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I will be having my revision on 4/24/14 I will gladly tell you how i am doing through the steps if you like!

I had my revision Feb 25, 2014 and I've lost 47 lbs in those 7 weeks. Feeling great!

My revision starting weight was 265 and today my weight was 238. Lap band 3/6/2006 starting weight 316 lowest weight 165 revision weight 265.

I'm going through the stages of having revision surgery - my nutritionist has been emphasizing that after I get sleeved - I have to do "high protein" - low-carb. They have me following the plan now as a "pre-op" diet although I'm still waiting for approval

I'm glad you made it through okay. I hope you heal well and feel better really quickly. Two friends of mine who used to post here regularly just had their bands removed due to erosion, as well. One was worse than the other- one was able to revise to VSG, the other wasn't. Best to you. Feel better soon.

I had a band revision to sleeve....I had alot of scar tissue and they removed my band on the left side and my stomach on the right side...my biggest fear PAIN....while in the hospital one night i was only a lil sore with the exception of horrific gas pains in my back which subsided after abt 20min of me taking my own gasx....day 2 im home feeling fine just a lil tired and sore on my right side. I was able to walk a mile everyday and no pain and no pain meds! I did wake up every morning for abt 2 weeks a lil sore where they remived my stimach and i was tired the first week but I was doing all my normal stuff on day 3 except not picking up anything.

I hung a really cute tank top on my bedroom door when I was banded 4 1/2 yrs ago, looking at it everyday. By the time I tried it on, it was too big! What a problem to have! Last summer, I looked terrible in tanks. I had gained 30 lbs when my band slipped but I've since lost almost all of that since my revision 9 mths ago. I've bought a few tanks recently and they look almost decent. Still have some rolls (boob fattage) that pop out occasionally, but they look better than they ever have. I think it's a great idea! Have something u can look at everyday and aspire to fit into. Good luck!

I had major complications in the past 8 months, port revision, total unfill and then slippage and taken out July 8. How long does it take for my stomach to return to normal? I am afraid to eat since I have been barfing for 8 months. I lost 30 lbs and want to keep it off. May look into weight watchers.

You're getting a revision?

Wow I hadn't even thought of that. Thats considerable! I mostly thought down the line if I had to I could revise to RnY or DS... however just to have my sleeve re-done would be ideal! Good luck in your research, I'm not sure who does do this.

Good luck to you, Mary. I would hope that giving her print outs of lap band revision success stories would help, if she would read it. Perhaps you can get her to come on a forum like this and read about lap band revisions? Many people are very happy with them. The other thing that could help perhaps is giving her the reasons why this is different. In other words, what held you back the first time and why you will be successful this time. Are you prepared to change how you eat forever? Are you ready to commit to Protein first, getting your Water in, and avoiding sliders and non-nutritional carbs as much as possible? Can you give up soda? Will your activity level change? If you are prepared, maybe you can share your preparation plans with her and that will help her get behind you.

Hugs and prayers! Now..you can post as a whole new you...just way smaller. I'm looking forward to Gettimg my revision also.

1. What are/were your biggest challenges during the weight loss process? (insurance, medication, surgery, maintenance etc): Insurance, especially when they stopped covering lap band adjustments That was one of the main reasons I went ahead with the band to sleeve revision. I just couldn't afford $300 per 0.2cc adjustment, sometimes 2 in one week. It was just too expensive for me. 2. What would you like to have different to solve the problems that you need to face? And why? (new weight loss medication, new surgery approaches, more support groups, new insurance plan etc.): Better insurance plans for WLS patients. Although I know they are aware of how detrimental being overweight is, and I am grateful they cover WLS more now... I still feel that they don't cover enough of the additional things (i.e. fills/adjustments, removing extra skin, therapy, post-op shakes for just the liquid phase of healing) that one needs to further maintain their health. It's like helping an addict for one hospital stay and then putting them out on the street with no further help. Some may make it, and others will slide again. If the insurance companies can keep the WLS patients healthy, they would further save on all the future medical problems of those patients. 3. How much money do you spend for weight loss every year? (food, exercise, support groups, medications etc): Over $2K per year but now that I got the revision to sleeve, it'll be less money spent since I don't have to do lapband adjustments but just routine check ups (doctor check ups, Vitamins and other supplements, meds like PPI, Protein powders). 4. How did you learn about the surgery/medications that you had/used/are using? My bariatric center gave me lots of handouts and a book on everything that I need for the revision surgery (band to sleeve). We also had a nutrition class. I also read a lot on the forums (mainly experiences that others feel that are not usually in a book), and read many scientific and clinical studies.

