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Went to 5 month post op visit. TWL54 lbs. Have had one fill 5 cc in my allergan band...Dr had a hard time accessing port 2 months ago..5 sticks. Now for my second fill NP tried three times and then called surgeon..he attempted three times with no success. Have to go back Friday to try to have fill done in the OR with fluoroscopy if not successful they will go ahead with revision...hopefully just the port. Dr thinks to weight loss in abdominal area has caused port to shift. Tummy is very sore tonight where they physically tried to.manipulate port. No matter what happens Friday I am still happy to have started this journey!

I had a port revision and everything turned out fine.

My story has been a long 10 year roller coaster ride both in weight and emotion! I was banded at 18 in California. I was just under 250 at 5'1". I had an easy surgery and started losing pretty quickly. After a couple years, I was down almost 100lbs and feeling great until suddenly, in August 2005, I couldn't swallow Water. My band had slipped and badly. I went into surgery the next day to have my band fixed, but due to erosion, it was removed and as the surgeon put it to my parents, he "MAY have punctured my stomach trying to navigate scar tissue, but it was difficult to tell what was a puncture and what was an erosion." I was devastated to put it lightly and spent 9 days in the hospital recovering. Insurance refused to replace the band (despite multiple appeals) because my BMI was too low. My surgeon and I worked through the year on appeals and by June, I had climbed back to my starting weight of 250. We found out in March that when my insurance changed at the beginning of the year, they had made WLS a contract exclusion and we had exhausted our appeals. I decided that if I wanted my band back, I would have to pay for it and began looking into options out of the country. For a bunch of different reasons, I ended up choosing a hospital and surgeon in Mumbai, India. The surgeon in Mumbai told me that my first band was placed so high, that my scar tissue wasn't in his way at all. I now wonder if that is the only reason my first band worked so well. I had a new lap band placed in August 2006 at 269lbs (my highest weight) and went home filled with hope. My hope faded as over the next year I only lost around 40-50lbs or so. Not a small amount of weight, but only half of what I lost the first time and only about a third of what I was hoping for. This band never worked like the first one. By 2012 I was back up to 250. My band has dilated for the 2nd time. I have unfilled, gone through nutrition counseling and slowly refilled twice, both times with the hope that I could do it... but it just isn't working. My current insurance has a contract exclusion as well, and will not remove or revise my band unless it is life threatening. Instead of going through lengthy appeals (since that worked so horribly before), I decided to self pay again. My first thought was just get this band out of me... I just want to be done! I'm tired of being stuck and puking only to end up over eating in the end. But after speaking at length with my primary care, I started to consider revising to the Vertical Sleeve. I've been researching for a few months now and I've officially made up my mind... I'm going for it!! I'm terrified of failure, but I'm more terrified of being unhealthy for the rest of my life and never being the healthy active parent that my daughters deserve. This time I am going with Dr. Fernando Garcia in Tijuana with Ready 4 a Change. His extensive experience with band to sleeve revisions gives me hope. Through verticalsleevetalk.com I have been able to talk to literally hundreds of his patients, so many of whom were previously banded. I have my surgery scheduled for May 11th and I'm fearful that I am starting to get my hopes up that this will be the right path for me. I am hoping that this roller coaster will take one final dip (hopefully at least a 100lb dip lol). My kids need a mom that can keep up with them and I know I can't do that on my own.

no problem Mac..... Have you been approved Yet? Reason i'm asking..... most insurance requires 35 BMI with 2 co morbids. When i had my band in 2009 it was the requirement. ORRR 40 BMI which is where i was. 5'2" and 232lbs. This time i didn't have to because i was still considered a revision even though my band was removed 2.5+ years ago. My bmi this time was 31. SW 173.5..... Today, 145.2 Fk yes.... Back to you.... if you have not be approved yet, you may want to lay off the dieting. Some insurance with not approve you if they see a weight loss. My dr. advised me to not lose anything till i got the final approval. Did you go watch the youtube vids...??? I've been in the WLS community for over 10 years and he is 100% right with everything he says..... no sugar coating with him at all.

