from band to sleeve after a long time. Were you able to lose weight again or basically did the sleeve just help you keep off what you have lost? I am nervous about the non reversable cutting of my stomach for the sleeve. Any advice would help at this point!!

Just starting my journey #2. Had Lapband in 2009. Not working for me anymore. Now planning on doing revision and either Sleeve or Bypass. How did you make up your mind on which to have?? Plus my surgeon wants to take out the lapband before surgery to see If esophagus is good. Upper GI done 2 months after. Highest weight before lapband 309. Today 297. BMI 51. HBP, sleep apnea, sciatica, upper/lower back problems. Lost a lot in beginning then had back problems and slowly gained weight back. Just saw the psychologist today. Nutrition counselor is set for April 10. Worrying about if insurance will cover both surgeries. Removal and sleeve or Bypass.??? Won’t know until after lapband removal if they will cover the sleeve or Bypass. I joined all the support groups but just want to know how you decided with Bypass compared to Sleeve!!??

I am not in the same boat, well, I sort of am. I am getting my band taken out and have been on the fence about a RNY revision. I should clarify, I'm falling off the fence onto the RNY side. I've had my band since 2010. 293 > 220 > 300. I went from 220 to about 260 and stayed there for a few years, dealing with the fun stuff we bandsters have to deal with, and eventually got tired of not losing weight and getting any/everything stuck. I had it completely dilated and I have slowly gained even more weight. I am kind of a loaner, so this might seem harsh, but personally, the only opinion that matters to me are God's, mine, and family. I have some friends that have opinions, but although I am willing to listen, they don't know the whole story because they don't get to experience the bad parts of being overweight. Nevertheless, if you feel like you need something to show your PT, then pull out any recent peer-reviewed studies showing the stats of lapband surgery. (* I'm sure there are people that it did (permanently) work good for). My surgeon said he only does bands about 2% of the time. The complication rate is through the roof (as I sit here and look at my port that requires inserting the needle almost parallel to my skin because of the 90* flip), and the long term success is quite poor. As I write this, I wonder when I was doing this why "It is reversible" is used as an incentive. If it works properly, why would I want to remove it? If I'm not sure it's going to work, then why have it placed? You might laugh at this. When I went to have it dilated, I asked if the doctor used lidocaine (He was a new-to-me doctor). He kind of gave me that "Are you a wimp?" look and I told him I'd give him $100 if he could find it in 5 jabs. He gave me the lidocaine, and finally found it after *20* tries. It was so difficult, he drew a map of how to find it on my medical chart. I was black and blue for the next week from being a human pincushion. Best of luck for you and remember it is your life, not anybody else's!

I have structure that can't be corrected with dialation or a stent. Below the stricture, I also have twisting of my sleeve. Bypass is pretty much my only option to get food in and stop vomiting all the time. Many people do the revision due to developing severe GERD post sleeve surgery. Bypass resolves the GERD.

Some basic questions and points to consider: What is your current weight situation - are you gaining, stable or losing some? Have you been able to lose in the past but regained it, or never been able to lose any substantial amount? Do you know approximately what your current calorie consumption is? How much can you lose at? Have you had any weight control success in the past - lost some and maintained the loss, or does it always come right back? A reversible procedure is very desirable, but comes at a cost - the lap band is removable, but the damage it can do (and often does) to the stomach is usually irreversible, leading to a revision to a sleeve or bypass instead of a simple removal. There is also the aspect that most cannot maintain a lower weight without the long term restriction that is provided by the more permanent procedures (the bypass is theoretically reversible in that all the parts can be surgically put back where they were, but it is rare to do this.) Consider that it will take fewer calories to maintain a lower weight than you consume now (you burn a less moving 140 lbs around all day than 280lb) - assuming that you can lose the weight on your own or with a temporary mechanical device, can you do this on your own? For a ballpark guesstimate. figure on 500 calories or so per day less than your stability point now. The approach that I took to all of this starting about fifteen years ago when my wife and I started getting seriously into WLS thoughts, and started the semi - usual six month insurance mandated diet/exercise program, was to look at what I could do for my diet/lifestyle that was sustainable - what could I do for the rest of my life - rather than what was ideal according to some fad or book diet. Most of us know generally what we should be doing (cut the crap and junk foods, leaner meats, more fruits and veg, whole grains instead of white processed flours, etc.) It wasn't perfect, but it was what I could do and it yielded a loss of about 50lb, or about a third of my excess weight, over six months or so - though that was incidental to the longer term goal of sustainability. Turned out that as my wife went through her WLS, loss and maintenance, I managed to maintain that loss for several years. I learned a lot about myself with that exercise, and that gave me the confidence to go with the VSG once that started getting insurance approval rather than something stronger like the RNY, or with better regain resistance like the DS. Suggestion to think about (if you haven't tried this already...) see if you can lose a moderate amount on your own and maintain it for a year or two - if you can't lose and maintain at, say, 250, how do you expect to maintain at 140 without some kind of recurring physiological help (like a somewhat restricted stomach)? Work on the habits that will help you with long term weight control first before going to a mechanical device to help lose it, and then trying to figure out how to maintain it. Social eating and restaurants do not make weight control easy - but a bit more on that later - I've blithered on enough for now

I too will be having a revision from sleeve to bypass on 3/29 due to complications. I am sorry you have had a rough go. If it helps, your post is reminding me that it is going to be another major surgery with more recovery. You are helping me to be better mentally prepared. How are you feeling now?

RNY 3/29. It will actually be a revision from a sleeve due to complications Looking forward to not throwing up anymore!!! For those who have already been bypassed this month, how are you doing?