I had no problems getting approval for the band removal and revision to sleeve or bypass. I have Blue Cross. Good luck, hopefully it will come through for you shortly!

Hi, I haven't had a chance to update in awhile. I am doing great. Will hit my 3 month mark October 12, lost almost 50 lbs and feel awesome. I have spent the last week in the hospital with my partner who had a by-pass 2 years ago September. Last Wednesday she started throwing up blood, tons of it. Was put in ICU, they did a scope and said she had a marginal ulcer where her lower intestine connected to her pouch. Was in ICU until Monday, got 8 pints of blood and had a by-pass revision and ulcer removal on Tuesday. Now she has a blockage in her esophagus. Can't even swollow her spit. Doc thinks it is related to swelling. It has been a rough week. Makes me so grateful for my sleeve and no complications.

Omg. I'm glad I'm not the only one. I've had super oily skin all my life and now I'm two weeks post op and need moisturizer. I'm following this to see what others suggest! Katy W- Louisburg, NC Lapband revision to VSG with DS HW- 297 Weight at Surgery-279 CW- will update at two week appt

I’m looking to have a sleeve to bypass revision but I’m not sure what my insurance will cover. Is anyone on BCBSIL PPO 204 plan?

I had my revision too and with I had never had the band!! Good luck to you!!

I think it worked for me, it was just a torture device at times :wink:. I don't miss taking acid reducers everyday. But I can say now since I don't have a band or anything anymore that I miss restriction of any type. My doc wants me to get a sleeve but for the meantime, I'm calorie counting and working out and have still managed to gain weight. My removal was covered by my insurance as a revision (I was supposed to be rebanded, but it didn't work out).

I can't offer much, I'm only 10 days post op but originally that is what I wanted. After research I decided against the band due to complications, always getting fills, and having a foreign object. The first doctor I went to was opposite as yours. I wanted sleeve by that point he suggested band but was willing, I found a new surgeon as the only reason was band was that surgeon's specialty. I researched alot on here and after my initial thoughts band was never an option. Keep reading and be sure to ask the people who had band to sleeve revision Also to had there are success stories with the band for me though sleeve was the better option.

I had the lapband done 2 years ago. I had success for the first 6 months, dropping almost 50 pounds. I didn't realize the problems associated with and things that could affect the band. I started waking up with fluid coming up and coughing and choking, as well as the heartburn. After putting up with this for a while and getting no relief, I went to my doctor. At first they gave me pills to relieve severe heartburn, stating I had some sort of gastro itis (???) problem. With still no relief, I went back and they took some fluid out, stating that the change in weather can affect the band. I had immediate relief. I went back 2 weeks later and had the fluid put back in. Within a couple of weeks, the same thing started all over again. This was the beginning of a long battle. Over the course of the next year and a half, it was take some fluid out; put some back in; take it all out; put some back in a couple of times; take a little out; take it all out.....I just couldn't get back to that perfect "sweet spot" I'd had before after my initial 3rd fill. I ended up stretching the pouch (a couple of times) and after the "in and out fill" rollercoaster, I had a revision surgery where they took out the old band and put in a new one. So I've essentially started over. That was 3 months ago and I'm scared to death to go get a fill now, for fear I will screw it up and stretch the pouch! But yet, I'm gaining weight and am desperately looking for help! Can anyone help me? I feel like such a failure.:thumbup:

Heres mine: HW: 285 CW: 215 Had my lapband at 265 ish....in 2009. Went down 40ish lbs. Went UP to 285 by 2017 and was that on the DAY of surgery for my revision to sleeve. Lost 70 so far post op Sent from my SM-J327P using BariatricPal mobile app