Hi everyone, This is sort of déjà vu for me! In 2009 I was on these forums a lot as I prepared for my lap band surgery. I lost 100 pounds in 3 years with lap band. In 2017 I tried to have revision surgery to the sleeve but my BMI was 35 and I only had mild sleep apnea and my insurance would not approve it. Fast forward to almost 2023 and my BMI is now 40. I have a consultation on Wednesday as I now have new insurance (Anthem BCBS) and I'm hoping to have better luck with approval. I am leaning more toward gastric bypass this time. I know a few people who have had the sleeve and a few people who have had bypass and it seems like the people with bypass have had the results that I'm looking for. Also, I don't want another 10 plus years to pass and be back here again. I'm really hoping that all this can be accomplished sometime in the Spring as I have 2 young boys and we spend the majority of our summer camping and I would really like to have all this done before the camping season begins. I'm not sure how feasible that is but I guess I will find out on Wednesday at my appointment! Anyone else out there in a similar position or starting the journey just now? Sent from my SM-N975U using BariatricPal mobile app

I had a revision from band to bypass and it has been great! No more stuck feeling and vomiting. Absolutely, no reflux after surgery! It's a great feeling and I healed much faster after bypass than the band for some reason. Although, I didn't have a lot of energy for awhile. I am so excited for you and I pray you will get the approval. If you do not get approved have your doctor so a Pier to Pier (I think that's what it is called). The doctor will schedule to talk to insurance for you & plead your case. (:

I had my band out and a revision to sleeve. I have only lost 8 pounds in 6 months. NOW the doctor is telling me because I had the band previously that I wouldn't lose much weight . It has been very discouraging. I wish the doctor had told me this 6 months ago and $12,200 later.

So to day 7-23-18 I my sleeve revised to a gastric bypass today. I'm still not sure how I feel about it. I thought it was going be painful which it's not, I miss walking and all I want it chicken broth lol Question Did anyone have a drains in them?If so was Was a painful to get them removed? And how long were you in the hospital for? Sorry I'm new to all this Sydney Sent from my SM-G960U using BariatricPal mobile app

Each person is very different. I was banded in February 2012 and only lost 25lbs and then over the next two years gained 75lbs. Had lots of issues finding the green zone, gerd etc. Finally found new doctor and ended up doing revision to Gastric sleeve July 1, 2015. I have lost 42lbs since surgery. My dad had lapband and shortly after I did in 2012 and he lost well over 100 lbs and has kept it off. I just say choose the surgery for you and not just due to one be permanent or temporary as I did originally. Each surgery will have pluses and minuses. Good luck with what you decide!

Now that I'm back on the liquid stages from the revision surgery, I've been looking through the Food forum again and paying more attention to what others on the liquid stages are doing. I've noticed more than a few people say that post op, their surgeon's had them on clear liquids only. Some for a few days, some for a few weeks even. My surgeon has me on liquids for three weeks post op, then slowly transitioning to mushies and solids over three weeks. His liquid diet is "anything that will go through a straw". This includes even stuff such as icecream, although the papers said to make that only an occasional. My understanding of clear liquids, from working in the medical industry for 8 years is water, broth, plain tea and coffee (no milk or creamer) and rehydration type drinks. Perhaps I had it wrong? But my question is, has anyone who's meant to be on the clear liquids for several weeks asked the surgeon why? I know its always best to follow the surgeon's orders and I'm fine with that, I just really want to know, if there's any other reason to be on clear liquids other than its low calorie/carb/fat? And if on this for several weeks, where do your nutrients that are really important for healing come from? I'm sitting here counting my blessings that this soup I have in the crockpot (Mexican chicken soup) can be stuck in the blender later and eaten by me for dinner LOL.

I've lost a good bit by now (84lbs with 39 to go) my belly button isn't getting any air and it's gross and smelly and wet. Sooo gross. I've tried lotrimin spray and alcohol to clean it but it's still gross. Any advise on how to deal with this? Also when do you start thinking about plastic surgery. Again I still have a ways to go but I'm already seeing belly button issues and thinking I need to wrap my head around another surgery. And also what's the chance I get my insurance company to pay for it? Band to sleeve revision surgery 1/16/17 HW: 283 CW: 199 GW: 160

Got my sleeve the same day, after revision from a lapband that made me vomit daily for 4 years. So, I feel your pain. Is it going to get better. I can't drink hot or cold. G2 is staying down a little. But what makes it better??