So recently I’ve decided that I wanted to do the revision from lapband to gastric bypass. The lapband definitely failed and I’m sick of the yo-yoing up and down and dieting and failing over and over again. I have a lot of people that are really supportive, but I’ve also been getting a lot of criticism. Mostly from my personal trainer. I still am trying to eat healthier and workout, but I still want the surgery as well. You can’t just stop eating healthy and working out just because you’re getting the surgery. But my trainer is determined to change my mind. He’s telling me I don’t need it, and that I should just give him a year and things will change. But I still feel that the surgery is what I should do. Yes, I could lose weight with working out and eating right, of course, but I feel that I still have to do this for myself. I’ve had personal trainers before, I’ve done this and I’m still completely overweight. I’m just struggling because he’s making me second guess that my decision is the right one. I need some guidance here.

Hi there, Does anyone have some insight into the ease (or not!) of accessing your super these days? I have a sleeve back in 2012 and am considering a revision. When I tried to access my super I was denied bc i had 4K in my bank account (to pay daily bills) and the surgery was 5K. They deemed me "capable of saving for the surgery" and refused early release. Has anyone had success with their application and is happy to share the ins and outs with me? Thank you!

Had a revision to sleeve back in 9/2016, all in one surgery, had lapband for 5 years with terrible issues, slippage which put me in hospital a few times, then they would have to deflate completely and I would have to go months with nothing (of course gain weight)and start whole process over again. Best thing I did was have reversal. Good luck

I had the revision done in one surgery. Had my lap and for 5 years and had many issues, mostly slipped and last time it slipped was advised to have it removed. Of course because of my insurance had to find a new Dr. But I did and she was wonderful. She did tell me that she would not know if she could do both at once until she was in there. Thankfully she was able to do both. I had the surgery in Sept 2016. In hospital for 2 full days, stayed out of work for 4 weeks as was able with my job. Down 55 lbs. starting weight 210 now 155. I would probably have lost more but I unfortunately do not exercise like I should. This is best thing I have done, feel so much better than I ever did with the band. Good luck

Had lap band revision to sleeve 9/27/2016. I was extremely tried also. Would go for walks, tried to stay awake during day so would sleep at night, but would only sleep for few hours at a time. It will pass, it took me about 3 weeks to get back into my normal routine and not be tired and irritable.

Anyone have a revision from sleeve to bypass

Hello. So happy you are all here!! I was just sleeved (revision from Lap Band) less than 1 week ago (3/15/18). In December 2016 I had hip replacement surgery. I am a runner and this put me out of commission and thus weight gain (40 lbs since then). With my new "bionic" hip I am ok to run again (Dr. not super happy....but I am). Now with this new surgery, when can I get back to running again? or truly any type of exercise for that matter? I realize that the sleeve is a tool and so want to incorporate my running with it for maximum results. Thank you in advance for any replies and/or suggestions!

I believe there are many factors for length sizing, height, ethnicity and if it’s a revision vs 1st time bariatric surgery. I’m scheduled for Apr 11 and discussed length size with my doctor.

Hello again everyone, I am pretty new here and have mostly been on the pre-op pages. I am in the process of getting cleared for my RNY bypass/revision from lap band placed 8 years ago. I am back at my lap band surgery weight, but the band has been wide open for a few years. Anyways, in preparing for this elective surgery, I have been very honest with myself about the extremely low (0.4% I see a lot) chances of dying with this surgery. After having the lap band, I also realize (somewhat) about long term effects from the band. I am not near 600 pounds (I am about half that), but I watch "My 600# Life" to help motivate me to move forward with the progress. One of the things I saw on a recent show was dental problems caused by what I think was the bypass. Lately, it seems as if Dr. Now has been performing more VSGs (Probably in an effort to reduce anesthesia time), so it is possible it was a VSG. Being the inquisitive type, and just recently finishing graduate school, I went into research mode. I've found some indications that teeth erosion (Some coined it "Meth mouth") are common with any form of weight loss surgery. I've read several hypothesis for this, but I won't go into it. I suppose I'm trying to find out how widespread it is. Thus far, NIH peer-reviewed studies show some correlation, but I want to know from y'all if this is true. This is sad, but while I can afford the RNY surgery with my insurance, I cannot afford replacing teeth with implants. I've had bruxism over the last 30 years (Worn a night guard for the last ~8) and my lower molars are hanging on for dear life. I'm a sneeze away from 4 crowns as it is. Nevertheless, I don't want to "help" the teeth decay. In doing this research, I found another discomforting parallel, the increased prevalence of esophageal cancer with WLS patients. I believe the main theory is that GERD is changing the cellular structure from repeated contact with stomach acid. The studies that I have read (At least what I can remember right now) included RNY in the groupings, which confuses me because my surgeon is telling me that there is zero stomach acid that can contact the esophagus. I would have expected this with the Sleeve patients, but not this. So my second question is how widespread is this? For people that have been on the boards a long time, does this affect many people? Last question- Are there any other long term consequences from vitamin/mineral deficiencies, assuming one takes the daily supplements prescribed by the doctor? I'm wondering if the body is "stealing" calcium from teeth since it doesn't get much any more? Thank you in advance. I know this is a morbid/deep post, but I want to make sure I am well informed before I go through with this procedure.

Dr. Ortiz is also a very well respected and experienced surgeon. His prices don’t make sense today. He operates out of a nice clinic too, not a full hospital. He quoted you for a revision when your surgery is definitely not considered one. If you do use Dr. Pompa, send her my best. I like her.

Yes it’s the same insurance company. They have a revision clause for failure but I have to prove that failure wasn’t due to not following diet and exercise as prescribed by my doctor.

I’ve seen a lot of post where people have had the revision surgery’s covered:)