Hi Melanieleigh, congratulations search, you've come to the right place. This is a long, overdue story and I will also post it in “My Positive Experience w/Dr. Watkins Thread." This forum is awesome and I've been researching WLS HEAVILY since about June. I've read a lot on WLS. I struggled with the idea of partial stomach removal w/VSG, but knew that having a foreign object in my body would make me worried: slipping, rubbing, etc. - so I wasn't excited about lap band, but some have had great success with it. When I read about GPS on this forum, I KNEW it felt right. WHAT MAKES THE RIGHT DOCTOR? Initially, in my mind, I was all set to go to someone locally, so that if I needed support or had issues they would be there for me. I have never had surgery of any kind so this was all new to me. I also thought that I would ONLY choose a doctor who has had some sort of WLS and would be understanding in the weight loss/surgery/food struggle. I attended a seminar from a Dr. who I think had done only 3 VSGs (yes, I know, they have to start somewhere and make a living, but in this case, I didn’t want it to be me) and I found out later that certain things he talked about were incorrect, (like shoulder pain cause being unknown and that could be permanent) is actually referred pain from the diaphragm -per Dr. Watkins. RESEARCHING… THANK GOODNESS I RESEARCHED MORE! According to one of the WLS books I read, complications go WAY DOWN (like 80%) when you use an EXPERIENCED surgeon. Of course, this GPS surgery is NEW, but it would stand to reason that it is still better to choose a doctor who had done a lot of surgeries, especially weight loss surgeries. Naturally, I researched Dr. Corvala in Mexico because I think has had done over 100 GPSs by now plus thousands of other weight loss surgeries. However, the book I read also cautioned that while some hospitals/Dr. were terrific in Mexico (just like US-there are good and bad hospitals/Drs.) it may be more challenging to find aftercare in the US. However, there are many people happy with their choice to leave the country and I probably would have been very happy with that route, but I am a worrier. As I constantly read the forum and asked MANY, MANY questions of the patients and to a few doctors. Dr. Watkins was the most responsive doctor. I would ask him about the surgery details, what other patients experienced, emotional eating, what hunger felt like, hormones, genetic makeup, etc. my symptoms, how big the size of the sleeve, aftercare, etc. For awhile I thought I would try dieting and exercise one more time, and he directed me to the free YOU TUBE about weigh loss which again, shows that although he does run a business, he is really trying to help people. I came obvious conclusion that Dr. Watkins is EXTREMELY KNOWLEGABLE, DEDICATED and in always in COMMUNICATION when you need him, is ALWAYS helping on the forum (even if someone is not his patient) and isn’t pushy. I had a friend that wasn't sure about her GPS surgery, and he left it up to her - didn't pressure her. She had it and is doing fine. I researched him EVERYWHERE and found happy patients and a great track record. Like others have said, it is important that you have the hiatal hernia fixed when they are doing WLS surgery, and that was important to me that Dr. Watkins did that. Yes, I love Cincy Weight Loss-NO I don't get any financial gain or have anything to gain, no discount for my writing all of this. I do not work in any way with Cincy/Dr. Watkins; I am just a happy patient. WHEN ONLY THE BEST WILL DO..TOP NOTCH CARE- DR.WATKINS/CINCY WEIGHT LOSS & HOSPTIAL This Dr. does the right thing.. he even denied me surgery because it was the right thing to do.. Here is my story: After asking A TON of questions and doing lots of research, I was scheduled for Plication surgery in the fall w/Dr. Watkins a couple months ago. Everything went great up to surgery, did well on the pre-op. Visited Cincy Weight Loss, it was a VERY NICE, NEW upscale area, the OFFICE was GREAT. EVERYONE there IS REALLY & TRULY INTERESTED their patients! They had a great book with lots of before & after pictures of real people and it was so exciting to see the success. My husband and I chatted with Diane for almost 3 hours about the great things and weight loss challenges. We met the nurses and his lovely wife Pamela and they were ALL great! We made new friends and had a GREAT TIME. We met Dr. Watkins in person, and sat in his office. He truly is a NICE, SINCERE, DEDICATED & KNOWLEDGABLE PERSON. He is very humble, but it still made me feel good to see all of his certificates/accolades on the wall to know that I was getting a quality and knowledgeable doctor. Since they rarely talk about it, I’ve taken pictures so everyone can see HOW NICE & NEW, MODERN the hospital and his office are. Never once did we feel “rushed” or pressured, or cut off in conversation, they listened answered our questions thoroughly-my husband and I were REALLY impressed. I was VERY scared, because I hadn’t ever had surgery or been put under other than my wisdom teeth. However, being put under and waking up was a breeze. HOSPTIAL was MODERN, NEW and I felt VERY confident with my surroundings. They even offered me a hospital gown with state of the art technology where warm air was blown in. I walked with the Dr. and staff into the OR, and laid down on the table. Everything was state of the art, clean new and I was out like light, felt NO pain (except for the initial IV). It felt odd when I woke up, like it had only been a couple of minutes. Unfortunately