I have had 2 bands... Both unsuccessful (over last 7 years). I had all the fluid taken out 2 years ago when I got pregnant. Now my baby is a year and one I can no longer afford follow up and fills. And 2 after only loosing average 20 total I feel it's pointless. I am considering the sleeve. I thought they would remove band wait several months and do the sleeve however I am seeing that people are having band removed and getting sleeve revision same time. I would like to hear from both people that had it done in one surgery and people that did it in two. I wish I had done the sleeve to begin with because the revision makes me nervous since taking the band off will result in irritation and swelling (as with any surgery) but I wanted to know what to expect and what complications people have had. No sugar coating LOL Thanks for your help with my decision.

I had that problem and it turned out my esophagus was very dilated. It turned out that I was using my esophagus for a stomach. I had my band removed and had a revision surgery to a sleeve and I am so much happier. I can only eat small portions of any food I want and I am FULL.

Because I was a band to sleeve revision I had to go 15 days on each phase. Talk about I was about to puke at the thought of broth at day 14, lol. It was so so hard but I stuck to it. I did not want to risk messing up anything and having to take another trip back to Mexico. I hate flying so just flying there to have the surgery was enough for me. It gets better, stay strong

Just want to get some feedback on how things are going for those that had revision from band to bypass (this is what I am going to be getting). What kind of progress are you making, how much weight have you lost since surgery? Loving it or hating it? Missing the band ? (I doubt I will ever miss mine) I keep hearing that weight loss is slower after revision vs those that had bypass first time around. When I talked to my psych about it when I had psych eval he said he does not believe this to be the case, which was pretty encouraging. I am not looking for fast weight loss but my weight loss has been always extremely slow to none, so I am nervous. Thank you for sharing

I was the same as you, started looking and planning for the lapband, but after researching further decided the sleeve was the right surgery for me. It's such a personal decision, but I really liked the permanency of the sleeve...I didn't want my weight loss to be temporary. Spend some time reading here on the forums, check out the revision from band to sleeve forum, and ask any questions you have. This is the first message board I have ever participated on because I have found the people here to be wonderfully supportive and knowledgeable. Good luck on your journey!

Jill, No one can tell you what to do... not me & not your friend. I can tell you that I was certain that this would work for everyone but me... in fact, I felt sure that I would probably die during surgery. In the end, I decided that I would rather take the risk of death or yet another failure than to keep my life in the miserable state that it was. I have been amazed at how well this surgery has worked for me. In the beginning, you will be pretty restricted as to what you can eat... but after about 4-6 months out, there is nothing that I can eat... in small portions. I feel better now than I ever have in my adult life. I can't tell you what to do & maybe you should talk to some people who have revised from lapband (Miss Diva comes to mind). But if you are genuinely that unhappy with yourself, what are you really risking? If the surgery doesn't work for you, then you are no worse off than you were before. Just my 2 cents. Best of luck with your decision!

Thank you for sharing I was revised on band to bypass on 9/18. I find myself not hungry as well I was hoping this feeling go away once i get off liquids. My mouth stays dry as well did you experience that? Congratulations on your success. I would to be able to reach out to you through my journey if that's ok? Sent from my SM-G900V using BariatricPal mobile app

Any Orlando Health surgeries? Sent from my SM-J727U using BariatricPal mobile app

Hey there, I had my revision from band to bypass May 7th. I bought the gasx chewable cause it had more of the ingredient/medicine to help than the strips.

I am having my revision surgery on April 6th with Dr Edward Mun. Does anybody have information regarding VSG with him? My surgery will be at Kaiser Harbor City.

This is for thise who had band removed...then had to wait for bypass revision. Laparoscopic-gastric-bypass-surgery.html How many incisions do they do for bypass? Do they use the same incision site (that they used for port removal) again for bypass? If so.....Has anyone had any difficulty with incisions healing, after they used the port incision again? I understand that when they use the same incision sites, that the tissue and muscle can become weaker and healing might be a problem. Please share any info. Thanks!

I got approved for my revision!!!!!!!! *bounces around the room excitedly* Surgery isn't scheduled yet but I have a tenative date of June 6th or sometime that week