for me, the surgery didn’t happen because I had surprise stomach polyps for no good reason. I was VERY disappointed and asked Dr. Watkins about 5 times if we could do surgery later on that week, but it was important to have some other tests & due diligence done. Even though he faced disappointing me, he did the right thing. Some surgeons don’t even do an endoscope, which can reveal polyps, ulcers, hiatal hernias, etc. My family was also grateful for the level of care and professionalism from this Dr. Later on that day and few times over the weekend, he called us to see how I was doing with anesthesia recovery, and I didn’t even have the surgery! But he is that caring. After many tests, (gallbladder, H Pylori, blood test, gastric level tests, gastric emptying test and colonoscopy) it looks like I am fine. I have one more I am going to have done on Friday but I am SO happy that I SHOULD be having GPS surgery with Dr. Watkins in about a week! I am praying that there will be nothing from stopping the surgery and the new life.. Here are a final few words on what I’ve learned..1) It is NOT normal to have stomach pain/throat burning. I lived with this probably my whole adult life. The pain/burning I experienced feels the same as STARVING HUNGER-GOT-TO EAT-NOW was actually acid and was GREATLY reduced on the pre-op diet with the PPI/Prevacaid. Dr. Watkins and his staff have kindly and patiently helped me through this lengthily process of research and tests. Hopefully, no one will have any surprises like I did, but it only made me feel better about my decision. 2) Keep researching until feel comfortable w/your doctor. If you research their website you’ll see they SUPPORTIVE & HAVE GREAT FOLLOWUP: http://www.cincyweightloss.com/ Here are my pictures.. Info from Cincy Weight Loss Site Cincinnati Weight Loss Center is owned by Dr. Watkins, not a large corporation. This allows us to provide you with the kind of customer experience that family owned businesses like ours can provide. Most of our competitors focus on surgery. We focus on weight loss. There is a huge difference between the two philosophies. Other practices try to compete with us by lowering their price. We focus on maximizing your weight loss success. We don't strive to be the "cheapest in town". That is not a good weight loss model. We strive to provide the best weight loss success in every patient. We offer value - the lowest cost per pound lost. We get a lot of transfer patients who had gastric band surgery elsewhere and are disappointed with their post-op program so they transfer to our practice where we help them achieve their weight loss goals. Many practices don't monitor their weight loss success. We do, and have published five scientific articles on gastric band weight loss. We started doing band surgery shortly after it was FDA approved in the United States (June 2001). Since then we've completed nearly 5,000 gastric band procedures and have experience with band adjustments that number in the tens of thousands. That extensive experience has taught us many import things on how to perform gastric band surgery and how to take care of patients afterward to minimize their frustration and maximize their weight loss success. We repair/revise a lot of band operations done improperly by other practices. Patients who choose our practice want it done right the first time and want to maximize their weight loss success. People who only care about getting the cheapest surgery and don't care if they lose weight afterward go to our competitors. Dr. Brad Watkins Dr. Brad Watkins is one of the few surgeons in the United States who: · Has completed well over 1,000 gastric band procedures · Has experience with nearly 5,000 procedures in his gastric band clinics · FDA proctoring surgeon for both band companies (Allergan, Ethicon) · Published five academic papers on gastric banding in the surgical literature · Performs band-over-bypass procedure · Performs the new incisionless ROSE procedure · Teaches other surgeons on primary gastric banding · Teaches other surgeons on band-over-bypass · Teaches gastric band courses · Teaches ROSE courses · Consultant for Allergan Company, LAP-BAND® · Consultant for Ethicon Company, REALIZE ™ · Consultant for USGI Company, ROSE procedure · Completed many advanced bariatric courses and bariatric CME programs · Involved in multiple clinical trials for adult and adolescent obesity · Nationally recognized on the "Today Show" · Member American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery · Member Council for Advances in Bariatrics

I had a barium swallow every year after my sleeve to check if it was stretched. I guess I was paranoid lol. Now after the revision, I haven't done that. But it is fast, you drink chalky stuff, they watch it go down. I always asked for a picture to compare year to year. No sedation, can Uber that no problem but ... For the surgery, not allowed to do Uber, at least here I couldn't.

Hi All, Having a revision from the sleeve to by-pass on an emergency basis on Monday due to GERD. I live several hours from the hospital so my surgeon wants me to stay for couple of days in a hotel. Started packing for the hospital and have been so preoccupied that it suddenly occurred to me I will need to bring food. Not Snacks this time LOL! I will have a fridge but not a freezer and also a microwave. Can anyone here suggest what to take/buy that will help with me those first few days. I will have to bring a cooler to keep things cold on the day of surgery. Thanks for your help.